Suggestions to increase fun:

--Upon city capture, you get to manufacture units (or one unit) they could in that city. Or maybe you get to choose one. Reason: DOUBLES the number of units you get to use to comprise your army—incredibly more FUN! And the developers have already done most of this work! You can thus use all the buildings already built plus gives you all kinds of options how to combine your magic and units. It makes more sense than taking a town with an Ogre village which you can't use but they could. The Kingdom units are somewhat dull when every city has the same options--gotta do SOMETHING about this. Every city you have with the same unit build options is NOT FUN and makes less sense than my suggestion. [So to integrate with the tech tree, maybe when you take a town you get a chance to steal one of their Tech tree accomplishments and get ONE of their units because they left enough information around and/or citizens who help you enable that production. ]

--Many more strategic spells, especially buffs--Spells which enhance units (+experience level, +shields, protections, flight, invisibility, etc) This is what motivates you to vary your strategy. i.e., what if I put +2 armor on this guy rather than hope a fireball works again? More ideas: Illusion army :make an army seem more significant unless you have actual combat with them. Illusion resource: makes a resource appear unless your units get really close. Illusion fog: makes it harder to see what's going on inside another Sovereign's zone. Illusion direction: makes a foreign army confused and may lead them to move in a mistaken direction. Illusion unit: Makes a fake unit which {only stays until hit, may reduce morale of opponents, may cause opponent to flee, etc.}

--Sovereigns can help their Champions when battling in their domain: Maybe the connection the Sovereign has to the earth is that their essence has helped revitalize the earth, so now they know about combat / activities going on in their domain…So they are able to cast magic in combat which takes place in their domain and assist the Champion(s) so long as they’re in-domain. This would make going into a underdefended city more dangerous if the Sovereign is in his domain.  Option: make them be in their home city to gain this special knowledge/connection with the land.

--Spellbook UI. The spells need to be organized (mabye by element, maybe by summon, etc,), and we NEED it to give information on HOVER not click!!!. Also, if no enemy is in range it shouldn't let you choose that spell. When you click on a spell it should cast it not wait for you to click on Cast. I also suggest more of a menu approach than a popup window (like in Dragonage), but some won't want that.

--PLEASE--quickslots for spells so you don't have to open the Spellbook for the 10 spells you use commonly!

--Upon champion defeat you get their items/armor/swords/etc

--More tactical spells. Tactical movement--Teleport around map, teleport out of combat. Tactical invisibility--can't be remotely targeted. Reduce resistance of other units to spells. Confuse them so they may attack their own units. Tactical fog so they don't know where you are.

--Make the turns in battle more unpredictable. If I always get to move next, I will position myself so I get to attack first. There needs to be some Initiative that is variable. Based on morale would make some sense

--Auto food and housing increase option. An option which will increase housing and food automatically whenever needed. “Call it empowering the local citizenry” or whatever, but just do it. Either that or send an alarm when the city is maxed or suffering from either. This is mundane right now.

--Champion buffs: Leadership; Healing; Movement of entire group; Movement through terrain bonuses; affinity with certain monsters allowing percent likelihood to recruit;

--Start with some spells. A few choices. Otherwise it's always the same ones I'm researching first.

--Quests: where there are more than two options (Yes/No). If you refuse you must fight or if you accept you must expend mana/essence and you get to choose. Ideas: Must take a specific city, sacrifice some item, wait three turns in meditation, take over a hut/resource/city/, bring me a shrubbery; free a champion

--More items available in the store earlier: If I can buy some good stuff there it makes it harder to choose to improve my city or equip myself. rarely find items worth much. +2 mana, items with spells in them, etc

--More reasonable negotiation options. The AI normally has outlandish demands, then I decline and go stomp it.

--City wall impacts: make it a special {ability, spell, unit, tech} and REQUIRED to break the main doors of a city with good walls so you can make them fight you.  This could be a combination of any/all of the following: tech level under Magic to learn a spell, or a high level War tech, or special units (sappers), some advanced units like Elementals, high level spell.  I think it should be required to break down a well made wall to engage the defenders, and all the while they should get to target you while you can only target them if you can see into their city. Seems unfair currently that walls don't protect you.

--Unit special skills variety: drain life, teleport, fire breath, stoning, flying units, swimming units, invisible units, etc.   this type of magical enhancement really makes the game more fun and magical!  I’m still hoping for them.  The units currently mostly advance based on mundane technical abilities/research more than any magical enhancement.  Adding a +1 ring to a Peon is not fun; giving them firebreath for +1 is fun! So either with spells or in the Tech Tree maybe make “training” buildings which make units with Imbued Drain Life, Imbue Tactical Teleport (i.e., training the mundane units in specific magic skills.) This adds variety to the game. This wouldn’t be different creatures in your army but more interesting variety than just a bigger/better sword!

--Ability to threaten the AI to try to extort something. Bring a big army to their door then threaten them.

--Seeing Summon spellbooks earlier in the Magic research

--Make the morale vary a little more. I wipe out half an army and their morale goes down one point.

--Tactical combat: ability to switch squares with adjacent ally or walk through their square.

--Managing units: units are sometimes hard to find visually. Maybe a list interface with selection taking you to their city? Maybe when a City is highlighted pushing Shift shows you the Combat units in there?

--Converting materials: Any other way to convert materials than trading? How about a Magic skill that allows a conversion. Or traders that occasionally come to town and offer you a deal.