Posts from The best walkthrough for stage 1 of the World King.

This thread will display all your descriptions of walkthroughs for tournament maps in offline tournaments for all parts of the Heroes series!

If you want to share your description, tell an exciting story about your exploits and victories, and also share the tactics and strategies you used in the tournaments, feel free to send an email to VDV_forever@BK.ru and your work will be appreciated by millions of fans of Heroes of Might and Magic.

In the future, I would like to create a section where the best descriptions for all parts of the Heroes of Might and Magic series will be placed! Or in other words - a heroic school of mastery!

P.S. I would like to remind you that all participants in this nomination will be awarded Grails!

P.S.S. Original style and spelling are preserved without changes...

Sincerely, VDV_forever

DESCRIPTION OF THE "NEIGHBORS" MAP FOR THE 2ND HEROES 1 TOURNAMENT!

The first playthrough of the map took me 39 days. The result gave me food for thought: is it worth spending time clearing the native island and getting the boots? But I learned that you can recruit fairies and pikemen. The second playthrough, after some adjustments to the game, took much less time – 22 days. But I realized that this is not the limit. And, finally, the final playthrough (18 days).

The first week – everything is uninteresting and therefore summarized:
In addition to the main hero, hire two more, a Knight and a Sorcerer (the future main hero). Transfer the Knight's troops to the first hero, using this to recruit fairies. The first hero goes along the top of the map, collecting resources for the gem mine and takes it (the mine itself is not interesting, but the chest and wood are). The second Knight runs along the lower path, going up, collecting resources. The main hero goes through the swamp to the magic trainer and learns the ship summoning spell, collecting resources along the way. In the town, archers, a well, and pikemen are built.

The second week – preparation for the assault and a blitzkrieg:
On the first day, another hero is hired – a Barbarian (a scout!), takes troops from the town (except for peasants) and brings them to the main hero. The Knight hero with troops also goes there. All troops are given to the Sorcerer, who goes to the lower Djinn lamp. He defeats the swordsmen (losses can be ignored). He takes the Djinns, and the rest of the troops are given to the second Knight (increasing speed). On the next day, the main hero recruits pikemen near the upper town and takes the town. We give the troops to the Knights and go with the main hero down to the sawmill, to the coast. The Barbarian takes gold and a chest in the swamp, the Knights take the gold mine. The key day is the twelfth. We pass the troops to the main hero in a chain, summon a boat and get on it. On the thirteenth day, we land near the main castle of the Yellow faction. The fourteenth day – taking the Yellow castle (I struggled for a long time, but I always lost one Djinn). We hire a Sorcerer in the castle and give him the troops. We defeat another hero of the Yellow faction and return to the castle. We hire a Sorceress and give her the troops. We teleport to the Red faction and take its main castle. The main hero also teleports to the island of the Red faction.

The third week – the final assault:
The fifteenth day – the second castle of the Red faction is taken, and the last hero of the Yellow faction is defeated (by the Sorcerer with three Minotaurs). The troops are given to the main hero, and he takes the main castle of the Blue faction. The sixteenth day – the last hero of the Red faction is defeated (by the Sorceress and Unicorns). From the Blue faction, trolls are taken, and its second castle is taken, while the heroes of the Blue faction are defeated (with the help of another Sorceress, hired in the Yellow town). The seventeenth day – the remaining heroes of the Blue faction are defeated. The eighteenth day – the last castle of the Blue faction is taken. Victory.

If I had a little more time and luck, the playthrough could be improved by being meticulous, so that the Blue faction would not take a third town, but would build two other towns. But, alas…

First, we do a map scout. What do we see? The main things are two lamps with genies and a third town leading to the sea. Consequently, the initial tactic is: "Join the genies as quickly as possible, capture the town leading to the sea, and after building a dock there, set sail to the neighbors." Next, we find out that fairies join us at the quarry, gargoyles at the sawmill, and pikemen at the third town.

After we land near the Warlock and capture the town, we discover that he (the Warlock) builds a magic tower quite quickly, which contains a full set of spells, namely: "Fireball", "Anti-Magic", "Storm", "Resurrection", and most importantly — "Dimension Door". Therefore, the most critical thing is to capture the Warlock's castle with the fully built magic tower as early as possible.

Further, through several replays, we find that he doesn't build the tower before his 10th day, meaning the town should be captured no earlier than the eleventh day (although it can be captured sooner).
After capturing this town, everything becomes very simple... hit&run rules!

In my version, by days, it looked like this:

Day 1:
We leave the entire army, except for one peasant, in the town and run up for a chest of gold (henceforth all chests are taken only for gold, except for one, which I will write about separately).

Day 2:
We buy a Barbarian. He takes the army and runs up for the fairies, but doesn't quite reach them and stops near the Knight. The Knight "pokes" the Barbarian and takes one goblin from him, while giving the peasant to the Barbarian (this is so that the Knight moves faster). Then the Barbarian joins the fairies and heads toward the statue with morale. Meanwhile, the Knight captures the mine and heads up for resources.

Day 3:
We buy another Barbarian and, catching up to the first one, transfer the army to him, except for one goblin. Then the second Barbarian heads to the swamp for gold. The Knight, having taken the chest, bypasses the mountains and runs for the next one.

Day 4:
Knight: takes a chest, then wood, and runs up for the next chest and takes it. Then he turns west for wood.
Barbarian №1: Visits the statue and runs to the "mushrooms" for luck.
Barbarian №2: Takes the chest by the mountains and heads toward the chest located at the bottom of the swamp.

Day 5:
Knight: takes lumber and turns south for another portion of lumber.
Barbarian №1: visits luck, then attacks the ogres and defeats them.
Barbarian №2: Takes a chest and runs to the next one, which is near the ogres in the swamp.

Day 6:
Knight: Having picked up the lumber, he runs to the lamp and buys genies.
Barbarian №1: poking the Knight, takes the genies from him and runs to the pikemen guarding the town; seeing the genies, they quickly decide to join the victorious army.
Barbarian №2: picks up a chest, then a pile of gold, and heads east for diamonds.

Day 7:
Knight: Runs as fast as he can to the castle and picks up a chest, clearing the way for the Barbarian, and takes all troops from the latter except for the genies.
Barbarian №1: Quickly breaking the town's resistance, captures it and immediately heads down. There he has to fight off pikemen who are guarding the second lamp.
Barbarian №2: having captured diamonds as a souvenir, heads west for a chest; taking it, he turns again and goes east.
In the captured town, we immediately erect a castle and buy a Sorceress in it.
Sorceress №1: Giving the dwarves to the Knight for safekeeping and taking the remaining fairies for herself, she heads to the gazebo where she increases her level.

Day 8:
A dock is built in the castle and a boat is purchased.
Knight: realizing that he suddenly has a lot of troops, immediately rushes to perform deeds, namely capturing the gold mine (killing ogres along the way), and having grabbed lumber, heads for the pikemen who are guarding a chest and sulfur.
Barbarian №1: after buying genies and seeing a beautiful girl nearby, decided to exchange... he took the fairies for himself and gave her a whole genie. And he rode off, inspired, to further deeds, namely down to the swamp to get the shield.
Barbarian №2: Seeing the beautiful fairies with his comrade, decided that he was more worthy of them; pouncing on Barbarian №1, he took them. And he rode in the direction of the sawmill.
Sorceress №1: Ran to the Sanctuary and, having studied the "Summon Boat" spell there, decided to use it immediately. Having summoned a boat, she loaded herself into it.

Day 9:
Knight: in a stubborn struggle with the pikemen, he finally prevails, and taking the resources, heads toward the diamond mine.
Barbarian №1: Attacking and defeating the ogres, takes the shield and heads to the sawmill; joining the gargoyles there, he meets Barbarian №2, who was tormented by conscience... and having accepted the fairies from him, decides to take a stroll along the shore and there, again, meets a beautiful Sorceress! This time he cannot resist and tries to win her favor with gifts. In the end, he is left with one fairy. And he no longer participates in our story.....
Barbarian №2: Conscience forced him to return the fairies. Then he captured the sawmill and headed for the chest of gold.
Sorceress №1: Decided to swim a bit and sailed down, bypassing the shore. There she again met an old acquaintance, who gave her all the genies, fairies, and the shield.

Day 10:
Knight: still running toward the mine.
Barbarian №2: Takes the chest and no longer participates in our story.....
Sorceress №1: decides to see overseas countries, and therefore lands near the Warlock's castle.

Day 11:
Knight: Finally reaches the mine, breaks through the dwarves, captures the mine, and collects nearby resources. And he no longer participates in our story.....
Sorceress №1: Looking around, decides to drop by the nearby town. But for some reason, she is not welcome there... But she didn't panic and, sending her troops into attack, captures the town.

• A Warlock №1 is bought in the castle; he takes all the troops from Sorceress №1 and jumps south, where he meets some rude fellow... well, as they say, one word led to another... anyway, the rude fellow is no more. In a state of distress, he jumps back to the town and, leaving all troops except for one gargoyle, heads southwest toward the second town (in hopes of finding peace).

• Next, Warlock №2 is bought; he takes the army for himself and jumps to the elven castle, but they don't let him in there either... some kind of pass is required... without hesitation, he captures this castle.

