Which creatures from the alternative upgrade options do you choose?

Orcs have a lot of abilities that allow them to quickly reach level 1, or almost immediately (but before the enemy's first attack). As for losing rage, Orcs have a great battle cry (and it's a level 1 ability) that specifically increases a unit's rage, and sometimes it increases it VERY significantly. In duels, it's not as easy for Orcs to gain rage; their battle cries are somewhat weak in that context, but even then, the same spell (the one the Centaur chieftain has, I think) increases rage by 1 level, which is very significant. In general, I personally like Orcs because each of their units is dangerous. Even goblins can sometimes give the enemy a hard time, and the other fighters are even more formidable: warmongers, daughters of the earth... wow, it's great:rolleyes: :o

Added after 21 minutes
2Ar. The whip strike significantly increases initiative, but not by much. But I disagree about duels; executioners aren't that strong. Nazg already mentioned this, and I'll just agree with that statement. Chieftains + free cyclops is a very strong combination. By the way, you can use it to its full potential in duels, especially with Garuna