Orcs. Upgrade or alternative upgrade?

The first time I played the Orc campaign, I always chose upgrade options for the Orc army that focused on attack. In the third mission, I encountered long and drawn-out battles with a huge number of neutral creatures, and their numbers grew by the hour (I was playing on Veteran difficulty).
P.S. I don't know how much patience and time it would take to completely eliminate all the neutral creatures on this map while playing on Veteran. Don't even try it – it's dangerous for your mental health!!!

In the 3rd mission, there's nothing too scary, even on Hero difficulty. But in the 5th mission, the neutral creatures are a real challenge!!! Hundreds of thousands of experience points per battle. But I still finish clearing it out.

My preferences:
Shamans – they help against mages and heroes. And I can handle melee units even without traps. Problems might only arise with the fastest ones. But they usually move before the trappers set up traps. Battle Centaurs. Orcish Warriors. Daughters of the Earth. Chieftains – they speed up Cyclops and Paoka. And they can also pack a good punch themselves. Paoka. Bloodthirsty Cyclops.

The first time I played as Orcs, I took free Cyclops. But after experiencing their retaliation, I started preferring Bloodthirsty Cyclops. It will be very painful if a Berserk is cast on a neighboring free Cyclops. I need the ability of free Cyclops to destroy walls because I'm leveling up the catapult. It destroys the gates with the very first shot.