Fortress vs. Castle

The Marshfolk have a lot of advantages over Humans, and you should take advantage of them. First: Lizards are the best tier 2 ranged units; combined with the hero's Defense skill, no marksman can stand against them (assuming the heroes' stats are roughly equal, and you also need to consider whether the heroes have the Ranged skill...). Second: the speed of the Swarmers is good both at the start and in combat (first, simple Swarmers, then upgraded ones); so, if you don't get Swarmers with your heroes, put Swarmers on the 111th tile (instead of even Lizards or Wyverns) and put everyone on them – the effect is great; and when you engage the enemy, the Swarmer battles begin; it's enough to get a Ranged attack of at least 30, and you'll be in the lead in 99% of cases with a speed of 13:smile19:. Third: in terms of useful unit abilities, the Marshfolk is the best Castle, starting with the Swarmers (Weakness and Dispel), the Basilisks stun, the upgraded Swarmers are generally excellent (you just need to use them correctly, try to attack Angels or other tier 7 units, and preferably after removing retaliation), the Wyvern-Archers are also great, and Hydras, when used correctly, are one of the most useful tier 7 units. Fourth: this race has some of the best heroes; if you're playing SoD, then 2-3 of the best are: Tazar (an unstoppable tank from levels 15-20, very good if you have even a slight advantage in the army with a red orb or at least a Cloak of Displacement), Vistan is a specialist in Lizards, much more effective than Tazar in the first week; if you have a stash of Lizards, he's a beast, very good for an early arrival in the second week, and then there's Bron, the only hero in the game who summons tier 4 units (Basilisks), and that says it all. Fifth: the advantage over the Castle is the cheaper cost of building (in the first week, it's much more realistic to build Hydras than Angels). Sixth: IMO, ranged blocks are much easier to break in the first week (overall armor of the troops + Swarmers, which, in the case of very strong blocks, can even be upgraded in the first week). Seventh: the advantage of the impassability of the native terrain – that is, the opponent is unlikely to catch you by surprise by emerging from the wilderness instead of coming along the road; by the time he gets there, you can prepare for his arrival 5 times (I mean, of course, not an experienced opponent, but the one you're playing against...). Eighth: the ability to upgrade Wyverns from Hives – this is very valuable, because Hives are present on almost all maps, while Conservatories for Griffins may not be given out (I'm talking about the possibility of the opponent upgrading Angels from them), and the map may be too poor to build Arches, but upgrading Wyverns is definitely cheaper (if, of course, there aren't too many of them :D). As for the movement penalty in the swamp, this actually has nothing to do with the race of the hero – it depends on what units are in the army: if there are, for example, Angels, then they will move, spending 175% of their normal movement, regardless of whether the hero is a Marshfolk or not. However, this problem is solved by the Pathfinding skill; on the expert level, you can move even with Golems through the swamp without a penalty:cool:.