Posts from Walkthroughs for custom maps.

Paragon map
I managed to overcome the previous difficulties. Now I'm facing a problem: I can't defeat the dwarf king... This guy has almost complete immunity to magic, and I can't find a way to counter him! Can anyone suggest a tactic?

The key here is "almost complete immunity to magic." If I'm not mistaken, it's quite easy to complete, but it takes a long time. And you need a lot of mana.

Sincerely,
Gur

Ah, I'm back in the game, and I decided to play maps like Longest Journey and The Empire of the World 2, and similar ones...
Even with the HD mod, the game freezes at 38-2-6.

I played an interesting and quite original map - Battle of world
http://heroesportal.net/maps.php?search=Battle+of+world

The map is original, but unfortunately, it is quite easy. It is a purely strategic map; there are no mandatory or necessary moments, although, of course, there are quests on the map.
You can play as any race and with any hero.
We play with an ally against 6 AI opponents. The map consists of islands.
We have 2 starting locations to choose from: either on the surface or in the Dungeon, and both starting locations are islands and mirror images of each other.
I want to say right away that the starting location is quite poor, which forces you to break through to other islands as quickly as possible, where there is an abundance of resources.
The AI starting locations are the same: islands with a small amount of resources, and between the starting locations is where all the best things are located.
And so, about the walkthrough:
I started on the surface - I chose Castle, and the hero - Valeiska, I gave my ally Rampart, the difficulty is Queen, 160%.
At the starting location, we have all the mines and three cities (one starting, one random, and one Tower, in which Flight and Dimension Door can appear), the AI has two identical cities and one random.
As a result, Valeiska got everything she needs and that is useful on this map, except for Logistics: Earth, Air, Defense, Attack, Tactics, Shooting, Wisdom, Leadership (there is no need for this, but heroes of the Castle almost always get it).
I completed the entire map with one hero, although it is designed for 3-4 full-fledged heroes. First, I cleared the starting location, captured all the cities and mines, and then broke through the shipyard's defenses, got on a ship, and sailed for resources.
Then I built up completely, and with the help of Flight and Dimension Door, I reached the first opponent (this happened in the middle of the 4th month). Here I was glad that the blue player starts with a Tower, and the starting hero is a Dragon (although I didn't see any Wizards with him, but he had more troops than me).
Expecting that it would only get better, I defeated the blue player and then moved on (I started gathering an army from the Tower and Castle later), and as a result, in 6 months, all the enemies on the surface were defeated, and only 3 AI opponents remained in the Dungeon.
The ally played terribly, demonstrating all the genius of artificial idiocy: he managed to give the enemy two of his three cities.
To my disappointment, only one battle with a Dragon aroused some interest, where I had to suffer losses, and then everything was very easy and a little boring.
As a result, a complete victory over all enemies on day 247. The Grail was found, all the cities were captured, except for the one that belonged to the ally.
And all this was done with only one hero.
In general, it is an original and simple map, but nevertheless, if you are not lucky with the appearance of Flight and Dimension Door, the walkthrough becomes somewhat more difficult.
Now about the features, advantages, and disadvantages of the map:
- all the passages between the player and the AI are very well and reliably protected; to break through them, you need to develop the hero well and accumulate troops, that is, a quick rush is not possible on this map, even with Flight;
- all heroes are limited to level 22, but at the same time, there are many different places to increase primary skills; in my opinion, this is a plus of this map - so that the game is played with several heroes, so that the heroes are approximately equal, and there is not one with stats of 99;
- there is an opportunity to use Super Dragons, and the Crystal Dragon lair is right at our starting location;
- in theory, we have the following opponents: a Dragon for the Tower, Adriana for Inferno, which should make these opponents quite dangerous and strong, but the AI is very slow in breaking through defenses, taking cities, and generally does not rush to play actively, so my expectations were not met;
I didn't interfere in the Dungeon, where the AI played, so the enemies were able to reach the ally only on the 6th-8th month, breaking through all the defenses calmly and confidently;
- the AI sometimes dies from neutral creatures on the map - for the red Inferno, there should be a Gelu, but later it turned out that Gelu died on neutral creatures and was available in the tavern for hiring.
- the starting location represents a достаточно много свободного пространства, что очень хорошо, так как не хватка ресурсов на респе, необходимость добычи ресурсов вне респа - хорошо подстегивает к активной игре;
- this is a pure strategy without RPG elements: you can choose any race, you can choose any hero, go wherever you want; you can hire a hero in the city of an ally or through the Guild (if you're lucky, it will appear in the city, if not, then it can be obtained in the Pandora's Box at the starting location, by defeating the Crystal Dragons) and start playing at the ally's starting location; you can go through sea neutrals or break through neutrals on land, or simply pass by particularly strong ones with Flight;
- what else pleases: the possibility of combining troops from different cities;
- and most importantly - the passage between the Dungeon and the surface is in one place: at our and our ally's starting location, it is guarded by 300 Archangels on both sides, otherwise, there is no non-magical way to get to the other level, which makes the game a little safer: everyone fights only with 3 AI.
In general, it turned out to be an original and interesting map, where Conflux, Castle, and Rampart feel comfortable; and this is probably one of the few XL maps on which the Necropolis will not stand out so much and have a decisive advantage (I don't think that you can complete the map faster and easier with the Necropolis than with the Castle or Rampart with Conflux).
With a 200% chance, the AI will feel more confident, but I'm still not sure about that.
CONCLUSION: 247 days, 393 points, a Golden Dragon on a difficulty of 160% (Queen).

