I've gotten the batteries and guess what. you're right too weak.
Remember they are 26ish ohm electromagnets running around .4 amps with 11.1v battery through Arduino motor shield. 30awg magnet wire. I need more current I believe. so I ordered 22, 26, 28 awg magnet wire.
The 22 I already got and it was only like 2 ohms in the same space that the 30awg was 26ohms so that would be way too much current to run through the motor shield but I put the wires right into a 7.4v battery(idk if thats recommended) but it was pretty strong(so like 3.7amp going though).
I think the 26 or 28 awg may create an optimal balance where I can get more current running through hopefully around the 1.2A level(what the motor shield is rated for) while not getting too hot but keeping them small enough to fit in the space I have
Otherwise maybe I'll look into a motor shield that can handle more current and do 4 dc motors like the Adafruit one. hopefully I don't need to though because I like the simplicity of this shield