[HMM I OFF TOURNAMENT] "Company"

Good afternoon, dear fans of Heroes 1!

We present to your attention a description of the 5th stage of the “Companionship” tournament by VDV_forever.

Preface.

In my opinion, this map is one of the most interesting and difficult for professional players in terms of speedrunning, as well as for gaining maximum skills for the main hero.
In order to “achieve” a good result on this map, it is necessary not only to carefully examine the map beforehand (analysis), which is widely known in the Heroes community as scouting, but also to be able to adjust the movement and behavior of the companion on the map, and to skillfully apply your knowledge in battle, using magic and useful features of the units, since to achieve victory on this map, it is necessary to destroy a rather strong opponent hero (Sundax), who is defending in the Slayer's castle, which ultimately needs to be captured!

I must say right away that this map can be completed in 6 days, but due to lack of time, I could not achieve such a result.
I managed to achieve a result of 7 days, but I could not squeeze out the maximum in terms of primary characteristics and the amount of mercury, again due to lack of time.
The following artifacts that increase primary characteristics were not taken:
amulet of mysterious magic and protective gauntlet.
It was also not possible to generate mercury (+2) in the windmill when it appeared, and the castle did not have the “double” hero bug. Perhaps, replaying one day would allow this trick to be implemented, but I was too lazy to replay a day.

Map Analysis (Scouting).

The analysis of the map showed that:
1) The map is divided into 3 different areas, and 2 of them are swamp and snow, which means that heroes such as the Sorceress, Warlock, and Wizard, who have a penalty in this area, can only be used on the land area on their home territory (grass), and only in exceptional cases on another “non-native” area.
2) There are 8 opponent heroes on the map, and they are all Barbarians, which means that on the first day, you can only use one hero – a Barbarian.

3) On the home territory (respawn), the following artifacts are located:
Four-leaf clover (luck +1);
Amulet of misfortune (morale -2) – guarded by thieves;
Large scroll of knowledge (knowledge +3);
Nomad boots (+6 additional steps) – guarded by thieves;
Bottomless purse (+500 gold per day);

On the neutral territory:

Protective gauntlet (defense +1);
Dragon sword (Attack +3);
Amulet of mysterious magic (Magic power +4);
Ballista (Additional catapult shot).

And on the companion's territory:

Axe of power (+2 attack);
Golden horseshoe (Luck +1) – guarded by thieves;
Bottomless bag (+750 gold per day) – guarded by thieves!;
Scroll of higher knowledge (knowledge +5);
Medal of valor (morale +2);
Lucky coin (luck +1);
Medal of bravery (morale +1);
Traveler's boots (+3 additional steps);
Medal of courage (morale +1);
Thunder hammer (attack +1).

That is, in fact, there is a large variety of artifacts on the map, but the main interest is primarily in the boots, as well as artifacts that increase the main characteristics of the hero.
Note - not all artifacts on the neutral territory, as well as on the companion's territory, were checked for the presence of guards in the form of thieves.
4) The abundance of resources lying around on the respawn allows you to build 4 levels of magic from scratch in any castle.
5) There is a windmill on the respawn!
6) All companion heroes have the highest movement speed, as they have wolves in their army (from 10 to 20).
7) On the respawn, there are monsters ready to be recruited: centaurs and elves, on the neutral territory, goblins that stand in the passage separating the companion's respawn from the neutral territory.
8) There is a neutral village of Xabran on the respawn!
9) Available free troops: on the respawn, 2 houses (peasants), 2 guarded huts (archers), wagons (thieves), on the neutral territory: tents (nomads), guarded lamps (djinns), on the enemy territory: numerous huts (goblins).

Having finished scouting and testing the map in battle, the following main strategic points can be noted:

- Sundax's huge army is practically impossible to defeat with the small amount of troops that can be recruited in the first 7 days without using the following magics: berserk, meteor shower, or any shooting magic.
- In this regard, the main emphasis should be placed either on the hero's magic power (warlock), in the case of choosing the main shooting magic, or on knowledge in the case of choosing berserk (barbarian).
- For a quick speedrun, it is also necessary to have the portal magic.
- Since the map is dominated by a penalty area (snow, desert), the main hero should be a barbarian.

Conclusions:

1) The main nearest castle that meets the requirements for magic is the neutral village of Xabran, with the necessary magics: “Berserk” and “Portal”. It should be captured as soon as possible. Building all levels of magic should also be done without delay.
2) Since only one barbarian is available for recruitment on the first day, the main hero for the walkthrough is Anthony.
3) With the “Nomad Boots” artifact and having monsters with “high” and “medium” speed, the hero Anthony is able to capture the 1st enemy castle “Pine Hill” on the 4th day.
4) Objects that can slow down his movement should not hinder the hero Anthony.
5) Try to acquire as many artifacts as possible, + develop the main hero

For a more detailed study of the description of the map walkthrough, I suggest you consider the specially prepared drawings, the links to which are given in the text:


Abbreviations:
G – gold;
S – chest;
K – campfire;
R – mercury;
O – ore;
W – wood;
K – Castor's resting place on the 1st day;
A - Anthony's resting place on the 1st day.