Advantages of Mages over other races.

Yes, there are too many mini-artifacts at the beginning, and that's not necessary! Just put one on the Incarnate, and one on the Gremlins, and that's enough. As for the damage, you put on a bow, a quiver, a mini-artifact for attack, for luck, and for initiative (on the Titans)... AND WHAT DO YOU THINK, DO THEY HAVE BAD DAMAGE????

Added 2 minutes later
And since there are 3 archers in the army, with this combined artifact setup, the Academics deal pretty good damage.

It seems he was referring to the Unicorn Horn Bow. Well, it's not available in every game. That's one. Two, it's even harder to find both the bow and the Excellent Quiver. I agree, the artifact shop makes things easier and increases the chances, but even there, such items don't appear very often, so IMHO, it's not worth seriously counting on them.

Regarding mini-artifacts. Fully equipping troops with mini-artifacts is quite resource-intensive; it definitely takes some time to accumulate those resources. I wouldn't delay with the mage; mini-artifacts are indeed a powerful thing, significantly improving the Academy's troops. It's not that easy to crush an army that is fully equipped with level 3 artifacts.

And we shouldn't forget that mass evasion will negate all the efforts to buy and find the Archer's Dream, as well as enhancing the archers in other ways. And a perk in defense that reduces damage from ranged attacks by 20% will also be useful against the Academics.