In fact, for an Undead Mage, building a Knight Order is not particularly difficult.
As long as you avoid using Death Knights, and aren't worried about uncontrollable soldiers, low morale, or rebellion, you can recruit other knights with some money.
If you can't recruit traditional knights, you can still enlist Beastman Wolf Riders, Goblin Boar Cavalry, and Elf Pegasus Cavalry.
However, these troops, when paired with the Undead, have morale that plummets like a landslide and is impossible to raise.
Therefore, very few Undead Mages opt for such futile efforts.
Thus, puppets that aren't affected by morale become the first choice for Undead Mages to establish a Knight Order.
For instance, the Stone Golems under Gu Xi's command are such types of units.
But here lies a new problem, which is controlling Mechanical Puppets requires Undead Mages to study Mechanical Engineering.
In this field, Undead Mages definitely can't compare to professional Puppet Masters.
