i think you dismiss the flagellants too easily... many good strats can be based on them.  sure, they die like flies, but are cheap enough - their big weakness is massed archers.
As to Build 1 - why would you take the oracle, and not the flaming head?  redo the numbers... flaming head should give you a couple scales - increase the dominion, since a bless strat w/ flags is all about spamming them.
nice start at a guide 
 
one comment, perhaps it is a bug, but you can recruit the chartmaker at a castle w/out a lab...