Posts from [REPORTS] Reports from the 7th online HOMM3 tournament '08.

Nagan-4 (red, Fortress, Bron, Dessa) def Aldegir (blue, Castle, Valeska, Ciele), 222.

On week 1, basilisks and wyverns in the citadel, a second Fortress captured. True, the opponent also captured a secondary Castle. There were many candidates for main heroes – besides Bron, Fure and Ivor. But when Dessa comes, there's no alternative, even if he is a mage. Too bad there were no external monster dwellings, the Swamp often gets them.
Second week. Captured a secondary Stronghold, Wyverns in the castle in the capital, wyverns without a castle secondary, a decent chunk of the map revealed. Broke through into the fat zone, but there was nothing to clear there. Saw a piece of the second fat zone and it was great that it was on the swamp, meaning we could run around without losses.
Third week. Found two hives with strong guards, each with 4 wyverns, ended up losing much more than I gained, and wasted time too, since expert Earth Dessa didn't have slow, hence the losses. Took a canned treasure level 3.
Week 4. There's a Dragon Utopia, broke through the external guard, sent in a scout hero – 3 Azure Dragons, can't take it. Overall, the fat zone in the underground disappointed me, went to the fat zone on the swamp. Right at the entrance, a Dragon Utopia beckons invitingly... maximum level. No, I can't.
And then luck smiled on me! In the treasure zone I found three gorgon dwellings and two – hydra! Right next to them were two Dragon Utopias standing right next to each other, seemingly level 2 and level 3. Even though I didn't manage to take them all, the trend was pleasing.
Second month, gathering an army, from three tough Dragon Utopias I get a bunch of trinkets – books of air, earth and fire, necklace +3, boots +2 to stats, shield +12 to defense. The cash influx allowed me not only to build everything and buy the army, but also to start upgrades.
Week 6. The opponent jumps towards me and is just one tile short of capturing the second Fortress. Although the troops had already been moved out, it's still hard to knock a leveled hero out of a castle. Dessa immediately portals there – final battle on 222. Good thing the fight was on swamp.
Dessa (expert wisdom, logistics, air, earth, offense, intelligence, ballistics, last skill got treasurer) – 17,22,10, 428 mana points.
7 hydras, 32 wyverns, 37 mighty gorgons, 62 greater basilisks, 33 flies, 38 lizardmen, 25 gnolls. Seeing the main hero – an elementalist with a clear tilt towards magic, I put on the cloak of abdication.
Ciele (9,8,21, 375 mana points).
32 champions, 104 graduated crusaders, 96 royal griffins, 168 upgraded marksmen, 164 halberdiers, 49+1 thieves. Put on shackles of war.
We played mass haste again – mass slow, I managed to cast haste in time, after which the heavy hitters of the swamp castle hit the blue troops hard. Victory.
Thanks for the game!

ZluqaOMG vs RetroFM (the match did not take place due to weather conditions)
Dear John (RetroFM) declined to participate in the tournament, citing a lack of interest in the tournament...
Thanks for the attempt and best of luck in the future! Sincerely, Alexander (ZluqaOMG)!
...I'm attaching the correspondence:

zluqa (12:40:22 31/08/2008)
which castles?

RetroFM (12:40:28 31/08/2008)
okay

RetroFM (12:40:34 31/08/2008)
I won't play

RetroFM (12:40:37 31/08/2008)
write to tech support

zluqa (12:40:43 31/08/2008)
....

zluqa (12:40:51 31/08/2008)
too bad

RetroFM (12:40:56 31/08/2008)
I'd rather play for money )))

zluqa (12:41:04 31/08/2008)
aa! ok! good luck!

zluqa (12:41:29 31/08/2008)
I'll send you a link, will you subscribe?

RetroFM (12:41:53 31/08/2008)
make it from your ICQ

ZluqaOMG vs RetroFM (match did not take place due to weather conditions)
Dear John (RetroFM) refused to participate in the tournament, citing a lack of interest in the tournament...
Thanks for the attempt and best of luck in the future! Sincerely, Alexander (ZluqaOMG)!
...attaching the correspondence:

zluqa (12:40:22 31/08/2008)
which castles?

RetroFM (12:40:28 31/08/2008)
okay

RetroFM (12:40:34 31/08/2008)
I won't play

RetroFM (12:40:37 31/08/2008)
write to tech support

zluqa (12:40:43 31/08/2008)
....

zluqa (12:40:51 31/08/2008)
too bad

RetroFM (12:40:56 31/08/2008)
I'd rather play for money )))

zluqa (12:41:04 31/08/2008)
aa! ok! good luck!

zluqa (12:41:29 31/08/2008)
I'll send a link, will you subscribe?

