Playing Heroes 2 offline. The basics, by Qwerty.

Playing in offline Heroes II tournaments. The beginning. So, you have the second installment of Heroes installed on your computer. And you've already played many games with the "mighty" AI. Moreover, you've already found a number of websites dedicated to this wonderful strategy game. Naturally, you are confident in your strength – so confidently have you defeated the legions led by powerful computer heroes. And now you will show everyone HOW to play Heroes II, HOW the MASTERS play. And here it is – the first tournament. For some reason, the map gives you a whole two (three, four) weeks. However, what can you do – it's just that it's so difficult for everyone else, but you, of course, are a true Master. The map, of course, is completed on the very first evening – and completed very well (as usual). And the day of summing up the results arrives. Now everyone will find out… And suddenly: you are in the middle of the table. A little closer to the end. What is this? It can't be! They probably all used cheat codes; we'll figure it out now. But it turns out that the first two or three participants showed a result one and a half to two times better, and they did it completely fairly. And then the first thoughts come… I will try to give some recommendations to novice tournament players in "Heroes of Might and Magic 2." I emphasize that these tips are aimed specifically at beginners, because my level of play is very far from the level of the top ten players… So, where do we start? or Scouting the save So, you have received the starting save. Now you need to explore it a little. What will be of primary interest to us? 1. Which troops on the map are ready to join our army for free, that is, as a gift. 2. Which troops on the map are ready to join our army for a fee (if diplomacy is available). 3. What magic is contained in the various Castles. 4. Creature deposits and the possibility of upgrading creatures for free. After exploring the save, we move on to the next stage. Do you have a plan, Mr. Fix? Or How to play The save is known; it's time to create an action plan. The plan should be based, of course, on the goal. Most likely, the goal will be quite clear: either the fastest completion of the map (completion of a specific task) or, conversely, to achieve the best results in something within a fixed time (level up a hero, gather an army, or both, gather skeletons, accumulate resources, etc.). The first thing to remember when creating a plan is that it should depend on the SPECIFIC goal on the SPECIFIC map. Do not try to play all maps according to the same template (building troops, leveling up a hero, etc.) – you need to approach the map INDIVIDUALLY. I am sure that with this approach, your results will be quite decent. Briefly about the main types of plans. 1. A frequently used plan involving changing Castles. The essence is quite simple: capture the Castle(s) of computer opponents and then build in them. The advantage of the plan is obvious – resources are spent on heroes and high-level troops (or high-level magic), while part of the opponent's resources are used (he has already built something in the city!). Usually, beginners are a little shocked when the winner of the tournament has no buildings in the starting Castle… 2. Rush and its varieties. A brute-force attack, a rapid capture of Castles (it is usually not too difficult to hold out in the Castle). 3. Playing with high-level movement magic – primarily teleport ("Spatial Gates") and a portal to the city. After learning this magic, everything becomes much easier… To be continued... Qwerty, 12/26/2006