How many factions are there?

Honestly, it was. I remember it well; no one dared to play as it against Dungeon or Necropolis, and even... against anyone else.
It has no decent magic, only one decent ranged attacker (Blinding), the Hydra is slow, you can't rely on Gorgons and Wyverns, and the Castle requires a lot of wood... It's especially hard to capture Castles. Two flying units (Snakes and Wyverns) fly over the wall, where a skilled opponent shreds them, and then shoots down the remaining part from behind the wall – it was incredibly annoying. The Hydra never lived up to its potential. Don't even mention the "Teleport" spell...

In general, it's right that Hydras shouldn't be Tier 7 units. And Wyverns, Wyverns were given to the Orcs. And Paoka is clearly stolen from the Rukh birds!

In short, it's depressing; I want a normal, playable, and interesting Swamp faction... waiting for Heroes 6, and that's another 4 years... I don't want to. I hope the developers will change their minds. Maybe they'll make a new expansion and start a new storyline...