Ulm Beginner Strategy - need help

[Tuidjy]

Shame on everyone who replied. One would think that someone would give the
newbie the one good piece of advice about playing standard/iron faith Ulm:

DO NOT.

Ulm sucks. Everyone knows it sucks late game, but against half-decent players
the obvious problems raise their ugly heads as early as turn ten. And of
course, Ulm sucks even before that, although it is less than obvious.

Just read between the lines of the 'advice' you have been given: Blacksteel
sucks because of high fatigue, slow movement, and low defense. Most troops are
overpriced. Arbalests get one good shot, and then do as much damage to your
troops as to anyone else. No priests worth mentioning... Your starting spell
requires some research before your pitiful mages can use it. Later on, you
will have a only handful of tricks, tricks for which everyone who intends to
walk over you will have prepared.

Sure, once you forsake the supercombatant, take drain, spend tons of design
points on a good castle and productivity, you will have an easy time against
indies. Big deal! A player will a decent pretender will wipe the floor with
your overrated troops, a player with cheaply massed mages (Caelum, Pythium, etc)
will show you why magic trumps steel as early as turn five, Abysia will burn
you, Ermor/C'tis will drown you in undead, R'lyeh will paralize your vulnerable
and sluggish troops, etc, etc, etc... Oh, by the way, many nations could
field better troops than you, especially if they took the kind of scales Ulm
requires.

The only thing that can delay your death in a multiplayer game is diplomacy...
diplomacy of the kind where you become some real nation's client state (i.e.
forge *****)