Blade wind and magma eruption are great spells. Use your smiths to cast these evocation spells. Not to mention use ironskin/invulnerabilty and summon earth power.
just played my first dozen or so turns on a smallish map with indies set at 6. the game played much more as I expected it would, and I took my first enemy fortress. Could someone please post this detail in a FAQ / walkthrough for other boneheads like me?