I enjoy playing both regular Ulm and if Ulm. Gaining a random pick and priests is a major advantage, and Black Templars are a minor advantage if you'd be using Black Knights (halved upkeep at the very least). So having the major disadvantage to research just makes them different to my mind, not crippled. With random picks allowing forging of more research items, I think Ulm can eventually catch up on research, and Ulm doesn't particularly need research in the early game. With IF though I think it is more tempting to take a many-path pretender, so power boost items can be forged for all those level-1 magic abilities.
As for imperial T'ien Ch'i, I tend to agree I'd like to see the troops be cheaper. What kind of obedient massed minions demand premium salaries?
Off with their heads! However their archers are better than most in at least three ways: type of bow, access to speed-2 archers, and shortswords rather than daggers.
PvK