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Map Title: The Lord of Rings
Author: Season
A Few Introductory Words
I don't even remember the last time I enjoyed playing Heroes this much. To be honest, after playing through some of Season's other maps, I had some questions about the widely recognized genius of Season as a mapmaker, but after completing this map, those questions are gone. Unlike the extremely dull and generic xiedu, the simple and elegant way home, the challenging and oppressive heroes of jing yong, The Lord of Rings is a true masterpiece. I didn't think anything could surprise me after the battles from Metatxera, but Season managed to do it; no wonder BioBob put a sign of appreciation for Season on his map.
A Few General Words
In essence, the map is a large puzzle - the author sets local tasks for you and provides the tools to complete them; if you don't see them, you're not looking hard enough. I agree with previous reviews of the map - you need to move forward and only forward; at no point during the playthrough did I encounter a situation where I couldn't progress due to a lack of troops/stats/artifacts, which positively distinguishes the map from xiedu and heroes of jing yong, where I was annoyed by Season's greed for stat-boosting items, which turned some battles into a surreal game of chance. Here, the map is completed with almost no randomness (okay, you'll have to catch the paralysis scorpion in battles, but it doesn't cause frustration because there can be many attempts), purely based on tactics and knowledge of certain mechanics (and some of the puzzle battles can be completed in more than one way, which is a pleasant surprise). Also, Season condescended to mortals and marked the imba cells with pits, but unlike xiedu, my playthrough didn't require their use =)
The gameplay on the map is quite diverse - at the beginning, Sandro will handle things, with the scroll of chain lightning being his main attacking stack, then Gundula (later Kragg) will join in with harpies, and finally, Orrin will finish everything off with wizards. Also, as you progress, you will have to use many different units for utilitarian purposes. The logistics become quite free after the first week, although the route through the map quickly becomes clear after some exploration.
I would also like to note that in previous reviews, colleagues lured the AI into the water. It is not necessary to do this; it is even more beneficial to let the AI run around - necromancers can gather themselves living units (which can be blinded for a peaceful resurrection of their army), Thorgrim can profitably exchange armies and settle in some castle, where he will die.
Timings
121 - Kragg is freed;
122 - Sandro, sitting in the castle, defends against a hero without losses
124 - Sandro receives slow
127 - Sandro attacks Nag, breaks through the second human town and the enemy hero
133 - 142 - Sandro attacks Ajit, Kragg kills Gurnisson in the castle and frees Orrin, Sandro attacks the quest hero with harpies
216 - 226 - the heroes receive resurrection and blindness, break through the quest hero for the boat summon, the dragon is freed
232 - obtaining the town portal
231 - 241 - Kragg eliminates Theodore, Josephine, and Yabarkas from the map
311 - Ignatius is defeated (I remember how impressed I was with the battle for resurrection in Metatxera; as it turns out, it was all in the Simpsons (Season's map))
316 - Orrin attacks Deys with a ballista (not recommended, the experience is below average 🤪)
317 - 325 - Kragg attacks Fiona, Zidar (one of my favorite battles on the map), Cardamon, and reaches the wizard stack
331 - Orrin attacks the hero guarding the doubler (a great battle)
332 - 336 - Haart is killed, we get hypnosis, Kragg kills Mephala; the last important battle fought by Kragg
337 - Kragg kills the hero with dendroids. Again, a great battle
343 - 415 - Orrin eliminates the necromancer trash, sitting in castles; breaks through Kilgor and Korbak (unreasonably simple battles for this map); Orrin takes the fortress
415-423 - Lacussa dies; the hero guarding the teapot, we take the clone
433 - 443 - Orrin breaks through Thorgrim, Gunnar, and Malekith in sieges. Gunnar is not of any interest, Thorgrim and Malekith made me sweat a little.
After this, I played carelessly (there are no more running heroes)
531 - Jeddit is defeated after 3 hitran (I'm sure you can pass without hitran, but I just wanted to finish it in the evening, and I was too lazy to think)
544 - Sandro defeats Tazar
622 - Orrin attacks the final boss
Overall Verdict
A masterpiece. A true delight. Season is a genius. 10/10