[HMM II TOURNAMENT OFF] The Tsar's Will. Auto-translated

I sent the save. The will of the Tsar was fulfilled. I sent it with a small buffer, just in case not all the goods pass through the Russian-Ukrainian customs :D.
Thanks for the tournament, we're waiting for the results :smile03:

Well, that's it, the tournament is over.
My result was 15 days.
I built a Dimension Door on day 13, had 600 skeletons, and for the last 2 days I was gathering 1400 or more skeletons.
I didn't even capture the Necromancer Castle.

Finished in 13 days. Didn't build Dimension Door, although I wanted to at first. Got distracted by that village. Ran in a counter-clockwise circle. Captured the Necromancer castle and built a necromancy amplifier there. Finished with halflings in the bottom left corner.

Dear Tournament Participants,
Congratulations on the completion of this tournament.
I would like to present the preliminary results of the tournament.

Nickname Days Parameters Mercury

vbn 11 53 81

PReDS 13 25 16

Catch 13 23 62

Arandor 42 31 29

Psixxx 15 34 32

DR28 12 43 55

Qwerty 11 32 11

Aler_R 12 45 71

Brennan 17 33 27

Sincerely.

I apologize for not being able to submit my save file in time – I only got home today (it’s a shame...).
Kyle, as always, was great :) – thank you for providing the map, for the excellent organizational skills, and for simply creating a great time playing the game.

Sincerely.

My result is 12-45-71.
On November 25th (at night), I ran a clean attempt and almost didn't quite make it...
As you can see from the save, I was just one tile short of taking the Anduran Sword (+5 attack) and, while running past Xandu, I also didn't take it because I didn't have enough time (another +4 stats).
As for the number of days, the minimum time for this map might be 10 days, because yesterday I realized I could have saved one day when I was returning from the "red boots" to my base (I could have split up and bought something, focusing on speed)... and of course, I played with "greed," and after carefully analyzing the daily skeleton composition, I could have focused on taking key map objectives faster, which would have saved another day.
P.S. Overall, the result is not bad... it's just that it's not in the table yet :smile21:
Kyle: It will be added soon ;)
Damn, I made a mistake... 12 days ;)

Added 1 hour 39 minutes later
What about Qwerty's stats and mercury? It seems like he submitted his result earlier than some others, but the result is unknown.
And a request to Qwerty and vbn: please share a brief description of your playthrough, and ideally, upload the saves as well

What about Qwerty's parameters and mercury levels? It seems he sent them earlier than some others, but the result is unknown.

I haven't had a chance to check the save yet, but I know the number of days because he mentioned it in his email.

Dear Tournament Participants,
Congratulations on the completion of this tournament.
I would like to present the preliminary results of the tournament.

Nickname Days Parameters Mercury
Brennan ?? ?? ??

Sincerely.

I don't understand what could be unclear here. 17 days spent on this, about 3.5 hours, and the result is not polished. Parameters - 33, 27 mercury, forgot to exchange it.

It's a pity, I could definitely have played for 2 days, but never mind, I'll make up for it in the next tournaments. P.S. I'd like to hear about the playthroughs of those who have 11 and 12 days.

I haven't had a chance to look at the save yet, but I know the number of days because he mentioned it in his email.

So, send me the save file to [email protected]
or better yet, upload it to the forum.

By the way, I've corrected it to 12 days - I'm still in 3rd place ;)
Here's my complete walkthrough:

