Azunai- That's why duels would be optional. You can just turn down a duel if you know you're up against a high-level assassin. Also, a well-built mage could kill an ill-prepared assassin with one flame dart. The computer knowing when to turn down duels, on the other hand...that could be a problem, as kamazura said.
Forget reality for a minute and think gameplay. The decisiveness of battles would suffer for this, and chasing down targets could really kill the game's pace. There's no retreating in chess or checkers. Can you imagine how boring/annoying that would get in those games? I think a spell/scroll only makes a lot of sense. Or, make it an ability in path of the warrior (but it costs a unit at random). Anything more than that and you're mucking up the gameplay. 
To spice up Diplomacy and the course of wars... What if you could have 1-on-1 duels with enemy sovereigns? The outcome of the duel would result in war continuing or ending, or even one sov surrending to the other. You're winning the war, but the other sov is higher level? They challenge you to a all-or-nothing duel. You can decline, of course, and keep kicking their ass...but wouldn't you want to humiliate them? You can send a champion in your place, but
Totally agree. Wouldn't it be nice if they'd offer you territory?
Anyone play on scarce resources and scarce magic (shards)? I find it makes games more interesting - and harder to get to the point where you are OBVIOUSLY winning, and you just want to start again. Dense monsters also makes expansion more difficult, so each town counts in the early to mid game.
StevenAus- Care for some cheese with that?
Beric- what difficulty do you play?
AI cities get attackeed and razed. I've seen it happen. Also, I have seen dragons and obsidian golems dance around my cities, never attacking, just like they do with AI cities. It does seem that they attack AI cities less often, but statistical observation can be non-intuitive. Why would frogboy lie?
Good point. The AI would need them to die like champions...and that would make things complicated.
I usually force myself to play the hand I am given...I find the games are more interesting when you have to deal with a 'crap' start. But of course, I realize some starts are almost guaranteed failure. One time I started a random map, and there was a dark wizard tower within three-four tiles of the only decent yields. On top of that, there was no "gimmie' champion in sight, and not a single goodie hut in sight. I hit control+N pretty fast.
...They perma-died like all other trained units? So they level like champions, but die like trained units. There's be a risk/reward profile in investing in henchmen that would make them less OP, I'd guess. You can still create stacks of ridiculous henchmen but you'll need to make sure they live - otherwise all that time and effort is gone. I'm guessing this was suggested already, but makes sense to me.
What difficulty level are you on? You're right that this is a great army composition, but if the AI has better tech, larger squads, or higher level, tanks + ranged guarantees nothing. Also, if 1-2 of your tanks die every battle, the economic cost of this tactic adds up. Against high defense units ( Gilden in particular), archers have little stopping power. Against mounted melee units, even staff-based ranged units may not get in their damage soon enough. Mor
AI can cast city effect spells. Antipathy, grip of winter, etc. Maybe I am wrong, but I've never seen personally, or heard here of a witness to, the AI casting spells like: Pillar of flame, Vetrar's Howl, etc. (Spells that do damage. )
The AI does get a mana multiplier on Expert and higher. Right? I'm not sure 'resource management' coding is the problem - on expert and higher, the AI can spend resources into negative (pretty sure I have seen an AI with negative mana before). I suspect the AI just isn't coded to use direct-damage strategic spells. But with the improvements Stardock has been making with updates, who knows? This could change.
I come across AI cities at Level 1 when first seeing them (on expert difficulty) often. Repeat a test of your observations, and I bet you'll see they don't persist.
If it's an ashwake dragon, mage units with frost staves will quickly kill it, if you can keep the mages alive long enough. If you have a unit with maul, particularly juggernauts, they can really put the hurt on a dragon.
Alas, the AI loves to place outposts/cities in complete disregard to surrounding monsters. It's wise to scout out the territory before you make a quick conquest - some AI cities are more trouble conquered than left alone. I've conquered AI cities only to have monsters released by the computer come and attack those cities - I end up investing in cities that are razed 2 turns later.
The maps on the map pack are great. Dust Bowl (no horses or wargs, lots of island goodies to sail for) and Anthys (absurdly huge, great geography) are worth the price of admission.
I've definitely had antipathy cast on my city before. And, AI has no problem at all fully using city enchantments and unit enchantments. The real issue is noticing when it casts strategic spells on you. If the AI started using direct-damage strategic spells like Vetrar's Howl, pillar of flame, falling star and Tornado, the "AI is too easy" complaints would become much more rare. Pretty sure they've NEVER used one of those on me, though of course it is possibl
Ultimately, this is a great idea - for a different 4X strategy game. War of Magic II, cough cough?
I have had this problem, but there is a workaround. Restart the game(or your computer if this doesn't work). The crash will eventually go away. On my rig, once I can save without crash, I can go an entire play session w/o crash. Sometimes I have to re-start the game several times which is very annoying, but I always am able to get back to playing. Fix would be nice on this...
I think each turn being a season makes the pace too fast for seasonal changes (maybe you were saying that too?) I mean, a graphic transition every turn? I think that'd be a pace-killer, and lower end systems (like mine) would have to wait even longer between turns, as the graphics chug by. If the seasons could last longer than a turn, I think the effect would be much better. That said, random events being tied to season is a fine idea. Or, strategic bonuses based on
Where are these 30 initiative units? Only monsters have 30 initiative, and they can't wear equipment. Only way to get 30 initiative is to add up wargs, haste, tactician bonuses, and the Quick trait (or sword/dagger bonuses) Right? Getting to 30 initiative takes some time, effort, and resources. Units with high encumbrance can pile these on, too. So what I am saying, is, with strategic planning the system isn't too punishing to encumbered units. Those
I don't think it's a good idea- because it would require an overhaul of balance. I think it's fine the way it is. Even 1 initiative can make a big difference, once spells like haste and slow start getting thrown around. Perhaps if mounted units had a (non-ranged) dodge cap, that would be up your alley?
SCampb29- Have the 'dance with dragons' research completed and get a Dragon Cave in your Zone of Control. You can then build a Storm Dragon Camp (if you are kingdom) or Fell Dragon Camp (if Empire). When completed, you get one dragon of your faction type. Temple Of The Dragon grants 3 Ashwake dragons over time. The dragon eye quest will reward you with a level 1 Ashwake, if you can beat the final battle...