Orcs vs. Humans

I might be missing something, but the problem is that this first-strike tactic doesn't work at all for me with the Orcs.
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Why is the result so absurd? Or is Mdance not telling us something?:confused:

The army ratio is completely off, which is why the result is predictable. If you have 300 Griffons with a growth of 5 per week, then there should be a corresponding number of Warlords and Daughters of Earth (the growth is the same).
In your replay, 2 stacks of Warlords with 30 units each push the Cyclops back twice by 0.3 in ATB. This is not enough for this scheme to work. There should be an adequate number of Warlords, in 3 stacks. The maximum push (0.6 in ATB) is achieved with at least 60 Warlords. Then we will get a total push of 1.8 in ATB before the enemy hero's turn, and the battle will be approximately like in my replay (see attachment).

Undoubtedly, this is the main problem with the perk, but the Cyclops don't attack everyone at once. In principle, there are 2 attacks, and you will always have to choose who to attack. And in the Knight's army, there may be 5-6 units of level in a dangerous quantity. Will the Orc immediately start crushing the Griffons? I don't think so...

The Cyclops don't attack everyone, yes. However, with 3 large units (and often 4, because during the training of Paladins/Champions, they can be divided into 2 stacks) in the Knight's army, it is very difficult to arrange the troops so that several stacks are not immediately affected. And the Griffons can easily be hit by the splash damage.
If we talk about Axel, then it's a no-brainer - what level unit will be in a dangerous quantity, therefore, a level 5 unit will not pose a special threat. :)
Therefore, the main task of the Orc seems to me to be to destroy the trained uber-stack of the Knight, while capturing everyone possible.

And I won't argue. I just assign the role of "anchor" to the Griffons (if, of course, they are not decided to be destroyed first) in a situation where the Cyclops have severely damaged the Knight's army, but they themselves have been affected by Subjugation. With that initiative ratio, the Daughters and Warlords will simply not have time to "get even" with the Cyclops.

They won't get even, almost guaranteed. Moreover, the Knight may not even have time to cast Vampirism, because in this case, he may miss the opportunity to take the Cyclops out of control. The Knight's SP, taking into account the reduction of his Spell Power by the Orc's perk, should be enough for at least 2 turns, so that the Subjugation-Vampirism-Subjugation combo works; otherwise, you can forget about Vampirism and just recast Subjugation.

And it will be difficult, or even impossible, for the Orc to destroy a decent stack of alt. Griffons under Readiness and Vampirism without Cyclops. Low initiative and zero morale are only a plus in this approach - you can't scare them, the counter doesn't reset for longer. That is, the calculation is that the Griffons will be in Readiness before the 2nd (!) cast of the hero, and the Cyclops will not attack them.
Ideally, have 2 possible "anchors" and space them out. You can guess who can be used as the second one under Laslo.

Yes, under Readiness and Vampirism, the anchors (both the 1st and 2nd options) can be excellent. However, the Knight is not a caster. This is not Orson, who relies on an anchor of Zombies and destroys the enemy with magic, and not a Warlock with anchors of Minotaurs and Hydras, who pours Chaos on the enemy. Who will attack? Well, these 2 anchors will remain, which the Orc will not touch. He will cut down the rest of the troops, run away when he feels that "enough is enough," and return with the remaining unused army. :)