Well it could also be worshippers who actually understand it and worship the demons for their own needs or believe them to bring something else. I mean it could be already depraved persons joining up with them, bandits, maurauders and the like, blood cults and other dark groupings.

Otherwise as i suggested, they could be done through altered versions of already existing units for the other factions. That could work as well. I mean there was already a bit with the renegades in hammers of fate, although that was just misguided zealots, but it could be evil humans that when the demons come reveal their true allegiance, sporting dark icons and stuff like that.. Would be interesting to say the least.

Oblivion provided a pretty picture of what demons do to their followers (the Mythic Dawn cultists)... all forms of torture and malice.

Well that is just that universe.. i mean if you take another, warhammer it is a bit of a different story..

I mean for all the demons care the humans are probably just convenient tools and treat them like that.

I've just never found it too believable that humans join demon masters in great numbers. Sure there is the occasional mad sorcerer, bloodthirsty bandit and such, but the very most humans are appaled just by the way demons look. Take how they kill, how they torture, how they destroy, how they are known to want an end to all humans and so on and on, and only the most extreme case of evil humans or elves would want to join them. Those who will gain something or have a reason to hate their fellow humans or elves.

So the idea of neutrals seems a bit more likely, although they can't be too many, due to the problems involved in balancing all those neutrals in addition to all the factions.

Then again, if they did something like Gauldoth Half Dead in Heroes IV it wouldn't be quite as far fetched, although I have great problems in seeing the demons behaviong quite like Gauldoth did

Because they don't really understand what they are getting in to ? Oh well.. just a thought anyways. And it would give an interesting perspective to see larger gatherings of demon worshippers at the demons cities.

And the neutrals ? yeah, suppose they could just be corrupted versions of other units, again a bit like the renegades, just you know.. demonic looking and not fanatical :P

Blood splattered clothes and small demonic icons, stuff like that.

Well... I posted some of this in the wish list thread, not knowing about this one and ive decided to follow what Dane told me. So here it is:

As i said this is an ancient and powerful race of shapeshifter druids, they live in the deepest of the jungle, protected by the wild. Bla-bla-bla thanks to you now everyone knows the secret of mastering shapeshifting and is prepared for war.

Now here is what i made up about the hero and army:

Tier1: Monkey - The weakest of them all shapeshifters, this level is usually achieved by young trainees that have just mastered this skill.
Ug1: Spider monkey - This monkey is much faster and more agile than the regular monkey making it more powerful
Ug2: Gorilla - Characterized by brute force, is not as fast as the regular monkey but it delivers a powerful blow and can resist high damage

Tier2: Eagle - This unit is mostly prefered by women.It should be like the blood maidens of dungeon: hit and run, but it is weaker and flying.Could be more like the harpies from H3.
Ug1: Golden Eagle - this is a replacement of an archer as it can reach the whole bg and return at where it left.
Ug2: Harpy Eagle - same mobility as the normal eagle, only that is much stronger and can deal much more damage.
*These should all have that griffin skill "sky dive" or something like that*

Tier3: Wolf(gray) - This unit is prefered by the young men as it has good mobility and plenty of strenght, sadly it lacks in defense.
Ug1: Worg(black) - A more powerful wolf, in every category, but still doesn't have enough defense.
Ug2: Mountain Wolf(white) - This wolf is made for cold, has the same attack and damage as the normal wolf but it's thick fur and skin made to keep the cold out also helps to keep the sharp swords, teeth and claws out. It has greater defense and has ice protection.

Tier 4: Brown bear - Middle age men always choose this robust creature as it has great defense and powerful punch, unfortunately it is a slow unit.
Ug1: Black bear - This bear gives in defense and gets speed, it is much faster making it a better choice on the battlefield if you like fast armies
Ug2: Grizzly bear - Stronger punch but the other characteristics are the same as the brown one.

Tier 5: Here i didn't actually find anything that would go, most likely it should be a spellcaster, maybe a pheonix but i am not sure. But this skill shall be achieved only by the old and wise men.