Walkthrough? Terrible and stupid. I'm switching to coaching in the clan and providing informational support on the forum. Algorithm for the walkthrough: 1. March to the right, researching Slow, capturing a village, and researching Blind (4 days). 2. Defeat the Gnomes and take the Shovel (Day 5). 3. March to the left, defeat the Golems, and take the Red Boots (Days 6-7). 4. Total mana and Gargoyle conservation. Wait for a week where Warlocks with a large number of Gargoyles appear in the tavern. 5. March upwards towards the Wizard's castle. However, after the Butterflies, make an unexpected turn to the left and through the Oasis to the Stable. Speed up at the Stable, go right down, defeat the upgraded Gnomes. Then, a terrible mistake - taking the Scroll and Anduran's Helmet. They are not needed with the chosen walkthrough algorithm. This is the first day of the second week. 6. A frantic march through the triple if, with minimal use of the Oasis. Defeat the Zombies near the Oasis (they helped a lot to gain momentum), the Swordsmen, and the Zombies at the top near the Well (finally, mana appeared). A swift dash to the right, defeat the Gnomes, and then towards the Necropolis castle. This is 122. 7. Defeat the Minotaurs, take the Necropolis village. Don't go inside - I won't have time for anything then. Build the castle. Then, a mistake - I do something with the purchased hero, but I should have taken troops from the main hero, defeated the Riders on the left, and taken Anduran's Breastplate there. This would have saved a lot of real time and allowed me to increase the amount of Mercury in the final save. With the main hero, I go along the path, defeat the Rogues, Spectres (whew), and Fairies, and go upwards to the right on the peninsula. This is 123. 8. Build the Necromancy Amplifier. A series of grueling battles. The key to the first two is Blind. Special thanks to the Gargoyles. After numerous attempts, I finally defeated the Orcs WITHOUT LOSING THE VAMPIRE LORDS. Only thanks to this was I barely able to defeat the Archers. After that, I defeated the Goblins (further down on the same peninsula) and marched slightly to the right and down towards the Skeleton detachment. Now, giving a big thank you to Kyle for the hero skill tree, which gave Diplomacy Expert, we recruit the Skeletons (this was clarified by Alex_R, the answer was "possible"). That's it, 124 (11 days). Mistakes. Terrible mistakes. 1. Scouting: I didn't look that the Wizard's castle gives a Teleport spell on the fifth level AFTER building the Library. Because of this, a huge amount of real time was lost. The result with this time saved could have been noticeably better. 2. Route plan. A template, terrible, superficial taking of Anduran's Helmet. Throughout the game, I only used 3 spells - Slow, Haste, and Blind. Already on my last legs, I simply "missed" the option of capturing Anduran's Breastplate with the NON-MAIN hero. In general, the game was very difficult and not enjoyable. I fought battles well overall, but there was clearly something wrong with choosing the routes. The map can probably be completed in 10 days with a perfect game. If you follow my algorithm, the following saves turns: 1. Don't take the Warlock's village, limiting yourself to researching Blind. 2. Don't take Anduran's Helmet and Scroll. As a result, the Necropolis village is taken one day earlier. Naturally, this is followed by Haste on the Gargoyles. Then, you need to study the cells, there is a chance to make it if you don't fight the Goblins. And the shortage of Skeletons should be covered by Anduran's Breastplate (taken by another hero). Plus, the Necromancy Amplifier is built one day earlier. It should be enough, although it needs to be checked. Thank you to the tournament organizer - Kyle, my clanmates, and of course everyone who participated in the tournament.

Walkthrough? Talentless and stupid.
I'm switching to coaching work in the clan and information-promotion work on the forum.
Walkthrough algorithm:
1. March right, learning slow, taking the village, and learning blind (4 days).
2. Breaking through the dwarves and taking the shoulder pad (day 5).
3. March left, breaking through the golems, and taking the red boots (days 6-7).

Exactly like me, day for day. But the rest is different; then I went down, breaking through the griffins to collect resources (for DD)—this is where you should have replayed more. Somehow I spent 6 days collecting resources, on the 13th day I came out with DD and 600 skeletons, and after that, I picked up artifacts that add mana; on the 14th day, with 1000 skeles, I'm hiding out in the blue's Castle, all mana is replenishing, plus there's a well nearby and an oasis:smile47:

or better yet, post it on the forum.

Please.

A few more words.
About the map.
It's a good map, especially the variety of ways to complete it is pleasing. This is very interesting.
About the walkthrough. After analyzing the map, I realized that if the main hero enters the Necropolis castle, you don't need to go and learn the "Blind" spell in the lower right corner on the peninsula next to the Warlock village. The fact is that the Necropolis castle has the "Paralyze" spell.
This saves a few more turns. I'm almost sure it's possible to complete it in 10 days.
vbn, what's your opinion?

To everyone!
According to my scenario, the map can be completed in 9 days! I didn't bother making it too difficult, and my colleague at work did it while I was watching.
1. Go right until you reach the fairies (inclusive).
2. Continue upwards (attack the nomads with 240 skeletons).
3. The sorceress, purchased on the first day, gets into the boat on the second day (I don't know if the author intended for you to be able to disembark from the water near the boots).
4. The village is captured on the 4th day, and Sandro reaches the left side on the 5th day, passing through the shovel with a built shrine (50% necromancy).
After that, it should be clear – we finish on the 9th day with archers and orcish warlords, moving clockwise from the 5th day.