• Next, Warlock №3 is bought; he also decides to go on a journey, but this time north to the Barbarians, hoping that they will be kinder than the rest... He jumps first into elven territory (near the phoenixes), where Warlock №2, seeing his comrade, decided to wish him a happy journey and for good measure loaded him with genies, gargoyles, and the shield... just in case...

• Warlock №3 then jumps to the Barbarians... but what do you think... he is not welcome there either... such bad luck... consequently, the barbarian castle also comes under our control. But during the battle, nearby cyclops began to bully Warlock №3, and in a burst of righteous anger, he killed them all... and noticing a chest nearby, took it, but distributed the gold to the troops as pay (i.e., the chest was taken for experience).

• Next, Sorceress №2 is bought; seeing how everyone around is mean, she decides (with one gargoyle) to go to a monastery. At the same time, someone told her that the monastery is in the far north, on barbarian territory... and she immediately headed there.

• Sorceress №1: after everything that happened, finally decides to drop by the castle and see the sights...
Day 12:

• Warlock №1, seeing a beautiful lady near him, decides to get acquainted with her, but she turned out to be in a bad mood... In total despair, he decides to commit suicide and summons a storm... the beautiful lady perishes along with him... for company... (by the way, this moment was replayed several times, because this lady has dwarves... and those devils have a chance that magic will not affect them....)

• Next, Warlock №4 is bought (it immediately seemed to me that he looked like a Japanese man); for some reason, he also decides to go to the monastery... but he didn't go north, but south... and there he met a Barbarian, and for some reason, he didn't like the Barbarian... I don't know why, but Warlock №4 imagined himself as a kamikaze and... the Barbarian was gone... (that's it, yellow has vanished into oblivion....)

• Sorceress №1: having inspected everything at the Warlock's, decided to travel through beautiful elven places... but as you have already guessed, she met another beauty there, actually a prettier one... and she decided to get rid of her rival... which she managed to do.

• Warlock №2 felt like the owner of the castle... and he liked it. But not so fast, its old owner is running toward the castle... And Warlock №2 had nothing left to do but explain to him (the former owner) that the castle has already passed into other hands, and in general, one should look after things better... (that's it, red has vanished into oblivion....)

• Sorceress №2 finally reached the far north and... there was no monastery there.., but instead some dirty knight (he must have gotten lost here and gone wild), who started looking at Sorceress №2 strangely, and to be safe, she decided to teach him a lesson... but she got carried away and didn't notice when he passed away...

• Warlock №3 saw a beautiful lady with a nose ring; this interested him, and he decided to try hanging a nose ring on himself too. But as everyone knows, without proper practice, this is a very painful procedure... And he thought that he needed to ask this lady for advice on how to properly hang a ring... But put yourself in the shoes of this lady... a person with a torn nose approaches you, covered in blood, and wants something... She was naturally frightened and blasted him with lightning... After which he felt insulted and... well, I think the end is clear to you.... (that's it, blue has vanished into oblivion....)

Day 1
Knight Arturius heads toward an ore mine guarded by fairies, picking up 14 ore and 1500 gold along the way; however, one move short of reaching it, he stops for a camp so that tomorrow, with renewed strength, he can reclaim the mine he was pursuing.

Day 2 (Secrets of Diplomacy)
Fortunately, there is now exactly enough gold to summon another valiant knight to help — Dimitrius, who, blessing him on his long journey, transfers 5 archers and 34 peasants to Arturius.
After this, a joyful Arturius rushes into battle with 28 fairies. The latter, apparently charmed by Arturius's valor, join him, and the brave hero, after visiting a gazebo, immediately sets off southwest toward the lumber mine.

Day 3
Dimitrius picks up 5 gems and continues his journey north, taking another 1500 gold.
Arturius continues his way to the mine, veering slightly east to pick up a treasure chest.
A well is being built.

Day 4
Dimitrius takes 1000 gold.
Arturius was luckier. He brought another 2000 gold to his kingdom and fearlessly entered battle with the toothy gargoyles that had dug into the sawmill.

Battle 1. Arturius 2-2-1-1
28 fairies, 10 Archers, 83 peasants (239 HP) vs. 30 toothy gargoyles (450 HP)
Arturius's losses were 19 fairies, 60 peasants, 10 archers (198 HP)

On this day, Arturius also manages to capture the lumber mine, after which he sends 23 peasants on an indefinite rest, while he himself stays to rest until dawn in the sawmill with 9 fairies.

From the Castle, a couple of Barbarians — Ergon and Atlas — set out to aid the two brave knights; leaving all the orcs in the Castle, they complete their journey this day several moves below the horseshoe.

A smithy is being built.

Day 5
Arturius picks up 2000 gold and 3 sulfur, while Dimitrius takes 8 lumber and another 1000 gold and heads toward the remaining pile of wood. This allows another Barbarian — Kelzen — to be dispatched from the Castle, who manages to transfer all goblins and orcs to Atlas.
Atlas takes 3 sulfur and attacks the orcs at the village entrance.

Battle 2. Atlas 2-1-1-1
65 goblins, 13 orcs (325 HP) vs. 27 (270 HP)
Atlas's losses were 4 goblins, 11 orcs (122 HP)

Atlas approaches the angel statue and raises his fighting spirit, but he does not venture to capture the village this day, remaining to spend the night before its gates.
Meanwhile, Ergon heads into the sticky swamps for ore, falling 1 move short of it this day.

A tavern is being built.

Day 6
Arturius, having entered the swamp, picks up 1500 gold, but feeling that his horse's legs will sink into this foul sludge, he returns to his native hills. The marshy terrain is no threat to Barbarians, and Ergon picks up 13 ore and 500+2000 gold here. Dimitrius brings another 13+16 lumber to the kingdom.
Kelzen grabs the horseshoe, passes it to Atlas, and races back to the Castle. Atlas, emboldened by increased morale and luck, will attack the village.

Battle 3. Atlas 2-1-1-1
61 goblins, 2 orcs (203 HP) vs. 6 swordsmen, 8 spearmen (270 HP)
Atlas's losses were 40 goblins, 2 orcs (140 HP)

After the victory, Atlas heads to the old knight in the gazebo for further improvement of his skills.

An armory is being built.

Day 7
Arturius picks up 6 gems, visits the statue, and falls asleep nearby.
Dimitrius, noticing nothing on his path, heads east toward Algari village.
Ergon bypasses the swamp from the north and picks up 1000 gold.
Atlas visits the gazebo and sets out for the recently captured village.
Kelzen returns to the Castle, where in exchange for one goblin he acquires 3 riders (after the construction of the tournament grounds).

Tournament grounds are being built.

Day 8 (Secrets of the Ancient Lamp)
Dimitrius picks up 5 crystals and stops near the spearmen guarding Algari village.
Kelzen acquires another 5 riders in the Castle and, taking a goblin along, transfers all 8 riders to Atlas, after which Atlas rushes toward the sulfur mine guarded by 20 fairies.

Battle 4. Atlas 3-2-1-1
21 goblins, 8 riders (303 HP) vs. 20 fairies (40 HP)
No losses

Atlas transfers the entire army to Arturius, borrowing one fairy from him, and Arturius sets off through the swamp toward Ergon, to whom he transfers the newly acquired army, leaving only 2 fairies in his own troop.
Ergon attacks the bandits guarding the alchemist's laboratory

Battle 5. Ergon 2-1-1-1
8 riders, 6 fairies, 22 goblins (318 HP) vs. 26 bandits (104 HP)
Ergon's losses were 2 fairies (4 HP)

Without wasting time, Ergon throws himself into battle with 24 swordsmen guarding the Ancient Lamp.

Battle 6. Ergon 2-1-1-1
8 riders, 4 fairies, 22 goblins (314 HP) vs. 24 swordsmen (600 HP)
Ergon's losses were 4 riders, 4 fairies, 22 goblins (194 HP)

Without touching the Ancient Lamp, Ergon heads to a gazebo located nearby.

Day 9
Atlas moves north toward the crystal mine. Kelzen follows close behind, managing to pick up 6 gems.

Ergon finally touches the lamp, where he manages to obtain 2 djinn! and immediately attacks the spearmen guarding the crystals.

Battle 7. Ergon 2-1-1-1
4 riders, 2 djinn (220 HP) vs. 25 spearmen (375 HP)
No losses

After the battle and visiting the gazebo, Ergon increases his level to 3rd, then takes 7 crystals and enters a battle with the spearmen near Algari village.

Battle 8. Ergon 2-3-1-1
4 riders, 2 djinn (220 HP) vs. 22 spearmen (330 HP)
No losses

Having picked up 1500 gold in a treasure chest, Arturius buys another 2 djinn and transfers them to Ergon along with 1 fairy, who in turn attacks the villagers.

Battle 9. Ergon 2-3-1-1
4 riders, 4 djinn, 1 fairy (322 HP) vs. 8 peasants, 2 swordsmen, 6 archers, 4 spearmen (178 HP)
No losses

Dimitrius replaces Ergon, taking all the djinn and riders, giving a fairy to Ergon, and attacking the ogres guarding the gold mine.

Battle 10. Dimitrius 1-2-1-1
4 riders, 4 djinn, (320 HP) vs. 20 ogres (800 HP)
No losses

Having captured the mine, Dimitrius manages to fight the spearmen standing nearby.

