[Kel]

I am not the most experienced player but...I think that SC's definitely do make *most* regular armies obsolete in the late game (though mages for many nations can always be deadly in mass, try a communion based nation like arco/pythium). Eventually, wishing for doom horrors, by all accounts, is going to make your HI pretty meaningless.

What I don't necessarily agree with is that this is a problem. If the game was always dependent on basic troops, I think every game would end with people getting bored and quitting after hundreds of turns of marching HI around the board, with the way the game currently flows.

Additionally, it is clear, by looking at pretenders, that the developers have tried to make pretender SC's a viable option for either the early game or the late game but not both (notice how most good early SC's have limited item slots ?). Not withstanding a couple of SC's VQ that might violate this rule...

I am not sure what maps you are playing on but you might try a larger map. Your armies will always be busy trying to expand and conflicts that you have will occur over more territories than you can cover.

- Kel