cheapest summonable thug

[militarist]

What is the most cost-effective commander for usage as a carrier of ranged items items (different wands- fireballs, crossbows, bows, etc) in endgame?
Is there such a thing as no-brainer choice here in CBM? Like sleeper maybe?
Hiring indie commanders looks expensive for support, who what kind of summons uses? Or buying indep commanders still the best choice?

[Quitti]

Mound kings(very fragile) and banes don't cost that much, but they cost death gems which are very useful in late game to most nations in summoning tartarians. Sleeper is a tad worse since it costs nature gems which you'll need for both gear and Gift of Reasoning the said tartarians - certainly they can be used, but the opportunity cost is probably not worth it. Overall I'd say hire indep commanders, or preferably scouts as they are cheaper AND stealthy (your opponent might not see them coming as easily). There are a few mods out there - namely zlefins f/w thugs which add summonable commanders for fire and water paths for quite a good price. I haven't tested llamabeasts endgame mod which adds different kind of commanders too, but from what I gather they're meant to be more sc kind than thug kind so they cost a lot more.

[Sombre]

Hire scouts.

[Stavis_L]

Note that your title "cheapest summonable thug" differs dramatically from your actual question, effectively "what is the cheapest commander to transport items/gems" (or possibly "what is the cheapest commander chassis to give spellcasting items to for the purpose of non-mage artillery" - I'm not entirely sure which you're asking for.)

A thug needs to be somewhat survivable in direct combat - a commander using e.g. a wand of fireballs does not. Just pointing this out in case there are actual "thug" aspects to your question that you didn't explicitly lay out.

Quitti and Sombre have given the "usual suspects" answers for the latter case. Note that CBM does open up a few additional options for national unit summons for some nations (e.g. Bogarus has a few gem-cheap commander summons.) But unless you're looking for specific nation advice, that's probably not worth going into.

[Makinus]

To use ranged itens, from bows to wands, i like to use those indep mages with 1 nature, so i can cast eagle eyes before firing away at the enemy.

[13lackGu4rd]

cheapest thug would probably be the black servant, a decent choice in the early game, and being ethereal is never a bad thing... but keep in mind that "cheapest" depends on quite a few things, such as:
1. your nation- this will determine how you can use your gems. for example, a nation with practically no death magic(such as Jomon) death mages might not be as valuable as heavy death magic nations such as C'tis(all eras) or Helheim.
2. indy mages- can fill in gaps in your national magic diversity, which in turn will connect with the 1st point about how you can use your gems.
3. luck- this comes in 2 forms. the first is random gem events(not too significant with Misfortune Scales but they do occasionally occur even under Misfortune2). the second is the magic sites you managed to find in your kingdom. the more income you have of a specific gem the cheaper it is for you to use it for side spells.
4. stage of the game- in the early game there isn't much you can do with death gems for example, besides a few items such as skull mentors and horror helmets. while in the late game it's all about tartarians...
5. your enemies- your enemies will determine what you need to react to, what counters you need to bring to the table. for example if facing Marverni than battlefield clearing spells such as Earthquake, Rain of Stones, Wrathful Skies, etc would be used quite often if you have access to them. if however you're facing MA/LA Ermor, C'tis, etc than Wither Bones and even Undead Mastery suddenly become your go to spells. notice that the gems you need to cast those spells(in battle, not from your lab) are different, and although each spell doesn't require many gems it piles up quite fast.

[Baalz]

As far as thugging goes, check out my sig for a guide to cost efficient thugging, which varies a good deal by nation.

[Maerlande]

Hawks are cheap. And of a low value gem. Stick a bottle of water on a hawk commander for a cheap easy raider. Script the other hawks to guard commander because if they die you get routed. And they die like flies. It's one idea for cheap carrier. Can't use bows, but a bottle is like a ranged weapon.

[militarist]

2baalz : I think most people read your manuals before game manuals. I'm not an exclusion.Thanks.

[Squirrelloid]

Troll Kings are clearly the cheapest thugs. I mean, you spend the 55e gems for the mooseknights, so the Troll King is basically free after that.