Try playing against Hinnom...
Seriously, I ran into an AI Hinnom with mostly positive scales (including growth) and until I managed to crush his main armies, I was in serious trouble. The chariots were brutal. I was playing Abysia and it was the E9F6 Burning Ones and absolutely massive fireball spam that carried the day. If I'd had just one other nation attack me at the same time, I'd have been done for. And that was in an allied game.