[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Skull Earring is quite effective for most level five indies.
Even a Mujina can take out an indie Knight commander long before you can afford the resource loss of your infantry- just see if you can place them back a little. And if you take out all the leaders, then all those knights will flee.

Otoh, a priest kills you and picks up the Skull Talisman? No more assassination.

Not optimal expansion, but it can be a cost-effective way to weaken a key province. Until you've got a spare castle up, though, or are surrounded by unusually difficult independents (e.g. barbarians and an archer free nation), it's often an ineffective use of your commander recruit time.