A nice commander

[PvK]

Good points. I forgot that the trident gave quickness. In that case, Chainmail of Displacement or Marble Armor are two good ones.

[Kalin]

IMO, if you're just playing against the AI, the best thing for the guy is to cast the global enchantment "Gift of Health" and keep him inside your dominions. That should help him survive a lot longer.

As for armor, if you have some nice blessing, the cheap 5 Astral Shroud of the Battle Saints might work well (unless you already prophet him). Chainmail of Displacement is good, but you already have 30 def, and it will rise as time passes due to the heroic ability, so you're better off using something like the Robe of Missile Protection, or Robe of Invulnerability. Heck, even the Robe of Shadows for etherealness will work if you are using boots of stone.

My recommendation:
Champion's Trident
Spirit Helmet (his main attack)
Robe of Shadows (ethereal)
Boots of Stone (prot)
Pendant of Luck (luck)
Amulet of Antimagic (just in case)

... and gift of health.

I run pretty much the same setup on most games on my starting commander/prophet, with the exception of the Trident, and they usually survive until the end.

[pangstrom]

A related question/suggestion.

I've tried to use the werewolf charm (or lupine amulet or whatever) a couple times when I've semi-accidentally made a weak indy commander borderline thug-worthy through the hall of fame. Unfortunately the guy died once, and the game ended the other time. I assume his basic stats will be better if he ever transforms, and he'll keep his experience/hero boosts, but do werewolfs have all the same equipment slots?

Like PvK, I like doing this kind of thing if I've got the "breathing room" in the game, or if I suddenly have a lot of extra equipment due to commander deaths or whatever. I especially like caveman champion thugs, for some reason. They're just fun for me to root for I guess.

[Kalin]

The werewolves DO have the slots, and somewhat better stats, but you will be stuck with the Lychantropos' Amulet (cursed), and thus will be losing that one special slots. Further more, it also causes you to go berserk, and that's just not a good thing when you want to keep some tiny HP commanders alive.

[Teraswaerto]

Werewolves have regeneration though, something you'd usually use a Ring of Regeneration for, so the lost misc slot doesn't matter that much.

[Kalin]

I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't use a ring of regeneration on a commander with less than 20 HP... regening a pitiful 2 HP per round just isn't worth it, and there are better ways to get rid of status ailments. Besides, if you want werewolves, just cast call of the wild, and you will have one without the useless Lychantropos' Amulet...

[SelfishGene]

What about Lychanthropes amulets on Vampire Counts? Without being ethereal these Ulmish vamps are somewhat rather weak, but i'd like them to be more creative than just a 3d skelespammer. I could then kit them out with some earth armor and make them, hopefully, not instantly worthless thugs.