Battle 11. Dimitrius 1-2-1-1
4 riders, 4 djinn, (320 HP) vs. 20 spearmen (300 HP)
No losses

Another 3 sulfur and 1500 coins are brought by Dimitrius to the kingdom's treasury this day, after which he peacefully falls asleep until tomorrow.

Day 10
Dimitrius finds 16 lumber, approaches Ergon, and returns the entire army to him.
Arturius returns to the lamp, where he summons the last djinn, whom he also transfers to Ergon.
After this, Ergon heads toward another Ancient Lamp.

Battle 12. Ergon 2-3-1-1
4 riders, 5 djinn, 1 fairy (372 HP) vs. 20 ogres (800 HP)
No losses

Having bought another 4 djinn, Ergon transfers the entire army to Kelzen who has arrived. And Kelzen carries this army to Atlas, after which he attacks the paladins guarding the artifact.

Battle 13. Atlas 3-2-1-1
4 riders, 9 djinn, (570 HP) vs. 8 paladins (400 HP)
Atlas's losses were 4 riders (120 HP)

Having finished the battle with the paladins, Atlas immediately directs his horse toward the Castle.

Day 11
Arturius visits the gazebo and heads for a pile of ore lying near the Nomad's Boots.
Atlas transfers the djinn to Kelzen and, changing his mind about going to the Castle, changes direction toward Algari village.
Kelzen transfers the entire army to Ergon.
Ergon attacks 18 fairies guarding the crystal mine, then heads toward the archers guarding the sulfur.

Battle 14. Ergon 3-3-1-1
9 djinn, (450 HP) vs. 18 fairies (36 HP)
No losses

Dimitrius captures the crystal mine and takes a great scroll of knowledge.
Kelzen picks up 6 mercury and stops near Ergon.

Day 12
Arturius takes 15 ore and, crossing the swamp, moves toward the Castle.
Atlas visits the gazebo and rushes into the swamp to replace Arturius.
Ergon attacks the archers.

Battle 15. Ergon 3-3-1-1
9 djinn, (450 HP) vs. 26 archers (260 HP)
No losses

After the battle, Ergon transfers the djinn to Dimitrius, spurs his horses and races to the Castle.
Dimitrius heads south toward the gem mine.
Kelzen picks up 6 sulfur and also returns south.

A shooting range is being built.

Day 13
Ergon continues his way to the Castle, visiting a gazebo on the road.
Arturius also races toward the Castle.
Dimitrius meanwhile fights dwarves.

Battle 16. Dimitrius 1-3-1-4
9 djinn, (450 HP) vs. 13 dwarves (260 HP)
No losses

Next, Dimitrius picks up another 11 lumber, captures the gem mine and opens a chest in which he finds 1000 gold coins. After this, he also sets off for Baywatch Castle.
Kelzen catches up with Dimitrius and ends his move near him.

Meanwhile, Ariel is purchased at the Castle, who comes to meet Arturius with 10 fairies, 10 swordsmen, 6 spearmen, 1 archer, and 1 peasant.
Atlas quickly crosses the swamp and runs to the statue built by the residents of Tundara.

A mages' guild is being built.

Day 14 (Secrets of Terrain Tactics)
Dimitrius transfers 9 djinn to Kelzen, who on the same day manages to reclaim an invisible shield from trolls.

Battle 17. Kelzen 2-1-1-4
9 djinn, (450 HP) vs. 10 trolls (400 HP)
No losses

Ergon successfully arrives at the Castle, where he stays for the night.
Arturius, not having managed to leave the hated swamp, returns to it again, bringing with him the army from Ariel.
Dimitrius follows his example and even overtakes him, getting into the very thick of this sticky terrain, without forgetting to take the quickly arrived reinforcements from Arturius.
Ariel makes several cells of movement toward the Castle.
And Atlas, having visited the Angel statue, gallops across half the swamp and stops before the phoenixes.

Day 15
Kelzen takes the shield and attacks the ogres.

Battle 18. Kelzen 2-3-1-4
9 djinn, (450 HP) vs. 20 ogres (800 HP)
No losses

He takes 5 mercury (a mistake that likely cost 1 day of the game; mercury could have been taken a day later). Then he takes the entire army from Dimitrius and transfers 3 artifacts and this whole army to Atlas.

Battle 19. Atlas 4-4-1-4, morale — high, luck — good
1 archer, 10 swordsmen, 6 spearmen, 1 peasant, 9 djinn (801 HP) vs. 8 phoenixes (800 HP)
Atlas's losses were 1 djinn, 2 swordsmen, 2 spearmen, 1 archer (140 HP)

Brief description of the battle. Djinn let them pass. 2 phoenixes kill 1 archer, 2 phoenixes kill 1 djinn and die from the response. Another 2 phoenixes attack the djinn, but none die. The remaining phoenixes (1+1) hit the swordsmen. Then swordsmen and spearmen hit the one-health phoenixes (spearmen with luck). As a result, 2 stacks of phoenixes remain. The first stack hits the swordsmen again. The second stack is killed by the djinn. Good morale of the djinn allows attacking the last 2 phoenixes. Victory! (P.S. Subsequently, no matter how many times I replayed it, I never managed to lose only 1 djinn, and I lost far more swordsmen and spearmen, but this basically does not affect the course of further play).

Because of Kelzen, who tried so hard to bring as much mercury as possible to the kingdom, Atlas fails to take the nomad's boots and heads toward Dimitrius to transfer at least the other artifacts and army.

The chain of Dimitrius-Arturius-Ariel carries out an instant redeployment of military forces and artifacts to Ergon. After reinforcement, 10 riders (thanks to rider week; although without it, the course of the game would not have changed) and the rest of the army are included in Ergon's detachments. Finally, having acquired a magic book, Ergon attacks the paladins.

Battle 20. Ergon 4-5-1-4
8 djinn, 5 spearmen, 10 riders, 13 swordsmen, 1 archer (1101 HP) vs. 20 paladins (1000 HP)
Ergon's losses were 4 riders, 12 swordsmen, 3 spearmen, 1 archer (475 HP)
Brief description of the battle. Played weakly, but it still didn't make things any easier for the computer players.

Ariel manages to take the freed treasure chest with 1500 gold, return to the Castle and slightly replenish the thinned ranks in Ergon's army.

Ergon enters a menhir and finds phoenixes there. After warming himself by the campfire, he finally attacks them!

Battle 21. Ergon 5-5-1-4
8 djinn, 6 riders, 2 swordsmen, 7 spearmen, 1 archer (745 HP) vs. 10 phoenixes (1000 HP)
Ergon's losses were 3 djinn, 2 riders, 7 spearmen, 1 archer (325 HP)
Ergon confidently descends south toward the red castle.

Day 16

Kelzen picks up the nomad's boots and transfers them to Atlas, who transfers them to Dimitrius, Dimitrius — to Arturius, Arturius — to Ariel, and Ariel finally — to Ergon.

Ergon destroys Rebecca (red) and captures Blackbridge (red), in which he immediately builds Mages' Guild 4. Portal — and Ergon is already at Middlegate, one cell of movement — and Middlegate is ours!

Warlock Arius is dispatched from Blackbridge. Portal — and he is at Alamar Castle (yellow), another cell of movement — and Alamar is also ours.

Warlock Agar is dispatched from Blackbridge. Having captured 2000 gold in a chest near the cyclops using a portal, Agar with 1 fairy, 1 gargoyle, 1 centaur, 1 elf, and 1 dwarf attacks Xabran Castle (blue). Hurrah! Several ogres died! And many more heroes can be bought.

Warlock Krodo is dispatched from Blackbridge. On this day he manages to enter the gazebo, increase the power of his spells, and return to the castle again. It will all happen, just tomorrow...

On the night of the 16th to the 17th, the red player dies in a last attempt to reclaim their castle.

Day 17

Attack!!!
Krodo uses the portal spell 2 times to get close to hero Sundax (blue) and successfully destroy him.

Arius captures Sandcaster village (yellow).

Falagar sets out from the yellow castle to destroy hero Tsabu, after which the existence of the yellow race ceases.

Sorceresses Astra and Ariel weaken Xabran Castle by another 8 ogres. And Warlock Barok completes the task, and Xabran finally surrenders!

And the last word belongs to Ergon.
Ergon — Portal — Blackbridge — Portal — and here it is, the territory marked blue! Another 2 Portals — and Burlock (blue) has fallen! The last portal — and Ergon gets close to Lord Kilburn. A click — and an attack of 4 djinn on the blue army brings a sweet victory!!! :)

I did not choose this map by chance.
After reviewing practically all the maps I have, I came to the conclusion that there are only a few suitable for a tournament. From those few, I chose the map called NEIGHBORS.

Creating a new map requires an absolutely colossal amount of time as well as great patience, since the map editor in Heroes 1 is not one that is pleasant to work with. After several attempts, I temporarily abandoned this idea.

I cannot borrow maps from other Internet resources, and conducting tournaments on them is even more impossible! But thanks to our Alex_R, this issue has been resolved, for which I am very grateful!

Now directly about my walkthrough:

This map can be completed in 3 different ways, using different completion tactics!

The 1st method, called "passage through portals," was discarded immediately, as this strategy ensures victory in the best case after 1 game month, which is unacceptable to me.

The 2nd method, called "Magic of my Castle," received my approval. In fact, it was according to this strategy that I completed this map twice.

