I'm on about my 30th shard now and have almost all the buildings available. I've sort of settled into an army building strategy, but I'm interested to see what others think. Maybe I'm missing something. I'm playing 'good' so I've pretty much neglected the evil armies.

Level I: Basic strategy is swordsmen plus healers for hero armies, and militiamen because they give you the 'local militia' guard (both cheap and available very early in the game). Through most of the game most of my hero's level I units are swordsmen, who typically form a meat wall around the squishy units such as healers and monks. The fourth unit to get is less clear. Crossbowmen can be good if you need a purpose-built army to kill a small number of high level units. Pikemen eventually lead to Officer Academy (which I've never actually built). Currently I'm inclined to go for slingers because they enable the Watchmen guard, which give extra viewing range. I have the ability to start with a single healer by spending astral energy, which I always do. This gives me a much quicker start - building the healer's building can be delayed for quite a while, and occasionally even skipped altogether if my one healer gets good enough and/or I get to hire fairies or build up to monks quickly.

Level II: First priority is monks. Ranged healing is *really* useful. If I manage to get an centaur alliance, healers plus centaurs fill my level II slots and I really don't have much use for anything else. Horse archers + horsemen enables the hippodrome, which is a nice money earner (10 gold + 5 gold/horse province, I think, plus nomad guards.)

Level III: First I went for priests, because monks are so good, but more recently I've fallen in love with the gryphons, for their mobility and tremendous damage dealing. They do need to fly back into healing range of your monks every so often as their armour is not great. I haven't played with knights much, but looking at their numbers their better armour doesn't look like enough to prefer them over gryphons.

Level IV: Never go around to building one (can win the shard first), but those elephants look better than the paladins.

Alliances: I usually try to get centaurs (which takes a while). Dwarfs make a superior replacement to swordsmen. Elves are a bit problematic in that they take up the swordsmen slots leaving my meat shield a bit bare. Perhaps if I use some level II slots for Guardsmen, although I haven't tried that yet. (+1 happiness in all provinces from the elven theatre is pretty neat however.)

Any thoughts? Are there some good strategies I'm missing? What does an effective evil army look like?

Well I usually play Single Scenario so don't have much exp with the Campaign.

For my level 1 units I go Swordies/Healers ofc and usually Crossbowmen and Pikes for the later guard buildings.
Level 2 I get Guardsmen first as they just rock and ofc Monks.
Level 3 Gryphons rock I agree and I like the Priests to replace my Monks because these guys have the Exorcism which is just great and eventually the Resurrection.
Level 4 like you I usually have the map beaten before I get these guys however I usually prefer the Paladins.

You see ounce I get the Guardsmen I usually swap out 1 or 2 swordsmen for them and let a lower hero take the pumped up Swordies for an easier time. This lets me keep that little box formation intact.

For alliances I usually always prefer Elves. One reason is that I like to conqure Centaurs with a well equipped new warrior as I usually get my Wiz first followed by Scout as Warriors can level up solo a lot quicker when they have gear unlike Wizzies.

Monks are really good to give stamina to a scout for endless doubleshots. Other heroes can benefit from it,too. A wizard with doublecast can use quite alot of stamina.
I mostly play wizard on expert or master, and I usually go for a mobile tank first, which I buff up with defensive boosts, so he can take all the heat. Pegasi and Horseman can do it after some defensive promotions. I really like Dryads, but they are not always available. On the evil side Thugs are excellent. Knights are really good for this, Griffons are a bit weaker,but more mobile.But they both come really late. The best is to find a Unicorn in a forest...but its time consuming to look for.
Paladins are cool, but too little HP, so I'd say Elephants are better.

^ For wizard I suggest Inspiration. It scales with spellpower, so archmage can get 20+ stamina.
Good side:
T1. Swordsmen, healers, slingers(for watchmen, garrisons), crossbowmen(guard with swordsmen).
T2. Monks, Horse archer, Ballistae (in gog version horse archer better than centaur because he can get doubleshot)
T3. Cleric, catapult.
T4. Usually I pick something from drop and skip this level whatsoever.
Ballistae +catapult give strong guard which can wipe inquisition raid and don't need crystals. Plus their building gives 5% discount to other buildings.

Evil side:
T1. Barbarian Healer shamen(guard with barb) thief usually.
T2. Thug monk assassin(good guard with thief)
T3. Cleric Executioner
T4. warlocks.
Warlocks are VERY easy to convert into devils with dark pact.
For evil side sometimes building T2 Chaos and filling army with fiends is the best bet. They are tanky and decrease morale on hit.

