Player controlled battles???

[Taqwus]

To clarify my thoughts on manual control, magic and balance:

Consider the assorted "instant death" spells (soul slay, disintegrate, et al), certain other vicious bits of nastiness (nether darts comes to mind, as does leech and perhaps even Hand of Death). A magically talented pretender, especially one that could fly, would likely be used to kill leaders with rather extreme efficiency. Imagine one capable of flying behind enemy lines and tossing Blade Wind on the hapless AI commanders, or flying back and forth while doing Shimmering Fields from behind the enemy. Or fly to rear, summon lammashastas or other nasties, return. Even without strong magic, a pretender might be much more efficient; e.g. targeting commanders with the Black Bow of Botulf or the lightning bow.

I'm not at all sure that encouraging such dominance would be a good thing, especially if the AI weren't as good at using such tactics. It would certainly affect balance significantly, and that's something that deserves careful consideration before trying.