Group F
09.01.12 mhhf (red, Castle, Valeska, Valeska) def COLORADO (blue, Rampart, Ivor, Ivor) 2sm4d(3) 144
We each took one restart at 111.
I was immediately enticed by the presence of a Griffin Conservatory under the Castle behind the gremlins and a Dragon Fly Hive. I scouted, found a couple of crypts, could gather some gold, and the exits to two secondary towns were close; the respawn went downwards — I decided to play.
I killed the Centaurs; at 113 I was two tiles short of the Rampart secondary town, but I found an external dwelling of green dragons behind a crowd of witches and a Pendant of Courage behind giants. I lost 2 days reaching for an empty Pandora's Box. Meanwhile, on the other side of the main route, I fought through witches with Uland to get to the second secondary town; two Centaurs survived. I found the native secondary town, but taking it with just two Centaurs was problematic, and none of the scrolls under the Castle turned out to be an arrow spell.
Valeska was leveling up nicely and smoothly moved towards the area of the native secondary town. On 121, Sorsha took the dragons and a Naga Bank 4. I lost 12 marksmen due to my own stupidity — I positioned them under a fire breath, and in the Naga Bank, they killed the horse. But the choice was limited: either the horse or almost all the marksmen, and there was a catastrophic lack of gold for recruitment. In the second Castle, I found a Pandora's Box for 21 Pit Lords (10k experience); scouting showed nothing else interesting there, but further down the road, another Griffin Conservatory was revealed, a +3 sword, and literally a day's travel away, a snow treasure zone began with two Dragon Fly Hives at the entrance and a Ring of the Wayfarer (+1 to speed).
The situation was definitely starting to look good to me, and then at the edge of the visibility, I saw Yona already with an Angel and a lot of meat. I had to urgently reconfigure all the chains from the Dragon Fly Hives and recall Valeska, who at the last moment decided that the Pendant of Courage still needed to be picked up, and entrusting that task to Sorsha, who had lost the marksmen and the horse, was risky.
The opponent disappeared into the darkness; I didn't pursue him because I first needed to catch up on Angels.
I took the Conservatory only on 131 - 2 and on 132 - 3, finally took the Pendant of Courage, and was about to march on the enemy when, after scouting with a scout hero along the road, I broke through the guard in an underground treasure zone and found 2 Dragon Fly Hives right at the entrance and a Telescope (quest artifact) behind a pack of Twilight Dragons. Such a guard promised a good reward; I decided to lose another two days with Valeska and take the artifact. There were 17 Twilight Dragons; they killed 1 Green Dragon and a bit of meat. Returned to the native Castle. Severe disappointment: Sorsha gives the army, reaches the seer under the Castle with the Telescope — it's experience, and she's standing on her last movement point, damn. Had to wait another day for Valeska, but I handed in the artifact for 20k experience. Valeska was already level 17, which was pleasing. +7 morale and Mass Haste were supposed to decide against Ivor.
Carefully positioning on the double-speed road, behind the vision zone of Yona who had appeared earlier, with a stable and an experience log, on 136 I reached the opponent's main town, killed 1 Pegasus, and holed up in the Castle waiting for the enemy's attack.
No attack came. I took another of the opponent's Castles nearby; right under the Castle, a +5 shield behind Cyclopes; killed a scout hero with dragons (there was an external dwelling at the main). A view of the air showed that the opponent's heroes were to the left and above. I wanted to cut them off through the secondary Stronghold town and ended up in a dead end, but the opponent said gg.
Thanks for the game.
Another example from Colorado of how to throw a good setup. From the start, Ivor with 12 Centaurs, no Elves; as a result, the starting army is very weak; I didn't even bother upgrading 7 Elves out of frustration — I placed Pegasi. In front of the Castle, there was a scouting post that revealed an external dwelling of dragons (43 Greater Ogres — as luck would have it, too few Elves!!!), a +6 defense shield behind 50-99 Cyclopes, a Griffin Conservatory, and native land under the secondary town. Definitely playing. On 112, I took the secondary town; it turned out to be a Castle. I upgraded the shooters, took it. Scouting revealed the Conservatory — at 3-4. Found a second Conservatory — at 2. Then money became tight. I only took 2 crypts; no one to go into a Naga Bank for 50-99 marksmen, no Dwarves, 1500 Imps. On 117, horses appeared in the Castle, but nothing to buy them with. Didn't rebuild the secondary town. On 122, I bought the growth (everything I could), went into the Conservatory for 2. I had no Earth Magic or even a Spell Book; Ivor was level 4 or 5, stats something like 3-5. Lost a couple of Pegasi, 3 Dwarves + meat. Took 18 Greater Marksmen — 16 survived. Then go to Castle + Spell Book and forward to capture the external dragon dwelling. I take it without losses on 126, and suddenly a scout hero of the red player pops up, one tile short of an unconquered Conservatory at 3-4 (10-15 steps from the start along the fast road). On 131, I take the Conservatory — turns out to be a 3. Ivor has 5 Angels, 3 Dragons + another 3 can be recruited in the Castle. Great. But zero gold. I run to the only Naga Bank — it's, son of a gun, the minimum payout ((((. On 133, nothing to do — can't buy growth, going for the opponent without buying up is risky — Valeska was ahead of Ivor in stats + Ivor only just got Advanced Water Magic (no Earth or Air at all!). I chose the treasure zone option — there was a Library revealed there, in particular. Ivor out front, the chain behind. And suddenly on 136, Valeska pops out of the darkness and takes my starting town with part of the still-unbought growth, including a Dragon. I assess the situation — I realize I won't take it back by 141, and it's not even a sure thing if I could: Ivor is Expert Water Magic, lower in stats, though not by much; to top it all off, the +6 defense shield was lying in front of the Castle. I didn't take out the 50-99 Cyclopes because I was sure I'd get it in time no matter what, and couldn't do it without losses. In short, a throw, but having nothing else to do, I continued along the snow treasure zone hoping for an Armageddon's Blade in a Dragon Utopia )))). In the end, the pre-maximum Utopia gave a Fire Magic Spell Book, Titan's Gladius, +5 Knowledge Helm, and +4 Attack/Defense Armor. Not bad, but gg. Too bad — if he hadn't reached my start by even 1 tile, it would most likely have been me writing gg.
Thanks to my opponent for the game.
