26.03.2012 crzq (Blue, Dungeon, Shakti, Shakti) def iSeeDeadPpl (Red, Rampart, Ivor, Ivor) Mini-nostalgia 144.

Probably my worst game in the tournament, a complete failure. The wretchedness of the spawn only emphasized that. No gold at respawn, no external dwellings, no Dragon Fly Hives; 2 crypts, a stable, and a market two days away — all the good stuff.

On day three (I could have on day two, but I chose the wrong path at the fork) I took the first AI — swamp, also without external dwellings, but with a Griffin Conservatory. I placed Ivor in the castle on a rush with elves, waiting for the AI's last hero. He didn't reach a couple of tiles, and I attack him the next day, forgetting the Centaurs and Lizardmen in the castle. Here I certainly panicked: 45 Centaurs and 9 Lizardmen could have held out just fine without a hero against the army the swamp player had, but I decide to ransom Ivor at all costs. The situation is complicated by the fact that all the heroes that could reach the external market had already moved. There is no money to ransom 11 elves, but I can ransom them by sacrificing one. True, in that case there won't be money to build the market for buying Ivor this turn. I sacrifice four elves, ransom them, build the market, exchange all resources for 2500 gold, buy Ivor, kill the AI. A Pyrrhic victory. All resources at respawn are collected, there's still a bit left in the swamp, but clearly not enough for rocs and ducks. In the end, somehow, having taken both pre-max crypts, I raised a Wyvern in the Citadel. During this time, some shooter guard reduced the elf population to three or four.

I started week two by killing the Necro AI. Of course, all the AI's heroes have shooters, which they happily use to hose down the Grand Elves. The only profit from the Necro AI — he built +2K. There's an external dwelling of skeletons, but I never saw a Necro hero in the tavern for the entire game.

I went and killed Conflux. There's no need to mention the shooters, plus he, the bastard, built a Citadel, which took five elves. Three Wyverns also fell in battle. So by the end of week two, my army consisted of 2 Wyverns, 2 Magma Elementals, 2 Grand Elves, and 7 Waspworts — one per hero. But that seemed insufficient to me, and I entered a crypt. The crypt turned out to be a max one; the Vampires got lucky several times in a row... Well, that was me being emotional. The crypt is actually a pre-max one, but even there they gladly feasted on two Wyverns and two Elementals, kindly provided by me. I tried to take it with a scout hero, so I didn't retreat, but fought to the end, so that another scout hero could clean up later. However, with that same hero, all my belongings disappeared: the Amulet of Mana obtained at the start, Bones +1/+1, and an Eagle Eye from the crypts, plus a few scrolls. Hmm.

I decide to surrender, scan all castles for anything at all, and discover about 40 Dwarves that had been built since the start. On the Necro respawn there is a Dragon Fly Hive, 2 Dragon Fly Hives in the mini-treasure zone, 2 Dragon Fly Hives on the Conflux respawn. I postpone the surrender. On week three, I buy Wyverns, upgrade 52 Dwarves, and go to the hives. Along the way, I take a Dwarf Cottage and a mini-Medusa dwelling — the only buildings of their kind on my half of the map. I don't dare attack the Gorgon stack guarding a Pandora's Box — I have nothing to kill them with. And by that time, Ivor doesn't particularly need 10k experience, there's no smell of Wisdom, and the Necro army is also dubious help.

The Dragon Fly Hives drop (12-12-8-8-4), then two Griffin Conservatories drop (3+2), on 1-3-7 I install birds in the castle. By that time I already have a Capitol and about 9k income. Behind Conflux in the snow, a Dragon Utopia is discovered, and some kind of sword +2/+2. Especially since there are no artifacts on the map or with me at all. But it's a long run. It's even longer to run to the treasure zone beyond the swamp, and it's unclear what's there. I decide to take a risk — I hit the Guarded Object, exit into the underground, and right there are Wings behind Diamond Golems, a Sword +3, a Dragon Utopia (which I can't reach), and Blue's heroes. On the next turn, the Miner attacks me, and the rest you know.

Thank you crzq for the game, I wish you luck in the tournament, we'll watch the streams and cheer. I have a couple of friends who got interested in Heroes thanks to your last stream :)

I also wanted to thank everyone involved in the tournament and Scorpiona personally. It was awesome :)

P.S. I also had a question. In the seasonal rule amendments for template 8mm6a, there is a clause about a ban on building upgraded Vampires if the AI has a Necromancy Amplifier. Does this rule clause apply to the mini-nostalgia template? As I understand it, de jure I could have built upgraded Vampires and bought them, since this is not forbidden for this template. After all, "Actions not prohibited/restricted by these rules are permitted."