For example, a third-level Griffin Conservatory usually cannot be broken by native troops (with acceptable losses) while teching up to Angels. + stables of course.

Without mass slow or other magic like Blind, you'll tire yourself out breaking a Castle's third-level Griffin Conservatory with native troops even with horses in week 2 ;). But with Angels it's actually easier – Angels can withstand the retaliation from 30 Griffins about 2 times, while horses might lose one from the first retaliation. And a Dragon Fly Hive is taken especially well by 2 Angels, even the maximum one, with a small casualty count, while horses can get stuck there if the Serpents behave unfavorably :rolleyes:

Added after 10 minutes

I agree that this judgment is debatable. That's exactly what I'm saying – relative to the most popular templates, this is almost impossible or will lead to a delay in scouting and development.

With money available, development will actually be faster, and in week 2 it will be much easier. By the way, let's calculate – Angels in the Fort: 3000 Monastery + 20000 Portal + 6000 to recruit = total 29000 without Monks (+ resources of course). Horses in the Castle: 2000 Stables, 7500 Castle, 5000 Hippodrome, 6000 Horses + 1350 for 9 extra Marksmen + 1600 for 4 extra Crusaders + 1260 for 14 extra Pikemen = about 25,000 (+ plenty of wood). As you can see, the difference is small. + it's good if there are external Stables; if they're far away, that's another 4200 for upgrading the horses.