OFB-9

After my 2 restarts at 111, things started working. From the start, 5 elves on Kyrre, scouted 2 Griffin Conservatories, then another one — we're playing. On one side of the road, there were several unpleasant blocks of 50-99 archers, 20-49 Master Gremlins, 20-49 orcs, so I decided not to go there for now. Took a couple of crypts, broke through the metro. Then on 112, blue appears — I'm in shock... Where did blue come from on a naturals map??? Oh well, I started fighting him — he chased Kyrre into the tavern once, but I wiped out his heroes cleanly, eventually around 115 I took the Citadel, having captured the dungeon village in the basement on 113. It turns out my 2 mines broke the respawn and gave me passages to blue and green's starting zones. I put horses in the Citadel, almost no gold for buying, but the first 2 Conservatories are minimal, which is both sad — since I wanted more griffins — and acceptable, because with the finances I had and subsequent buying, I wouldn't have taken more anyway by 121, and Kyrre would have just stood idle. So I started 121 at the Conservatory, took both. On 122, another one, and I capture green through the chain. Then I give one angel to Ivor and collect towns like seeds. On 126, Gunya shows up at my base, takes my blue Citadel, and stays overnight in the metro from my native respawn. Kyrre was far away at that moment but managed to break through home. Blue has 17+1 Master Gremlins, 4 cats, 4+4 Evil Eyes, 12 ducks, 1 angel, stats 15 6 2 5 (32). I had 16 Grand Elves, 3 angels, 5 horses, 19 dwarves, 6 Dendroid Guards, 32 Archers (upgraded), 5 Pegasi, stats 10 6 3 5 (40), Oil, Shield, Blind. The opening tactic prevents blue from rushing — I immediately cast Oil and seal myself off. The battle was quite interesting — the opponent hasted the angel, gremlins, ducks, and immediately got Oil. Then I Blinded the gremlins to check if they had a counter. They had Cure. But since I had Pegasi, their mana ran out pretty fast — Gunya saves the last 11 mana, probably for Haste on the gremlins. My ballista is shooting well. In the end, after about an hour of battle, I leave blue with 4 gremlins and 4 ducks against my 3 angels, 3 horses, and 3 Grand Elves. A surrender follows. Since there was no mana left and almost no moves to enter a castle or refill mana another way, I don't pursue — there's a dungeon double with gremlin pickups. While I run, it's already 131 and a ton of gremlins. I take the Evil Eye pickup from the former green dungeon and set 3 portals. By 131, I had 60+ Evil Eyes. I go to the treasure zone. I gather nearly 40 ducks, take 2 red pickups, all of level 4 in Pandora's Box, +2 speed, pick up Angel of the Death, lack the ring for the Elixir and the Cherry Bow for the Sword of the Gods. I take 2 Dragon Utopias with КЗ and some stats. Then we run around. I set up reds in the dungeon for 4 weeks, the bot kindly fortified the rampart village, which I also start upgrading. On 211 — the plague... Annoying, reds should have been over 10 by then. Meanwhile, I build the Mage Guild — no Dimension Door or Fly yet. Meanwhile, I level up Tamika and make bones; scout heroes captured all the mines they saw in 1.5-2 weeks, but resources are still scarce. I run to another treasure zone to a revealed Dragon Utopia. Maximum difficulty, I take it — finally, almost everything I need: Horde, +3 Wall, Cap 4/4, and Cap 5x = full control. The only sadness — somehow Kyrre's skills filled up unnoticed, and there was one last empty slot that I was guarding like a maiden's virginity. But the Dragon Utopia both doomed me and gave me a level-up. They push Water instead of Air, and the level-up is mediocre — there's Defense and Tactics, also Ballistics and Water... I hang out in this treasure zone: a couple of Dragon Fly Hives, 2 Bibles, a box of 25 Evil Eyes, another Dragon Utopia. There are 2 books: Water and Air. Almost no stat boosts. I can't assemble my combos — the merchants, both in town and on the road, have nothing I need. I optimize the economy to the max — by the end of the first month, income was 25k, plus a couple more Dragon Utopias, and by 21++ the balance was over 100k. I take another Dragon Utopia in another treasure zone — nothing good. I bought Shackles from merchants back at 3 weeks. Scout heroes try to scout the dungeon to occupy it and set up reds there by 217. A brutal war for the purple castle ensues, first with purple itself, then with green. Ultimately, I finish both off. On 216, Gunya beats me to capturing castles. Again, he first takes that same blue Citadel. From there, Gunya occupies 2 more of my towns, snatches the gold from a scout hero at the last second, Town Portals to the Citadel, and stays overnight at the arena. Well, he got caught. Even though Kyrre had only 19 mana, that was enough to Town Portal home, visit the well, collect the gold, place angels, and upgrade the dragons. I attack with the classic — with Angel of the Death under Horde and Shackles. Stats are roughly equal: attack around 20, defense around 15. Blue has 41 Master Eyes, 47 Master Gremlins, 3 angels, 31 ducks. Kyrre has 51 ducks, 4 angels, 6 black dragons, 11 Master Horses, 27 Grand Elves, 131 Master Eyes, 15 Master Gremlins. After casting Angel of the Death, Dave concedes defeat.

Thanks for the game!