Tier 6: Rhinoceros - The most powerful of the warriors achieve this level. Thick skin, fast movement, strong blow... Strong
Ug1: Black Rhino - As most of you know the black rhino is rarer and more aggressive, thus more powerful.
Ug2: Triceratops - Only few of these creatures can still be found in the land of ashan, but the shapeshifters have mastered the skill to transform into them. They are similar to the rhinos, only that they enhance defense and strength by having a thicker plate and larger horns, but these are also heavy slowing the triceratops down.

Tier 7: Here i'll go by my idea of "Warriors of Ashan" that they are unique and mighty and are found for every race, Archangel, Devil, Dragons and finally, something which everyone has waited for, The Tribe's Goddess: The Naga!

As i said in the wish thread it would be very cool that the 7th tier will be with a resummonable almighty creature, a "Warrior of Ashan" Archangel, Devil, Bone Dragon, Black Dragon, Red Dragon, Green Dragon, etc.
Maybe using this H6 could be called "The Prophecy". An ancient scroll has been found with a prophecy in which 10(i dunno exactly, depending on how many races are) mighty warriors have fought for 100 years, their powers were equal so ultimately they entrapped each other's spirit in 10 Artifacts scattered around the world. The prophecy says that soon the day in which the battle will finally end is near.
And you awaken the mighty warrior and rule/save/destroy the world. Each campaign might lead to a different end to Ashan, so we'll have 10 different campaigns, all happening in the same time but you controlling a different side. Sounds awesome

Edit: I forgot to post about the Hero...
BeastMaster - Well you are a druid too, only that you chose a different path: not transforming into animals but controlling them and understanding them as friends and companions.
Mount:
Big cats/Crocodile/Wolfs
Maybe you could upgrade the mounts of the hero to, to add better movement or stats. You chose the class of the mount at the beginning, as i said in the other thread.
Skills: Let's say...
•Summoning - summon different animals on the field in new stacks, numbers depend on hero's level.
•Enchanting- Give different powers to the selected units (e.g. Viper bite - gives poison and enhances damage or other... you can think of those too :P ), also duration depends on hero level.

Whew finally i'm done, took me quite some time to finish this

I can't really say that the faction manages to capture my imagination, i mean to the untrained eye it just looks like a horde of animals and i don't see any shape shifting being present at all. And the 7th tier.. well.. can't say i see the sense in that one at all.

hmm ... i think you are right but thats why i specified what type of Humans usually transform in that type because maybe something can be done... and now the idea of the magic unit has come. A witch doctor
Now back to explaining how this will be shapeshifting... At the beginning they all are humans(like i said above) and they have the skill in the spellbook and you choose in which to transform depending on the enemy, this within the battle. And they should have some other spells too but usable only in human form or something like that... The transform takes only a bit of mana and you can transform in the above at will and with no movement penalty(wasting your turn with the transformation), but you can do it only once per turn... For example: You are human bear-master, you transform in black bear and reach 3rd quarter of the field, then transform in grizzly and go atack. If you want to go back to your side of the field you shift in black bear again and go there faster.
To add a bit more balance the shift can be dispelled
Now how does this sound ?
Oh and the spellcaster creature is an old man that simply uses spells and can summon animal spirits as the hero, plus can summon offensive spirits too like ghost wolfs or can take control of one enemy creature up to tier 4 for 1 turn

Not too thrilled about it either, but the tier 7 could be a legendary tiger.

hmm i just read the other posts in this thread and i realize that my faction is very similar to what H5forem was thinking ... only more complete and with different story and community... cool
Also i agree with the fact that the minotaurs should be neutral, maybe should be pumped up to tier 4 level and to be in a labyrinth somewhere in which u find treasures. A cool feature at it would be that some of the army gets lost and dies and the rest get divided in 2 parts and each fight the minotaur(s), eventually they meet at the end and get the treasure, then more units get lost on the way back and die . Hope the treasure was worth it.

I think the main problem with the beast races is that you need more humanoids with them to make them work... I think that if all of the units could shift between human and beast form, that would be interesting. How about some shambling plant/mud things? Now get re-designing!

Just a thought i have been playing with for a while.. but what if Inferno was made to be a less numerous but tougher race ?