Yeah, I had a W/E bless, which makes them wicked tough...particularly if I get a chance to cast legions of steel/strength of giants on them with a Yaksha (and weapons of sharpness a little later in the research tree), backed by a bunch of Gurus who seem to like casting unscripted healing light to good effect. If only I'd had a couple more turns...
That bless also works really well for some of the higher end national summons. I definitely want to play Bandar Log again sometime soon...hopefully I'll last a little longer.
Eagle warriors are definitely cool when your opponent isn't expecting them. For me as well some of my favorite moments are when the eagle warriors drop in and cut a bunch of mages to shreds on the first turn. Just ask Meglobob about that.
I've found they tend to struggle a little bit after the surprise factor wears off though and your opponent starts deploying heavy infantry on the flanks for them to get tangled with.