Guys, hold up on voting. I have a few ideas ideas that will likely change things for the better:
Shield of the Righteous
This spell is a wonder, even of magic. A soldier under the protection of this spell is marked with the symbol of lightning from a storm, and cannot be touched by it. This spell is capable of protecting entire squads from the effect of our lightning. It allows the Hammer to be used continuously in combat. Our soldiers can charge through the blinding flashes of lightning without issue, reaching Arstotzkan positions in numbers for the first time since the dominion of artillery began.
---Basically, the above spell allows us to literally fight them in the midst of a rain of death from above. It will blind their apprentices and artillery operators to the approach of our troops, who, until now, couldn't do that. We'll destroy their morale and also kill them in droves.
Crystal Solvent
Using our staves of Tubikh Rrahim and crystals left behind on the battlefield after combat, we devise a new version of the staves, capable of dissolving the crystals rapidly, and at ranges that can stretch from an Alsamma Safina to the enemy's cannons when holding position out of their line of fire. Arstotzkan crystal is not properly summoned, as they are heathen infidel barbarians with no cultural appreciation for Allah, so their crystals shall be easily dissolved by our greater magics. We will call down the strength of Allah and destroy their will to fight, as well as their weapons and armor and cannons and ships and all the weapons of war they depend upon. None shall stand.
---I think you guys can see the IMMEDIATE applications of this technology. I actually think our turn should look like this, and this is what I'm voting for:
DESIGN:
Crystal Solvent (Getting Rid of Crystalline Crap)
Revision 1:
Fix Crystal Solvent if necessary (Hopefully not)
OR
Work on lightning protection (Manipulating lightning is something we're experts at)
Revision 2:
Work on lightning protection. If we already have a functioning version, then we make it either cheaper or longer-lasting, whichever needs to happen more. Remember: Longer-lasting means it can be applied to
If we do this, next turn we'll be able to advance under the literally blinding cover of the Hammer, fight the inferior Arstotzkan infantry hand-to-hand again AS THEY GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING, while DISSOLVING their cannons and ships. We'd be unbeatable. If we just do Crystal Solvent, THEY CAN'T BEAT US. Even if we spend the entire turn developing it, we'd end up being capable of destroying their armor, weapons, AND CANNONS, AND SHIPS.