[Uh-Nu-Buh]

Original Question: Wand of Wildfire, or Phoenix Wand.

Straightforward No-Nonsense Answer: It depends.

If you are dealing with large enemy armies, then go for Wildfire. Bolster your defense with 3 small platoons of heavy infantry set to guard. Put them a little forward of your mages, and one up and one down, to take out arrows and fast units. Use entangle to slow the enemy down. Use non-mage commanders with high precision. 5 fireballs can do some real damage!! Think of this as indirect fire artillery.

However, if you are facing smaller armies, then use the Phoenix Rods. They always hit, they do a lot of damage to individual units. They get the job done. They will cream even elite units and powerful monsters. Think of these as direct fire big guns. Again, I would give them some bodyguards, and possibly some nature mages throwing entangle or whatnot.