[Norfleet]

Originally posted by PvK:
They only make him rout if he enters combat alone, which he does not have to do to be considered a SC. This is a buggy weakness which detracts from his value, and prevents him from being used effectively in the one specific way of being sent in alone, but it does not make him useless as a SC.

It detracts GREATLY from his value as an SC: Since he can't actually wipe out an army solo, he no longer truly qualifies.

It doesn't even make him useless as a solo fire brigade SC, because you can have minor forces all over the map, and he just needs to coordinate his moves with theirs to have the necessary "cheerleaders" present.

It's hard to guarantee that there will be both a few archers you can use as an anchor (as any melee troops will charge in and die unless you have a cripple squad, which is more unusual), and a commander you can detach to drag them in as your cheerleading section. Even then, if you start lobbing Firestorms, they're all gonna die. Fast.

Having him lead a bunch of devils though is one obvious, simple and effective thing to do.

Sure, but at this point, his role as a commander of a horde of devils has superceded his role as an SC. Unless you bring a reasonably large number of devils, even the devils will die.

I agree the imp/rout thing is a silly bug that cripples one specific way he might be used otherwise. I just object to your over-use and abuse of the term "useless" and related expressions, as in:

Exaggeration. There are other very useful uses, and even some efficient ones, even on the battlefield, as long as someone besides the Moloch and his Imps are present.

Yes, sure, if you want to reduce his role to that of a petty commander and artillerist....there are other pretenders which can accomplish this job just fine, at lesser cost, or enhanced functionality elsewhere.

Only if you insist that the only "SC" use is by strict definition without any accompanying units. Since you responded to Truper's "not in the 'Lone Ranger' mode" point in practical rather than semantic terms, it seems you accept that this is a way the Moloch can be used - you simply find it sub-optimal, because you would prefer to be able to fly in alone without the imp/rout problem, as a PoD can.

If you can't fulfill this requirement, then you tend to fail some of the basic criteria of an SC: Somebody who can crush armies solo: The necessity of towing chaff, which can be quite encumbering, as your selection of chaff that can keep up with you and not die immediately is limited. It's true that the Moloch is a good fighter, but as it is unfeasible to operate him solo without practically guaranteeing your mission fails, perhaps very dramatically, on even mild resistance far below the class of the Moloch itself, he's not really a true SC.

Exaggeration/wrong. You could take him to get cheap higher fire, for magic or for the blessing you yourself mentioned. You could also use him as a flying army commander/combattant.

If you want a flying army commander, for, say, devils, the PoD can work just as well, at reduced cost, and improved functionality: The Moloch gets you the low-cost F9 bless.

Exaggeration/wrong. It won't happen if there are other friendly units present.

Other commanders don't count. Other units tend to slow you down.

Exaggeration/wrong. It's not "useless" to be able to cast, say, Fire Shield on yourself before flying into combat, or Heat From Hell, or some arty spells with very low fatigue cost and very high penetration, before jumping into combat.

That's just throwing on some damage and pain shields and maybe firing off a few potshots before charging into a fight....which you won't get to do if your imps have routed you before you finish. This is fine and good, but doesn't really address the issue.

In the end, the Moloch is currently "cheap fire blessing dude". His effectiveness as a warrior is greatly hampered by his craven cowardice.