Added after 28 minutes
And I would also like to talk about a map that I am currently finishing, but which I liked much more than any other RPG-style maps.

Longest Journey....
http://heroesportal.net/maps.php?search=longest+journey

There is a very ordinary plot - there was a good wizard who didn't bother anyone, but evil came, and the wizard went to war (if briefly and exaggerate the plot)...
Here, as in similar maps, the main hero gradually completes quests, kills one enemy after another, but here there is its own zest, its own elegance - everything is very beautifully drawn, all the enemies are well thought out, some battles require a non-standard approach, but the map is easier than Paragon, but like Paragon, it requires activity, speed, and ingenuity in some places.
On this map, you cannot sit in one place and accumulate troops up to thousands in a stack, as happens in Lord of War or Empire.
Indeed, if you start talking about this map, it will simply kill the interest in its walkthrough and the pleasure of revealing the author's idea in some places.
At the moment, I think that this is still the best map in its genre.

bolotnik, thank you for writing the reports, and for being so detailed! I downloaded the "Battle of the World" map, but haven't played it yet. I hope to tell you about the map I'm currently playing (I've put it aside for now), if I can win: I lost on it once, and now I'm trying again; things seem to be going well, but it's not yet clear how to defeat the main boss. I think I already told you about Longest Journey: I failed to complete it the first time, I reached the enemies too late, and there was also an unfortunate mistake. The second time, I completed it. It's a good, classic map, but not too difficult, where in the early stages it's important to defeat Inferno and the Tower, and to do this, you need to reach their lands in a timely manner (the later, the harder it is to defeat them). And after that, with a lot of Towers, it's relatively easy, although the Pink (Castle) is also a serious enemy.

bolotnik,
I think I already told you about Longest Journey: I also failed to complete it the first time, I reached the enemies too late, and there was an annoying mistake. The second time, I completed it. It's a good, classic map, but not too difficult.

Yes, but my Walkthrough became a little more complicated because there was no Expert Fire and the Berserk spell, which is even given as an event (apparently, the author was counting on its frequent use).
Otherwise, I completely agree with what was written.
The most difficult RPG map that I couldn't complete is Paragon...
It's really a very difficult map (especially when playing without Expert Fire; it might be a little easier with it).
At the beginning, you need to capture Virill and defeat Frodaragon by the 3rd month, but even after that, you can't relax; one group attacks, then another....
And you can't lose anyone.

Added after 50 minutes

I downloaded the "Battle of World" map, but I haven't played it yet.

The map is not as good as Fatum and Abetmant, but it's worth your attention and a Walkthrough.

Added after 50 seconds

I hope to tell you about the one I'm playing.

I'll be waiting for your story about its Walkthrough

+1 to the difficulty of the Paragon map.
I stopped playing for now; it's very difficult. I'll take a break and start again.
It's the most difficult map I've ever played.

+1 to the difficulty of the Paragon map.
I've stopped playing for now; it's very difficult. I'll take a break and start again.
It's the most difficult map I've ever played.

I completely agree....
Unfortunately, each of my attempts to complete it ends in complete failure at one point or another... (I don't have a save editor, so if I don't save myself, I only have the autosave and my save, and that's it).

