Posts from Tactics for Fortress against Tower on an XL map.

I usually play as Fortress on the boat map and almost always win. Difficulties arise only when fighting against Tower. The lack of and low survivability of flying units makes it impossible to successfully block enemy archers, and the enemy's strong magic also plays a role. Please suggest some tactical approaches for such situations.

I'm definitely not an expert on the Stronghold, but from your post, it's clear that I can teach you a thing or two. First, what do you mean by "not enough flyers"? Yes, there's only one, but what prevents you from detaching single units and using them to block until the main stacks arrive? Second, I understand you're letting the computer develop up to Titans? Why? Even on an XL map, that's strange... Third, if you're afraid of magic, look for a countermeasure (either artifacts that limit/ban it, or gather more melee units for mass haste). And fourth, ditch that Ship and switch to the Knight, and go online instead of playing against the computer.

If you split up the flyers, you'll have to remove someone from the army. Besides, the birds aren't very durable, so when they block enemy archers, they get killed quickly. I, of course, try not to let the computer develop Titans, but if I'm on one side of the map and the enemy is on the other, it doesn't work out. I look for artifacts, but I don't always find them. I would gladly play online, but it's glitching for me.

For those who play against AI opponents, I advise doing the opposite – give them time to develop, because it becomes more interesting to play when they have developed. I remember when there was no internet, I enjoyed playing, deliberately not eliminating or touching any of the AI opponents, and being content with little. I really liked leaving myself with 2 cities and defending against sieges from the strongest AI opponent, who by that time (after about 10 months) would be the only one left alive in the infighting between the AI opponents.

Every day, I read FizMiG before going to bed instead of a bedtime story. :)
http://homm3world.narod.ru/
Question for Max2009, can the Barbarians conquer a Tower on less large maps? Maybe the tactics from M and L can be applied to XL?
I'll allow myself to quote a classic: "Barbarians are barbarians, and that's it. They rely on brute force and attack, and fortunately, their troops and heroes are perfectly suited for this. The main strength of this city is rapid development and an early strike. Slow-moving barbarians don't last long."
And in general, if you want to exchange experiences, leave your ICQ.

Thanks for the link. On S and M, Barbarians easily defeat everyone, except perhaps the Swamp faction. There are some problems with the Tower on L, but not very significant ones. You can transfer units, but the larger the map, the more Titans the AI will have at the time of the encounter. And the Titan is the only level 7 monster that can kill an Ancient Behemoth 1 on 1.

Here's another link: /topic/5510/ – it shows statistics for the season, which Castles and Heroes players chose, and what the win rate is for each Castle and popular Hero. It doesn’t show that Barbarians are easily defeating everyone. Although this is one of the strongest races. On an XL map, the confrontation isn't just about Behemoth versus Titan. Here, it will rather be a battle between all the forces of 3-5 different Castles against the same number controlled by the AI (if you allow the AI to have such an opportunity). And here, you definitely shouldn't have weak magic. You can find it in other cities.

The game will be good and interesting if, for example, while playing as Crag Hack, you learn and master the tactics and earth magic to an expert level... As everyone knows, mages are excellent ranged combatants, and their magic is powerful, so it's best to engage them in close combat... Much depends on whether you attack the opponent first, as you can immediately use tactics to send all your units forward, and if you attack first, your thunderbird will go first (of course, depending on which race you are playing and whether the opponent has a speed advantage due to artifacts)... Then it will roughly look like this: you apply slow and immediately send all your units forward to eliminate the enemy!!! Direct all your attacks towards the titans and naga, and, of course, position yourself so that you inflict damage on these units while preventing the archers from shooting... Then the Fortress won't stand a chance!
If you play like this against the AI, I think you'll easily win! Against a human player, I think you should act the same way...

Thank you for the advice.

I believe (maybe I'm wrong) that for Citadel, you need to manage to fit bears into your castle, thus by the 2nd week ensuring enormous combat capability for the army, and after that, visit Griffin Conservatories and clues, since in the end, out of all the "native" units, only the bears and, yes, maybe the birds will remain

well, if you can buy them all at once, instead of just placing them, then good luck.

as a rule, it is enough.

It’s quite easy to play against the AI. The main thing is the bears. You focus on them in the first week, and then you collect good units. In a month, you’ll have a hero-machine. Take some birds with you, or any other fast stack. Attack, cast mass haste, and have the bears run in – one stack is eliminated immediately. Against the Fortress, it’s best to take out the Titans, but the Giants are also dangerous, so aim for them.
Plan number 2: You go first, cast mass haste, use the birds to eliminate all the ranged units, and then have the bears move in. This allows you to reach and eliminate two stacks in one round. The strength of the Fortress lies in the incredible attack power of its heroes and upgraded bears, which have -80% to enemy armor. The Fortress is probably the easiest castle to play, and it’s very interesting.

It's quite easy to play against the AI.

When playing against the AI, it doesn't really matter which faction you choose. Any faction is easy to play with.

What advice can I give you:
1. Develop quickly and conquer everything, level up your heroes.
2. Start with a Crag Hack, or if you're having trouble, try a Terraform (special acceleration; you'll quickly gain Air experience and Mass Haste, and you'll also have a high chance of getting Tactics).
3. Play actively: capture mines, gather resources, and level up your hero.
4. If you're playing on a map with a Castle, you can afford to get Bears by the first week, and then just don't upgrade them; leave them as regular units. With a dense map, you can get quite good troops relatively early (all 6 types are upgraded; don't touch the 7th, Bear, until you have a lot of crystals).
5. If you don't get anything good from the Magic Guild, that's when things get really interesting.
6. While the AI is setting up its Titans, you'll already have a decent number of Bears. Then, when you have a lot of crystals (you've built everything, exchange all resources for crystals on the market, and the rest for gold).
7. You need to aim to reach the final battle with your main heroes. If you have a Terraformed hero with Mass Haste and Tactics, it's simple: bring everyone forward, but not too far, so as not to be in direct line of sight of the archers. After his turn, immediately use Mass Haste and attack with everyone. First, you need to eliminate the Naga, the archer block, and then everything will be fine; in close combat, the Barbarians pull the mages