Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

Elementals are crazy cool. They're just there, and they just pound on stuff until it's *all* elemental http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

Not the attentive statues (enchant 3). I'll see if i can suggest any low level summons.

Summon Cave Drake -
Got soft, fleshy humans who can't take arrows but can dish out some damage? Summon an earth drake or two. They have a good strength value, though the low attack means you won't summon them for their damage. They have a whopping 58 hitpoints, 22 protection, and a nice 14 MR. Add in the size, and they make a lovely distraction. When they do get in close combat, they are capable of killing puny human things, when they hit.

Reanimation: Not worth building an entire game strategy around, but I've used them succesfully in some short term raidingstrategies. They can raid from water provinces, and with a Revenant you can cast them there, too.

Black Servant: If you've got the gem income, summon one, give him a rod of the leper king, and give him some shades/shade beasts. Voila, EA Ctis now has a stealthy attack force. With a follow-up force of real troops, I've used this to win wars. Even the easy AI will be able to adapt fairly quickly, but on a cramped map, it can be a devastating and unexpected strategy, that will cripple a small nations economy, and make it much tougher for them to counter-attack.

The whole wight-banelord line is generally thought of in terms of super combatants, and the lowly wight is usually ignored, because something much better is around the corner.
However, the wight jumps in value with certain nations, such as LA Atlantis.
The normal weakness of the wight strategy is that they are hard to mass, don't play well with friendlies (thanks to that chill), and despite their 17 morale, its rather easy to rout a small group.
If your nation has built in cold resistance, you don't have to worry nearly as much about what happens when close combat occurs and everybody joins into a big clump. With some units, you can even group them in the same squad with your mundanes. Throw in water magic, and a captain perpetually spamming nothing but Numbness with an Ice Pebble Staff, and most temperate nations will start dropping like flies to fatigue. Mages would be a good replacement, but the ones I need with LA Atlantis are too much on the pricy side, and capital only. And I don't have much to spend water gems on.

There are some I really want to try out as Atlantis. Hidden in Snow (conj 6) looks even better than Wights, but pricier. The Winter Wolves (conj 4) are ethereal with a chill of 6. The Ice Drake (conj 2) is available for some early muscle, though I haven't tried it out yet.

While I haven't figured out even a loose strategy yet, but Streams from Hades is practically begging for a strategy to be built. I mean, a stealthy, recuperating, fear causing, amphibious, dark vision, dddwwww mage? What's not to like, other than 0 protection and 10 hitpoints? Though as Atlantis, the Kokythiad is magically redundant.

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

Those sea serpents you get at the same time you get the drakes are really good too, especially if you have the capacity to heal the afflictions they seem to accumulate

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

Don't forget about the Black Servant thug.

Black Servant with a couple cheap items (black steel armor, maybe lucky pendant or horror helm) does well solo against PS and some indies. Stealthy, ethereal, no fatigue.

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

But against even basic indy priests black servant thugs(which i love) can drop like flies(13 or so MR iirc).

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

It's a bit much for just a thug, but don't forget the Spectral Mage (Summon Spectre, Conj6, 20 death gems). Reasonably affordable for a nation with death income, it's better than a Revenant and Black Servant combined. 25 hitpoints, MR 16.

You can drop the Rod of the Leper King and still lead shades, and use your life drain. Depending on randoms and boosters, you can battle-summon skeletons as well, to 'flesh' out your forces, metaphorically speaking.

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

The EA Agartha's Rhuax Pact and... errr... whatever the other one is called. It's a garage sale all the way.

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

Another one to really consider building a strategy around is your basic kraken summons-lots of attacks and a tough unit, and fairly cheap. The problem is, they're pretty far up on the research tree. If you can get these guys en masse though, and start casting Quickness on them left and right, you've got an underwater force to be reckoned with.

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

Only 1 level above sea serpents(although early that can be alot). Krakens can, if nothing else, keep you safe until you reach the sea trolls/shark attack combo.

Re: Summons to build a strategy around....
 

EA's agartha's Rhaux Pact rocks yes.