RetroFM (12:41:53 31/08/2008)
make it from ICQ

I love advertising )))

Aldegir(red, Swamp, Bron, Bron) def El Magnifico Sonic`(blue, Necros, Clavius, Clavius) 2SM4D(3), 225

1st 1-6 in Castle
2nd +1 angel ... and blue attacks.. loses and retreats
3rd +12 wyverns+7 angels
4th captured the main castle of the blues... Blues are recovering in treasures..4 Dragon Utopia
5th running away from blue with parameters
6th found a Dragon Utopia with 5 blacks... sword +5 all and breastplate +12-3 strength
225 Clavius caught up and attacks the fort
Clavius 25-23-19-19(200) shooter at 825+ oil
16 wyverns+ 3 dragons+ 266 skeletons+ 11 liches+ 25 gold golems+12 black knights+ 9 vampires

Bron 15-19-20-13(150) shooter at 410 and max haste
26 wyverns + 37 basilisks+ 6 gorgons+ 40 lizards+17 flies+ 6 angels

Blue killed..
Thanks for the game

Aldegir (red, Swamp, Bronze, Bronze) def El Magnifico Sonic (blue, Necropolis, Claudius, Claudius) 2SM4D(3), 225

Thank you for the game.

During the game, I violated the rules (it completely slipped my mind), after which running around the map and devouring skeletons became somewhat inconvenient, because even in case of victory... RULES ARE RULES, so I attacked the opponent with what I had...

Thank you to my opponent for the game :smile15:

zluqaOmg (Blue, Rampart, Kirr, Kirr) def Kebazavr (Red, Necropolis, Random, Tant) 2sm4d(3) 1.2.7
As part of the 7th online tournament.
The opponent took all the resources (even during the match)...
It generated poorly, but they gave me money, and I started breeding dragons:smile44:
In the 2nd week, I'm trying to find a secondary base, and there are reds everywhere...
I caught one and sent him to the tavern!!! Then, reds in the castle, and I'm defending my swamp, calmly building up my dragon lair...Tant comes to retake the swamp, but 3 gnolls and 4 gnomes + a citadel are doing an excellent job with the siege!!
Thanks for the game, Kostya!!!

zluqaOmg (Blue, Rampart, Kirr, Kirr) def Kebazavr (Red, Necropolis, Random, Tant) 2sm4d(3) 1.2.7

I decided to try Necropolis and was punished by fate. It kept generating in a way that I couldn't break through the blocks on the first day, so I had to take rests. We started playing, and two Lich lairs appeared above, which were taken on the second day. On the first day, I had 1-6 in the Castle and 0 money. I noticed that the Guardian of Order wasn't placed correctly and there was a bypass, so I immediately understood that the map was flawed. And I couldn't break through the passage guarded by hobgoblins on the left side, which led to other forts, even after a hundred turns. I did this at the beginning of the second week and was caught by a quick Kirr, who easily reached my capital without any obstacles. Thank you.

Kebazavr (Blue, Castle, Valeska, Valeska) def Mizrael (Red, Swamp, Bron, Nimus) 2sm4d(3) 213

Took one rest and started playing. Spawned in the corner of the map. On 111, the monk external dwelling, the archer external dwelling, two easy paths to secondary dwellings, and Pandora behind a crowd of minotaur kings were spotted, so I decided to play. On 112, 2 paths were broken and the min-malk cons with gr. was spotted. Wanted to take it on 116 using horses, but didn't have time; only took it on 121. On 116, the necromancer secondary dwelling in the metro was taken. On 121, the necromancer secondary dwelling outside. On the first week, horses were in the Stronghold and three cons were spotted. I want to take all of this on the second week, but I don't have time because there is a rush from the red guard. I only manage to take one more 1-week unit and fight. By 125, almost the entire second-week army was cut down. In the metro, a Dragon Utopia near the respawn was spotted. On the second week, I placed the castle with angels. On the third, I sliced through another three cons. Total of 9 angels, and on 141, a 3rd-level Dragon Utopia in the metro drops; there is K3, a hat +4+4 to spell and knowledge, up to the third level, a cloak, and a shield +4 to everything. There were no Logistics, so I always had to run with the stable on acceleration. Well, after taking the Dragon Utopia, the task was to take all castles and not let the reds accelerate in the treasure zone. Which is exactly what I did. The opponent plays very skillfully! Thank you!

Nagan-4 (red, Stronghold, Grunisson, Gurnisson) def Zluqa OMG (blue, Tower, Neela, Astral), 2sm4(d), 243.

