A small off-topic comment. 2Hermit: in my opinion, it's impossible to play without upgrading the archers for the castle, even if you're not playing as Valesk. You lose too much tempo. Gogs have 1-4 damage, which is on average the same as an archer. And I practically never build dogs for Inferno on the first week (unless I'm defending). I prefer to upgrade imps. Besides, I didn't have gogs at the start, so I didn't try to attack the lizard horde with them.

The attack power of Inferno on the first week is 60% due to the Pyrrhic cannon. Difficulties arise on the second week, when the power of Inferno decreases compared to other castles. But here, conscripts can save the day, because on their native terrain, Inferno can even take the maximum without magic. And then you can already break the hives, which are often on their own terrain.