Blood Nation Woes

[UninspiredName]

I've been having trouble trying to get blood strategies right. I'm at the point where I can make a pretty reliable economy without destroying my income, but I can't seem to make it give a return. So far I've tried three nations, but it never turns out quite right.

Lanka's mages are too pricey/capitol only for massing and too lacking in fire/water/earth for devils/frost fiends/demon knights, and nationals don't seem to give much of an alternative for standard combat.

LA Ulm... I've had some success massing serpent fiends and spamming summon imp, but serpent fiends take a long time to build up and are sort of vulnerable, and members of the second tier only get two summons before collapsing. I can't seem to outfit the Vampire Counts well enough and frequently enough to turn the tides of battle either.

EA and LA Mictlan is a big pain to get a supply of slaves coming in, since you also need them for sacrificing, and all half-decent Blood mages are capitol-only as well as old, excluding tribal kings, but they don't have many useful summons. MA with a 6 or 7 Blood pretender has worked okay as well, but that takes a long time to set up.

When it comes down to it, I just don't know how to spend my Blood Slaves. By its very nature, Blood magic weakens your recruitable military might, but I can't field any worthwhile demons to make up for it. I'm still not that good, and blood strategies as a whole might just be over my head, but I would appreciate any help nonetheless.