We used all restarts, hence the problems from the first turn. On the respawn there were external dwellings of bears and ogres, but no money. The road passage was blocked by three consecutive shooter stacks: eyes, gogs, and lizardmen. Birds in the citadel. 4 heroes.
I waited for the start of the second week to break out of the bag, took a secondary Conflux on day 123, then an external dwelling of monsters, built a Castle in the capital, but had nothing to build the monsters with. 5 heroes. If my opponent had even a decent respawn, he would have come and finished the game. Lucky for me, his was bad too.
On week 3, I built bears, started leveling up my hero, bred horses, took a secondary Dungeon, opened up a solid territory, saw two Dragon Utopias standing next to each other in the underground. But due to tricky passages, only one of them was potentially "mine."
Unfortunately, from the very beginning, I lost a lot of army due to a lack of earth magic. I tried to make up for lost time, again, like in the previous game, two minimal-value Hives, lost more than I gained.
Week 4. I take the fourth town – Fortress. Time to start taking Dragon Utopias, but nope, the army is thinned out.
Week 5. I wait to get finished off, surprised that it doesn't happen.
Week 6. I take the Dragon Utopia in the underground and clear the treasure zone on the lava. 2 Dragon Utopias, also quite crappy, lots of boxes, nothing good. And only in the last box do they give the entire 5th level. By this time, I had already lost the capital and Dungeon.
I recapture my capital, take the blue capital, then give it away.
Week 7, I take the Dungeon, double my mana, knock off the Shackles of War, final battle.
Gurnisson – (20,25,16, - 293 mana). 10 angels, 54 wyverns, 17 bears, 19 thunderbirds, 12 ogre magi, 18 serpents, 27 orcs. Explosion. Shackles of War.
Astral (16,24,12 – 130 mana). 9 giants, 21 wyverns, 50 royal naga, 18 master genies, 27 mages, 72 golems, 2 grizzly bears. Resist.
I was lucky that the explosion hit the naga immediately (minus 20 units), the second explosion was resisted, but by that time red was already winning.

Thanks for the game.

P.S. Oh, how tangled everything is in our group.

Kebazavr (Blue, Castle, Valeska, Valeska) def Mizrael (Red, Swamp, Bron, Nimus) 2sm4d(3) 213

Here's the story. Nimus arrived at the start, immediately got Logistics + an external dwelling of basilisks and a Dungeon secondary town (portal). Cleared the woods for 6 utoks from under a stack of scorpicorns on week 2 and headed over to visit; rushed by exactly 1 day, didn't buy the magic book (was in a rush), and since Valeska also had Tactics, she managed to cover the archers and shoot away heartily. Gathered meat quickly thanks to another cleared external dwelling of basilisks, but the tempo was lost, and only familiars in groups of 80 were dropping from boxes in the treasure zone, while the Dragon Utopia turned out to be behind the quest pillar (of course I didn't have keys) :D Thanks for the game.

Nagan-4 (red, Stronghold, Grunnisson, Gurnisson) def Zluqa OMG (blue, Tower, Nella, Astral), 2sm4(d), 243. Yeah... Gurnisson tired me out. Thanks for the party!:smile14:

Paladin@heroes.by (Red, Rampart, Kirr, Kirr) def Aldegir (Blue, Dungeon, Shakti, Shakti) 2sm4d(3) 1.2.2
111 The road was heavily blocked, with 20+ Royal Medusas guarding the library...
Two native heroes +5 Elves and Kents (at a minimum)
112 Went around and stumbled upon an Elven stash and +2/2 sword
113 Long-awaited wood and a group of Elves
114 Another stash of Elves was opened in another corner
115 Everyone is opening crypts in a chain
116 Necropolis secondary town
117 Horses in the castle, magic in the secondary town.
121 Inferno secondary town
122 Group of Coneys, and as a result, incomplete purchase, 40 Kents, 4 Pigs, 4 Greater Unique creatures, and most importantly, about 32 Elves...
The boss clearly breaks through the passage between my secondary town and the enemy's main town, frees the prison with 50+ Greater Swordsmen, the prison opens up the view, the boss reaches and recolors...
Thanks for the game, it was tough for you to fight, that's a fact.

Paladin@heroes.by (Red, Rampart, Kirr, Kirr) def Aldegir (Blue, Dungeon, Shakti, Shakti) 2sm4d(3) 1.2.2
111 They blocked the road hard, with 20+ Royal Medusas guarding the library...
two native heroes +5 elves and kents (at a minimum)
112 I went around and stumbled upon an elf stash and a +2/2 sword
113 long-awaited wood and grand elves
114 another hero in a different corner opened another elf stash
115 everyone is opening crypts in a chain
116 Necropolis secondary town
117 horses in the castle, magic in the secondary town.
121 Inferno secondary town
122 grand horsemen and, as a result, incomplete shopping, 40 kents, 4 pigs, 4 grand uniques, and most importantly, about 32 elves...
The boss clearly breaks through the passage between my secondary town and the enemy's main town, frees the prison with 50+ grand griffins, the prison opens up the view, the boss reaches and takes over...
Thanks for the game, it was tough for you to fight here, that's a fact.

