Hmm... I'd always overlooked the Tomb Princes before, but with an e9/w9 bless they can be rather shockingly effective at expanding
Until it runs into an indy fire mage who casts fire darts once, gets lucky and nails you for 10 damage, and then the lingering fire damage kills him. Curse you, lucky indy fire mage!
Also, I guess I was overreacting a bit to the gold cost. I just am remembering back to warhammerama where I had like 1000 upkeep, with mostly just sacred commanders and my immortals.