Yes, with each restart, things got worse and worse.
Respawn in the center.
There was also a secondary castle and the main one – castle + all creatures except hydras in the first week – I cleared a group of cerberuses on the neighboring respawn (if it weren't for the basilisks, Bron would have just withered away in his own castle).
I lost because of greed – I took a third castle somewhere on turn 1-3-4 and saw a university almost on the way back, so I thought, maybe I'll get lucky with logistics or something else... I saw Valya approaching, but I didn't expect her to be so fast. She had a small army (4 angels, 9 riders, 50-60 archers, 9 monks, and 20 griffins). Tazar (3-13-3-2) had 3 hydras, 10 wyverns, and 35 archers – he was half a turn late and stood in the fog, about a turn and a half away, as if hiding.
In the castle, there were about 20 gorgons, 20-25 basilisks, 4 wyverns + 30 archers – if I could somehow transfer them... even if I had escaped, Valya would have caught up. I thought she would be scared and not attack, and wait for reinforcements. In the end, I lost.
Thanks for the game.