Posts from The “Farewell, Valya and Shakhter!” tournament (starting hero is chosen randomly).

Javdet defeated Van 2-1.

The game itself didn't really happen – in the first match, the opponent was unlucky with the initial setup, in the second match, the generator won on small map, and in the last match, after all the resets, I used a gum rest, which my signature has been saying for a month now.

Thank you for the games.

Javdet def Van 2-1
Javdet (red, Castle, random) def Van (blue, Tower, random) balance 131
Ended the game, simply giving a point to the opponent, as the pace was such that I was falling asleep at the computer, although I'm not sure how it would have turned out if I had continued.
Javdet (blue, Tower, random, Galtan) lose Van (red, Dungeon, random, Grindan) 2sm4d(3), 136
My favorite second map, I played aggressively, took a lot of risks - I lost all the minors on the second week, but I leveled up 2 heroes, on 131 I broke the Gate of the Month and took Gosh in the Castle.
Javdet (red, Swamp, random) def Van (blue, Rampart, random, Enova) 2sm4d(3), 111
I chose all the rests, the generator gives 2 dragon lairs near the Castle in parallel, a block on the road, one road, 20 + cows and 42 (as it turned out) pegasus, I gathered a bunch of troops, prayed and went into battle, I got my ass kicked, of course. I told the opponent, as a matter of fact, in response, a victory on the black map :smile15:, that's all.
I would like to thank you for the game, but it was more like a lottery than a game :smile43:

Mda, there's a lingering aftertaste, but I'll still state my position:
once in a Baev tournament there was also a situation at 1-1 with a decisive game for a spot in the semifinals.
In the end, after all the restarts, I get a tasty chocolate — you'd have to try hard to lose that one.. I gave in to the opponent's requests to start over, even though I specifically took that risk with the draw (weaker Castle but red color, and in the end I got what I wanted).. Later, the generator turns its back on me, and in the opponent's report there's not even a hint of the above... purely from a human perspective — it's a shame. Discussed it with Pit — his arguments about my actions being wrong were compelling, but this nonsense with restarts went on for about another six months. More than once I begged for an auto, and afterward there was a lingering feeling of inferiority in case of a victory. And vice versa when giving the opponent an auto. There was a Conflux with VLK, both were wrong, but it was the second-to-last straw to quit the humanitarian stuff. Well, and the recent game with Markon, for which I'm only grateful to him — it finally justified the correctness of Stranger, Forest, Dirty and co.'s position......
I've come to the conclusion that refusing the above-mentioned indulgences is self-discipline, and since I don't ask for them myself, giving them to an opponent means putting myself at a disadvantage. (I'm also guilty of that, by the way — recently asked for an auto from Yama-Darma, but that was due to misunderstandings in the rules)
And regarding the current game — I think the draw was favorable, but my opponent restarts for Tazar, I for Kirr, and in the end we both take risks and get a bad result — 1 road with little potential... and what if those 2 stacks of dragons hadn't been across the road? Well, and with this chocolate, perhaps I shouldn't have rushed the horses; in a couple of days with Dendras this task is quite solvable, especially since there are 36 Peguins, not 42. I tested it out of curiosity with Edric — his native Griffins and Pikemen died, 1 Angel and 30 Centaurs, but enough survived.

Erdem - PReDS 1:0...

Result: Erdem - PReDS 1:2.
During the first game, we agreed: rests for 3 days, use them as you wish, after each rest we swap colors. Rest on encounter - until 116 on fast.
PReDS (red, swamp, random, Andra, undecided) def Erdem (blue, Tower, random, Tan, Tan/Torossar), 2sm4d(3), 112. We restarted many times, including the encounter 2 or 3 times. In the end, left without restarts, the magic heroes fell into a difficult position and surrendered.

