Yeah, and they take away a huge number of movement points... And Flight on Expert difficulty for air magic is basically the same as regular movement in terms of MP consumption. And how will it help if you have "short legs" because of the golems? You won't get far.
And most importantly, even the enhanced golems barely trudge along in the rearguard during battle. They don't deal much damage, and besides, they can't be resurrected.
Personally, I keep them not because of some theoretical conclusions, but because I see that they practically never get a chance to move in battle. I'd rather take strong neutrals in that slot, especially since a powerful army will definitely be joined by someone.
And in general: who will guard the Castle?! Or will you teleport back and forth throughout the game? And what if the main hero is in a location without "housing" at the time of the Castle attack? Then you have to trudge back through seas and oceans?
Added 8 minutes ago
As practice shows, gremlins are always killed. It's their karma, you have to accept it.:smile51: By the way, mages don't have a penalty for melee combat; if they hit, it's as effective as a ranged attack. And genies in tier 3 are not given much attention by the AI.
As for liches specifically, enhanced gargoyles will reach them and pin them down before they even decide who to "pay attention to"...
They won't rush to the genies. They will rush to the gremlins or other ranged units. And in general, if there are 5 genies, they're doomed, but if there are 55, then I feel sorry for whoever reaches them. By the way, upgraded genies are faster than titans. And noticeably stronger than sprites.
And in general, speaking for myself, I try to resurrect everyone. :smile50:
Excellent!!-)) but there are a few BUTs!
1. Resurrection is not always possible and not always immediate (on 200% difficulty).
2. Strong neutrals that will "definitely join" a strong army is very debatable!! Even a hero with expert diplomacy doesn't always have his own troops join when there are exactly the same troops in the army (and in large numbers)!!... and you're saying....
3. Let's define the tasks and conditions: upgraded genies and mages, strong joined neutrals were mentioned - please tell me, on average, how long does it take to assemble such an army (maximum difficulty, of course-)))?? a month? or more?... I'm talking specifically about clearing out neutrals, which, in my opinion, must be done before the end of the first month. The purpose of clearing is to gather resources, money, and artifacts in order to upgrade the same mages and genies with titans.
Again, I'll say that the clearing and scouting stage is the most important for determining the party's future policy! The sooner it happens, the better!!!! I doubt anyone will disagree with me.
4. Regarding golems - the Tower is the most ranged-focused city of all!! Why should the golems go anywhere if the enemy will be forced to come to them to block the ranged units!
5. Even if gargoyles reach the liches (although genie upgrades are needed!), the enemy usually has not one unit slot, on average, I notice three slots. In a direct attack, the remaining 2 slots of liches, with about 10-13 creatures each (if there are a lot of them), will damage the gargoyles so much that it will be significant.
My skepticism towards gargoyles is solely due to their small amount of health, which will not be affected by super-defense or increased attack - losses are inevitable!
6. On Expert difficulty for air magic, you can move or teleport very well! Even despite the golems in the army... Moreover, you are planning to move (fly, swim) with gremlins - they are not much faster than golems, as far as I remember, so creating a truly fast army (like Kirr's, for example) will not work in any case!
7. Of course, I don't deny the right to exist for the tactic expressed by Ta Kotoraya... but there are a few assumptions that cannot be ignored