Good call, 20 stamina from Inspiration would certanly be better than the Astral Energy which I had been using on the hero himself. Even after so much playing you still learn stuff with this game.

I also play good too, but my strategy differs, though that initial healer instead of the healer building sounds interesting.
For level 1 units, I like 1 healer, a couple of slingers until they can be replaced by elves (I always go for the elf alliance, they have global happiness and money buildings), and couple of swordsmen. Level 2 are usually 1 monk and the rest pegasus. Only built a level 3 building in one shard so far, and picked griffon... It was ok but not that worth it considering the cost, and they were very similar to higher level pegasi.

You have both much less healing, and also more fragile troops than I use. For me, in all but the toughest fights, I can usually end with all troops at or near full HP, so no wait needed before the next fight. Do you also manage this?

I play good; Scout, Warrior and Mage in order of preference... I just can’t seem to figger the commander out.

My army core is normally two swords and a healer… I’ll hire Elf, Hobbit or Horse to fill as they become available but IMO the pitiful damage a slinger can contribute doesn’t pay his own wages.

Alliance – Knights because they give up the province without a fuss, cheerfully adding their little economy to mine and come with their own solid guards. The mood is just icing on the cake because the last thing I have time for in campaign maps is a quest for the left toenail of a pink spotted flying pig… what’s not to like?

Elf, Hobbit and Dwarf – I leave them alone because Elves sit on the back line turning my carefully nurtured army into scrap, I like the little nippers but don't have the time for their problems and IME Dwarfs ensure rebellion every time the barmaids serve them light beer.

Orcs, goblins and Lizards – cannon fodder.

Guards; Foresters for the extra money.

[Maybe adventurers to counter uprisings IME upcoming enemy heroes will often turn back instead of facing them at low levels. That’s about it really because I'm happy to risk losing an unguarded province to uprising/ event raids and will just give my second hero to the task of taking it back.]

p.s. I horde my troops but winning without taking any damage is not a priority for me... having said that I’m more than willing to bribe a province or allow the buggers to escape because my army is small and my economy healthy.

Commander's strength - fresh warriors in his army comparable to medalled veterans. This is more obvious when you start with evil units, like brigands and barbarians. I have seen examples of 6-8 level barbarians with 20+ damage. Commander with troops like that just casts Web and Astral energy.

For "good" commander as 4th unit you pick something with damage to babysit - crossbowman or initial slinger.
Nice video of commander with crossbowman:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ib09wx7hgee0f6/%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%B8.mp4
slinger - see attach.

On good side you need to multiclass Com with scout for +6 ranged damage (+4 ability,+2 skill), and shooting ability. Then you just fill T1 with crossbowmen, T2+ - some guards, healers and horse archers (great with pathfinding, they have doubleshot on 10+ and damage boost from Tactic's skills) or multiclass Com with mage - pretty much same troops, but this multiclass can use both more and better spells, like Stop time, Sleep(really great against strong, but not numerous guards like 5-6 minotaurs/ogres - kill enemies one by one).

Thanks Gremlion… I can see the advantage of having strong fresh troops… if you take/ carry him as the second hero but I was looking for a strategy to build him as the first hero.

This is my error as I should have made that point clear.

Eg. Warrior works best on medium to large shards which can support his equipment/ repair bill and I send him straight into the thick of things.

Scout I like on smaller campaign shards where the Warrior would take too long and I need to build my castle as fast as I can i.e. there is only one enemy so I don’t have to worry about my master collaborator painting me into a corner figuratively speaking.

Wizardry replaces Warrior on shards without resources but two masters i.e. my opening corner appears mostly swamps… in this case I park the Wizard and send out the Scout later.

I have tried Scout/ Commander replacement but IME he struggles against even the first round appointees unless fate blesses me to be surrounded by goblins, I can park him at the capital and that’s the only stratagem that comes to mind which just makes him a second rate scout… so where does he shine as a first hero i.e. what’s the point?

Starting advantage of commander - 4 slots by default+he is comparable to frontline T1 unit (with chainmail+axe+skills)+fast acquiring of command slots.

First advantage better suited for evil side - "3 barbarians in neighbourhood? Doesn't matter, I have 4", 4+1>3+1.

For good side - you can go for 2 healers in the back + 2 swordsmen+commander in frontline, then add crossbowma(e)n. Solid wall, solid damage, good sustain.