PReDS (blue, Castle, random, Loins, Jabarkas) def (red, Barbarian, random, Terek, Monere), 2sm4d(3), 127.
I immediately crossed out the swamp — I was tired of it myself and didn't want to leave it to my opponent.
Here we started without restarts. Roads are slow, archers aren't worth it, but right next to the Castle there's their external dwelling and a couple of crypts, one of which I take on 111 with Brissa; with Haste I could have barely managed it, but it turned out to be 2000. On 112, it becomes clear that both secondary towns are on grass — there's hope for a native town, GO — green dragons, there's a minimal Griffin Conservatory. Two candidates for main hero appeared: Marius and Jabarkas. Marius with advanced Armor moved toward the group of Gog's guarding the pass to the secondary hero; another group is nearby, but it's a group of flies — left it until the cavalry arrives. Jabarkas, while clearing creatures, immediately got Log — so he's the main. The secondary town is Rampart; from the lookout, I spot an external dwelling of swords behind the flies! The road is blocked by a group of orcs and a group of archers, but that's okay. In the end, at home the cavalry are in the Citadel; Jabarkas stopped directly beneath the native secondary town — movement points ran out. I placed Elves; Tamika, picking up freebies, revealed 2 external dwellings of Pegasi. On 121, I took the secondary town; everyone gathers freebies; the main is at a break in Rampart — there's a stable and a Pandora's Box with a horde of Air Elementals; meanwhile, Brissa found an off-road passage to another secondary town on grass, where there are likely red creatures, but the impending 60+ archers make me consider a visit; plus the main has Earth Magic, and in the hut along the road to the passage there's a Word. On 123, Jabarkas easily shoots the Air Elementals without Haste, collects 10K experience from the Pandora's Box, returns home, and runs to the Fire Elementals guarding the pass. The scout heroes clear some creatures; Loins with Prayer takes a minimal Haste, everything is delivered to the main, and on 124 he spends the night on an Angel near the Fire Elementals, having learned Word. On 125, he visits the lookout along the way and occupies an empty secondary town — another Castle — and speeds up on the Angel. The scouts reach a couple of the red player's scouts. On 126, leaving Loins with 30+ pokemons and 40 archers to guard the Citadel, Jabarkas runs toward the red player's starting area: from the lookout, a corner with a garrison of their Troglodytes and Horsemen is visible; 4 taverns report that our army is stronger. On 127, Monere jumps out of the elevator toward the lost secondary town; I take aim — the main reaches him, I check with a scout and attack. He has only 10 mana, enough for one regular Haste; I cast Mass Slow with Magic 3 and artifacts giving +1 and +2 to spell duration, after which the archers shot everyone down.
Thanks for the games.

The result: PReDS 1:2 against Erdem.

PReDS (red, swamp, random, Andra, undecided) def. Erdem (blue, Tower, random, Tan, Tan/Torossar), 2sm4d(3), 112. We restarted the game many times, including 2 or 3 times due to encounters. In the end, after running out of restarts, the mages found themselves in a difficult position and surrendered.

In the second game, Pikedram kept appearing :( (as in the first game with Stracker), and we restarted the game twice due to encounters. The last unit generation path, which is half the length of the map, leads to a dead end - a complete waste of time. The second path is blocked by 20-49 elves guarding a shrine; I broke through them, but there was a dead end and nothing beyond, so I decided not to drag it out and surrendered with a clear conscience.

PReDS (blue, Castle, random, Loins, Jabarkas) def. (red, Barbarian, random, Terek, Moner), 2sm4d(3), 127.
Thank you for the games.

In the final game, the opponent had 60 marksmen, 30 halberdiers, 1 angel, 9 crusaders, and 5 champions, while I had 7 harpies, 2 gargoyles, 8 sprites, 15 dogs, 36 orcs, 10 marksmen, and 30 goblins. The opponent's crossbowmen and archers didn't give me a chance to even get close to the archers, and the opponent's champions chased me all over the map. Thank you for the games! :)

2 KostyaN. Could we change the draw so that Javdet and I play in the semi-finals? Before the New Year, various things might come up, so we would like to have more free time, while the other pairs, judging by their pace, intend to use the allotted time to the fullest.

Could we change the draw so that Javdet and I play in the semi-finals?

Yes, we can. The issue is resolved. Javdet doesn't object.

Please note the changes in the first post of the thread. Also, please try to play a little more actively. And it would be helpful to write about your impressions during the restarts and the first week in your reports, considering the specific rules. Everyone is interested in how it is to play with a random starting hero.

