That, and if I gave cous elves, he'd be too afraid of losing a single one of them I'd never get him to fight a battle. If I got him dwarves, he'd 'mutter darkly', tell them to shave their beards off and be slain in the ensuing brawl
No, you'll come across other races soon enough, and either ignore them, make them hate you or forge an alliance so you can include their troops in your army. Perhaps you can even abandon your king later on in favour of fighting for a race you've worked with for a longer period of time.
But at the start, it's just a bunch of humans. I'd get lost in extra rules (those shapeshifters were a nightmare) if it were otherwise.