i dont know what ppl are using, but you can do less great things
go visit shaliqe village and go to fairy grove forest or to sea and catch rare uncivilized races 200+ per unit possible to beat without big casualties
requires some patience, i usualy got 300 for fairy and use it to afford training/lab upgrades erly
afaik Sea and Fairy grove should not have ambushes, but never tryed to go there with level 1