Starting with a hero with diplomacy skills and having units join in the first week allowed for good development, and later, I trained another hero with diplomacy skills.
However, the units that joined were only level 2-3, and their combat strength wasn't high. In the second week, when I encountered my opponent, I was pushed back twice by their 5 angels, and I was in a difficult situation. Fortunately, I used diplomacy to gain 130+ dwarves as my main force to conquer Dragon Fortress, and Dragon Fortress gave me the Mage's Hat, which helped me secure the final victory.
With the Fly and Jump spells, I quickly conquered another Dragon Fortress, recruited a few more strong units, and encountered my opponent again. After a few flanking maneuvers, I occupied their city, and my opponent's forces were in a difficult situation and couldn't reinforce. They eventually surrendered.
tfp
This is a complete circus, not a game. I think I played 10 times better than my opponent, but anarchy is anarchy. My opponent had a diplomat with 111 diplomacy and 4 double damage units from the third week. Meanwhile, I didn't have any overpowered units, but I still won 2 finals, and if things had gone differently, I would have won the game. But in the late game, without any diplomats, necromancers, or control, fighting against diplomats and 4 double damage units is... TFP!