I like the skill grinder references. As to the game itself, it has a lot of promise.
Not a huge fan of dragon/empire coming at turn 15, would recommend 20 to increase viability of grinding wood maker and mana control skills. I do appreciate not needing crystal ball past lvl 5 though.
I think axe mastery has been discussed enough.
My main issue was after beating dragon for the first time the game took me to my last save after the following fight losing me a significant amount of progress.
Otherwise, I appreciate the mechanics of the game. I assume spells are coming in a future update?