I'm playing AP and the mods still do nothing, but when I get some free time I'll try fighting with it again.
As for tactics, I've actually recently taken on some enemies that were marked as very strong or brutal and won w/o losses. The important thing is keeping my 2 cyclops in the front lines with my knights and paladins, letting the stone absorb most of the hits, so the inquisitors are in the back protected. Inquisitors make good snipers and rage builders, are perfect emergency revivers, and they do tons of damage, but they're a vulnerable stack that must be kept safe (enemy spells and range attacks are pretty nasty). When the paladins or knights take losses, I revive them with the inquisitor or paladin. This is very limited though so I have to be super-careful. Likewise, the stone hulks cannot be healed or revived, so I need to pull them back when they start looking hurt.
I rarely do summons with mystery egg, royal thorns or call of nature anymore. Call of nature is pricey in mana and gives very little -- the summoned stack can absorb 1 hit and waste 1 enemy's turn or counterattack, and that's all. Mystery egg is an amazing skill and the summons can absorb a brutal beating, and make an exceptional decoy or path blocker... but lately I've been using dragon dive every chance I get until the enemy has been nuked into whimpering submission.
Even at levels 1 and 2 the dive has been a life saver. I just can't afford to have my dragon sleeping all that time [from mystery egg] when I could have dropped several stacks by 3-5 attacks worth.
I stopped using royal thorns for now. I've been making do with ONLY TWO of them the whole game. I'm likewise severely short on knights and paladins, using less than 1/2 or 1/3 capacity because nobody sells them, but they're still worth while because they can absorb hits like you wouldn't believe. Royal thorns take a beating too, but less so, and I cannot heal or revive them. Their summons were amazingly useful, but when they're my biggest weak point (especially vs enemy hero spells) it's best to shove them in reserve and split up my 2 cyclops instead.
Still trying new tactics. I have enough potential item bonuses to sea dogs and pirates that I'd consider using them... but... well, no losses battles are pretty tough when the slightest tickle slaughters 4-5 in the stack. I'm liking my army of level 4 and 5 killers.
BTW, you recommend using my wanderer summon scrolls now? I have been saving the "lovers of the wind" one until late game when I get the most out of it with higher leadership, but your talk of getting a leg up has a good ring to it. Sounds to me like I'd get better use out of the scroll now than later, even with the higher late-game leadership.
Here's hoping for some royal griffins.