I would also like to tell you about another interesting map:
The begining of the end
http://heroesportal.net/maps.php?search=of+the+end

the map is simply packed with everything possible and impossible, which is immediately apparent: minimum space for movement, tents, guards, seer huts, prisons, garrisons, pandoras, artifacts, etc....
it somewhat reminds me of the Clash of titans map (I won't provide a link to the map; those who want it can find it on heroesportal), also we will need to defeat a powerful enemy locked behind doors...
The map combines an RPG element with the strategic part, meaning that from the start there are fixed heroes who receive skills necessary for this map, which encourages playing specifically as them.
I started as red (Castle); expecting a long and arduous game on this map, I didn't get it—everything was somehow just too easy...
And the map itself is such that I wouldn't want to reveal all its secrets, so I will only talk about the - and + of the map.
"-":
there is a possibility to obtain all spells and artifacts (fly, dimension door, angel wings, boots of levitation), which simply makes all tents, garrisons, and most strong guards pointless...
moreover, at first blue acquired the angel wings, and then, after defeating this blue hero, my hero was able to get wherever they wanted completely unpunished and without problems...
furthermore, there are several shifted or poorly aligned guard towers...
boring walkthrough: because some places are easily broken through by the player with practically no losses, while the AI cannot break through at all or breaks through significantly later than it should (it feels like the AI doesn't use certain spells at all)...
as a result, the AI falls very far behind in development and leveling, which makes killing the AI simply very boring when forces are equal...
very, very much of everything—so much so that visiting and completing everything on the map is almost unrealistic (obviously, the map is designed for play with several heroes, while I usually play with 1)...

"+":
high pace of gameplay, battles are constant (first with neutrals, then with enemy heroes); very many things are visited, heroes constantly move forward, and you don't have to wait for anything;
beautiful map design;
an original idea that remained unrealized (which is a minus, of course, but the idea itself is present in the map);

I don't really like maps with a final super-enemy who has 99s across the board and many troops, because by the time of the final battle we will have more heroes, towns, and troops anyway...
I am attaching a save and a victory screenshot over the final enemy, who remained in the town.
[in the save, the cloak of renunciation was used on purpose; otherwise it would be much harder due to the alliance prayer and subsequent use of fire shield and sacrifice]

I recently completed two interesting maps and am writing reports about them; I will publish them soon. Today, I unexpectedly received a reply to an email I sent over a year ago. Since we have already discussed this map here (I haven't tried playing it yet, but I did try another difficult German map and lost), you might find the reply useful, so I will quote the message: Bogdan Sverediuk via Google+:

Brothers of Mercy and War is a very interesting map. The main idea is to defeat all enemy heroes in the center of the map one by one, and they are separated from each other. And as soon as you do that, a path to the underground will open up. Even more challenging trials await you there. To complete the map, you need to complete all the quests and collect all the artifacts. The good thing is that the enemies do not attack you until you step onto their territory. The map is well-balanced and will not let you enter enemy territory without the necessary army. Not knowing German will not prevent you from completing the map. If you need help, use the map editor.

