My start was decent, but when your opponent has a free sword +5 to all stats at the respawn, a cap of 5th-level magic, boots, and a mana doubler near the GO, you need significantly more.
Anyway, my swamp was placed close to the GO, so on the first day I bought few heroes and barely reached open space. On the second day, Dessa arrived, giving me some hope. However, the respawn was quite rich in troops. 3 Griffin Conservatories, a couple of Dragon Fly Hives, external dwellings of wyverns and hydras.
I took the first minimal Griffin Conservatory with a hydra on day 5. On day 6 — the external dwelling of wyverns and another angel. After that, I made a big mistake by attacking the orcs for two majors. They turned out to be a ton of them, close to 100, and, worst of all, a gr. stack of 15 units. I had 2 angels, a hydra, 4 wyverns, about 20 lizardmen, 4 basilisks, and a few gnolls. Somehow I managed to win the fight, leaving 2 angels and 3 wyverns. Then I had to urgently buy troops from the dungeon to at least have some singles for the hydra external dwelling. The guard of 18 Minotaur Kings was also unpleasant — cost me another wyvern. Well, the external dwelling itself was easy. I built hydras in the castle, but I have no money, and there's nowhere much to get it.
At the start of the second week, I take a medium Dragon Fly Hive, then a level-2 Griffin Conservatory. Dessa learned mass slow, so the slow foot-bound GO was taken down without issues. I managed to spend two days in the center. I reclaimed the Titan's sword and shield, and bracers. I didn't manage to find any magic, and then Gundula came running. She had slightly fewer troops than me, slightly better stats, but I had absolutely nothing to counter her implosion.
Thank you for the game!
Осень-Зима 2013-14.