Had a nice long respawn that gave plenty of gold, but almost no wood. On the respawn there's a Griffin Conservatory (turned out to be a tier 3), a dwarf dwelling 10-15, a Spirit of Despair, and a Pendant of Speed.

I put the Vivi at 115, took the crypt, and decided to push into both neighboring zones. I sent the Lich to zone 8, and with Monere's army I went into zone 9 and didn't miscalculate! I popped out onto two crypts, a tier 2 Griffin Conservatory, and several piles of gold. With the growth (5 Vivi, 50 G. Lizardmen, 90 Gnolls) I hesitated to attack the Griffin Conservatory, but with support from the guys in the chat I went for it anyway. Got off with a light scare, losing the flak troops from the village and a dozen Lizardmen.

From zone 9 I push into the adjacent zone 4. I see stone and wood mines painted red there. Along the way there's a portal — I dive in and end up on the opponent's respawn. The respawn is compact, and the main town is close to the secondary. I capture both castles and buy up the unrecruited troops. From somewhere far away, Gunnar returns, and I engage him in battle on 127. The opponent has 30+ Grands, 50 Halberdiers, and 50 Kents.

Thanks for the game!