Haven vs. Fortress (how to play against dwarves?!)

Someone wrote that playing as Humans, you can amass a huge group of champions. But this option seems dubious to me because it's very expensive. And to defeat, for example, 450 Spearman in one go (+1 attack and +1 defense for every second level of the hero), you'll need a huge number of champions (essentially, it's the same as finding the Grail in the second week). So, I don't see a tactic against Rune factions on large maps.

One of these "someones" is me. I advise you to try to be a bit aggressive on a large map. If you develop normally from the beginning (build the Capitol as quickly as possible, because the map is large). Since the map is large, there will be a whole bunch of unnecessary artifacts that can be sold, and you'll encounter Ellaina in the tavern (+2 Spearman for each peasant).
Imagine a day at the end of the week - 20 Knights are prepared, the next day - another 20. (of course, this is not in the first and second weeks, but still, 40 in 2 days is great).

It's funny to think that you need a lot of extra Knights to defeat Spearman. Believe me, in one turn, Isabel's Knights led by Axel destroy 2 squads of Dwarves (any, but it's better to leave Lava Dragons for last).