DISCUSSIONS on “Rules for online games in HoMM3 and formulas for calculating player rating.”

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The rules are perfectly acceptable. The terrain is part of the game, and it needs to be taken into account. There could theoretically be many similar situations. Ultimately, let's consider this scenario:

There's a road, and everyone has run out of moves, but one player has many moves left. They move along the road and encounter an enemy unit (carrying a Celestial Ship or another artifact). The attacking player has the same units, and the enemy has a Serpent. Why should the player with the Serpent be in a worse position (it could happen that if the defender loses, the attacker will kill the enemy hero in the city and end the game, or it could happen that the Serpent hides thanks to the terrain, and the attacker won't be able to kill it and will lose), if they can't be killed? They can't retreat or lose. They have the right to retreat, and the opponent has the right to attack. If the attack doesn't yield results, the defender is not to blame. Also, the attacker can attack with 10 Angels against 2 Angels, having +1 speed, thinking they will win, but they will get +2 speed from the opponent, who will take a strategic position and not lose.


1. Because they are attacking, and the defender is defending! The defender is not obliged to attack; they are FORCED TO DEFEND!, and it is the attacker who forces them to defend, and they are responsible for the attack! If the attack doesn't yield results, then the defense wins!

2. Immediately before the attack, the attacker sees (approximately) what the opponent has in their army. They can arrange their troops as they like, making the most advantageous arrangement for victory, taking the fastest units from the enemy, dividing them, etc., which puts them in a winning situation!

3. The attacker can scout with a unit; if there isn't one, that's the attacker's problem.

- The attacker can and should have a spell to remove the obstacle, and this is PROVIDED by the game and its creators. This spell is specifically created for such cases! It is quite rare to have this spell, and it is also rarely needed, but similar situations that arise are also rare, especially when they determine the outcome of the game. Often, the outcome is determined by one player having a Town Portal, a Dimension Door, and the other not, but we accept this and don't complain because it's part of the game.

- The defending mage can kill a swarm of skeletons because they place an obstacle with the Magic Shield spell (or whatever it's called), which doesn't change the essence of what happened. The opponent can't get close and is attacked with magic. The only difference is that the mage spends mana and kills the opponent or retreats after spending mana. But they retreat because there is no terrain.

In the case of Oldboy, it's even simpler. The birds didn't want to stand under the Angels and take a strategic position, and the result was a defeat, but in a different form.