In general, I could have attacked immediately upon arrival from the CIS, but it didn't happen... Egor wasn't ready to play these kinds of maps, where the strategic level is more important than the ability to grind, although he's perfectly fine with that! Actually, I was pleased when Yegorych told me after the game: "I got control too late." By month 1 week 3, red had 10+ towns, 7+ of them with the 5th mage guild. The boss didn't even have a hint of Wisdom, nor did any of the secondary heroes — I didn't understand that move... If they hadn't given a lucky Dragon Utopia in the left treasure zone, Egor would have been left without control entirely, and then he'd probably say he was unlucky with the Dragon Utopias ))
To be honest, I have neither the inspiration nor the moral strength left to describe it in detail... Many saw the game, there are streams from both sides. His Oldboy played for me, many thanks to him for that!
In short. Week 1 hinted at the idea of giving up, because the road half a turn from the town ended at the exit of a one-way portal. In the end, I somehow managed to get going, built up in the town, thanks to which I cleared major stacks of 6 monsters without losses and somehow took the Griffin Conservatories, although I had to check one because it showed Stronghold, Stronghold... However, because of Castle, I ran around in absolute poverty the whole game until the Dragon Utopia, the micro-management was unreal, I felt like howling!.. The observer showed a super treasure zone, which I reached on month 1 week 3 day 2. The tavern showed on month 1 week 3 day 1 that Egor had killed almost all the computers, therefore scouting the entire map along fast roads — honestly, it was scary... By the end of week 3, I took the relics on the ground, including Wings, a level 3 Dragon Utopia with 24 Wiverns, 3 Angels, and a horde of 30 Water Elementals, Orcs, and Ogre Magi. The loot was sweet of course — КЗ + the 5th hat. Good thing the red player didn't decide to build the mage guild, which gave me a chance to run around and jump a bit. I had almost no stats, and there was no way to take the 2nd Dragon Utopia in the treasure zone, as it was guarded by 50+ Efreet Sultans!.. A Dragon Utopia in the treasure zone right next to the central Flux, which I took thanks to 2 Angels at the beginning of week 3 for another КЗ, which helped me a lot in the strategic fight for towns, as I had 2 secondary heroes with Expert Earth! In general, Egor didn't want to pressure me too much; he didn't even want to scout the treasure zone that turned out to be native, so I quietly grinded, and horns were being produced there. On month 1 week 4 day 5, he was 2 hexes away from catching me, and the power difference was simply outrageous!! At that point, red already had 50+ Monarchs, 10 Arch Devils, 200 Horned Demons... I at that time had 20+ Wiverns, 4 Angels, and a few Cerberi, Harpies, and Goblins... In short, it was terrifying — I didn't understand why there was no counter-play and why I was allowed to grind in peace!.. Eventually, by month 2 week 2 day 5, I had grinded an impressive stack of Monarchs, found the Armor of the Damned under Tyraxor's red Orb. Mephala with Expert Logistics, Boots of Speed, and Equestrian's Gloves on Phoenixes, even with just 1 Dimension Door, could run with a jump to any town, which eventually allowed me to attack red's main hero with 114 Monarchs, 10 Gargoyles, 9 Angels, 34 Sandras, 150 Cerberi, 350 Goblins, and 60 Orcs. Since the time limit helped Egor and he didn't have time to equip for combat, I decided not to equip the Armor of the Damned, although with it, it would have been a ГГ right away because I would have put on the bracers. In the end, my stats were 32-26, Crag level 25. Tyraxor 26-20. 18 Arch Devils, 1+1+1+64 Monarchs, 46 Pit Lords, and 530 Horned Demons. Both had artifact gear, of course. I had +3 speed, the opponent +2. But the main advantage was I had a +3-3 morale-luck pendant. I don't know why Egor didn't remove the anti-artifacts for those abilities, although he seemed to see them... As a result, it was an unsuccessful fight from red's side; one morale with luck on my Monarchs and the fight was won without much trouble. After the fight, red had 57 Horned Demons left, while I had — 7 Gargoyles, 100 Wolf Raiders, 150 Goblins, 34 Sandras, and 12 Monarchs. At that point, I was mentally prepared to be crippled by an Armageddon cast by a Sultan stack, since I had stupidly left the Cloak of Undead King with Mephala, portal'd as always to a distant Rampart.
In general, Egor didn't attack; he decided to grind instead, but that was pointless against 2 Strongholds and superior stats! After 5 days, I took almost all of red's towns. Tyraxor attacked, having spawned 150+ Horned Demons again. But I had the double-growth Stronghold replenishment, and red had no chance in the new battle... Thanks for the game!