Basic Battle Tactics?

[JimMorrison]

Originally Posted by Akela

So I guess in general I've been fielding large squads, primarily to avoid routing but I was also trying to take efficient advantage of the spells that affect a whole squad, like Strength of Giants. I did notice however that a lot of them weren't getting into the mix very often.

Don't take the text -too- literally. There are no spells that specifically affect a "squad". They either are single target, have a specified AOE, or are Battlefield wide. Pay close attention to the battle replays, and watch how the AOE spells are targeted, and you will start to get a good feel for how many castings you need in order to get most units, etc.

Originally Posted by Akela

Now, if I break these units up into smaller squads, is it better to have 1 commander with 5 squads, or 5 commanders with 1 squad each. (Let me guess, it depends right?)

There is no functional difference. The primary consideration, is that no matter what you do, you may lose a commander or 2 or 3 when you least expect it (and/or especially when Storming castles). So having some spares around is always a good thing (I generally try to maintain at least twice the needed command in any army, just in case).