The 3rd method, called "Just a boat," turned out to be the fastest and most optimal for this tournament map.

1st run

Development proceeded as follows.

All resources, villages, and mines were captured, and all genies in the lamp were taken! The 4th level of magic was built on day 16! Accordingly, having spells such as portal and Armageddon at my disposal, capturing the dragon castle is not very difficult, nor is crushing the enemy on the same day by flying Sorceresses and Wizards from two castles!

But during the first run, this failed because I was exactly 1 step short of the last computer Knight. Then I made it so that the opponent's last hero attacked my castle during the turn transition. But to my surprise, in the end, the final table showed me a result of 17 days!

Because of this, I had to struggle a bit with day 16, combining various situations with different heroes (using Armageddon with dwarves, in particular). In the end, all opponent heroes were defeated on day 16, as evidenced by the final table at the end.

2nd run

For the most part, it did not differ from the first and consisted of the fastest collection of the required number of resources.
To this end, all heroes were thrown into a high-speed capture of mines, followed by resource collection!
I calculated that the minimum time for resource collection, with simultaneous magic construction in the castle, is 14 days! But this is achieved only if one neglects buying 1 genie (-1 gem).

Unfortunately, acting according to this strategy, it was not possible to defeat the opponent on the same day, as he is located quite a far distance away and reaching him, even with a Sorceress, did not seem possible. Therefore, the second run took 15 days, which seemed like a pretty good result (considering all time costs!)

3rd run

After the second run, I discovered that this map could be completed even faster. Using the obvious and only correct high-speed passage – by boat!

I will say right away that it is possible to complete this map in 12 game days, but on condition that the computer builds the 4th level of magic instead of minotaurs on day 12, or if you build the 4th level of magic in its castle yourself with your own money. Unfortunately, while experimenting, I failed to realize the aforementioned scenario and after a short time gave up on further experiments.
This method also turned out to be the fastest in real time, i.e., I spent only 1.5 hours on it (but, of course, I already knew the whole map inside and out)!

So, the main points:

1. Taking the village with the boat on day 5 seemed like an unconvincing argument to me, since the computer doesn't build the 4th level of magic before day 12 anyway. Therefore, I considered it optimal to take the village on day 6.

2. Battle with ogres on day 4 while preserving all archers (without archers, pickmen do not join).

3. Collecting all genies.

4. One of the most important points. WE DO NOT TAKE THE BOOTS, ACCORDINGLY WE DO NOT LOSE GENIES AND ARCHERS!

5. Join gargoyles without leaving the boat (in principle, they are not needed)!

6. Land on day 10 not at the castle with dragons, but at the castle with phoenixes!

7. On day 11, capture the phoenix castle and pursue the computer on the same island.

8. Landing on day 12 by the centaurs (dragon castle island), who join.

9. Buying only Wizards and Sorceresses in the dragon castle.

10. Assuming that such a result will be achieved by many, it is necessary to make sure that the main (leveled-up) hero attacks last.

11. Take the mercury mine as quickly as possible. Which in a few days would add some mercury (or flasks, my good old slang) to the treasury.

Main walkthrough via 3rd method

Day 1 (111)

Arturius with army:
5 archers, 45 peasants
takes +14 ore and a chest of +1500 gold. Takes 1 step left.

Day 2 (112)

Dmitry is purchased with army:
5 archers, 35 peasants
Dmitry transfers all his troops, except 1 peasant, to Arturius.
Arturius joins a good 29 fairies!
Dmitry takes back all the troops from Arturius, except 29 fairies; turns end here.
Arturius visits the gazebo (attack +1) and, paying no attention to gems, runs up. Falls asleep 2 steps from the casket.

Day 3 (113)

Since I calculated that ogres should be fought the next day, Dmitry must transfer all troops to Arturius as his last step the next day. For this, the following decisions were made:

Arturius takes the casket of +1500 gold and runs toward the Ogres, but NOT spending all his steps!
Exactly one unused step must remain (day 113)!



Dmitry MUST take the ore mine (stones will be necessary for building the castle), and, paying no attention to gems, runs after Arturius.
In the BAYWATCH castle we buy sorceress Ariel with army:
12 fairies, 3 dwarves.
We direct her to catch up with Arturius. She spends the night two steps from the gems.

Day 4 (114)

Ariel visits the same gazebo (knowledge +1), collects +5 gems, and transfers all her troops to Dmitry, except 1 fairy.
Dmitry, in turn, does the same for Arturius, leaving himself a similarly small fairy.
Arturius increases luck in the ring of fairies (quite a strange name) and attacks MANY OGRES:

Battle 1

Arturius's army:
10 archers, 83 peasants, 2 dwarves, 39 fairies.

Enemy army:
20 ogres. 5 stacks of 4 each.

Troop placement before battle:



Since random chance in battles is widely developed in Heroes 1, it is practically impossible to fully reconstruct the entire confrontation!
But nevertheless, I will try.

Turn 1

Fairies pass, archers shoot at the first slot of ogres.
Peasants stand in front of archers. Dwarves also move up for archer defense.

Turn 2



Fairies pass. Archers shoot at the first slot, taking out 1 ogre.
Peasants, dwarves – pass.

Turn 3



Fairies pass. Archers shoot at the first slot, taking out 1 ogre.
Peasants finish off 1 slot of ogres. Dwarves pass.

Turn 4



Fairies fly to the far bottom corner. The 2nd slot of ogres hits 37 peasants, who in turn respond but do not take out a single ogre. We shoot at the second slot with archers with LUCK, taking out 2 ogres in the second slot. Peasants hit 1 ogre from 2 slots, who in turn slay 7 peasants. We pass with dwarves.

Turn 5



We kill the 2nd slot of ogres with fairies. The 3rd slot of ogres attacks dwarves, killing one. We shoot at the 3rd slot with archers. With peasants at the 3rd slot, taking out 1 ogre; they respond, leaving only 14 peasants on the battlefield. We also attack the 3rd slot with the remaining dwarf.

Turn 6



We attack the 3rd slot of ogres in a straight line with fairies, as shown in the figure:



We take out 2 ogres; they respond and kill 5 fairies; fairies in response finish off the 3rd slot of ogres.
Archers shoot at the 4th slot of ogres. (The fifth slot of ogres goes around a rock for some reason). Peasants attack the 4th slot of ogres, killing 1 ogre; they respond by killing the last peasants and attacking the one fearless dwarf who withstands the onslaught of the 4th slot and responds. The fearless dwarf again deals an unanswered blow to the 4th slot of ogres.

Turn 7



Fairies hit the 4th slot of ogres, taking out 1. Archers shoot at them, taking out another one. 2 ogres attack and kill 5 defenseless fairies; they respond without hesitation and kill the 4th slot. Dwarves move 1 cell forward.

Turn 8



Fairies fly to the far bottom corner. Ogres hit the dwarf. Archers shoot at the last slot.

Turn 9



Fairies attack the last slot of ogres, killing 1 ogre. Ogres hit 13 fairies; they respond by taking out another ogre. Archers with LUCK take out 1 ogre.

Turn 10



Unsure if the fairies can kill an ogre (remaining health is not written in Heroes 1), we fly with fairies to the standard corner.
Ogres, of course, do not reach the archers. They in turn shoot and achieve victory!

It should be noted that on turn 8, a sacrifice with dwarves was not mandatory (in this case it was done intentionally). If you move back with dwarves on turn 8, the ending would have more fairies. But I tried to get close to the result I got on the second attempt of the main run.

After battle:
When writing description - 10 archers, 16 fairies.
When running it - 10 archers, 11 fairies.

Arturius takes only 1 genie from the lamp; no more money. He rests there.

Day 5 (115)

Dmitry takes a treasure casket of +1000 gold and +8 wood, which lie near the paladins. Moves strictly north to another chest, but falls asleep 1 step short.
Ariel pursues only one goal: grab the nearby same lumber and move toward the village. She was 2 steps short of the lumber (which is near the obelisk).

Arturius takes another 3 genies, picks up +5 crystals blocking the way to the village, and stops a step away from pickmen eager to join.

Day 6 (116)

Dmitry adds 1000 gold to the treasury (in a casket near the archers), + 13 wood and +6 mercury! Then he thinks it over and heads for the lumber Ariel wanted, taking one step south from the mercury.

Ariel, realizing she no longer needs to take the wood, runs at full speed for +6 gems (in the passage to the sulfur mine), stopping for the night after taking them.

Arturius joins 22 pickmen (spearmen), adds +1500 gold to the treasury by taking a casket right at the entrance to ALGARI village, and attacks the village:

Battle 2

Arturius's army:
10 archers, 4 genies, 22 pickmen, 11 fairies.

Enemy army:
8 peasants, 2 swordsmen, 6 archers.

Tactic:

Battle only with genies.

After battle:

No losses
+1 attack

Having deployed all troops in the village except for a genie, Arturius heads toward the gold mine, but stops 3 steps short of the ogres guarding it.

In Baywatch castle, Luna is hired, who immediately heads west with a very interesting mission…

Day 7 (117)

Arturius hits the ogres:

Battle 3

Arturius's army:
4 genies.

Enemy army:
20 ogres (5 slots of 4 ogres).

Tactic:

"And the ogres only move 1 cell"

After battle:

No losses
+1 knowledge

Takes the gold mine, attacks spearmen (AUTO-BATTLE), collects +3 sulfur and +1500 gold. Heads toward the lower spearmen guarding crystals. Falls asleep 2 steps from the village.