Everything is correct!...

I was preparing for a loss, so everything is logical..

Thanks for the game

Lesgor (blue, Tower, Neela, Neela) def Paladin (red, Barbarian, Crag Hack, Crag Hack) 2sm4d(3) 142

We played in two sessions and both times the blues were "blue"). I'm luckier that way :p Well, I made a lot of mistakes, but luck didn't turn away.

Dima, as usual, kindly gave me the first scratch. It came down to a fork: Castle-Swamp or Tower-Barbarians. I chose the second option. After we each took resupply 113 in the tavern with Shakti and ~115 Troglodytes, there was an external dwelling of Gargoyles nearby. I decided to play. By day 3, I realize that the reds have all the roads; I need to run around to get to the mines, and I've already lost quite a few Master Gremlins and Troglodytes. I started to regret not taking resupply 111. I was inspired by the fact that the only secondary town on the road also turned out to be Snow. I ran to it for 3-4 days, but right at the gate — a dead end: a blocker guarding a wood resource:( By the end of the first scout hero, we discovered and captured an external dwelling of Mages on the home respawn. The week's result: Nagas without Genies in the citadel. About 50 Master Gremlins and 16 Troglodytes remained. At the start of the second week, I broke the blocker and colored my native secondary town. Its respawn turned out to be rich in gold, and there were quite a few Dwarf Cottages. I split the army into 3 parts and started eating everything. I gathered over 10K and was already thinking about building Nagas in the secondary town, but on day 126, I break through with a scout hero with Mages and Gargoyles at the starting respawn — entrance to the underground, I dive in, and there's Crag Hack on an Angel. I go back, transfer units to another scout hero who runs further away, but on his turn on day 127, Crag Hack catches up and kills 6 of my Mages and about 20 Gargoyles. Quite a slap in the face. I never expected the reds' boss to roam so far. He could have also taken my empty capital, but he guessed the wrong direction at the fork — my heart almost stopped when he was standing there. By the way, his stats were much higher than Neela's. What followed was a complicated one-turn procedure of leveling up Earth Magic to Expert for Neela at the secondary town, splitting and transferring the army via a very long chain back home. This happened after a week-long break. We loaded, Dima immediately passed the turn, and I stupidly spent half the turn remembering what I needed to do; in the end, I didn't make it and even bought the wrong hero. I asked to reload one more time. Huge thanks for not refusing. This time I managed everything, but there wasn't enough gold to buy all the Golems. A lot went into buying heroes for the chain.
On day 131 — the reds' scout heroes approach the lookout near my capital, and Crag Hack sees that Neela is sitting in the castle with the entire army. No rush happened. Crag Hack left, while Neela moved to the secondary town, took the max wood, Naga Bank for 2, and dived nearby into the treasure zone. There I take the next wood and again max. Pick Dram reveals another wood, and nearby a Sword +5 to All. I take a Wyvern dwelling, and it's again max :smile07: I capture the Sword, Neela finally has Tactics. But then the crap hits the fan. I simply missed it when Crag Hack with scout heroes popped out of another treasure zone on day 136 near the secondary town and on day 137 took it, also cutting off the chain. And I hadn't even moved the army out of the secondary town despite having gold :mad: I ended up cut off from everything, including the capital. I thought, well, now they'll take it and the days will tick down. But Crag Hack for some reason runs to me in the treasure zone, with a medium army. Meanwhile, Neela on her turn on day 142, now with Tactics, beats 50+ Liches for wood, takes another 6 Wyverns, and attacks Crag Hack.
FF:
Neela: level 17, 13-11-12-10 (18) mana, +1 Luck
42 Wyverns, 8 Nagas, ~110 Master Gremlins, 14 Mages, 22+1+1 Greater Gargoyles

Crag Hack: level 17, 21-11-5-6 (60) mana, +1 Health, Morale, Luck, Pendant +3 Morale/Luck, Boots 15% resistance.
1 Angel, 10 Wyverns, 10 Mages, 13 Roc, 24 Grand Ogres, 24 Hobgoblins, 1 Greater Gargoyle I think.

In the first round, the reds cast Mass Haste, kill the Master Gremlins and about 8 Wyverns. I cast Mass Slow, but it doesn't work on his Mages :mad:. So in the second round, again Mass Haste from the reds immediately, but the army is already not the same. My Wyverns are stronger than everyone. Towards the end, I cast Haste on them, the Wyverns got their morale in time, and Crag Hack gave up the artifacts.

Thanks for an interesting game.
2:0 in personal meetings)) I'm waiting for a terrifying rematch :smile14:

:) recorded up to this point