you can beat the map by destroying three more towns. It's best to start with the elven Castle (take it with three units from the town behind the garrison), then hire snipers in three places (they can't be used against elves - they refuse to fight). With the snipers and the peasants (who are plentiful around the garrison), wipe out the swamp (and thus destroy the town). You can answer the Zmey Gorynych's questions about whether you believe him or not however you like, he won't do anything (before the elven town, you're offered a potion, but I didn't understand what it changes). After destroying two towns, head south from the swamp and look for a monk who says he won't let you pass until you do a good deed. After visiting the monk, the forest near the Necropolis disappears => go and destroy it. Return to the monk and you win.

The problem is reaching the garrison. I manage it once in a while, it's just that when you sleep near the statue, the number of days changes to 3 (until the castle is captured), so you need to find the shortest path.

After visiting the monk, nothing happens with the Necropolis. Furthermore, it's guarded by about 50 liches, and then there's a hero with 21 in all stats and 50+ more liches. My hero and army have absolutely no chance against them.
Edit: Ah, I see what the deal is, I just needed to hire ghosts after destroying Gorynych's "town", then manually move Gorynych and the Nightmare into the garrison (if there are ghosts in the army, they don't move there themselves for some reason, which confused me), and then multiply the ghosts and crush everyone.

Added 3 hours 41 minutes later

guys.. wild question.. but... maybe someone can share a save.. basically - I'M STUCK MOVING THE SQUARES WITH THE MONKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It seems like a simple charade.. I even passed it once... but now.... cheats don't work... by the way, they used to work, but after the update they don't.....

One solution option:
Visit the bottom-left monk 3 times
Visit the top-left monk 2 times
Visit the bottom-right monk 1 time

The order of visiting doesn't matter.

Added 31 minutes later

Dear all, based on what I've read above, I can conclude that in the second mission, you 100% NEED to build a smithy. BUT! There is no wood! (one wonders why I should have collected resources on the first map if they didn't carry over like artifacts)

Please, someone answer clearly how to handle this! My brain is boiling.

Restart the map until wood appears on the ground.

Added 22 minutes later

In the Life Adventures campaign, I can't kill the hero in the top-left corner of the map, in the swamp (he's too strong for me). And I can't do anything further... the remaining quests are:
1. find 40 gems (I only found 30 and even trading at the market doesn't help)
2. find the clover
3. in the Dungeon, I can't get past the guards where different spheres are required.

I'm at a dead end
Please help!

If the hero in the swamp is too strong, it means you had losses during the playthrough or made wrong decisions.
For example, for magic, the hero needs to choose EARTH and WATER. Water provides cheap healing at the start and Prayer later (similar to Haste, but it also boosts attack and defense). Earth provides Slow, Force Field, and Resurrection - three incredibly useful spells, without which the playthrough becomes hell. Specifically, with Force Field, you can kill a Green Dragon without losses, and comments regarding Resurrection and Slow are redundant.
Also, in the city, in the cultists' lair, you need to drink the stuff that increases attack/defense and decreases magic/knowledge - magic/knowledge is almost useless after a certain value anyway, since there is no offensive magic, and 200 mana is more than enough for any battle. And collect various resources.
Regarding the gemstones - it seems you just shouldn't spend them on useless boots in the smugglers' lair, then collecting 40 is no problem at all, and for that, you'll get a bow that ignores the distance penalty (a VERY useful thing).
The spheres are given to you when studying magic; obviously, since you can only learn 2 out of 4 schools of magic, 2 slots for spheres will be blocked regardless.
I also advise NOT to take tactics; instead, it's better to take intelligence from the witch.
And that's it, if you don't take losses, you'll reach the swamp hero even with a small crew, but thanks to spells, stats, and shots without penalty, even hydras fall in no time.

I have a question regarding the 1st mission of the Evil Way Home campaign. I captured two castles and turned them into Necropolis, destroyed all enemies - what do I do next? The artifact is on an island, there's a teleport to it from a passage in the top-left corner of the map, but how do I get into that passage?