Posts from Tower tactics.

Golems stay at home – these creatures are rarely present in the army.

Now I'm ready for serious battles! So, the setup: master gremlins, definitely a supply wagon, obsidian gargoyles in the central slot, and mages in the far right slot. The remaining slots are occupied by master djinns (even if only one in each slot – they are not for combat!).
Next, the tactic: when it's our turn (and the probability that we won't go first is, unfortunately, quite high :( ) – the djinns, as the fastest, take turns casting 4 (!) useful spells on the gargoyles. That's it, this is no longer level 2, I guarantee you! These are BEASTS!!!!! :D

Why do you leave the golems behind? Is it because of their speed?... But the spells Flight and Dimension Door are quite common in the Mage Guild at the Tower! Even with golems, it won't hinder them much.
I can understand why you wouldn't take golems - it's not necessary at the beginning of the game, and probably not in the middle either. But when you're completely clearing out enemies, golems are a serious help! You won't find better defenders for Titans and mages.

I act almost the same way at the very beginning. On the first day, I try to build a Town for 1000 gold and upgrade my own Gremlins – and my hero sets off – to capture mines, collect easy loot. With Gargoyles and shooting Gremlins, it's not that difficult to do, and losses are minimal.

During the first week, I diligently build everything that I might need for the Capital. On the second week (well, when I accumulate enough money), I build it. And then I have more freedom of action.
Usually, I then build everything up to Djinns. I upgrade the latter, I upgrade the Gargoyles. If there are resources, I also upgrade the Mages. If not, then I take the un-upgraded ones. Golems stay at home – these creatures are almost never present in the army.
Now I'm ready for serious battles! So, the formation: Master Gremlins, definitely a supply wagon, in the central slot – Obsidian Gargoyles, in the far right slot – Mages. The remaining slots are occupied by Master Djinns (even if only one in each slot – they are not for combat!).
Next, the tactic: when our turn comes (and the fact that we won't go first is, unfortunately, quite likely :( ) – the Djinns, as the fastest, cast 4 (!) useful spells on the Gargoyles in turn. That's it – this is no longer level 2, I guarantee you! These are BEASTS!!!!! :D At the same time, the hero casts – if possible, something like mass slow and so on. Then, of course, the Mages and Gremlins shoot. Well, and the Gargoyles have already taken out someone strong, and ideally – if they have blocked the enemy archers in the process. Let's say, two rabbits with one stone... Well, and in the next round – everything repeats! The Gargoyles are already a horror, and if the Djinns also try – then 8 (or even 10!!! if the hero casts) useful spells on them – that's something! What dragons – these guys will take out EVERYONE! =) And so on...
During the period of "big wars," according to the tactic described above, Nagas and Giants are built in the castle. Then, the Tower of Magic is built. Nagas are upgraded as much as possible and can be added to the hero's army instead of one of the Djinn slots. Giants quietly accumulate in the castle, and when there are no resource problems at all, they are turned into Titans – well, and then everything is clear!

I only exchange troops for others from a different castle when there are few of a certain type of unit left, or none at all.

Hmm... I don't believe that gargoyles, even with buffing spells, will be incredibly powerful opponents in serious battles (for example, against a horde of gorgons). Okay, let's say the genies cast haste, shield, stone skin, blessing, prayer, luck, and all sorts of unnecessary elemental resistances... but gargoyles still won't become super fighters – losses are almost inevitable (although significantly reduced, of course)... if they fight powerful liches (at least a horde of them in several slots), the liches might not even pay attention to the gargoyles – they'll focus on killing the mages, gremlins, or genies, taking advantage of their low numbers... who will then provide fire support and cast spells?
There are many weak neutral units that are fast and like to attack those who are weaker (dragonflies, silver pegasi, etc.)...
Even a horde of grayed imps has considerable speed for a level 1 unit. At least 1 slot out of 5-6 of these neutral units can get a second turn and rush to one of the genies. It's not serious, of course, but it's annoying if the army is far from the city and there are no more genies to replenish the slot in the army.

Why are you leaving the golems behind? Because of their speed? But the spells Flight and Dimension Door are quite common in the Tower mages' guild!

If you're fighting powerful liches (at least a group of several), they might not even pay attention to the gargoyles - they'll focus on killing the mages, gremlins, or djinn, taking advantage of their low numbers...

There are many weak neutral units that are fast and like to attack those who are weaker (dragonflies, silver pegasi, etc.)...
Even a horde of grayed-out imps has considerable speed for the first level. At least 1 slot out of 5-6 of these neutral creatures can get 2 turns and rush to one of the djinn. It's not serious, of course, but it's annoying if the army is far from the city and there are no more djinn to replenish the army slot...

And in general: who will guard the castle?! Or will you have to teleport back and forth throughout the game? And what if the main hero is in a location without a "base" at the moment of the castle attack? Then you have to trudge all the way back across seas and oceans?

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:

often there is a week of some creatures that appear on the map... and at least one army joins, and it's not necessary to have diplomacy... I, for example, never take it... because it affects the recruitment of creatures for money.
I think leadership is better... (if anything, it also affects friendliness)

to Joshua:
If we're going to delve into this, let's define what tactics we're going to talk about, because they are different, for example:
1) the tactic of playing "for fun" against the AI
2) the tactic of playing "for speed" against the AI (regular offline Tournaments)
3) the tactic of playing against a human
etc.