we are waiting

Despite the fact that people usually post maps they have already completed, I decided to describe a truly magnificent map—the best of all I've ever seen and played, though I haven't finished it yet: Paragon
The map is simply an astounding masterpiece, an example for all mapmakers on how to plan a map and everything in it, although of course, no map is without its flaws and shortcomings.
So, first comes the description of the map, pros/cons, and then the Walkthrough itself and tips for it.
What makes this map the best of the best:
- most importantly, the AI behavior is gratifying; the author achieved the necessary behavior and actions from it. That is, if an event says "expect guests" at a certain time, it actually happens—the enemy arrives roughly then;
- the game pace is set from the start: city capture in 7 days, Virill in 3 months, and so on; the faster you go, the easier it gets later and the less "meat" the computers have;
- well-thought-out battle balance, although eventually, a wagonload of mana solves all problems;
- skillfully hidden objects; the author doesn't hide quest artifacts where they can't be found or seen, but rather hides pleasant bonuses that are noticeable and easier to find—and if you don't take them, you can still play, it just becomes slightly harder;
- magnificent map drawing;
- a great idea with disguised gates placed next to visible towers; as a result, we cannot pass yet, but the computer is always welcome, which also encourages not sitting still but moving forward. If you attack the AI before it goes on the offensive, everything is simplified many times over;
- hints: there is plenty of text, and the player is always warned about what is necessary;
- despite general linearity, there are still branches and options;
Cons:
They are inevitable, no matter how good a map is, but they exist...
- perhaps it was planned this way, but some strong AI heroes can be found in the tavern with decent stats after their defeat (I'm not talking about Olwin, who is available by design, I'm talking about Andru);
- no hero is given with normal primary stats and useful secondary ones, including ballistics (controlling a catapult could have solved all siege problems). As a result, to defeat Deis and his thousands of minotaurs on cursed land, I had to buy Uland (a healing specialist who comes from the start with wisdom and ballistics), and then it was easy but very long via catapult control;
- the biggest downside of this map is that to complete the map, you need to open it in the editor and study it carefully, or simply replay it from the start or a certain point about 10 times because you went the wrong way, turned the wrong way, or missed something...
this kills some of the experience where the player discovers everything during gameplay; that is, elements of surprise vanish from the Walkthrough;
+/ - peasants: more accurately, the huge number of them that must be collected every week, but you need to keep heroes there for this...
- there is a possibility to complete the map unrealistically fast and easier than the author probably intended by using bugs...
during the process, we get more than one Admiral's Hat, as well as many Boots of Speed and Rider's Gloves, so the ГГ and one or two secondary heroes can have practically infinite movement....
as a result, in 1 day you can defeat Frodragon, crush the Barbarians, and defeat the swamp enemies, which obviously wasn't in the author's plans...
therefore, if people write that they completed the map in record time, they simply used a bug to increase MP using the Admiral's Hat...
on day 241, for example, neither the swamp dwellers nor the Barbarians are ready to attack, so defeating their heroes is no trouble at all, and essentially the entire turn duration comes down to how long our mana lasts and whether mana doublers have been used; there, even Yorogoss might dump his Cloak of Denial and bears and run with half of his troops.
Whether to play honestly or use bugs is up to each person.
Now about the Walkthrough itself.
Still, I decided to start at 160%; there's enough difficulty as it is.
We start with nothing but 1 peasant. A classic RPG-style beginning.
All battles at first go smoothly without losses (a couple of peasants don't count).
But then, upon reaching our starting town Stonehelm, things get interesting.
The thing is, during my very first run of the map, I simply gathered troops from secondary sources, restored mana, and attacked; on the 3rd or 4th try, I won such a battle, left with only 1 Knight...
But the correct version intended by the author is to buy creatures from secondaries, break the pegasi at the fort, then join griffins there, upgrade everything, take the hidden gold, take the artifact, and then attack... in this scenario, there is no difficulty; the battle is completed with minimal losses of a few halberdiers and a griffin.
We take the town on day 116 (most likely), 117 less often; it's possible on 115, but it won't be optimal.
In the town, everything necessary is built by 121; before 121 we don't build or touch anything at all, but from 121 we hire heroes and start building...
Further it's also very simple, the main thing is not to stall, do everything quickly: the ГГ takes experience from all guards, while secondary heroes pick up resources and capture mines...
Now about secondary heroes:
- as I understand it, the author believes that using "hero-digging" is not only possible but necessary.
So we dig up: Enova (specialist +350 gold) who also comes with an artifact for +750 gold, and Yabarkas/Zhabarkas (lvl 1, but all secondary skills are at expert, has fire exp).
We later free a hero already with the literacy skill, so further on all spells are passed to the ГГ without spending time visiting the Mage Guild in town.
On day 127/131 we capture the second town, easily and without losses.
By the way, I didn't upgrade a single creature dwelling in towns except for griffins (all secondary heroes ran with them), while all upgrades were done at the fort.
Here there is a moment of luck at the start:
which secondary skills will drop. In my last run, I was very lucky (wisdom, logistics, water, earth—we get these from the start), and then tracker, fire, attack, defense (given that attack was taken in a hut, and everything else was successfully obtained upon level up).
Without fire magic and berserker exp, it's significantly harder to complete, and then I would say that an intelligence skill with its mana doubling is highly desirable.
Therefore, I advise not to take the same hut below Stonehelm with the archery skill (archers will do their job fine without it, while getting intelligence or fire will be much more useful).
Regarding the lack of money—it's practically unfelt if you pick up all the gold that is well-placed (hidden, but in a way that can be found).
Before going to the fairy ones—we capture the Rampart in the Dungeon; there we get resurrection and prayer.
Further everything is completed quickly and without losses.
The most interesting part begins upon receiving the hat and entering the lands of the Barbarians and Virill.
And here the question of honest play arises: either complete everything honestly or use the acceleration from the hat..