Hermit(red, inferno, Pyre, Pyre) def злой романтик(blue, fortress, random, Korbak, Korbak) panic 214

Tough start without gogs, only 8 from the town. Second hero was a necromancer with skeletons and zombies. Roads were fast. On the way to the necro-respawn I had to go around many weakened gargoyles and break through many magogs. I broke through with 4 demons and pit fiends. Only 2 zombies survived, but Pyre advanced Artillery. The passage guard was free - many stone golems, almost 50, and the terrain was bad for splitting with walking troops... I lost a few and even one gog. The necro-respawn was tiny with imps behind a stack of monks, but all 4 mines were on the road behind slow walking guards, so I took them on the first turn and by the end of the game had no trouble building two M5s, which didn't give anything worthwhile, even though I had 240 mana points. On the second week I took 3 conservatories for a total of 5 angels and wanted to rush my opponent, but I got hasty and Pyre left without an army - I had to return, lost time, Nagash, and 2500 on a scout hero to merge the army with the angels, but I broke through the passage to my opponent's necro-respawn and skirmished a bit with him using scout heroes. Then I captured the gold mine, took a dwarf dwelling in a stone treasury, beat off resources and gold. I went to my home respawn, learned Earth Magic at the university, took medusa and cyclops dwellings, and near the end found another conservatory. I built two M5s, they had nothing in them, then went for my opponent, but he was coming himself. I upgraded Earth to Expert at the last moment and attacked. He had 40 wyvern monarchs. He cast Mass Slow on my army, I cast it on his. He had 40 wyvern monarchs, and I killed almost all of them in the first round. He surrendered.     Thanks for the game.

Sure, it's possible. The issue is resolved. Javdet doesn't object.

I ask the participants to pay attention to the changes in the first post of the thread. And please, try to play a bit more actively. Also, it would be good to write in the reports about your impressions during the restarts and the first week, in connection with the specifics of the rules; everyone is interested in how it is to play with a random starting hero.

What are your impressions:rolleyes:? Cherk has become more diverse. Personally, the Dungeon faction has significantly decreased in my ranking. Swamp and Barbarian have risen – you can practically develop a main hero from any native warrior. Necropolis has become a bit weaker, but is still strong. Castle – some players don't start with Vale anyway. Rampart – I don't like it; you can start with 7 Elves, or with 17. I don't play it much myself, but I also try not to leave it for my opponents; the same applies here. Moreover, Erdem showed solidarity: we took turns choosing Rampart first. Tower – nothing much has changed here either. The search for a future main hero greatly affects the course of the game. In the second game, Erdem went for a restart in one of the drafts because he couldn't find a hero to develop, even though he had a small group of Golems and a small group of Giants at the restart. He also had a secondary native town. It was also influenced by the fact that he saw me free my native prisoner and that my Cielke was running around everywhere. Inferno, despite the possibility of choosing a starting hero, neither he nor I were eager to play it.

All this is exclusively for the sake of variety.

Hermit (red, Inferno, Pira, Pira) def evil romantic (blue, Fortress, random, Korbak, Korbak) panic 214
Confirmed. To be honest, from the reserves, there were only gnolls, and one condor. I couldn't counter the red faction with anything in the Fortress:smile34: They had only 3 demons on the respawn point + pits and ogres... and 3 condors near the castle also made a good contribution ;)
Thanks for the game....

