[Verjigorm]

I didn't like the "Oriead Thug" concept either for several reasons:

1. Orieads only have 10hp, so even with all of their protections up, they still get killed frequently by a single lucky hit.

2. Awe is nice, yes, but it can be countered easily by berserk units. Orieads, if left to their own devices rather than being scripted to attack, will spam Stream of Life until units get in range of Shockwave. One Berserk unit made in this way will utterly ignore the Awe aura.

3. Mistform is countered by magic weapons.

A 400gp mage that has easy access to reinvigoration and items thereof can cast a lot of battle magic. Is it really worthwhile to take such a unit and have it run into melee? I certainly don't like seeing an Oriead surrounded by a swarm of units. Against indie units, fine, they do quite well, but not against an enemy player's army.

Why would I want the Orieads (whose numbers are rather limited) to fight armies when I could use them to assassinate commanders? Their thugging ability is provable, but against a great host, they are always endangered. Why not use their power against a smaller force of usually a single mage or commander, or at most such a commander and 10 body guards?