Ah Zuberi. I have read many of your posts and benefited from your wisdom on more then one occasion!
As to your question, it is kind of broad. I think it depends a little on what you mean by a "small army" and even then there are probably several mages that will fit the description. The Priest is focused primarily on himself. He has the best melee attack out of any mage, so he definitely wants to be at the front and hitting things himself. He shouldn't focus too much energy on creatures, I think, and I'd say his playstyle caps out at 3 creatures usually. If you're planning on more than that, the Priestess might be a better fit because she lends much better support for her creatures and her increased channeling helps to get them out.
By small army I meant like 3-4 creatures that could stand their own in a fight. I do see your point though; the Priestess has better supporting abilities then the Priest. For the most part, I love using creatures in general. I usually play much better when I can delegate different tasks to other creatures. My other favorite mage to use is the Warlord. I have tried using the Forcemaster before and I couldn't use her correctly because I kept going back to strategies that were meant for creature heavy spellbooks. The Priest I enjoy a lot because of the ease at which he can burn people and I like the Holy Avenger ability.
I also really like Brogan. I hate for my attacks to be stopped by pesty things like armor and defenses, and Brogan laughs at such nuisances.
Haha yes, Brogan is one of the creatures I find myself using constantly. Him as well as Knights of Westlock and Guardian Angels. I would love to stick one of the higher level Angels in there, such as Sammadrial but I know I would never get him out in time for her to be useful.
I remember one time I did a deck with nothing but the 3 big angels and a couple of Gray Angels in there and somehow won. It was against LordofWinter too haha. But that was with the Priestess and we were both still figuring out the game. Honestly every time I play, I come across a new rule that I did not know about.
I have been tinkering with a spellbook I wouldn't mind having the forum pick apart and tell whats good and what should be gone. I will post that as soon as I put it together. I appreciate the suggestions so far!