War machines in Heroes V.

I played very often with the upgraded catapult and learned to tear down both towers and the gates on the first and second turn... Even though I don't like summoning magic, this is more relevant for me. Although as a Necromancer you are headed straight for summoning, but I play them extremely rarely. And I didn't say that in the first case the mage would die, and in the second he wouldn't... it's just that a catapult is always there, whereas what you wrote: earthquake, hypnosis, etc., are already random factors (this is off-topic, but I had a case in Heroes 3 where a fully built Mages Guild with a library in Tower didn't give me a single attacking spell... since then I've been wary of randomness 8)) ). A lot depends on the players here, but for me (in prolonged games) it was always difficult to storm mages, because three shooters and two flyers supported by thick meat and naturally an upgraded mage make you strain.