Dandy
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Heh, it's surprising that this map, which is almost 10 years old and doesn't stand out in terms of unique features, mechanics, or plot, has been translated. Although, it should be noted that there isn't much text in it, and it's not the most time-consuming map.
But I definitely won't play it in English. After I played it almost perfectly for the first month, and then even the second and a half this weekend... Indeed, almost perfectly, about 98-99% of what this map allows in principle. And I also got incredibly lucky with the starting save!
After the 231 stronghold, a garrison followed, and there was no way to avoid losses - all the gnomes were lost, and only 2 survived from the chests. In addition, 17 sprites, 20 lizards, and a bull were lost. It's surprising that all the vipers survived, but in the end, there were more than enough troops to kill the blue commander. And in general, there were no serious losses against the blue - a maximum of 10 lizards were lost.
235 - the first blue swamp
236 - only now the red is taking my starting castle. I could have delayed it further, but there were compatibility issues with the capitals.
237 - the second blue swamp, and I painted both external dwellings with snakes.
The blue commander didn't live up to expectations in building the barbarian village, so I had to give it to the red. But the red didn't disappoint!
311 - I took back the starting swamp (the barbarian village is still with the red). Interestingly, the red didn't buy any units for 2 weeks in this castle. And here's another interesting thing. The computer, as you know, is a cheater and knows all the spells we have in battle. But in addition, the computer sees all our movement points, and if it understands that it can't reach us in one turn, it considers its castle to be safe. And here's another point - you can block your fast hero in a narrow area of the terrain with your own slow shooters. The computer doesn't understand that this barrier of my shooters can move away and considered its castle to be safe! In my case, the block was arranged by 2 heroes who were hiding behind the gates with a teleport exit.
237-247 Result: During the period of the red's regency in my starting swamp, the red didn't spoil my growth - he simply didn't buy anyone. But in these 8 days, he also made 6 buildings - a resource silo, a growth management 2 building, upgrades for archers, bulls, vipers, and built hydras. Or 23k gold, 35 wood, 30 stone, 14 mercury, and 14 sulfur! And all this wealth (especially considering our incredible lack of resources) in exchange for 8 days without a castle, during which 32k gold would have accumulated! If we paraphrase Voltaire, if need hadn't forced us to give the castle to the red, then he should have given it to him himself:)
Further - more. In order for the computer to build the village, it needs to understand that the village is safe. But there was also a strange thing. On 311, after capturing the starting swamp, it built a resource silo only if I spent the night with lizards in the castle. That is, the external garrison of the starting swamp, which is 2 days away, somehow influenced the computer's behavior.
It's like a butterfly effect. You spend the night with 1 sprite - the red hero runs to the castle, the village is not built. You spend the night with a hundred sprites - the red hero is afraid, the village is not built. You spend the night with 1 lizard - the red hero runs to us, but the village is built! The lizard effect:)
311-317 - the computer kindly built a fort, goblins, wolves, and birds, and didn't buy anything. My hero with a passfight on 1 fly was in ambush all this time behind the garrison (in the cage where the strongholds used to be), so he could easily take the castle in one turn.
321 - the last city is taken, and
322 (symbolically) - I kill the last red unit. Well, honor and praise to the red, he played better than any ally.
Added 9 minutes ago
But there are also some downsides to the honey pot:
Because of the quick start, the blue didn't have time to build bulls in one castle. And I didn't have enough wood and stone for 237, so I had to build bulls on 24. And the red, along with his Stakhanovist feats in building my castles, also had some sad problems with building cyclops. Cyclops were not built in any castle, and I will have to somehow conjure up these 60 crystals myself. However, 41 crystals already exist, so I will have to do some magic with the mills.
But I definitely won't play it in English. After I played it almost perfectly for the first month, and then even the second and a half this weekend... Indeed, almost perfectly, about 98-99% of what this map allows in principle. And I also got incredibly lucky with the starting save!
After the 231 stronghold, a garrison followed, and there was no way to avoid losses - all the gnomes were lost, and only 2 survived from the chests. In addition, 17 sprites, 20 lizards, and a bull were lost. It's surprising that all the vipers survived, but in the end, there were more than enough troops to kill the blue commander. And in general, there were no serious losses against the blue - a maximum of 10 lizards were lost.
235 - the first blue swamp
236 - only now the red is taking my starting castle. I could have delayed it further, but there were compatibility issues with the capitals.
237 - the second blue swamp, and I painted both external dwellings with snakes.
The blue commander didn't live up to expectations in building the barbarian village, so I had to give it to the red. But the red didn't disappoint!
311 - I took back the starting swamp (the barbarian village is still with the red). Interestingly, the red didn't buy any units for 2 weeks in this castle. And here's another interesting thing. The computer, as you know, is a cheater and knows all the spells we have in battle. But in addition, the computer sees all our movement points, and if it understands that it can't reach us in one turn, it considers its castle to be safe. And here's another point - you can block your fast hero in a narrow area of the terrain with your own slow shooters. The computer doesn't understand that this barrier of my shooters can move away and considered its castle to be safe! In my case, the block was arranged by 2 heroes who were hiding behind the gates with a teleport exit.
237-247 Result: During the period of the red's regency in my starting swamp, the red didn't spoil my growth - he simply didn't buy anyone. But in these 8 days, he also made 6 buildings - a resource silo, a growth management 2 building, upgrades for archers, bulls, vipers, and built hydras. Or 23k gold, 35 wood, 30 stone, 14 mercury, and 14 sulfur! And all this wealth (especially considering our incredible lack of resources) in exchange for 8 days without a castle, during which 32k gold would have accumulated! If we paraphrase Voltaire, if need hadn't forced us to give the castle to the red, then he should have given it to him himself:)
Further - more. In order for the computer to build the village, it needs to understand that the village is safe. But there was also a strange thing. On 311, after capturing the starting swamp, it built a resource silo only if I spent the night with lizards in the castle. That is, the external garrison of the starting swamp, which is 2 days away, somehow influenced the computer's behavior.
It's like a butterfly effect. You spend the night with 1 sprite - the red hero runs to the castle, the village is not built. You spend the night with a hundred sprites - the red hero is afraid, the village is not built. You spend the night with 1 lizard - the red hero runs to us, but the village is built! The lizard effect:)
311-317 - the computer kindly built a fort, goblins, wolves, and birds, and didn't buy anything. My hero with a passfight on 1 fly was in ambush all this time behind the garrison (in the cage where the strongholds used to be), so he could easily take the castle in one turn.
321 - the last city is taken, and
322 (symbolically) - I kill the last red unit. Well, honor and praise to the red, he played better than any ally.
Added 9 minutes ago
But there are also some downsides to the honey pot:
Because of the quick start, the blue didn't have time to build bulls in one castle. And I didn't have enough wood and stone for 237, so I had to build bulls on 24. And the red, along with his Stakhanovist feats in building my castles, also had some sad problems with building cyclops. Cyclops were not built in any castle, and I will have to somehow conjure up these 60 crystals myself. However, 41 crystals already exist, so I will have to do some magic with the mills.