Ariel takes +16 lumber north of Algari village. Spends the night there.

Dmitry also replenishes the treasury with +16 wood and heads to the village.

Luna takes a casket and adds another +2000 gold to the treasury! Makes her way to the sulfur located near the gargoyles.

We build ALGARI CASTLE!

Day 8 (121)

Arturius hits 25 spearmen in auto-battle and, paying no attention to crystals, attacks swordsmen guarding the lamp with genies:

Battle 4

Arturius's army:
4 genies.

Enemy army:
24 swordsmen (4 slots of 5 swordsmen, one of 4).

Tactic:

We pass the first 2 turns; on the third turn we attack the first group of swordsmen, then the second, and then the third.



After battle:

No losses
+1 spell power

Since mercury is a resource considered in the tournament, capturing the only mercury mine on the home island is an important feature. Therefore, bypassing the lamp, Arturius breaks through 26 bandits in auto-battle and captures the coveted mine! Then takes a step west toward the lamp and falls asleep.

Dmitry moves toward the swamp for gems. Stops 3 steps short.

Ariel, taking all the army from Algari castle, gets into the boat.

Luna adds +1500 gold to the treasury (casket on the swamp), +3 sulfur near the gargoyles. Sleeps there.

Day 9 (122)

Arturius hires 5 genies, takes +15 ore at the sanctuary and transfers all genies to Ariel who has sailed up, receiving 1 fairy in return. Here he also replenishes the treasury with +1000 gold found in a casket. Sets off to travel to the swamp.

Dmitry, after adding +6 gems, freezes by the statue, anticipating tomorrow's battle with fairies and dwarves (ore is not needed anyway).

Ariel sails. Overnight stay right on deck, in the strait between two islands.

Luna prefers grass over swamp and takes 1 step southeast, coming very close to the friendly gargoyles.

Day 10 (123)

Arturius heads for gold, spends the night on the swamp a step from the obelisk. I wonder if anyone will dig up the treasure?

Ariel sails right up to Luna.

Luna takes all troops from Ariel, leaving 1 fairy for Ariel. With all the army, Luna takes a step to the right and concludes a peace treaty with gargoyles +30 units. Transfers all troops back to Ariel, except the joined gargoyles. Luna rushes at full speed toward Dmitry but stops 2 steps short.

Dmitry himself approaches Luna and makes an exchange of 1 fairy for 30 gargoyles, with whom he hits 20 fairies guarding the sulfur mine in auto-battle, losing 2 gargoyles. For some reason captures the sulfur mine and hits dwarves guarding the gem mine in auto-battle, losing 1 gargoyle.

Ariel lands not on the island with dragon castles, but on the island with Phoenix castles! (I don't like to load/save hoping that the computer will change its mind and build level 5 magic on day 12. In my case, the computer built level 5 magic only on day 13. Only after my result was counted did I replay for an experiment; by under-collecting genies, I myself built level 5 magic in the dragon castle on day 12, but unfortunately, the computer runs too far from its castles and reaching it seems impossible).
I also draw your attention to a particular oddity of the computer. As seen from the screenshot, yellow is clearly aimed at attacking centaurs (who join!) and that's how it goes if you land on his island. If you land on the phoenix island, as shown in the screenshot, the cunning computer for some reason runs away from the free centaurs.



Day 11 (124)

Arturius, having finally and irrevocably caught gold fever, grabs +500 gold near the obelisk on the swamp, as well as a casket of +2000 gold near the ogres. Driven mad, he heads to attack the ogres bravely guarding the mercury, but stops 2 steps short.

Dmitry takes another unnecessary gem mine, adds +11 logs and +1000 gold in a nearby casket to the treasury. Heads back to pray to the statue. Stops 2 steps short as usual.

Luna takes the Sawmill and a casket of +2000 gold near it.

Ariel attacks Blackbridge phoenix castle:

Battle 5

Ariel's army:
9 genies, 22 spearmen, 10 archers, 31 fairies.

Enemy army:
7 unicorns, 8 elves.

Tactic:

Genies deal with unicorns in 1 turn (first strike -6 horses).
Fairies attack archers.

Losses after battle:
10 archers, 5 fairies

In the captured Blackbridge castle, sorceress Gem is hired.

Gem takes 9 Genies and 41 fairies from Ariel and attacks the red hero TROJAN.

Battle 6

Gem's army:
9 genies, 41 fairies.

Enemy army:
30 fairies, 13 dwarves, 9 druids.

Tactic:

Lightning on Fairies, Genies on druids. Dwarves are powerless.

After battle:
No losses

After an unconditional and obvious victory, Gem gets into the boat.
Ariel with 22 spearmen makes her way to Muddlegate village.

Day 12 (125)

Dmitry, having nothing better to do, takes +3 sulfur near Tundara village and falls asleep there forever. He is too lazy to capture the village since there is little point in it anymore…

Ariel hits bandits guarding the village in auto-battle and captures the village itself in a similar way, losing several spearmen (not a pity). Runs deep into the island in search of red.

Luna stands, apparently waiting for someone.

Gem lands near centaurs +43 units, who, after consulting, decided to betray yellow and join our army.

Arturius, with an army of 1 fairy, attacks ogres, from whom he flees (ARTURIUS is the main hero)!
We watch the computer's greed during turn transition:
was:



Day 13 (126) – last.

became:



No comments…

Only on day 13 did the computer decide to build level 5 magic.

Ariel hits Rebecca in auto-battle without losses.

Luna takes +13 ore on the swamp.

Gem attacks Astra:

Battle 7

Gem's army:
9 genies, 41 fairies.

Enemy army:
15 fairies, 3 dwarves, 4 griffins, 2 minotaurs, 1 hydra.

Tactic:

Lightning on Fairies, Genies on Griffins; Minotaurs got a response from genies; fairies and shooters hit dwarves. Lightning on hydras.

After battle:
No losses

Then attacks Agar:

Battle 8

Gem's army:
9 genies, 41 fairies.

Enemy army:
14 centaurs, 2 gargoyles, 2 hydras.

Tactic:

Blinding on gargoyles; Genies destroy hydras and centaurs. Fairies hit gargoyles.

After battle:
No losses

And finally in auto-battle mode takes the dragon castle ALAMAR without losses (defense 3 hydras).

In ALAMAR castle, Karlavn is hired.
Who takes all 9 genies from Gem and flies to battle the last yellow using portal magic.


Battle 9

Gem's army:
9 genies.

Enemy army:
8 griffins, 17 gargoyles, 13 centaurs, 1 hydra, 15 dwarves.

Tactic:

Storm, resurrection, anti-magic

After battle:
No losses

Yellow is defeated. Karlavn teleports to ALAMAR castle.

In ALAMAR, Barok (Warlock) is hired, who, taking all centaurs from Gem, teleports to the Phoenix castle island. Attacks red, defeating him in AUTO-BATTLE mode and removing red flags from this land.

In the glorious city of ALAMAR, Natasha is hired.

First jump to phoenix island: takes a campfire +600 gold, 6 wood.

Second to cyclops island. Third at the coveted Burlok village.

20 goblins guarding the village are not serious at all against 73 fairies and 4 genies transferred to Natasha from Gem.

Meanwhile, a CASTLE is being built in Burlok village! From which runs out a sorceress with an interesting name Astra.

Astra in auto-battle mode defeats Lord Kilburn without losses.
(see screenshot following №6)

Since there are already 8 heroes and the opponent is not defeated, we get rid of Natasha.

Instead of her, we buy our MAIN and PRIMARY hero, who must take the bull by the horns with the last move! Having bought a magic book, taking 5 genies and 5 centaurs (centaurs are needed for the first strike of the opponent's tower arrow) and stealing a chest of +2000 gold from under the noses of the dragons, the main hero stops at the last blue castle! But he does not attack it, but calmly waits for his last move.

(see screenshot following №6)

We dismiss everyone except Astra (83 fairies, 4 genies) and Arturius (5 genies, 5 centaurs).

In Burlok, Atlas is hired. Who, exchanging troops with Astra (5 orcs, 25 goblins for 83 fairies, 4 genies), attacks Sundax:

(see screenshot following №6)

Battle 10

Atlas's army:
83 fairies, 4 genies.

Enemy army:
21 goblins, 8 orcs, 8 wolves, 5 trolls, 21 dwarves.

Tactic:

Turn 1 Genies on trolls, fairies on goblins.
Turn 2 Genies on trolls, fairies on dwarves.
Turn 3 Genies and fairies on dwarves.

Losses after battle:
4 genies, 9 fairies.

In Burlok, Crodo (Warlock) is hired. Who, receiving all troops from Astra, attacks Lord Haart:

Battle 11

Crodo's army:
8 centaurs, 2 gargoyles, 24 goblins, 5 orcs.

Enemy army:
5 archers, 47 peasants.

Tactic:

Everyone on archers, peasants don't count

Losses after battle:
1 orc, 1 goblin.

We say goodbye to all other heroes and make the last classic knight move! Namely, we attack the last enemy castle Sabran with the only hero Arturius.

Battle 12

Artirius's army:
5 genies, 5 centaurs.

Enemy army:
11 orcs, 12 ogres, 2 trolls, 11 goblins.

