Whoah theres a lot of micro management in this game

[Question]

My main issue with it is that if you buy a combat pretender, you only get to use him for a limited time before afflictions and horror marks render him useless (mute/feeble mind even destroys his ability to research or summon).

Meanwhile if i pay for a 0 pt cost archmage or other equavelent, i can use him from the start for research, site searching and mage support in combat, and hes likely to be safe in the backrow.

One thing i noticed about spells like legion of steel and other AOE : 25 spells is that when my mage casts the spell, only a limited number of units in the squad seems to be getting buffed. Typically this is the center-back rows of the block...the front rows of the block dont seem to be getting the buff at all, even though the graphic effect is large enough to cover them. And if i script mages to cast the spell more than once, it still doesnt help. Why?