Anyone have tips for this? If I leave the starting area I get hammered with high level summons. It's like the previous level, except I have a fraction of the resources so can't even grind my way out.

Start off with a stack of your Hero + 2 Initiates + 1 Ghost. Or you can go for 3 Initiates if you picked the Nosferatu and have buffed his armor (10, Banner + 20, Natural Armor + 10, Runestone + 15, Holy Chalice = 55 Armor!)

Once you get Wraiths, remove the Ghost, either move your Hero to the back line or leave him in the front (preferrably in a side slot) add 2-3 more Initiates. Although I don't recommend leaving a Lich Queen in the front line, she'll end up losing too much HP and eventually you'll run out of potions.

If you're using a Death Knight then... yeah good luck with that, I've never bothered using Fighter (and Archer, except for the Nosferatu of course) Heroes in the sagas. So can't give any advice on that. I suppose you can still try spamming Wraiths. Try to shift your DK around the front line so he won't be receiving a ton of damage, seeing as he'll be useless in the backline

Oh and obviously once you have at least 3 Wraiths, move your LQ or Nosferatu to the backline.

Thanks for the tips. I did it eventually (I was using a Lich Queen) by taking the two nearby towns and then staying in the northern town. Eventually The AI sent a huge wave of units at me and with careful potion/spell use I was able to wipe them out and then push forward myself. After that the AI basically went idle and I was able to clean up uninterrupted.

Wraiths / Deaths are the best unit in the game hands down. They slaughter nearly everything without a single scratch, and you can take on dragons with a few potions.