Why didn't you try making a good game setup for yourself? Doing the entire test takes like 5-10 minutes at most. After you leave the school and talk to king mark, save in something like... Game start. Then scour quickly the surrounding buildings of interest (castles, temples, mage towers, the horsemen camp, inns and furious paladin house) and see what they have to offer. If you're not satisfied with what they have, start a new game, do the Test again, save and check the game out. It takes a few tries, but sooner or later you'll get what you need to start well.
This is the best way to start off the right foot, have a good army and try to do a good game with no losses.
In my eyes, any special challenge one can think of should be started like this to ensure a smooth going

I'd rather waste 2 hours in making myself a good head start that waste 20 hours to cope with the problems the game's throwing at me.