Necropolis versus Orcs.

I once fought a Necromancer on a large map, and the Goblins never let the hero recruit anyone. Only Banshee Cry, enhanced with Howl of Terror, could do that. And to make them move earlier, I used their leaders to push them forward.

With this kind of gameplay, the Necromancer should always take Offensive Guard. (The only exception might be if a Deidra gets lucky with a cloak and staff from the Necromancer set; then, they could go for Spell Power.) Control should be cast before the Goblins' turn, targeting the Goblins themselves or a stack that can immediately deal significant damage to them, such as Executioners. In the late game, neutralizing the Shamans is a top priority because nothing except Necromantic Aura can save the Cyclops from Darkness. And if the Shamans are out of the game, you can even just cast Vampirism, and their Morale will drop very quickly.

With Pure Rage taken into account, there was enough Morale; they practically reached level 3 right away, considering the Amulet of Mastery. The Cyclops were simply tearing through everything; they were barely being damaged, considering that 80% of the damage was absorbed by Rage with maximum skill.

Maybe you should start playing on version 3.1? They fixed a lot of balance issues there, including Morale. With the amulet, it will be 65%, and Morale will also decrease a little faster.

In the end, there's nothing left to control them with, so what else can you do?

Even without Darkness, the Necromancer has Vampire Curse – the best creature ability for control – it works on retaliation and has the highest chance of success among similar abilities. And yes, taking Readiness is almost mandatory against the Orc.

In general, as has been written many times over the years, the most important condition in the late game is the number of neutral castles on the map. In game N, with N increases, the Necromancer loses to everyone, and the Barbarian is one of the strongest. But with an abundance of neutral castles, thanks to the Undead Converter, the Necromancer will consistently have 3-4 times more creatures, and that's a completely different story.