[Cainehill]

Spacepain:
I tried Mictlan a few times and was repeatedly whomped, same goes with Machaka, Vanheim, Ermor (all 3 themes), etc...

Machaka I've played several times and (after initial confusion) done pretty well against the easy AI, up until the demo turn limit kicks in at least.

One thing that helped me was figuring out that Machaka's best spider units (Hunter Lords / Black Hunters - the others, imo, need a priest for morale) are great, especially with any half-decent blessing bonus. Great morale, armor, movement rates, and the Hunters are sacred, so cheap to maintain even if expensive to buy.

Machaka's Bane Spider assasin/scouts are also great - the heaviest armored assassins I've seen in the demo, good weaponry and morale. Quite capable of dealing with most commanders (cavalry are one notable exception - Bane Spider on a stick).

I'm not huge yet on the magic myself - haven't forged an item in 50+games, and limitted magic. Still - some summonables are grand - Summer Lions (Conjuration 4, requires Fire Magic 3) for example. But mostly magic has been in a supporting role to melee combat.

Good luck.