“Newcomer – 2016. Summer”

The road to the adjacent zone is very winding, the second adjacent zone is somewhere far off-road. But again Necropolis player Tanta lets me down — a built-up Grail in the Necropolis town and a Cape behind the Dwarves. On week 3: 4 Angels, 32 Dragon Flies, 600 Skeletons — I break four Dragon Utopias. The maximal one gave КВ, Dragonbone Helm, but devoured 12 Dragon Flies; the rest gave only gold.

I make a mistake — instead of moving toward the opponent after the Dragon Utopias, I start dawdling (futzing about slowly and aimlessly) with treasure chests, in which I find nothing — scouted very inefficiently. On week 5, I decide to move toward the opponent. I jump into a treasure chest on the surface, don't reach the village. Dessa arrives with roughly equal stats, but 180 mana vs 15. He attacks with Silver Pegasi, 6 Brown Bears, 40 Dragon Flies, 28 Grand Elves, 30 Vampire Lords against my 8 Angels, 26 Dragon Flies, 1600 Skeletons. Both have Oil and Mass Haste. When my mana runs out, the army gets dismantled through waiting under Oil with Resurrection and Implosion. In short, I botched a good setup.

Thank you for the game!

Two weeks of scouting and squeezing three comps, and not a single Dragon Fly Hive found, let alone a Griffin Conservatory((( On week 3, with minimal troops, I went into a comp's super treasure zone which was conveniently located near the Castle with a Stables and a couple of Wells along the way. I immediately broke a blockade in a narrow spot for Boots, and scouting showed the treasure zone delivered — Dragon Fly Hives, Gloves, many chests, and many Cyclops Dens which were badly needed! Two chests for Vampire Lords and two external dwellings of Skeletons helped a lot, although morale suffered greatly. I built a Mage Guild level 5, since I already had the Explosion scroll from the start, thinking it would help somehow. The second rebuild of level 5 Mage Guild gave Control, and after the treasure zone, I dive via Dimension Door with 4500 movement from Dessa into the opponent's zone where two Dragon Utopias had been scouted via lookout, realizing I couldn't delay because the village was already painted and scouting was only a matter of time! The first Dragon Utopia gave КЗ, but nothing for stats(( The next day I took the second Dragon Utopia as well — there simply wasn't enough mana to stay overnight nearby. The second Dragon Utopia gives a Cap, a Shield +4 All, and a Hat +4 — at least a bit more mana was added! Tanta appeared on the horizon, having broken through blockades on the road for a Trumpet and a Sword +3, took the Dwarf Cottage and the Gnoll Hut, and set up camp on an Angel while leaving the main force on a scout hero nearby. I decide to attack. But due to a lack of mana, I decide to use one Dimension Door to top off mana at my native respawn, then Town Portal to the Castle from which I had already exited on the road with Stables, but it's very far to Tanta, and upon arrival and calculation, even if I attack him and drive him off, I won't be able to attack the scout hero, so halfway there the plan is cancelled((. The next day, a view shows that one hero snuck up to my corner village (which I hadn't taken at the very start due to triple guard, and seeing via lookout that there wasn't really anything there). I decide to take it and drive off the hero, since from there with one Dimension Door I could also reach both the Castle and the main! Taking the village with Dessa, I scout with Ivor to find out who's there, and it's Tanta with 15 mana and all the main force. I Town Portal to the Tower, turn in all scrolls for Crystals, upgrade the Bears, grab a few more Pegasi, and attack. Earth + Air on Dessa helped a lot, and +Explosion for 2k helped too...

Thank you for the game!