[MaxWilson]

Yeah, it is tough to wipe out the whole army. To that end I'm cranking out Wraith Lords with Boots of Flying, with the intention of cutting off their lines of retreat (so the whole army dies when it routs). That will also require semi-strong defense in various provinces, to prevent enemy armies from splitting up. I hate buying PD, but in this case buying 10 PD + cheap indies in all my provinces on the border may be a good idea. Anvil, meet hammer.

It's funny that you mention that about bad gold economy vs. good item economy. I got into Dominions because someone compared it to Master of Magic, and in MoM the problem was just the opposite of Dominions: regular units were really cheap and usually free on upkeep (because Fame offsets gold cost), while summoned units were expensive in mana to keep around. I'm still trying to rewire my instincts to use more summons. It turns out if you spend all your gold every turn on military units, your net income shrinks exponentially by 6% per turn unless you're using them up in a war. I have this reflexive tendency to blow all my money every turn on Svartalf researchers...

(At least I can obliterate any army that comes near my research fort, though. "Face the wrath of the angry librarians!")

-M.D.W.