Tactic:

AUTO-BATTLE
Losses after battle:
1 genie, 5 centaurs.

So all the heroes I used:
Arturius (Knight) -> last blue castle Xabran
Dmitry (Knight) ->
Ariel (Sorceress) -> phoenix castle Blackbridge, hero Rebecca,
Luna (Sorceress) ->
Gem (Sorceress) -> hero Trojan, hero Astra, hero Agar, dragon castle ALAMAR
Karlavn (Sorceress) -> last yellow
Barok (Warlock) ->last red
Natasha (Sorceress) ->
Astra (Sorceress) ->hero Lord Kilburn
Atlas (Barbarian) ->hero Sundax
Crodo (Warlock) ->hero Lord Haart

TOTAL:

Days 13

ARTURIUS has the following characteristics:
attack +3, defense +2, spell power +2, knowledge +2 total 9.

Mercury 11.

Respectfully VDV_forever

Additional screenshots that didn't fit in the description (limit of 20 files)

Astra defeats Lord Kilburn without any losses.



Arturius is waiting for his moment!



Atlas defeats Sundax.

I would like to tell you a story that I was fortunate enough to witness.

I was born in a remote little village not far from Baywatch in the beautiful world of might and magic.

I grew up quickly, absorbing all the knowledge and teachings that my Grandfather instilled in me.

He was an exceptionally intelligent man, but a former warrior. Over years of wars and wanderings through countries and distant corners in search of victory, unlike others, he collected not golden riches, but book riches. And he loved literature not for its fiction, but for that which gives a person the ability to think and develop. Thus, not a day passed in my life without my Grandfather teaching me something. He called me simply — GmiR, after his father.

And so I turned 21; a schism occurred in our once great country:
4 different masters seized the outposts, dug channels between themselves using magic, and became so bogged down in wars that they destroyed all their castles.

They decided then to take a short truce so the people could rest from the wars. But after some time, news spread to every corner of our world that the war had begun again. Then my Grandfather said
to me: I have given you everything I could. You have learned all the theory of logic and warfare :) (:) couldn't help myself :)) now you must study it all in practice. I know a brave knight whom all warriors follow. He is the son of an old friend of mine, may he rest in peace. The captain is called Arturius, and you shall go to him as a chronicler and advisor. Together you will bring order to this world... And so I set off for the town of Baywatch to find Arturius..

Thus, this story began not little by little, but much by much. Already on the approach to the city, I noticed a modestly dressed knight near a stream. He was watering his horse and saying something to it quietly. I decided to approach him, but suddenly 5 arrows stuck into the ground before my feet.

His loyal archers were on guard. I cried out. The noise attracted the knight, and he approached me himself.

- Great Gods! - he uttered. - How could they have revived old Olend?!

- Not they - I answered him. - Olend is my Grandfather. And what is your name, worthy man?

- Arturius... - he kept looking and marveling at the resemblance.

- I have come to serve you. My name is GmiR, and I shall be your advisor!

- The Gods have given me a gift today by sending Olend's blood into my ranks! I am glad of you, grandson of the great!!

Until evening we talked by the campfire about everything happening in this world, remembered fathers and grandfathers over some honey infusion, and fell asleep in the peasants' camp..

Morning came early, around 5; we had a quick snack of yesterday's dinner leftovers and set off for Baywatch. The city was two miles from us, so we reached it quickly.

Arriving there, we saw what destruction had befallen it. Aside from peasants and archers, no one was there. All the great warriors had fallen in battle; resources were at zero..

Thus, the first day arrived. Arturius was immediately proclaimed king (someone had to protect everyone!). With our militia, we moved north in search of resources. We were especially interested in gold, wood, and ore. I explained to the young knight that these resources would allow us to recruit pikemen as well, and build
castles upon capturing villages. We traveled along the river, crossed frozen lava, gathering all open riches.

In the castle, I advised building only a well and a smithy.

The 5th day arrived, and a messenger came to us saying that an old friend of Arturius — Dimitri the gypsy — had appeared in the castle. We immediately gave him instructions to use all his money to buy troops and move toward us, to the west.

He did exactly that, of course, but on the way he stopped at a quarry.

The chief of the fairies guarding the mine had long been in love with Dimitri, and they all went to serve him. A true gypsy!! :) Then Dimitri went to the Sulfur deposits; on the way, he managed to swindle a Horseshoe from a shepherd for 2000 gold to make life easier. And he passed
by a village guarded by orcs. He killed the fairies near the sulfur and went up.

We, meanwhile, headed north toward the Gem mine guarded by dwarves. There we met the gypsy. After a long conversation, I convinced Arturius that it was not worth keeping the army fragmented, and we took the gypsy's entire force under our command. He didn't mind; in fact, he was glad, since
Arthur appointed him captain of Baywatch, but asked him to move flexibly thereafter and collect resources along the way. The gypsy even gave us the horseshoe. We, having beaten the dwarves and taken the gem mine, went to Tundara village and on the 9th day killed the evil orcs guarding it. On the 10th day we
took Tundara and went down to the sawmill; Dimitri wandered through the swamp..

Day 11 — we finished building the castle in Tundara, and the warlock Krodo joined us. He told us that he came from the south, where his homeland is, but was driven out of there for his kind treatment of slaves, and so he began to serve us. He gave centaurs and gargoyles to Arturius's army
so that he could study their habits and kill the gargoyles near the sawmill. I advised Arthur to make Krodo captain of Tundara so that he would serve us henceforth. With a heavy heart, Arturius agreed, remembering the recently killed vile and far-flying gargoyles..

We went north and met an elder who told us that in the northwest of the island was a glorious port city. We decided to move there without delay. Crossing the island diagonally, we noticed a lamp around which a couple dozen ogres were crowding. I had read in one of grandfather's books that djinns living in such lamps are extraordinarily fast, hardy, and can cut squads of pot-bellied dragons in half. We dispersed the ogres, and 4 djinns were now with us.

Two weeks passed, and on the 15th day we approached Algari village closely. The pikemen guarding their homes in this village saw Arturius carrying Aladdin's lamp and realized that if mighty djinns serve this man, then he is extraordinarily kind and noble. And about 20 pikemen joined our ranks.

On the 16th day we captured Algari, built a castle there, and went north to the gold mine.

The 17th day from the start of the journey was marked by the appearance of a new warrior in our kingdom — Natasha, a little black girl who, besides her beautiful appearance, possessed the gift of a sorceress and managed ships perfectly. I got "closer" acquainted with Natasha, and after that
decided she should be the mistress of Algari. And so it was decided.

Then Arthur and I blazed a path along the left bank to the south, picking up another 5 djinns on the way. In the middle of the 20th day, we stumbled upon a group of phoenixes guarding speed-boots. Arturius did not want to touch these sacred birds, but I suggested to him that with these boots our business
would move faster. Moreover, according to my plan, we had established production of pikemen, shooters, and peasants in all 3 castles. We gather everyone into a pile plus have djinns => we have a medium-sized army without excesses. Thus, with the help of Krodo and the Gypsy, we gathered all reserves and beat the Phoenixes. The boots are now ours!! Though 2 djinns perished among other losses..

End of the 3rd week — day 21. Algari built a ship, and Natakha is waiting for growth to buy supplies, board the ship, and sail from the south to Arturius.

Day 22 — everyone bought their supplies and handed troops over to Arthur, and he went to the trolls for a shield so that enemy swords would hit our warriors less often. Natakha boarded the little ship and prepared to sail..

During day 23 we managed to kill ogres to take the equally valuable and useless resource mercury :) Natalia sailed so well that during this day she managed to reach Arthur at the bottom, and he immediately boarded this ship. We decided to sail to the homeland of Krodo Sumkin, since I knew that extraordinarily strong creatures live there; if an enemy builds them, things will be bad. For us, those purple toddlers would be just right!! :) Also, I knew they could give us a second side of power —
Magic!!

On the 24th we landed on a hostile island. On the 25th we immediately ran to the enemy's "kidneys" — Sandcaster. On the 26th, the capture of Sandcaster was successful. The castle turned out not to be a caster at all — there was no magic in sight. On the same day we went to the "heart" of the warlocks —
Alamar. To the north of it, we noticed evil Falagar. At night Agar emerged from the east and Astra from the west; Falagar, meanwhile, retook Sandcaster castle — it will be a difficult day!

27 We hit Alamar. Immediately we study the spells of this castle and see that among those available is now TELEPORT!! Even though our knowledge is 3, we were extremely glad! With new knowledge, moving around has become much easier. Two jumps and we, killing Agar on the way, reach Sandcaster, where Falagar is firmly entrenched. In all battles I always instructed the warriors to hit those enemies who move faster by initiative; this simple rule reduced the probability of the enemy using mass-destructive spells like "Storm".

Thus, the day proved successful; only the young and inexperienced Astra remained of the yellowed opponent, who could not surprise us in any way. We calmly went to sleep.

Day 28. As I predicted by the calendar, this was to be the most significant day of our campaign. As expected, Astra ran past me toward Alamar, but alas for the young sorceress, she did not get far. Therefore, our detachment set out in the morning without haste and easily caught up with the enemy; we killed them without anger, with tears in our eyes...