By the way, the author gave a quest for passage to the lake for 250 wood; then we get 300 wood via an event, but giving it up for passage is absolutely not necessary—we go to the Barbarians via Aelwin, then take the water book, and with the book run back to that lake, while Aelwin is crushed in the garrison with cyclops, and bought back at the nearest Rampart with a quest for 25 archmagi...
there we will also free the hero Oris; this hero can simply be left on Barbarian land in the Sanctuary...
After gathering all troops and buying/upgrading whoever possible (converting everything except gems into gold, buying angels, horses, archers, upgrading them, others according to financial possibilities), all of this is passed in a chain to the ГГ, who the next day with acceleration first takes the town with the berserker (immediately at the garrison), Virill, the town by the portal, and if there are enough moves, also attacks Frodragon (if he hasn't holed up in the 3rd city)..
This all happens either on the 4th week of the 2nd month or on day 311... Everything is completed without losses (the main thing is to take all hidden artifacts, especially for knowledge, and visit all boosters); don't forget about the spring with mana doubling.
The most important thing that makes the map gratifying is the pace of completion.
Immediately after this, we visit the key-keeper's tent (defeat the dragons there—it's best to attack them with one stack of archmagi and that's it, leave all other troops in town), receive earth books for this, and with TP playing becomes easier and simpler.
Then we don't wait, but fly to the Barbarian and crush him.
The most interest, as far as I'm concerned, begins after victory over the swamp dwellers and encountering Yorogoss and Gird, Locomorra and others like them; in principle they are defeated, but a wagonload of mana is spent on each simply...
All the difficulty actually (real and not fake difficulty) begins when colliding with Ashwing with the power of the Father of Dragons and after him...
And some more regarding certain battles:
- before some battles, to avoid losses, some troops can and should be left guarding mines (in such places they are even specifically positioned);
- for the most part, we just need a wagonload of mana for resurrection:
the absolute majority of battles with AI follow this scenario: blind some stack that we can kill in 1 round, then resurrect all our losses (via archmagi clone, by the archmagi themselves and the resurrection spell), and then crash into the blinded ones (can also crash with clones); as a result, for this entire action in any case, a huge amount of mana is needed, since the task during battle is to cut out strike stacks and minimize losses, although AI in battles gratifies with its stupidity and instead of mass healing/prayer/dispel or something else might do a mass bless (they get chopped by max berserker, and on their turn they do a mass bless—helping themselves be chopped);
- dragons and other such unpleasant creatures guarding objects are easiest to pass with 1 stack of archmagi (resurrecting archmagi via clone or spell); with some mana expenditure, everything is passed without losses;
The most important thing is to attack the AI until it attacks.
Barbarians are killed extremely quickly at the start of the 3rd month, and then, it's necessary to sail out to the swamp dwellers very quickly (before they buy up and arrive, this is roughly the 3rd week of the 3rd month; by this time you should already be on their lands, then defeating them will be significantly easier...
To the swamp dwellers we either immediately lead Haass (looks like Gervulf, actually Kilgor), or give him the earth book, dress him in artifacts, and then after victory over Olwin and visiting the blue tent, he can immediately enter the town (here it's important to calculate, best on the 1st day so that growth can be taken immediately, and so the computer doesn't crush Haass in town); further Olwin and Haass buy everything in caches, upgrade in town, and we open other towns, after which the ГГ takes them without losses, as long as there is mana..
Another point—we get Olwin (Jelu), but also a Golden Bow, so the question of upgrading archers (two shots with Golden Bow) versus 1 for snipers (who have the bow or not) is quite debatable; I preferred two shots instead of 1 and didn't upgrade archers, especially since there won't be enough gold for everything desired (buying all troops in all human castles is practically impossible).
With tracker and logistics, swamp dwellers are also passed quite quickly, the main thing is not to stall; as a result, by the end of the 4th or start of the 5th month, we get an exit to Yorogoss and company...
In 6 months we calmly deal with all available enemies.
As a result, I got such a picture:
it remains to defeat Pink, Orange, Brown, given that Brown has "woken up" and is already ready to run over....
It feels like he can be won, but as for doing it without critical losses—I don't know how to do that yet.
Tips that may help in completing the map:
- there are places (guards and seers) where they are ready to give troops for a few hundred peasants; if someone isn't too lazy to run a hero through peasant caches and accumulate them, you can get quite a few troops; (I'm always too lazy to collect anyone from caches, so I don't perform quests to open some passages with peasants; at first I get archers and that's where my peasant collection ends);
- for bags of gold you can get + to skills on Barbarian land; I advise taking + to knowledge first and foremost, then everything else;
- it is necessary to collect archmagi, so as not to lose pace—a separate hero can be sent for this (we will have very many boots, gloves, and Admiral's hats, so heroes will be able to move very quickly with 1 group of pegasi);
- scouting with heroes: since despite general linearity there are places where you can turn, it's best to send a scout there (a hero with one unit just to see what and where lies) to see if the computer is coming...
- on the last day—day 33, I don't remember—good reinforcements arrive in Virill, as well as resources;
- regarding losses—I believe that halberdiers are a normal "meat shield" that won't solve anything anyway, so sometimes it makes no sense to resurrect them and spend mana on them; the main thing is that there is a stack and that's all;
- all boats must always be sunk; if there is no plan to return to a boat in the same turn, it must be sunk so the computer doesn't get into boats where not intended by the author.
Well, this is all of course for an honest run without bugs; with bugs everything becomes simpler.
Despite all the thought-out and definite behavior of the AI, it still acts like an idiot:
- there is a lake before the garrison and towns of Frodragon, where water movement is used; so Stig, when he sails to us (if you hold out until then), has moments when he calls a boat and sails into this lake... and further it's clear that you can simply not let him land;
- sometimes other computer heroes land on islets and hang there for several turns;
- the computer often leaves troops in town while running with a smaller army, so if you calculate accurately to enter the town on your last moves, you can take the town this way without fearing that the computer will gather all troops under one hero.

