[sushiboat]

You get what you pay for. Basic commanders are cheap and frail, so they aren't good candidates for expensive equipment or hand-to-hand combat.

A non-mage commander can be good for holding a spell-casting item. He can't cast any other spells, so if you set him to Cast Spells, you can be 100% sure of what he will cast. Item spells cause only 5 fatigue, so he will be fully active for the first 20 turns.

I am not sure I understand the problem. Any particular unit can't do everything well. There are commanders who can fight well (e.g., Bane Lord, summoned uniques). Basic commanders can't. So it goes.