But do you really like SC in dominions2 ?

[Saber Cherry]

alexti said:National armies are cheap and easily replaceable

I've heard a lot of people claim this and never found it to be true. Quite the opposite. SCs are cheap and easily replacable (Bane Lord, Tartarian, etc) if you have the magic levels to create them. National armies require huge investments (esp. in resources and supply items), and I find effective anti-SC techniques are always harder to make than SCs. As for rushing - of course you have to rush, to get the best (unique or limited) SCs, and double-rush if you want to make them invincible with unique artifacts too. Otherwise you're left summoning weak fallen angels because all of the ice devils and arch devils are taken.

Where do the cheap and easily replacable national armies come from? I've never seen or built one, except when I play Ashen Ermor. Every MP game I've played (not many) was dominated by SCs as soon as they were researched. I like to play single player because AIs don't use SCs, and the game is more fun and strategically + tactically interesting if I have to use real armies instead of just moving my SCs around without even bothering to check what's in the target provinces, because the outcome is assured. So I don't use SCs in my single player games anymore because it feels like cheating.

If making each SC took resources similar to a huge national army, that would be OK. But they simply don't, and have huge advantages in mobility, supply usage, and upkeep on top of that.