I would like to know about other players' runs—how they managed to defeat Ashwing in the power of the Father of Dragons (you could do a hit-and-run, especially with MP boosting from the hat and mana doubling at the spring, taking say some dragonlings and putting all speed artifacts on them, then attacking, doing an explosion and running away), but without such tricks, I can't yet think of how to win against him without critical losses..
There is a own option to enter the castle if Ashwing is standing there at an event with dragonlings (there is a terrible event only for AI; each visit gives him more dragons), then defending behind castle walls will be easier, but as for how to win and not suffer substantial losses, that's still a question for me (winning isn't the problem, the problem is preserving troops)

Added after 20 hours 25 minutes

Map Paragon
Coped with previous difficulties. Now faced the fact that I cannot overcome the Dwarf King... This devil has almost full immunity to magic and I cannot find the key to this opponent! Can anyone suggest a tactic?

Yeah, that's a funny fight—easy, but very long...
Well, you need to come to him with a sizeable army and parameters roughly the same as his...
1. You must lock him in; that is, none of his troops should leave the walls (achieved by casting berserker on your 1st stack near the ballista).
2. You must take out his archers as quickly as possible, and then use resurrection, archmagi clone, sniper clone.
3. You must preserve the ammunition train.
4. You need a lot and lots of mana (for resurrection).
5. It's optimal to come to the king with troops not much smaller than his, and parameters not lagging far behind.
The best part is if forgetfulness hits even one of the archery stacks, but the thing is that almost all magic on him goes into a void, so it's better to cast something useful on your own—stone skin, prayer etc., or you can just immediately clone archmagi and resurrect losses right away while shooting his archers.
6. When he has only infantry left (usually a huge number of dwarves), he starts hitting with spells; here too you need to be more careful not to expose the supply train to this and resurrect losses..
7. Then when he has only archery towers and a huge number of dwarves with 0 mana, we begin systematically resurrecting all our losses via archmagi clone (costs slightly more mana but resurrects more than the resurrection spell + distracts one tower shot).
8. In the end it's very, very long, but passable; only if: the wall was breached/the supply train was destroyed/you failed to minus the archers quickly enough, you can reload the battle.

!Separately I would like to mention one point because of which I once replayed the game just to prepare a hero from the tavern for one single battle!
BATTLE WITH DEIS for the diamond gates, before freeing Vael and the battle with Ashwing.
Deis has one stack of several thousand minotaurs; when I came to him he had nearly 15k, but that's trivial—the main thing is that this is all on CURSED LAND—meaning spells above lvl 1 are forbidden!! We have no ballistics, and no troops capable of taking down 15k minos before breaking the breach....
Therefore, in this situation I found only one way out—hire Uland in the first days (Rampart hero, healing specialist, starting wisdom and ballistics), taught him archery, water, earth, defense, increased his stats at all available boosters during the game (essentially he was a booster and tail for the ГГ).
And then in the battle with Deis his hour struck—I put on the power of the Father of Dragons so troops wouldn't be shot, bought one-off archers (lizards, orcs, cyclops, gremlins) who aren't a pity to lose), sniper bow, supply train, and for the gate block a stack of a couple dozen death knights (we don't play with them either, so they aren't a pity)..
As a result: catapult—defense. DKs—to the gates (towers attack specifically the DKs, which is beneficial since archers are more important there), and then I hammered the minotaurs until I was blue in the face...
Over very many rounds I took down Deis...
I don't have enough brainpower to figure out how one can pass that without losses specifically with Mogrein: by round 2-4 there is a 100% breach in the wall, minos come out and deal heavy losses that cannot be resurrected; but this way it happens without losing even 1 unit from used stacks, just very long, and experience goes to someone other than who needs it...
If other battles when attacking a castle are won through magic, then there I believe the only option is a hero with ballistics (catapult control).

Lezenford
further on, the gnome levels will only become more interesting and challenging...
with three powerful heroes: Solmyr, Nila, and Naerod (Archmage), along with artifacts and troops, you'll need to strategize and put in some effort to complete it without significant losses...
and then there's Peplokryl with the power of the Father of Dragons and a bunch of various dragons...
in general, to complete the map, you sometimes need to apply strategies that you wouldn't even consider when playing regular or standard maps...
an example of one such original idea is shown in the screenshot...

