Re: Equipment: which to use and what to avoid?
 

Gauntlets of gladiator have 6 attacks in CBM.
They are two-handed, so without shield SK may be somewhat vulnerable to crowds (but they have niches anyway).
Where gauntlets may really shine, I think, it is a battle with other SK's. Give an undead SK (if not undead, he may be fatiqued pretty quickly) these gauntlets and boots of quikness - he would have twelve attacks per turn. Even being blinded, such SK is dangerous for many creatures.

Re: Equipment: which to use and what to avoid?
 

EA Caelum, Magic +1 Owl Quill 60gp Spire Horn Seraph give I think 5 research.

Cheap.

Re: Equipment: which to use and what to avoid?
 

The whip that does the entangle is *very* worthwhile vs sc's.
The demon whip aint great but its cheap AoE.

Re: Equipment: which to use and what to avoid?
 

how about bows? I've never used them on thugs (apart from batteries of banefire-bow-wielding commanders when playing la atlantis - that proved to be quite fun but there had to be several for the volley to have any serious effect, plus hitting my own troops was a common occurrence)
so how effective are they? off the top of my head I'd say a frost brand is always the better choice, but I could easily be wrong

Re: Equipment: which to use and what to avoid?
 

Archery is a separate branch from thuggery in many ways, but magic bows can be very useful. Bow of War, Botolf, and the AN bows all have their place.

sure, on an assassin or thug killer, but how about other uses? eliminating tough units maybe?

Re: Equipment: which to use and what to avoid?
 

For killing tough units, AN bows as I mentioned. Botolf is also an option because the feeblemind it inflicts will lower MR, helping mages to kill said tough unit.

Bows don't really do the same job as brands, so comparing the two is tricky.