[Taqwus]

NTJedi --
Repeating your claims doesn't make them any less wrong.
And Fires From Afar is indeed quite deadly; unlike Ghost Riders, it can even kill mages busily researching inside a fortress, at a FAR earlier stage in the game. It may even have a bias to hit commanders; I've seen a very early cast send out nine bolts, of which perhaps six or seven ignored the patrolling units and instead killed researchers. Neat trick.
You also don't seem to grasp the value of keeping units. Would you play Pythium with just Gladiators? They're remarkably cheap if you ignore the fact that they leave after fighting one battle.