Игры HoMM3 for fun

18.07.14 That Same Dio (blue, Castle, Caitlin, Tirus) draw Grumbler (red, Rampart, Kyrie, Kyrie) jebus 241

Another tough game.

The spawn was average. The nice things included an angel external dwelling right near the castle, three Dragon Fly Hives, three marksmen external dwellings, two Griffin Conservatories, two cavalry external dwellings, a grail behind 25 cyclops kings, a fifth-level spell hat behind vampire lords (20+), a couple of nag banks and Dwarf Cottages. It seemed like a great spawn, but there was a small catch: the respawn was large, the roads were average, all the main goodies were far from the roads and the castle, and there was no stable. Plus both Griffin Conservatories were tier 1, and the GO was 16 green dragons and 8 gold ones.

By the end of the first week I built angels in the fort, on the first day of the second week I captured the external dwelling and built archangels, totaling three. I cleared the Dragon Fly Hives, one of the Griffin Conservatories, and took the grail. On the third week, with 7 archangels, 50 upgraded marksmen, 16 Wyverns, and meat, I broke through the GO.

I reached the center again before the opponent. Just like in the last game, right at the entrance I found wings behind 15 green dragons. Just in time, my main hero leveled up expert earth magic — Earth View showed that the center was really tiny. The next turn I take one of the two (!) Dragon Utopias in the center, a large Dragon Fly Hive, and stop one step away from the central town (swamp). The next day I capture the town, build and buy Wyverns, and clear the surroundings. The opponent shows up. I fly out right in front of his nose, take the second central Dragon Utopia, and fly back to replenish mana. The opponent turns around and runs back.

After that, the entire map gets cleared again. The opponent gets one AI zone, I get the other. Right before the start of the third week of the second month, I cunningly fly out from behind the mountains and capture the opponent's elf town on his native respawn. I thought it was his main town, but it turned out to be a secondary one. A secondary town built up to a castle and green dragons. History showed I did everything right, because the next day the week of the green dragon was announced, meaning +7 growth in both castles — that would have been too much.

The opponent was scared of my 20 archangels and 50 attack, so he refused to come out of his castle for the final showdown. I didn't feel like running around anymore, and I wasn't confident in victory, so I offered a draw, and the opponent agreed.

As it turned out, he was wrong to do so. In the final battle, which we agreed to hold just for fun, he won by a large margin. Roughly equal stats, magic ban from the opponent, and his huge advantage in meat decided it.

Thanks for the game! Less fear and more self-belief!