Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

I always liked summons that get you lots of free units over time. Those are:

**scratch trolls, my bad**
Draconians
Most Elemental Royalty
Vampire Lord

Anything that makes free units usually sits in a province making free units unless I need it to do something specific.

I always look for cost effective ways to build armies. Units that make free units are high on my list.

Second highest are units or things that can be massed cheaply or units that facilitate the massing of cheap units:

Tree lords & Ivy Kings
Lamia Queens

Spells that allow me to conjure massive numbers of units with no notice allow me to store up gems and then use them as a surprise attack or defense. Any spell that conjures a large number of useful units is good for this especially if it's also cheap and I have a lot of mages that can summon them:

Seasonal Spirits
Wyverns/Drakes (given access to Dragon Master)
Shade Beasts (kinda meh, but early masses can be quite formidable)
Spirits of the Wood (I love these dryads btw. They can't heal away from home, so send a nature mage with them to heal them in the field)
Naiad Warriors (don't usually have enough Water magic for these guys)
Fire Snakes (don't usually grab these, no experience with them...)
Enliven Statues (don't usually get these either)
Reanimate Archers (these are sexy)
etc.

Again, I don't presummon large masses of these units. I wait until I know what I'm going to do with them before I whip them out because by keeping the gems instead of the units in reserve I don't give my opponent the ability to develop a counter-strategy (other than a similar summon-on-reserve action) before he has to deal with them.

Oh! I also love Great Eagles. They're made with air gems, can thug quite nicely with a luck pendant/regen ring, and great for their primary purpose... keeping spies and assassins out of your provinces. This goes for any similar patrol unit like the Simargl or Celestial Hound.

And I absolutely love summonable spy units since I don't have to spend a castle turn to make them. Black Servants and Likhos from Bogarus (Likhos are really neat spies).

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

Neither the Troll King nor the Sea King makes free units. The Sea King makes water gems, but takes a long time to pay off his cost.

There are generally better uses for Elemental Royalty than to sit around making chaff, but I do tend to have them do that rather than research when they're not actively needed on the front lines.

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

Ah right, right... he makes free gems... mb. I have elemental royalty summon their little free units any time they're not doing anything else, but yes, frequently are better used as SCs than sitting at home. Fortunately, you don't need a lab to summon.

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

While both very stealthy and "really neat", Likhos are not spies (cannot instill uprisings, etc.) They do increase misfortune in their province though, which can lead to negative events that in turn increase unrest...

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

Could you elaborate for Bears? Hawks are OK as they can be used to attack enemy rear.

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

Agree about already mentioned Living Statues. They are quite useful.
Longdead Horsemen and Storm Demons were also mentioned. I often use Spirit Mastery while playing Death power - they are quite a good tarpit for many enemy elites. As for earlier units...
Black Servants are sometimes used as thugs with cheap equipment. Vine men could be used as tarpit if you have no alternative.

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

They're 2.5 E apiece, have high hit points, good MR and are ethereal. Even with no support they can be pretty effective blockers (depending on what you're facing obviously), slap on wooden warriors (or better stuff once your magic ramps up) and it takes quite awhile to chew through the buggers while the enemy mages keep targeting them because of their hps. They're not gonna be winning battles for you singlehandedly, but they can do a pretty good job of taking the heat off of whatever you have that will.

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

Don't forget crossbreeding especially when you have positive luck (being Mictlan or Pagaea, for example)

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

I once lost key battle to a squad of flanking shade beasts. A half dozen somehow made it through banishment span and a small picket line. They "got into" the mages and that was all she wrote.
Ssj

Re: Worthwhile summons (early to mid)
 

Short answer: most aren't worth it.

Long answer: with normal gold/gem frequency, it seems to me one gem is worth 25 gold. So for any summonable creature, ask yourself if it can defeat two of your enemy's normal troops, or one elite troop -- per gem cost.

If you're playing with more gems or less gold, summonables become much better. More gold or less gems, and they're only good for unique situations.