Couple of questions

[Morkilus]

OG_Gleep said:
Is there any other race, like Ulm, who really need to build national melee commanders?

I would say Nifelheim has this requirement more than anyone else, since indie commanders tend to die to the various cold radiance that their units sometimes produce, and their ideal commander/mage (Nifel Jarl) is way to expensive to recruit every turn. Hence, you make Herses or their various priest types if you can afford it. They can melee well when blessed, I've seen a prophetized Jotun Jarl take down weak indies by himself. I haven't tried base Pan without using their mages heavily, but I imagine their commanders would be pretty good thugs as well. Trouble is, there are never enough castles at the beginning of the game, and when I DO build them, I get research-greedy and summon mages anyway