[Chazar]

Using small maps (10-12 per participating player) is all it takes make the game to progress quicker, where there isnt simply enough time to accumulate the gems necessary for lots of summonings... How long do your games take? Are they over after 40-60 turns?

Another thing is the playstyle: If all player wait and built-up, national troops are a burden by their upkeep alone. As soon as there is one aggressive player around, the game changes, as gems are burned by mages on the battlefield rather than hoarded and turned into summonings...

But you are still right somehow: resources, upkeep, food, slow movement are much too much trouble for troops which get burned away by the next mage, if there are so many upkeep free non-eating critters around, which actually survive a blast and deal damage all by themselves. National troops can use a little boost (see mods) and battlespells should have casting times longer than a single turn.

There are boosting spells, but most are area-1 or battlefield wide and I agree that there should be more 10-area boosts and more of the barksin variety, which also have some drawbacks...