[thejeff]

I didn't bother with the mod, just didn't recruit any nationals. Only played a few turns to see how indies went.
If I'd been a bit more cautious, I would have been recruiting lizard shamen from turn 6 or so and taking 2 provinces a turn. (Less if I stopped to search with the pretender)
But, yes the AI armies would be challenging. And the micromanagement of recruiting a couple troops from every province every turn was already annoying.

VQ maybe, but phoenix is useless without research. So are the lichs. I think that's it for the non-nation specific immortals.
I'm not sure what to do with the VQ. 23 hp 0 prot, no fear. Life drain is nice, but a couple of hits would finish her. You'd have to add paths to get any useful buffs, then research 6-7 turns before attacking.