Exactly, I got Dark Paladins when dethroned the portland king, but they were only measly 14, when I could command over 40, so it makes very little sense to use them, unless you feel very comfortable with the sacrifice spell. So I opted out of using Dark Paladins for the time being.
Working my way through Tristem now. There we have 2 maps I want
Both guardians count as deadly, so it is a challenge.