But what cunning was hidden under this innocent female face! Just as Senior Djinn Abu-Alder-ibn-Roshan began to recite
a prayer for the repose of young Astra's soul before erasing her from the world of HOMM, she screamed into the sky with extraordinary passion, calling upon "Storm"... It seemed even her eyes sparkled at that moment..

In the next moment, the Djinn made a quick death for the young witch.

YELLOW is defeated!!

As soon as the army recovered from the shock of the last battle, we went to Alamar to behold the great — the Black Tower! Now everyone understood that with tomorrow's day, when the winds bring three more purple pot-bellies into the tower, the time of victory will relentlessly approach.

Day 29. Yes, it happened. We tamed 4 Dragons at once and also brought in griffins, thus strengthening the offensive power of our army. Djinns/dragons/griffins received orders to fly into the enemy's rear and bite painfully there. And veteran pikemen protected the shooters, who also reached the enemy in the most secluded corners. Now, having analyzed intelligence reports in the guild, we realized that the Blue enemy is the weakest in terms of number of heroes and castles, which meant
that he has the most concentrated army among my enemies. Time to deal with them. With our new teleport ability, it was no trouble to reach the Blue island, and we immediately flew to Sundax, who was firmly settled in Xabron with a decent army. Well, on the way we sent a pack of bug-eyed cyclopes to the other world, but that was just for "warmth". After we deftly popped Sundax, we consulted with Arturius and decided there was no need to linger; let's go crush Red, and our beloved teleport sent us to Blackbridge castle on the last of the 4 islands.

Day 30. Without words, according to a plan perfected over a month, we take Blackbridge and immediately, recharging the teleport, fly down and see 3 red-feathered "friends". They were wrong to crowd so close; however, they realized this too late... We almost reached
Middlegate on this day! Meanwhile, on the island of barbarians in Xabron, I noticed one talented barbarian who performed a responsible task for me. His name was Tsabu. He raised an army, learned Portal, and in one day tracked down the last of the blue mohawks — Vatavna. She submitted to young Tsabu almost
without resistance; BLUE is defeated!!

On the 31st day, Sir Gallant and Astra, who I had come to love for her storm, ran in from the south. The cursed sorceresses resurrected her because they knew she could tell them about us and our strengths.

And she told them... that there is nowhere left for them to struggle... In confirmation of her words, we sent Sir Gallant into a panic flight, and again "put" Astra "in the ground," and this time much
deeper :D We immediately refreshed forces in Blackbridge and flew to Middlegate. On this day two of my detachments decided there was not enough sulfur in the kingdom and set off to get some. Luna and Tsabu did this.

My brain gave me no answer as to why they did it, but greed said: "More is never too much!!!"

Day 32... No forces could now hold us back from victory.

Arturius gave the order to search for and attack Red's last castle; I suggested to him that we have 3 jumps in reserve.

This means the search trajectory must be chosen more carefully. He and I agreed on a southern direction. Making the first jump, we noticed Gallant, who had mounted his horse again and was running around us. With the second jump, our army stood before him.

- First the djinns attacked. They took out the long-range fairies.

- On the pikemen's turn, Arturius unleashed lightning on a squad of archers.

- Dragons finished the battle simply by swallowing the peasants.

The enemy's last hero was defeated. But before departing for another world, Gallant told us that only one port city remained and it was almost undefended. I personally believed him, but Arturius just killed him. And took from him the rabbit's foot because of which Sir was so lucky that he
remained as the last living enemy hero for so long.

Roughly estimating the city's position, we made the last jump and were not wrong! NightShadow stood before us!! When we approached the wall, we almost wept... What a disgrace came out for our final battle! But since they came out, it means they were brave, meaning they shouldn't be humiliated.

Therefore, the djinns immediately flew to the tower and killed the fairies. After that, the archers were blocked by the djinns. They had no choice; they swung at the inhabitants of the iron lamp and were killed in return. Thus, on the 32nd day of our campaign, the last stronghold of enemy thoughts fell.

** In the end, building my game tactics out of habit for a game against a human — developing one hero

** to the maximum, I turned out to be a poor advisor to Arturius and among all advisors became as much as 15th :D

When Arturius offered me to rule any two islands of my choice, I told him never to divide these lands, no matter what friends he might have. Because friends will have children, and they may not be friends!! As for me, I equipped a boat and sailed to my island
to see Grandfather; I had things to tell him! Moreover, Natashka was waiting for me there, who promised to bear me a great warrior, black as night, but with red hair and a kind soul!;)

Day 1 - Gathering.
The lack of initial resources did not greatly upset Arturius, so he boldly set out to gather them, leaving his army in the castle. Since gold can solve many problems, and stone and wood are simply essential for a knight's castle, he will focus on collecting them first.

Day 2 - The Birth of a Hero. There is enough money to hire a Hero, the one destined for many battles, daring feats, great sieges, and mysterious magic - the Great Dimitrius. The city welcomes the new Hero, who has joined the ranks of the Knights.
Dimitrius, taking 10 archers and 82 peasants, boldly attacks a group of fairies near the quarry and... recruits them into his ranks. Arturius collects precious stones, which will come in handy.

Day 3 - Training
Arturius, standing on a geyser, skillfully grabs a chest of gold. At the same time, Dimitrius visits the gazebo and gains experience from a chest. It was a glorious day.

Day 4 - Reconnaissance
Dimitrius runs past the dragonstone mine, heading strictly west. There is something there.
Moving north in the company of 1 peasant, Arturius manages to gather some more money for the treasury by evening. It will be enough for a well.

Day 5 - A Difficult Battle
Truly a key moment in the entire game - a battle with Ogres. But the treasure they guard is worth it. Therefore, having boosted his luck before the battle (it won't hurt), Dimitrius attacks the enemy.
It was important to place archers on top and peasants below to protect them. The trees and stones on the battlefield slightly slowed down the already slow ogres, which gave the archer a chance to fire an extra arrow or two. However, a melee battle was inevitable - 20 ogres with 40 hit points against... uh-huh "brave" peasants, albeit supported by Dimitrius's morale and luck. However, the battle was won. All 10 archers and the remaining 10 fairies celebrate a hard-won victory.
In honor of the veterans of the battle, a shooting range is built in the castle.

Day 6 - An Amazing Lamp
While Dimitrius "catches his breath" after the grueling battle, Arturius runs to the lamp and "brings" 4 wonderful djinns to the Hero Dimitrius. Wonderful because, with a relatively low hiring cost and no need to build a building, their stats are hardly inferior to the highest-ranked troops. Hearing about Dimitrius's glorious victory, a group of spearmen joins him, clearing the path to the village. There he leaves them to guard it, as it is much faster to travel with a djinn.

Day 7 - Gold Mines
A gold mine north of the village will be a good source of income for the treasury. The djinns easily deal with the guards. Arturius takes the city guard and moves south. A spearmen building in the castle will provide new recruits for the beginning of the new week.

Day 8 - Battle after Battle
Dimitrius continues to move south. Visiting the gazebo, battles with spearmen and swordsmen bring more and more experience, and open the second lamp. He also manages to capture a mercury mine.
Arturius continues to follow another path south, taking a lot of dragonstones.

Day 9 - Phoenixes
Taking one archer "for reconnaissance" from Arturius, Dimitrius moves towards the swamps, where a flock of phoenixes attacks him. The archer-scout sacrifices his life to "distract" two firebirds, giving the djinns a chance to strike at the heart of the flock. Having lost two, the djinns turn the entire flock into a handful of ashes. In the nearby swamps, Dimitrius finds a great pair of boots, which will help him move faster.

Day 10 - Treasures of the Swamps
In the swamps, Dimitrius finds many chests and "takes" an excellent shield from the trolls. Arturius helps to collect the treasures.

Day 11 - A Sorcerer
Seeing the legendary shield in the hands of the leader of the troops, a flock of gargoyles joins Dimitrius.
A sorcerer rushes to meet him from the castle. Having once served the dark Warlock, he told about the powerful magic that his former master would soon master and be able to transport his troops across any mountains and rivers to destroy his enemies.
Arturius gets out of the swamp.

Day 12 - The Decision
With the stone birds, the hero Dimitrius wins the village from the evil orcs. Seeing the happy faces of the villagers, he realizes that their well-being is in his hands. Only he is able to challenge the dark forces. Dimitrius rushes home with good news - he will go against the forces of darkness.
The sorcerer meets Arturius and leads all the troops to the castle, as every warrior will be needed in the upcoming battles.

Day 13 - The Warlock's Citadel
In the city, the hero is greeted with joy, and a detachment of archers and spearmen joins the warriors who arrived with the sorcerer.
Dimitrius with 7 djinns, 32 gargoyles, 34 spearmen, 27 archers, and 7 centaurs bravely attacks 20 paladins guarding the magic portal. The battle is won with small losses - 4 spearmen and 7 centaurs, but this is only the beginning.
The portal transports the hero to the lands of the warlock, but a flock of dragons is already flying in the sky. They manage to "burn" 9 archers and a gargoyle before they are defeated.
To the south, the warlock's citadel is visible, which Dimitrius's troops besiege. At the cost of almost all the archers, the fortress is taken. But the army no longer has the strength to enter the city.
Gem is freed from the citadel's prison, who tells about the warlock's accomplice, the cunning Sorceress, who turned to the dark side. She volunteers to avenge her for the betrayal and, using the magic of the portal, rushes to the Sorceress's castle with a detachment of brave spearmen. The weak guard, caught off guard, is quickly destroyed, but Gem remains in the fortress, waiting for the main forces of the Sorceress.

