Is black plate worth it?

[jaif]

I like the MA Ulm *shtick*, but in practice I find them not so good. I think the reason is that so many of their cool looking units seem pretty useless in practical terms.

With all the missile weapons out there, shields seem absolutely crucial, so I end up not building the cool looking pikes.

More importantly, I don't find the black plate all that usefull. In the beginning, it's too expensive, and the chainmail guys get the job done nicely. Later on, black plate is nice and all, but by then spells are doing the job and the black plate boys aren't that usefull any more.

I do see some use for black plate armor to build up an early pretender, but later on you want better armor with more bonuses beyond protection.

So, do any of you have a different experience? It's a shame playing ulm and seeing their cool units unused.

-Jeff