This is what we call “asymmetrical gameplay,” and frankly I think the present use of magic is a good thing. The enemy has mages and we do not. This provides us with a strategic obstacle – and we need those obstacles because the AI is limited in what it can do whereas we, as players, have a whole wealth of strategies we can bring to the table.
Now, the devs HAVE mentioned there being legendary items in our future, like the Fangshire helm you can start the game with right now. Some of these may make a Battle Brother seem almost magical in his own right. I dunno. However, we’re not going to be seeing human wizards fighting goblin shamans any time soon, and that’s a good thing.
Note how a lot of stories of yore had evil witches and warlocks but very few good wizards. In Arthurian lore, Merlin was kind of the exception rather than the rule, and he wasn’t a good guy. If we stick with those guns, we get a world in which we ought NOT get wizards, but instead should fight them, and we get a world where we can paint this fantasy Germany as a traditional fantasy setting with a dark, bleak stroke of paint.
The idea, really, is that if you want there to be a beacon of hope in this setting, you have to be that beacon with what resources you have available. The current mechanics fit that pretty well. You can be as nasty as you like, but in the end you have to fight evil with steel. Evil doesn’t play by the rules and can do whatever it wants. Figure out how to make it work and your band of mercenaries becomes a band of heroes.
