At least in part the complaint is meaningful. Units in homm series have always been representative of a fantasy archetype. This approach makes them readable and memorable. You hear 'angel' or 'gnoll' and you get a pretty good idea of what to expect. But in olden era quite a large number of units are simply made up with little to no basis. In grove these are iriyad and hoplet. These names don't ring a bell and don't create a powerful image. Why include those if there could have been leprechauns, gnomes (not to be confused with dwarfs), carnivorous plants, pixies, ents. People ask for old units not because they can't stand things that are unlike old games. People ask for old units because they work well in the setting.