No, her spells tend only to be dramatically better than others when boosted to high levels, at low levels (not requiring the assistance of subordinates) they are just as good. I'd take Slash (+d6) over Crush (+10% +d4), especially if you are already a master. And Slash is only very marginally worse than Truesword (with the added advantage that a 2 point Slash is better). Berserk is exactly the same for all three, except BGs get the extra bonus of Invigorate. Gnomes are tougher than Shades.
> Storm Khans have access to sylphs, which are more valuable than
>gnomes for most purposes.
No, sylphs are more useful for flying, which isn't 'most purposes'. Gnomes are far more damaging, far harder to kill, and can easily destroy fortifications. Plus have enormous peacetime uses. Admittedly, flying is damn useful too, but I still think gnomes are tougher (especially if you used the RQ:AIG rules - ouch, gnomes where tough).
> the allied cults of the Khans are
>superior to those of BG in many ways.
And the converse is also true. In game mechanic terms, they are probably about the same, but in general it depends on where you are. In their homelands (like Esrolia or Wintertop) the BG allies are far superiour, in Prax the Storm Bull allies are far superiour.
>Two-handed axe wielders tend to be
>infantry.
The presence of a shield blessing spell would tend to indicate that they aren't all two-handed axe wielders.....
My feelings stand still - according to the rules, Babeestor Gor is the best combat cult in Glorantha. In practice, there are lots of reasons why they are not the most important or most effective, but these are all non-rules reasons. As described by the rules, they have by far the best array of combat magic, easy access to it (as you can get it as an acolyte rather than having to become a 'rune lord' - I mean, for ZZ you need to reach 75% before they even let you in! While for BG, you can have less than that and be a priestess) and no serious disadvantages. In practice, it may not be easy, and there certainly are disadvantages, but thats all up to the GM. And if the GM doesn't saddle them with oodles of restrictions, they are the power-gamer choice....
To put all this into perspective, there is the converse case of Yelmalio, which is supposed to be one of the most effective combat cults, yet whose magic is ineffectual to the point of laughability. I'm sure we can all argue equally that Yelmalio is actually quite effective in combat - but its despite their cult magic, not because of it.
Cheers
David
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