Pls explain how early summoning spells are useful

[Sandman]

Howl is a great spell, especially on mountain and forest terrain. Anything that can disrupt casters is worth a look.

[thejeff]

I'll also use Call of Winds for sieges. If I've taken a fort's province with a small army, SC or a few bless troops, the addition of 20 flying siegers can help alot in knocking the walls down.

[jutetrea]

Unless desperate I just find the gem usage more appropriate to crafting and dominating the globals. Although it seems what usually happens is that i dominate the globals, and by that point I don't really need summons any more unless its a specific magic type. Although trolls are great if you can afford em. Cast 2 earth and 1 sea in a province and you have an army that'll go for quite awhile.

[Gandalf Parker]

vinemen can really supplement an army early in the game. They dont eat, and they have high morale. Vine Ogres can be even better.

Wyverns can be handy as a flanker. Set them far to the sides of the combat (the top and bottom of the formation screen). You can have it attack archers immeadiately or set to hold-and-attack rearmost. I generally find that having my archer-attackers at the top of the screen and my attack-rearmost flankers at the bottom seems to work best against the usual AI setup.

The spell "awaken sleeper" can give you a great commander at a time when you might really need him. He leads alot of troops, of any type (including magical and undead). He has good hitpoints, strength, just about any stat. I like to give him the Thunder Bow because it specifically uses his strength.

Generally, the summons need to be used for their best attributes, not as replacements for regular troops. The stealthy ones are great to add to a stealthy army, the fliers can help add some variety to flying armies or other places that you need fliers, the mages can be very useful to fill in magic areas you dont get otherwise, and the ones that can be dropped into provinces you dont own yet are great for suddenly taking areas that you find the enemy has weekly defended.

[General_Jah]

thanks for the tips guys!

[SelfishGene]

I love Fire Drakes! They rock mixed with mechanical men. For an off-fire nation, or one with fire-immune troops, they offer some nice short ranged support. That doesn't mean you're not better off using those gems for somethign else. Generally i raise them only in emergencies.

[Blitz]

Behemoths are expensive, but very attainable in the early-game, and come just one level after raise skeletons at Enchantment 4. I like to mix behemoths in with my C'tis troops on my way up the enchantment tree. While early summons are rarely cost-effective when compared to their late-game counterparts, there are a few which stand out in the death tree. Outside of death, I rarely if ever use summons except the occasional seasonal while desperate and under siege.

[Aleph]

Certainly, look carefully at nationals. Mictlan, Agartha, LA Pangea, likely others live and die by their national summons, even early on. I'd even go so far as to say that the whole reason to play EA Agartha is their ridiculously efficient and easily summoned nationals (well, that and the mix of Blade Wind and Magma Bolts that their Earth Readers can toss around).