[jBrereton]

Thing 1: Yeah, TNN has big problems with endgame magic. Basically you're going to have to try to get some thugs up and win as fast as possible by just taking your opponents' territory. If you're playing with CBM1.94 (which you absolutely should), Bean Sidhes are good for making gear with a discount.

On remote searching: if you don't have the paths to have your mages (especially cap-only mages) able to travel around the map instantly, it's pretty valid. TNN might have it easier than some, with A2 giving you Cloud Trapeze (a type of Teleportation at Enchantment 4) for 3 air gems and Ris having alrightish diversity to search with, but some nations like *shudder* MA Pan get none of that.

Site-searching 'in person' is pretty sluggish. Totally understandable with a rainbow pretender (lots of little paths) as someone like MA Marignon that gets utterly garbage paths. But for other nations like Tien Chi, with lots of x2 paths, I'd rather have a few mages acting as a kind of searching artillery battery from the capital.



Thing 2: Difficult to tell, always. If you're doing relatively well in the charts for research (how well that is will vary by nation), it's often worth sending mages off with your army.




Thing 3, Commander Survival: This is one of those "nothing ventured, nothing gained" type things, although there are some 'thug chassis' that are better than others. One of the best is the Bane Lord, because:

- They have relatively high health
- As undead, they don't get fatigue without casting
- They have Fear
- They have a Cold aura
- At Conjuration 5, D4, and 12 gems, they're not super difficult to get hold of
- They have all the 'normal' slots, meaning they can get an X Brand (area attack 1h weapon), shield (Gleaming Gold fan for Awe, myself), Helmet (like a Horror Helm for extra Fear), Armour (Rainbow for +MR is always good) and Misc for Luck and +MR.

It's not cheap in gems, but it is a very good combination to kill PD and armies with, especially in teams.

Other good candidates are summons like Sleepers, basically any of the mounted mage commanders like Vanir or Ris, and other commanders (especially sacred ones, so they can be made regenerating for the affliction reduction, or reinvigorated to keep fatigue as close to 0 as possible) with good Att/Def, MR and strategic mobility (at least 2 Map Movement).





Thing 4:

Nope, you have to kill your units off to get rid of them. Many an expensive but old and feebleminded cap-only mage has been sent off to the wilderness to die to enemy PD, and the seas are often littered with the diseased bodies of LA Rlyeh's expensive-to-maintain but fairly crap freespawn.