OVERTHINKING TIME!
Actually, it might make more sense to throw more ranged units into the wide open desert and fewer into the dense forest.
Here's my suggested party split-up, in no particular order:
*Woods: Akabarashi/Caellath the fox acrobat, Arnok/Greenstarfanatic the electric wizard demonkin, and Silk/Ironyowl the spooky demonkin
*Desert: Khan/Kilakan the cannon orc, Gunmirius/Caerwyn the crosssbowing gnome, and Dharma/peglegpenguin/me the status inflicter (assuming I get some level of paralysis)
Akabarashi (fox guy) is acrobatic, so he'd be most likely to take advantage of a dense forest full of obstacles. As I've already stated, Khan (orc) and Gunmirius (gnome) could take down enemies from afar in the desert, but should be at a disadvantage in the woods. I wasn't entirely sure where to put the last three members. I figured each team could use a mage for healing magic, though an electric wizard might not be so good at healing magic. That would mean either I would be the last member of the desert team or Arnok would. Electricity produces light, and evil things tend to dislike light (not to mention that an electricity wizard could probably help illuminate things). He would also be the closest thing that team forest has to a ranger. That forces me into the desert team as their only prayer for healing spells. If I succeed in getting a semi-reliable paralysis spell, team desert might be able to flank/stall its enemies to death before they can get close enough to fight back. Chances are enemies will have their own ranged units, which would probably be our first targets. While the gnome and orc take out some ranged enemies, I'd try to paralyze the rest and keep the battles as one-sided as possible.
The downside is that enemies in the spooky woods might be immune to our spooky demonkin's spooky ability. Intimidate would make a great way to reduce encounters and slow enemies, and I'd hate to waste that. It would be even more useful in the desert anyway because of the larger enemy mobs and extended battles. We could throw Silk into team desert instead of Dharma, but then team desert would have to rely on what are obviously hp potions Gol'du gave us. Also, there might be an added advantage if Dharma's alchemy implies herblore, too. As in, Dharma might be able to collect herbs and make potions in the woods, and might even know what plants are dangerous. I'm really not sure what to do. What do you guys think?