Posts from The 8th stage of the annual John Van Caneghem Tournament (2007).

My Uland received an expert diploma at level 6, I think, but the result was still bad...

For the report, you'll upload the save file before joining the Gargons here. I'd like to see what they might surrender on the second week. My army composition was like this on the third week during scouting:
Snakes Up = 18
Basilisks Up = 17
Hydras = 4
Pegasus Up = 36
Wyverns Up = 8
Gargons Up = 12
Warlock = 1

I tried removing one slot (except for the Warlock) - no luck - those bastards didn't surrender :)

I tried removing one of the slots (except for the Sorceress) - no luck - those guys wouldn't budge.

Ideally, two diplomats should have been scouting the area, while the third waited in the boat for the troops... If they were going by sea... And I think someone was probably taking out the dragons before joining the Gorgons, right Dim? :D
Or am I wrong? :)

Here, scouting is the ultimate scouting: I had to “sift through” all the heroes. Without the digging skill, I would have been completely stuck.
There were many diplomats, but I needed to find one who had diplomacy skills at an expert level early on, plus either logistics or pathfinding. I couldn't find any with logistics.

What the...? You even built Hydras...? And why weren't there any Swordsmen?

Ideally, two diplomats should have been scouting the area, while the third waited in the boat for the troops... If going by sea... And someone was probably clearing out the dragons before joining the Gorgons, right Dim? :D
Or am I wrong? :)

Before the Gorgons, you still needed to add the Wyvern Monarchs – they are more “compliant”.

Hydras joined... On the island, I think...

You should have taken the shield; it was lying around in the north – then it would have been easier to annex... They are so easily swayed by trinkets... :D

Hey, are attack, defense, strength, and knowledge skills taken into account when surrendering?

Maybe he's not talking about those Hydras; there were supposedly 10 of them initially...

Seriously? You even built Hydras...? But why weren't there any Swordsmen?

Hey, are attack, defense, strength, and knowledge skills taken into account when surrendering?

I remember exactly – 4 hydras joined... There, near the swamp castle. But you needed a stronger army... That is, you needed to have some monks or swordsmen... Basically, you just needed to build an optimal scheme for joining troops in terms of minimizing time... Through trial and error... But it took a long time to do even with cheats.