I confirm.
At the beginning of the game, due to inexperience, I immediately lost 32 centaurs. Exploring the respawn point (a small one) slowed down; all chests contained 1000 resources, and I thought about giving up. After the first week, only unicorns appeared in the castle. In the second week, almost nothing changed. In the third week, I started to develop slowly, but then I saw Gunnar. I rushed home (I didn't have much money; engaging in battles with neutrals and paying ransom at home would leave me with no money to buy troops), but the fast-moving Gunnar caught me halfway.
Thanks for the game!