Guys, I need some help...
I downloaded the Paragon map. It's a great map, but I can't seem to progress past 3 months of gameplay... I capture the capital, killing the enemy without losing a single unit, get the Archangel bonus, and in total, after buying from all the cities, I have 98 of them. I have 5 castles and 2 ramparts. I have an awesome army of almost a hundred Archangels and the rest, as many as I can afford (I lost 20-30 low-level units throughout the map, and I almost always killed enemies without any losses). But then, as soon as I'm recognized as emperor, 2 heroes appear... one has 100 Hydras and a bunch of other creatures, and the other has 173 Ancient Beasts and a full army from almost 3 castles in just 3 months... What should I do with them? How do I kill them...? And my favorite Berserker doesn't work on Ancient Beasts... Can you suggest a tactic or something...? How did you guys kill them? Or maybe I made a mistake somewhere and didn't find any cool artifacts? Because my primary stats are barely above 20, even though I'm equipped with everything I found...
I always thought I knew how to play Heroes, but this map is putting me in a real bind...
I've attached a save file (there are earlier ones if needed) and the map itself. Take a look, help if you can...

and here's where the mistake in development lies...
the thing is, you need to capture the red city as quickly as possible, and then - don't slow down, immediately after defeating Frodrak, you need to take the red Keyholder's tent in the same turn or the next (we get the Earth books), and then, with momentum, go to the Barbarian lands and defeat him...
there are three options:
1. We have an Expert Berserker, so there will be no problems;
2. We don't have an Expert Berserker, but we have enough mana and all the meat was bought, then it will be difficult, but it can be done, whether there will be losses or not depends on the amount of mana;
3. An easier option, if we have enough movement points to capture the city, then we just capture the city (it would also be good to free Haas with troops, this can be done by Oris, whom we free from prison and leave in the Sanctuary when we save Aelwynn with the Water book).
4. Immediately after defeating the Barbarians, we need to sail to the Swamp, here there are two options - either their heroes have not yet sailed and have not gathered all their forces, or we meet their heroes on the water (then, after some time, Adel will come, but we will already be stronger and there will be no problems in winning).
5. Haas should sail to the city, and by that time we visit the blue Keyholder's tent, and then all reinforcements are brought by the heroes using the Earth books, etc., and the main character systematically captures all the cities, after defeating them and visiting everything possible, we move on without any major delays...
the main thing is the pace - every turn, someone should be doing something and moving forward...

and one more thing, later, with the development of cities - Halberdiers, Crusaders, and Griffins can be replaced with stronger units from other cities, or rather, this needs to be done - immediately after capturing the Barbarian lands, we take Bears instead of Halberdiers, then we complete the quest for the Roar of the Titan and get another 70...

Dear bolotnik! A huge thank you for such a detailed and insightful analysis of the Paragon map! Writing reports is sometimes even harder than completing maps, especially in summer when laziness takes over. I have finally finished one report. The maps I completed are incomparably simpler than Paragon, but they are still interesting, at least for lovers of adventure and exploration. I nibbled at Paragon a bit, stopping at 1-2-7; the very beginning goes quite smoothly, and then the "horror" begins with the editor and magnifying glass in hand. But the map is a masterpiece, I admit that!

