if you don't look for ways to "exploit" the "author's" obstacles on the battlefield, many battles become very difficult.

I know that the author intentionally placed tiles on the map with terrain that is convenient for the upcoming battles, and also provided an opportunity for clever tactics (I glanced at how people generally passed the parts that I have already passed). But for now, this is a kind of mini-challenge for me – to pass it as simply as possible, in an "amateur" way. I understand that I have only passed the easy part of the map so far, and that the opponents will be much tougher later on, and it may simply be impossible to do without clever tactics, but I won't get ahead of myself.

a bog monster or a hero with fairy and golden dragons, who appears quite early, I can't even imagine how to kill him at this stage of the game.

The bog monster only reached my Castle by the end of the 7th, beginning of the 8th month. After wandering around the area for a while, this little rascal got into a boat, where he was locked up for several weeks by two pits and one hero. Meanwhile, I visited the brown tent in advance, went upstairs, and captured several Castles with interesting spells. Along the way, I also farmed a few more thousand skeletons. Then I returned, released the bog monster from the boat, and let him attack the Castle.

I haven't reached Jhelu with fairy and golden dragons yet, let alone the orange one. When the time comes, I will try to defeat them without clever tactics and exploits. But if it really doesn't work out, then I guess I will have to resort to them.

where we spent 15 minutes beating a hero with a vampire from the Conflux Castle.

Masochistic battles lasting 15 minutes or more are quite normal for me. Just one 3-hour final battle on the Break In One Day map by wenwell is worth mentioning. :D And on this map, there have already been several battles lasting 20-30 minutes.