I don't remember often using a Knight hero for the Necropolis on sufficiently large maps. Maybe I should. I'll think about it and write more about it tomorrow.
Gargoyles have a morale penalty of -1, so you can hope they won't have time to act:)))
Good analysis from Alex_R, I'll try to describe the ideas that came to me in more detail tomorrow, although maybe it's time to write an article about the beginning of the game for the Necromancer (by the way, the article "Practical Numerology" has been written and published).
A fundamental error crept into the calculations, related to the fact that vampire lords are resurrected only after killing an enemy unit. Thank you to Sir PReDS for pointing out this inaccuracy.
Perhaps it's time to ask the author of the guide on the differences between the second and third versions to include a section on the restoration of improved vampires, because it's all a bit of a mess.