Second advantage - when you see harpy nest, knowledge shop, fairy tree - this means easy access to T2 units without spending tons of gold on your castle. Sometimes you can get Minotaur around 5 level.
Again, this is better for evil side - harpies aren't very tough units(high level ones with commander have 20+ damage with agility, pretty good for clearing troll nest), can be easily transformed into Fiends with Dark pact spell. Fiends decrease morale on hit, so you can take couple of fiends, Web spell and scare something lonely like Hydra to flee.

Chaos school have ritual which can give T2 unit, pretty common in drop by my experience.
Example from old game:
Commander on 5th turn: http://funkyimg.com/viewer.php?img=/2/1213/729/237066Untitled-1.jpg
Commander on 10th turn: http://funkyimg.com/viewer.php?img=/2/1213/728/783889Untitled-2.jpg

Update; I just tried it, conquering a small shard [mostly swamp] in 42 turns which is not bad for me… this guy makes the Warrior look like a penny pincher with his extraordinary army logistics cost but I’ll also admit that rolling over all comers with the super army was nice to experience. Thanks again Gremlion.

T1 - swordsmen, healers. Healers get replaced by more swordsmen when the army grows. If available, fairies replace healers really well too.
T2 - Monks, spiders, cheapo option for monks - fairies. I find everything else subpar.
T3 - Minotaurs, clerics, gryphons.
T4 - Never got to that, too damn expensive.

I play evil (but am attempting to reform! I'm slowly clambering back up the karma ladder so I can have a little variety in my alliances) and always start with a Commander. I find them the easiest to work with - the solid backbone of lots of high-quality troops is very reassuring.

Tier 1 is Barbarians in the early game. Best T1 unit, for my money. High hitpoints, hit hard when healthy and even harder once injured, plus they don't cost a bomb and don't need any resources. I keep them alive with occasional healing spells from the hero rather than bringing along a healer. Works well enough and you have a solid core of levelled veterans to expand with. They'll eventually die off without constant babysitting but that's not so bad, replace them with Brigands and use them to shield your more valuable troops. Brigands are amazing at jumping on enemy swords and throwing themselves in front of arrows. I cheer up every time one dies.

If there's a plenty of crystal and mandrake going around I'll toss in a Shaman or two as well, as much for the Curse spell as anything else. Really helps take the sting out of enemy archers. Haven't found a use for Thieves. Low hitpoints and no ranged protection is a bad combo.

Tier 2 is an iron core of Thugs. I love Thugs. I try not to lose any of the first batch. When they get to level 10+ they get crushing blow and inflict ridiculous damage for a T2 unit. They don't need a lot of babysitting either, their high hitpoints and defence bonus from the hero means they can take a lot of punishment. Sorcerors are interesting but just don't have the reliability of a huge man with an iron club. I'd love to get a squadron of Sorcerors up to high levels and play around with multiple fear spells and raising skeletons and suchlike but Thugs are just too good. Harpies are great too if you find a nest quickly (or start on one!), the Commander opens up T2 slots really quickly and finding a nest really jump-starts your early expansion, but they're a little too flimsy to hold up long-run. Gargoyles are rubbish. And expensive.

Teir 3 has been Executioners so far. They're basically tougher Thugs with a crowd-control attack, and once they get buffed from the Commander they get pretty crazy. By this stage the army is a wall of iron-hard guys with huge hammers and axes that covers the field. You just march from one side of the map to the other and smear anything in the way. Unless you're up against elephants or something in which case you're gonna have some trouble. Again, I've played around with Magicians and whilst they have some utility (slowing powerful enemy units is cool) they're kinda pricy. Another Executioner in the same slot would do just fine without eating all your crystal. I'll get one up to level 10 one of these days and see how good they get.

Haven't been up to T4 yet, but I expect I'll end up settling for whatever hits hardest with the highest hitpoints. It seems to be my style!

I'm surprised when I see people not using the Commander so much because I hate using anything else! I think it might be to do with the karma - a lot of people play good and love the Scout/Healer/Shield wall system, but if you try that tactic with a good Commander you really lack killing power and will be slowly overwhelmed. Evil troops are cheaper, hit harder and are more disposable, and syngergise really well with the Com. Not having healing frightens some people, but most of your troops end up too tough to be significantly damaged in common guard fights, and you have a supply of disposable Brigands to feed to anything tougher, it's not nearly as big a problem as people imagine.

Thieves are good for training solo Warrior. they hit without retaliation, die quick = best for training a baby Warrior to level 5.