Tactics for Rampart.

Is it always exactly 8?

Of course not. I conducted a battle, commenting on it and taking screenshots at the same time. It depends on the damage range of the elves.

P.S. I personally don't go into the Dungeons on the first day (there are enough piles of gold and chests).

You can never have too much money! The piles of gold will gather on their own, and on the first day, you need to release as many heroes as possible, so you need to be able to clear money-generating structures on the first days of the game. Besides, if it's far from the castle, sending troops back and forth for just one crypt is a waste of time, which is very important when playing against a strong opponent.

and only when there are already group elves (it's more reliable and the losses are slightly less).

I agree, but if there is little wood, upgrading the elves may not be possible on the 2nd or 3rd day, and you still need to survive. And what losses could possibly be even less? Well, you might lose 6 fewer units, but level 1 units are lost anyway. In my opinion, it's even easier for me to take maximum crypts than minimum or pre-minimum crypts. Sometimes it's scary to go into a crypt with 10 vampires (for other factions, but not for Rampart), but 5 is just right. When you start breeding these skeletons in minimum crypts: it's tedious, level 1 units are lost anyway, and they give little money.