[Torin]

What about a Titan with A9E9?
70 % lightning resistance, protection from arrows (a counter to glamour) and earth blessing takes care of the fatigue due to berserk (adds to berserk armor bonus) and helps battle mages.

A3 and 4 mages can orb lighning with minimal friendly casualties. Even wrathfulskies with sacred troops. Add Storm warriors enchantment and the massive lighning affects only enemies as your army is shock immune.

This gets room to a dom10 in picks and that can be 10 Vanheres a turn but you need to have at the most sloth 1.

Dwarves are the only cost effective researchers(maybe drain 2?), plus at earth 4 there's a lot you can do (I learned with the oracles of agartha), Earthquake, earthattack, Petrify, blight(death ones). They are your means to forge a dwarven hammer and kit some thugs with the other mages that are meant to be in battle.