[Rookierookie]

Try these thugging options with E9N6 Sidhe Lords:

Option 1: Vine shield + Rainbow Armor. That's 20 gems.
Script Blessing, Air Shield, Mistform, Resist Lightning, Soothing Song, Cast spells

With Con-4, Alt-3 and Evo-2, your Sidhe Lords will cast Shock Wave which will wipe out AI chaff. You should have enough reinvig and regen from the bless to survive a long time, but you can also slap on the Ring of Regen and the Amulet of Resilience to help, or put on a Ring of Tamed Lightning and skip the Resist Lightning part, which brings the gem cost up a little. But the above setup can be mass produced and is quite survivable.

Options 2: Snake Bladder Stick + Vine Shield + Rainbow Armor. 25 gems.
Script Blessing, Resist Poison, Air Shield, Mistform, Soothing Song, Attack Closest.

Needs Con-4 and Alt-3, is a little easier on the fatigue, and will do bad things to non-poison immune troops. You can slap on a snake ring and spare yourself Resist Poison for another 5 gems, or additional reinvig/regen in a misc slot.

All these are achievable with relatively little research, can be mass produced, and the vine shield is the only thing that cannot be forged by the Sidhe Lords themselves (and you always have mages who can forge them).