I'm by no means saying that Ulm is a bad nation or that I don't have a basic plan for what to do with them. They have some great standard infantry and lots of fun ways of getting freespawn (from counts and wolf herders). The iron blizzard spell is actually quite good and is one of the few things that makes Ulm's mages okay (still it would get predictable after a while and it's one of the few things that they can do in combat / predictable isn't so great). Forge bonuses are amazing, especially in CBM where they become significantly harder to obtain. Also access to recruitable (if subpar) blood hunters (with astral no less) adds a whole new dimension to things.
It's a good nation. I'm just saying they are not particularly more dangerous than any other nation if left alone as moghopper seems to be implying, especially due to the poor magic picks. Might I be able to curb stomp you all if absolutely no one bothers me and if I manage to obtain a huge portion of land from independents? Yes. Would any other nation be able to do the same under similar circumstances? Yes. Will I find a way to access magic diversity through Tartarians despite my subpar national mages if given enough time? Yes. Will most other nations with access to death magic do the same? Probably.