Day 14 - The Tribes of the Barbarians
The morning brought good news for Dimitrius. At night, Gem successfully repelled the attack of the Sorceress's forces. Several gnomes helped, showing how to better organize the defense.
But there was also bad news: the main forces of the warlock have not yet been defeated. And the warlike tribes of the Barbarians in the north threaten war.
Dimitrius sets out at dawn on a campaign. In a difficult battle, he defeats the warlock's troops.
Having studied the magic of the portal in the citadel, he boldly moves north and successfully storms the barbarian fortress.
Vatavna arrives from the Warlock's Citadel to guard the fortress.
Gem continues her punitive campaign. She captures the Sorceress's second city.
The sorcerer arrives from the knightly lands in the lands of the Warlock.

Day 15 - Expulsion of the Enemies
Gem kills the last sorceress, forever banishing the traitors. Elves and fairies will again dominate these forests.
The sorcerer repels the warlock's village, and his childhood friend sets out from the same castle to finish off the last warlock.
Vatavna sets out from the barbarian castle, taking trolls with her, and rushes north to defeat the hordes of the Sundax tribes.
Dimitrius captures the second city of the Barbarian, rushes north, where he fights the main forces of the Sundax tribes. The last village near the sea fell.
The enemies are defeated!

Zingel

So, let's begin.
The initial inspection of 101495 showed that the map consists of 4 islands. Access to the computer can only be achieved via teleports, which are quite well guarded.
I was just that inattentive.... used to be.

The first run is always a test. Therefore, I slowly built up my castle, gathered an army, and gradually snapped up all the units on my island. It turned out that sprites, pikemen, and gargoyles join. A bit sparse, of course, but in principle, not bad.
After a month had passed, I finally attacked the portal guards. And quickly slaughtered them all. It turned out the computer has very good magic. Plus, it dawned on me that you can sail to the computer.
Summary: no point in over-building; you need to capture the far left village as quickly as possible. There are enough resources in principle, so there's no need to capture mines.
Subsequent attempts showed that the left village can be taken as late as day 5, but it's still impossible to build it up during such a walkthrough — not enough wood and money. Therefore, there is no need to rush or force your way in. Furthermore, on top of everything, the Warlock only builds the last level of his tower on his 11th day (for the player, this is already the 12th). No matter how many times I arrived early, the tower wasn't there! Once I even landed on the 8th day! But what's the point? The castle has a second-level tower, no dimension door. You can't beat the others quickly.
Further walkthroughs showed that the computers can be slaughtered on the second day after landing, provided the tower is built. Therefore, imho, it's practically impossible to optimize the end; winners will have the same result. Consequently, you need to build up your hero skillfully.
I fought and fought — 13 days in total. No faster, just no way. And so, I decide to try one more time, just in case the warlock finishes the tower before the minotaurs? Since the beginning allows the hero to mess around, I decide to capture some mines. I take the emerald mine. ….I land at the Warlock's on the 10th day; naturally, there is no tower. I see that I am short by 1 sulfur for building the last level of the tower. I reload, buy an additional hero who captures the sulfur mine. I build the tower. Yes!!! On my 11th day, I am at the computer's, the tower is full, skills are decent. All that's left is to skillfully slaughter the scattered heroes. In 2 days — it's elementary!

And now, everything by the day.

1. I run with the main hero closer to the stone mine, because without sprites there's nothing more to do! :)

2. I buy a barb. (Actually, at first, I wanted the main hero to be a barb. I just love them! :) But then it turned out that the barb takes the village 1 day later than the starting hero.) I shaman so that another barb with 5 orcs appears after the first one. 5 orcs are a necessary condition to subsequently slaughter the phoenixes with minimal losses of genies, and it will be easier to get the first genies. I transfer the troops to the knight and join the sprites. I give the slow units back. With the knight, I run upwards.

3. I run with the knight toward the emerald mine. I stop him within reach of the barb for the next turn. I buy a second barb so that a sorceress appears in the tavern. The optimal option, of course, is a sorceress with only sprites, but that's as it happens. I transfer troops from the second barb to the first, leaving 1 goblin. With the first barb, I run full tilt to the knight.

4. With the second barb, I run to the left chest. There are 2000 money there! Very useful :) I transfer the army to the knight with the first one. With the knight, I screw over the dwarves. And move in the direction of the lamp with genies.

5. With the first barb, I go to the external dwelling where the dwarves were. With the second — the chest, we move toward another chest (near the ogres). With the knight, I bash the ogres. At the skirmish there were 10 orcs, 42 goblins, 27 sprites, 5 archers, 48 pikemen. After the brawl, what remained: 10 orcs, 17 goblins, 5 archers.

6. First barb: wood, mine, little chest, more wood. Second: little chest by the lower ogres, gold, run to the stones. With the knight, I pick up pikemen and take the village. I build a castle. I buy the Main Sorceress. (I don't care who appeared next, because no one will be bought until the end of the week. But another sorceress appeared. I don't know what her name is for you; for me, her name consists of gibberish. My version of Heroes is from September 6, 1995. Naturally, there is no question of Russification. But! It always amused me that the traditionally Russian name Natasha belongs to a sorceress — a black woman! Kanigeme should have taken at least one Russian in the development team! :) ) With the sorceress, we take the troops from the knight, break through the ogres, and take the wood and gold mine.

7. With the first barb, we go on a voyage around the lava at the top, clearing resources. With the second, I go to meet the knight. The sorceress wipes out the pikemen and runs to the knight to hand over the gang. The knight pretends to be a tank and pushes toward the mercury mine.

8. With the knight, I beat the phoenixes. Having 10 orcs and 5 archers minimizes losses among the genies. That is, the first 2 phoenixes fly at the orcs from above and don't finish them all off (happens 1 time out of 5), another 2 phoenixes fly to slaughter the archers, 1 phoenix flies to finish off the orcs, 1 crashes into the genies. Pikemen try to stab the last phoenix. No luck. Here, then, the first phoenix kicks the bucket with the genies (-1), who send the next stack of phoenixes to that same bucket. It would have been fine, but one phoenix remained, which, damn it, kills another genie. But no matter, a crowd of pikemen pounces on this phoenix and stabs him to death. And meanwhile... Gem (why does she have such a stupid avatar? She appears in the image of a crying, whimpering child) runs to study the summon boat spell (how cool! Could this have happened by chance? Or did the map author actually plan this moment consciously? Like others, for example, the amount of resources — first exactly enough for the castle, then for the dock with the boat, then for the tower!)

9. The knight wipes out the ogres (mercury), trolls (shield). The first barb cleared the upper resources and is heading to the remaining ones — a bit of sulfur and a chest above the sea village. The second barb circles around the swamp, acting as a janitor. I build a shipyard and a ship. The sorceress studies summon boat and at the very lowest point reachable in this turn, summons it and loads onto the deck. This is where you have to think about capturing sulfur. I buy a warlock in the castle (calculating that another warlock will appear after). I buy him 24 pikemen — just right for snapping up sprites. This warlock runs to the sulfur mine.

10. The knight picks up the shield, gargoyle and transfers everything to the arrived sorceress. The warlock snaps up the sprites and captures the sulfur mine. (The barbs pick up remaining resources and drop out of the game; in principle, the warlock too, having done his job, can leave…). Gem lands in the upper part of the yellow computer's island. To the right are dragons, to the left stands a hefty guy with crowds of various freaks, including dwarves who just joined.

11. Here it is, the wonderful day of capture. To its own misfortune, the enemy warlock decided to capture a village instead of defending his castle. Gem, without losses, wipes out 3 hydras in the castle using genies and gargoyles. The key Castle is mine! I build the last level of the Mag. Tower. I buy a warlock. He takes 7 genies from Gem and on foot pounces on that same tough yellow warlock. Using anti-magic, storm, and the natural power of genies, I wipe out the entire army of the enemy hero. A small trick with a portal and I reach the second yellow hero — the knight. 1 min and another portal and I am again near Gem. I return the genies. Gem hands over a few sprites, a gargoyle, a pikeman, enters the city, studies magic, and jumps to the red's castle. Wipes out the hero in the city. Here a warlock is taken. In the yellow's castle, 2 sorceresses are taken, they jump diagonally down-right. The warlock from the sorcerers' castle distributes his centaurs among them, their sprites, his gargoyles and pikemen from Gem. This is necessary to repel attacks by red heroes. So that there isn't an obvious weakling, and any of my magic-users could beat the red heroes. However, as the future showed, no one decided to attack them. Gem jumps to the barb. On the way, she wipes out cyclops and takes a fat chest for experience. A couple of cells short of the castle.

12. During the turn transition, the last yellow hero ("Yellow, what are you doing?") is destroyed by my warlock left on his island. - YELLOW. Since no one attacked my temporary magic-users, the warlock quickly takes the army from one — gives it to another, she jumps, kills the first red hero, returns the army to the other magic-user, who in a jump wipes out the last red. - RED. Gem takes the barb's castle. 2 warlocks are bought; one takes the genies and passes them to the other, who barely reaches and wipes out the first blue barb. Gem jumps once (-barb), jumps a second time and finishes off the last computer hero (click click FINISH) - BLUE. Victory!