Well every X-bow out there except the Hoburg is pricy in resources; thus you must build a Castle on it to be useful; while your main castles are left to build either Glaive, Spear/Shield Infantry, Compositebowmen, or Horsemen (bleh).

The Glaives are okay; but they get mowed down quite fast. I wish they would strap on a little more armor to them. An added bonus is they get torn up by your own missle fire; so once someone routs, your Glaive squad(s) are mincemeat.

I think the main fault is not having a cavalry to speak of. If they had more than a mediocre cavalry (like Barbarian Kings) they would at least have a shot at throwing back a heavy wave, or tearing up an enemy xbow core.

I think that is the main problem, because even the summons you get from using a Celestial Master (Wyverns) that you would use for Cavalry purposes get chewed up by your forced use of arrowfire.

Arrow Fend is out of reach of most Celestial Masters or Mot5E, but with a Power of the Spheres and a Shield they can do it. But I don't feel using 1 spell is the answer to a race/theme. At least unless they start with it .

I'm probably just playing them wrong ;/ I do have a fast start for S&A though, not as fast as a true quick race, but enough I wouldn't feel crippled. It's the midgame that really is cruel on S&A, with not enough Demons to make a heavy core, and no units to bolster those that you have.