I tried to complete this map 5 years ago, immediately after downloading it, but without success: everything was heading toward defeat. Having gained more experience and possessing the knowledge from my first attempt, I decided to repeat the walkthrough and this time achieved victory.
Plot: More than a hundred years have passed since the victory of the Haven over the Dark forces and their exile underground... But new states formed in their place... Necromancers, Barbarians, Elementalist... But they are all nothing compared to the legions of the Dark Demon.
Here you play as Red (Castle); your enemies: Pink (Necropolis), Orange (Dungeon), Turquoise (Stronghold), Green (Conflux) and Purple (Inferno) – the main, most powerful enemy. Fortunately, you have allies: Blue (Fortress) and Brown (Tower).
The difficulty suggested by the author is impossible.
For success, even the correct choice during the formation of the starting layout is important, so there is no need to rush here. Note that you can choose the type of starting city or leave it to the game's discretion. Since all the dwellings around the capitals are castle-based, it is best to choose Castle specifically. I chose gold as the starting bonus for all sides, as always. Since we are also allowed to choose a hero (after choosing the castle), given the initial poverty, I appointed Caitlin as the leader with her +350 gold daily. By the way, anyone who wishes can start from my starting save.
The start is not easy: in our capital, there are initially no dwellings, nor even a fort! Therefore, we quickly join friendly halberdiers and crossbowmen, grab a cart of wood and a wagon of ore, subdue the sawmill and mine, and enter the mills. Right here we see the first enemy – a necromancer, who will soon need to be killed, and the first tent that needs to be visited - the red one.
Fortunately, the author understands our difficulties (alas, not all authors are so kind) and soon we manage, for the most part, to finish building our capital.
At the initial stage, the most important thing is to develop as quickly as possible. The sooner you capture all the mines and the second Castle (it stands directly to the south, where the road leads), the easier it will be later.
Now we can reveal a bit of the current layout: we and our allies are separated by border gates (red, blue, and green), and the tents (except for the red one) are relatively far away and well guarded (the location of the blue and green tents will be revealed by the mage's hut in the southwest). They can only be reached by normal means by taking a large detour past the Rampart occupied by a strong necromancer (to the northeast of our capital). And you can also enter the Rampart only through the green gates.
Further on, much depends on the factor of chance: sooner or later, strong enemies will rise from the dungeon to the surface and engage in looting and robbery. The first time I developed too slowly, and it soon turned out that the allies were also doomed (they were also significantly weaker than the enemies), and a necromancer rode up to me whom I could not defeat, and there was nowhere to run (tents had not been visited yet).
The second time, the necromancers also scared me a lot, but fortunately, they did not head toward my lands. Here (exactly at 3-1-1, I saved this state) a notable incident occurred: a necromancer visited the blue and green tents and... flew north to Blue (and if he had gone south to me, that would have been the end of the story)! This is a cheat, absolutely: I checked in the editor, Fly and Dimension Door are forbidden on the map (although DD can and even should be obtained, but more on that later)! Further, the enemies rampaged on the allies' lands until the finale (Orange and Green also broke through there).
I don't know how things will go for you at this stage. Pay attention to the Veil of Darkness south of the Rampart (it will help confuse enemies and hold back their onslaught) and the blue gates opening the way to the sea (you need to get there later). I had to use a flanking maneuver (although perhaps intended by the author): in the second Castle, I learned Town Portal (later checked in the editor: lucky; if you don't get it, you'll have to hire a hero in an allied city), hopped between allies' cities where I received useful spells and bonuses to defense and knowledge, and also visited the green tent. After this, I was able to reach the Rampart and defeat the necromancer sitting there. An important bonus awaits us here: from the prison we free the elven king King Wind, a specialist in snipers, which is what we will turn our halberdiers into. And the Rampart will give us a ready-made Grail and elves, who will also become snipers.
By visiting the blue tent, we can go out to the sea. There on the southern shore awaits a big surprise that you should know about: Dimension Door in Pandora's Box (and Town Portal if you haven't learned it yet)! DD must be taken: not even for yourself, but so that the enemies don't get it, otherwise fighting them will be much harder, and in general, they could get where they definitely aren't supposed to!
Next, you need to get into the desert in the northeast, visit two more tents, and through the green monolith reach Inferno on the island: there black dragons guard the Berserk scroll. By the way, to defeat the Dark Demon we need a Sphere of Vulnerability and expert fire magic, otherwise he will probably be too much for us. But more on that later.
Then you must set off across the sea to the barbarians (Turquoise): they will turn out easier to overcome than other enemies. Capturing Strongholds will provide the opportunity (in extreme cases) to escape from strong enemies and another Rampart (also lucky).
From the barbarians, through the Gates, we enter the dungeon. There are valuable artifacts along the roadsides and a path to Orange and Green, and from them – to Pink. From Pink, the path along the river of fire leads to the domains of Purple.
The hardest part will be beating the Dark Demon: in his domains there are 5 Inferno and the Fire God, and he will always surpass everyone in troop numbers, and capturing his cities without clashing with him is unrealistic. I was unlucky: Caitlin did not get fire magic. But I managed like this: I took advantage of the moment when the Dark Demon was riding along the river of fire in the southeast and attacked him there. Expert Berserk helped defeat the monster, and completing the rout was then a piece of cake.
Besides the Dark Demon, Mutare Drake (Orange) proved to be a very unpleasant enemy with a bunch of dragons of all colors and the Power of the Father of Dragons.
Unfortunately, the Blue ally disappeared from the map, losing all cities shortly before total victory.
The last enemy was defeated on the 5th month, 2nd week, 6th day (total 125 days), result – 442 points (unfortunately, there is no buried Grail on the map).
Another interesting episode was at 4-4-7: this time an ally's hero (Brown) performed a flight over the sea forbidden by the rules and even picked up the Hell Sword and Shield of the Damned in cell 59,122, directly from the island inaccessible. But fortunately, this did not hinder further completion (but if some guardian had required these artifacts and the player didn't have Dimension Door, it would have been very frustrating!).
Result: an interesting map, strong enemies, a short walkthrough for an XL+U map – those are its strengths. The weaknesses, perhaps, are that the exit to allies could have been made less difficult, and red gates could be placed on our land so that at least one castle remained inaccessible to enemies, or create a possibility for retreat.