Re: use of bane lords
 

Well... you could try something like a wraith crown to cover the etherealness and maybe absorb a paralyse or two on useess skeletons.

Use a misc slot for antimagic, and the other for luck. Use Charcoal shield/frost brand, reinvig from either armor or boots, and some decent armor.

But that's really not a whole lot better than what you have, and probably more expensive...

Re: use of bane lords
 

The weapon 'Faithful' can be paired with a Lead Shield. Trades offensive power for defense -- luck and MR, specifically.

A bane lord already radiates cold, if memory serves. If you add another area smackdown, pick a different method like fire or life draining. The same goes for your wraith lords. Your wraith lords will also be ethereal, so that frees up a body slot for, say, Armor of Souls (although you're not using blood, pity), Elemental Armor, Flesh Ward (again, blood), Rainbow Armor (don't need the reinvig that much, unless facing fatigue-causing enemies, but the MR boost might help), Stymphalian Wings... more flexibility than usual.

Note that since your wraith lords start with death magic, you should be able to get them to cast Soul Vortex.

Oh, and beware death mages. Dust to Dust / Wither Bones are unresistable; luck and blood vengeance can help, but armor and MR don't.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Flesh ward is a bit much, but I guess it would work pretty well. Is there a nice battlefield ench. to reduce enemy MR? I don't remember one.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Hm, don't think so. The only way you can hurt an enemy's MR outside of pushing magic scale is by feebleminding, IIRC, and there's no real mass-feebleminding. Nether darts can cause feebleminding to those it hits, and there's the Staff of Kurgi :p and the Black Bow of Botulf for smaller-scale feebleminding.

Re: use of bane lords
 

"I thought Iron Will was Ulm only?"
Nope, thats "Tempering the Will", which affects the entire battlefield (friendlies only). Iron Will affects only one square or one unit, I'm not sure which.

"my mages and top generals (Hangatuns or something) come with air, death, earth and some blood (although i am not using it)"

By any chance are you referring to a Hangadrott?
Are you possibly playing Hellheim, not Vanheim?
Or is it a Vanadrott? Vanheim has the dwarven Smiths, but not much death. Hellheim has the Svartalf (dark dwarf) and sacred flyer Dis. Vanheim has no flyers, but does have an immortal.

Re: use of bane lords
 

yes - i am sorry, definitely playing Hellheim and my generals are called Hangadrotts. My mages are the great Svartalfs (too bad they seem to be capital only).

With respect to avoiding my bane lords being targeted with magic all the time, how about having a lot of Shades accompany them? (i am swimming in death gems).

I thought the Sword of Swiftness was a good idea against hordes of low-level enemies. Why do people seem to prefer Frostbrand / firesword?

Re: use of bane lords
 

No, its very good Svartalfs are capital only. It is too unbalancing otherwise.

Bodyguards are good, I believe bodyguards with more hps or a larger size will be targeted instead of your bane lord.

They have a AOE instead of just targeting 1 opponent. Try it and see the difference. Shadow brand is good as well.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Here's what I use for my raiding Bane Lords playing as Helheim:

Fire Brand; it's all about the AoE attacks. (I like Shadow Brand, but my death gems are precious).
Charcoal Shield; there's nothing that does the job more efficiently.
Horror Helm; sometimes you just have to get them to take off. Works best against indies, however.
Flying Boots; More for the strategic move than for battles. Sometimes you can hold out back and wait, then attack rear to catch the random commanders alone. Flexibility and speed are vital, since you can't have a stealthy Bane Lord.
Lucky Amulet; I think we've covered this one. Bane Lords have such high protection naturally that it takes a lucky roll to do any damage. Making even the lucky hits miss half the time will do wonders for their survivability.
Cat Charm/Anti-Magic Amulet; it depends on your enemy and if you've found good indie mages to forge these. The Cat Charm is cheap enough to throw on for a defense bonus, but the AMA might be better if you're facing priests.
I've found that I'm unsatisfied with most of the cheaper armor; you're better off leaving his plate alone.

Finally, choose your battles carefully. You generally want to fight human-strength enemies that can't do much damage and have a tendency to rout. The larger enemies usually have enough strength to punch through one of the Bane Lord's greatest strength: his default armor. The 0 encumbrance is nice, as well - no need for reinvigoration.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Light of the Northern Star. Although that effects your own MR as well, I believe? Or is that the banner of the northern star? The wielder loses MR... hmm could be getting them mixed up.

Re: use of bane lords
 

Yeah, mork is right. The charcoal shield is the #1 anti-personnel "weapon" for an SC, since it is not limited by the number of attacks of the wielder. The only things that can compare to it are really high level weapons that have area effects like the Stone Sword or the Sickle Whose Crop is Pain.