Ok this is for for those of you picking Life thieves. At first I sent my thief lord around with my small army trying vainly to level everyone that I could. I quickly abandoned this once I mastered attacking and sneaking. Just go into a nearby cave (level 3 is good for a level 5 or 6 lord) and sneak then click on the nearest unit and your thief will walk up sneaking until within range and will proceed to fire. All the enemy units will be mobilized and will begin to come towards you, you should be able to get off around three shots before you should click a ways away from the enemies and start trying to sneak. Now, this DOES take a long time even with a high level lord and once you get really good but it's definately worth it because a thief doesn't level (in my opinion) as well with an army. Also, I went against the usual opinion of practically everyone and didn't use Water or Order cavalry to protect my five units of level five archers. Instead I used Water's lizardmen, they have a lot of hit points and are quite effective, also I used one horshoe butterfly from the great temple. Coupled with a Life mage and an Order paladin, I made short work of Balkoth and his minions (after capturing his capital and sitting there for several turns). I know, I know, this is the abridged version of how I did it and I'm sure there are better ways but this is just to help those who might need it.

Jane Bond, Elven Agent