Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

So the argument of paying more up front but earning your money back and more in kills over time doesn't work for you, I take it :P If your mage is killing 100g of enemy units per battle, then it doesn't take long at all for the mage to earn its cost back. And upkeep is cheaper to pay for than the cost of hiring new units all the time. Mages allow you to spend less money on continually hiring new units to do the killing by doing the killing of a decent number of troops every turn, with little risk to the mage.

Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

If you want to run a communion of thunderstrikers, try this set up:

8 Pythium Theurges: com master, thunderstrike x4
Any random A2 mage: Wind Guide, spells
16+ communicants (auto communion-slave casters)

Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

Pardon the stupid question: what is aim?

Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

They're talking about the level 1 Alteration spell, Aim. It improves a few units' precision.

Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

Even in the case of battles alone that doesn't work very well. A squad of principes suffers from significant attrition in basically every battle, mages hidden at the back don't. Granted, neither do small scale hydra squads and such (unless it is a battle you lose), but the mage is basically worth principes and their replacements for as long as the mage survives. When you look at the sort of kill counts these mages get, in troop cost alone they usually pay for themselves.

On a side note, there is also the matter of being able to turn mages into much more temporary thugs that will suffer attrition at higher rates, but be more more dangerous while they last. Mistform and a series of Shock Waves can do a lot of damage to an enemy army.

Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

So let me post a strategy I found fairly effective, and maybe this will help explain why I consider other strategies comparitively ineffective.

MA Tien Chi
80xImperial Crossbowmen -- 1000 gold
8xImperial Geomancer -- 640 gold
1 astral pearl - eq 50? 100 gold?
20 PD - 210 gold

So depending on how you add it up, this is equivalent to 2000 gold, or a 200 troop army.

First 6x geomancers scripted to: Communion Slave, hold, 3xGift of Heaven
Geomancer #7 scripted to: Communion Master, Summon Earth Power, 3xhold
Geomancer #8 scripted to: Communion Master, Power of the Spheres, 3xhold (he has the 1 pearl)

The result? 54 meteors plowing into the enemy ranks -- the bigger the opposing force, the more effective, but I imagine this would also do a reasonable job against elite forces, thugs, and SCs. Meanwhile, the crossbowmen supply additional damage to cause routing, and hold up reasonably well in melee combat.

What other combinations can obliterate 100 or so enemy troops of an opposing force before they have a chance to reach your troops, using only 640 gold worth of mages, only one gem, and without causing significant collateral damage?

Re: Thunderstrike - what am I missing?
 

If you don't mind a little collateral damage, I had an Eagle King go from 0 kills to 240-odd kills and catapult to the top of the HoF by a single casting of Wrathful Skies :)