Crystal Matrix WAD?

[MaxWilson]

I have an A3 mage wearing a Spirit Helm (so A4) and a Crystal Matrix, with another A2 mage in the same army and a Great Hawk, both wearing Slave Matrices, so he should effectively be A5. The A3 mage is scripted to cast Fog Warrior (A5), but for some reason he won't do it if he only has the minimum 3 gems--as if he were burning an extra gem to get up to A6, or as if the Crystal Matrix weren't working. Furthermore, the Great Hawk gets no extra fatigue. Does a Slave Matrix not work on a nonmagical commander? The way I read the manual, having two communion slaves in your army is supposed to boost your Communion Master's effective path level by 1 in every path, and also distribute fatigue evenly between commanders (so all three should get 100 fatigue in my case). I don't think that's what I'm seeing. Have I misunderstood something, or does the Crystal Matrix maybe not work exactly like Communion Master?

-Max Wilson