A THREAD FOR NEWCOMERS!

I see people asking about logistics here, so does that mean general tactical questions are also welcome? Here's my question about the first day of the game (1.1.1): you start with a hero and two others in the tavern, each with some troops, but often one of them is "not from your faction." I'd like to know from experienced players if they use these "foreign" armies and, if so, how. After all, when you transfer them to your main hero, at the very least, morale suffers, not to mention the movement penalties, and you can't really accomplish much with that army on its own... (I'm still learning, and if I do use such troops, it's mainly as cover for archers, as "cannon fodder," to absorb enemy attacks, etc. - is that correct? Also, I just remembered: if someone from the conference is playing as the third faction, and the battle takes place on grass, I give all my "losers" the butterflies to speed things up). And also, if anyone knows, please tell me what's up with this bug I have, where Shakti and similar heroes never arrive with three stacks (I even tried restarting the game specifically to play as Shakti and see if it would work - it's always 2 and 2, sometimes even just 1, and getting 3 stacks at once is like something out of a fantasy novel:confused:).