EA arcosephele - bless strategy?

[MaxWilson]

Kuritza said:
Rephaelite costs more than two Palankashas, but doesnt have as much offense as two Palankashas (or staying power, for that matter). Also, their summons are inferior to Lanka's (with the exception of Gregori), and their mages arent as good for research and crafting equipment.

IIRC Palankashas have 1 Falchion attack at 12 and 1 defense at 13, and 30 HP. A Rephaelite has 1 Dawn Sword attack at 15 and a horn attack at 12. The Dawn Sword does 30-odd damage and the horn does 22. Palankasha falchions do 26 (this is all IIRC). It looks to me like Rephaelites have at least as much attack as Palankashas. Staying-power-wise, they have as many hit points as two Palankashas, probably worse Enc, a higher defense by 3 but a larger size (which means worse defense than 2 Palankashas against swarms). They also regenerate twice as fast. There are ways in which Palankashas are superior (cost) but Rephaelite <=> Palankasha is IMHO a fair analogy.

When I get home I'll try Wick's heavy-inf rule-of-thumb test and see if the Palankashas can beat more heavy inf and/or Steel Maidens than the Rephaelite.

-Max