good races for/against newbies.

[magnate]

Yes the NJ has water magic, but can only cast quickness on himself, at least until Alteration 8. The W9 blessing gives all his accompanying troops quickness and +4 def.

Why not bring a Gygja along to cast relief? I don't understand why the role of the Jarl as an SC makes a difference to that. Unless you're assuming that SC Jarls would have no troops with them. Then yes, you just give them reinvig items. And no need for W9 bless I guess - but then level 9 blessings are pretty pointless on tiny numbers of SCs, they're more useful on large numbers of cheaper units (in this case Woodsmen). Plus you need units for sieges.

Ho hum.