[Hadrian_II]

The minister is cheaper and has more research.

Minister of Magic: 70 gold, 5 research, 4.66 upkeep 1.07 research/gold
Master of the Way: 100 gold, 4 research, 3.33 upkeep 1.2 research/gold

In the long run, master of the way will be cheaper, but with ministers of magic you will have more research, so basically if you have enough money i would use ministers.

About the archers, i think that the horsemen are more enteresting than the footsoldiers, they are more expensive, but are able to fight better.

Tactics:
archers + windguide + flaming arrows are fun.
lots of magic paths = lots of gems & ability to forge nice items, so get some SCs
Redguards are nice, and you also have sacred summons, so you can think about getting a bless (E9 fits nice)
Also Celestial masters can lead communions for battle magic, but as they have very low astral levels, they are easy victims of magic duels.