Hey, I think a generator would really help to prevent the neutrals from spreading out too much. I don't really know what affects this, but I've played several times and they behave differently. And in one playthrough, an opponent's Hero just got wiped out by the neutrals. I think this could improve the playthrough by a couple of days.

Congratulations, 21 days is a good result. :) I think Los has a similar time. :)
I didn't generate anything myself, I ran through it in about 3..4 hours. I just ran around the map for almost two weeks, eating chests for GM stealth. Although, the combination of Death Dragon + Locusts + Phoenixes can be bypassed with Necropolis, but I don't remember about the Dungeon. If they can be bypassed too, then spending two weeks crawling around the map didn't make sense.
I also had to wait 3 days because the enemies scattered, but this depends on how quickly he is destroyed. If I had taken him out a couple of days earlier, I could have caught up. Clanmates, sorry, I don't always play well. :)