Yes, as Pythium all my mages are engaged in my armies fighting against Ermor. My research is poor, i'm focusing in fighting against Ermor. I don't have any other choice.
Ermor has only 14 provinces, yes, but has A LOT of troops. I had a battle where my 150 troops engaged near 1.500 and it will be worse in the next turns (I've spotted some armies with around 4.000 units).
Fun, but very difficult. I've been fighting against Ermor since the beggining and "the show must go on" until the destruction of Ermor or Pythium.
Let's hope R'yleh can help us to defeat Ermor and his hordes of undead beings.