[Dragar]

then where would you spend your points? No point having an SC pretender, bonus points for cold, high dominion a bit wasteful if not using blessed woodsmen.. I think high production is a waste given how much you will rely on thugs, when the woodsmen are there for early expansion.. that is the beauty of woodsmen, very cheap resources for a giant, letting you field good armies without production scales, with sloth even. After the early stages you have great thugs and strong mages

I agree that skratti are your best thugs, but shrouding them is awesome if running a powerful bless, far better than any other cheap armour. Shrouds are very useful on your mages too, especially E9N(X<9), giving reinvig and regen to avoid disease HP loss.