PReDS (blue, Conflux, random, Pasys, Risa:D ) def Javdet (red, Rampart, random, Ufretin, Gunnar), balance, 136.
The first game on the balance, possibly the last. We played on 160%. I was hoping for Jebus Cross, but Roman removed it. I took both respawns, he took 113. The slow roads were dealt. For Pasys on the first 2 levels they offered garbage or advanced artillery, Risa immediately got offense, and mysticism wasn't unnecessary, since for building guilds in secondary skills there was neither ore nor gold for a long time. On 112 I ran with a scout hero into an empty village. Next to it a prison and a pile of ore behind a pack of artifacts (took on 121 by Luna: Inteus with 18 pixies and 5 ore) and an external dwelling of elementals behind a pack of gargoyles (never took it until the end of the game). Half the respawn with an external dwelling of fire, a Griffin Conservatory, and something else to run around the forest for 3 days, and the passage was blocked by a pack of gargoyles - so I never got there. Several shooter blocks helped to break through an overpopulation of gremlins from Risa. My GO - a pack of firebirds and a pack of champions visible on the teleport - apparently for the reds. I broke through a horde of Centaur on the passage, there's a swamp village on the grass. I captured it on 116, bought Tyrasik there, he cleared a crypt for only 2000:( . On 117 I returned everything to Risa, she scraped a pack of griffins for a treasure chest and a refugee camp: chest for 2000, artifacts in the camp. Markets everywhere, in the starting one 1-4 in the Castle. On the teleport a horde of artifacts, on the passage through rough terrain a pack of not upgraded pikes. On 122 Risa is ready to break them, nearby a couple of scout heroes for splitting, Tyrasik explores the respawn of the swamp village: another Griffin Conservatory, some free creatures, an external dwelling of minotaurs and 2 external dwellings of harpies - all this is far away, and there's nothing to break the conservatories with yet. On 123 Risa with 29 elementals and pixies hits 23 dendroids with a loss of 4 units, the scout heroes collect free creatures, she runs to the necro village. Here along the road a Griffin Conservatory behind a horde of flies (on the third already 107 units), a nagabank, necklace of swiftness - urgently need birds, but little ore and little gold. The road to the village is blocked by a pack of vampires guarding the camp - minus pixie and 6 elementals on 125, next to the village a stable. On 126 a scout hero captured the village, transferred skeletons to Risa, she used them to take a gnome dwelling with 75 dwarves. On 127 a chest for 2000 behind a pack of goblins and we camp at the stable - the birds arrived. All of the second week I was afraid that the reds would show up any moment, Gunnar is visible in the tavern with the best stats, and there's nothing much to meet them with. 131 - free creatures are gathered, a chain is built, Risa from the stables stands before the Griffin Conservatory. On 132 Ciel with birds takes a medusa dwelling with 6 next to the starting one, more elementals are bought and everything is transferred to Risa, she takes a level 2, on a scout hero without looking dives into the nagabank - naturally maximum, and I don't even have units split off, no mana. I gave away almost all elementals to save the chickens and angels. But the next day I completely buy out the psychos and fiery ones, the scout heroes clean up a bit, Risa breaks through 100+ golems, gets logistics and water magic to expert air magic, runs into a Flux village, hits around 50 orcs for a scroll (turned out to be Dimension Door). The zone turned out to be generous with experience, in a couple of days I got around 15K: 100+ golems at the entrance, a horde of ogres for a scroll, around 70 fire elementals for a box of 5K exp, around 70 mummies at the cyclops dwelling, and the cyclops themselves at 6 per stack. I leveled up to expert water magic, got armor, advanced logistics. In the guild there's haste. I'm heading towards the teleport for the champions - it's very close. After 135 Gunnar comes out, hits the champions, moves away not far. The scout heroes drive away a couple of red's scout heroes and reveal what's behind the teleport. Luna with birds, angels, and pixies for the turrets captures the reds' Castle and stays there on 1+1+1+1 pegasus and 1 gnoll with 6 speed and ice ring on 130, learned in the local guild. Gerwulf is bought, he carries everything back to Risa, the timer is barely holding, god knows what happened, but the angels didn't transfer after several attempts, on the last second I managed to transfer the birds to Risa: 2 angels, a tent, +1 speed remained on the scout hero. Gunnar attacks and after 2 rounds concedes defeat.
Thanks for the game.

1:0.

PReDS(blue, Conflux, random, Pasis, Rissa:D ) def Javdet(red, Rampart, random, Ufretin, Gunnar), ballance, 136.

1:0.

Ufretin and a direct teleport to the Town Portal under the castle (which decided the outcome). There was also a 111 in reserve, but Gunnar and the elf external dwelling - I'll play. As it turned out, that was all the pleasant things awaiting me. There were no crystals, and by the end of the week with two markets, I still managed to set up the fort with cavalry. Midway through the second week, it turned out I could only roam vertically from bottom to top, then to the neighboring respawn and top to bottom:D , in short, to get to the center I'd need at least a week of travel, and not a single stable. No canned goods, no hives of stat-boosting artifacts were found:smile18: After much hardship, I barely managed to level earth magic and on day 134 I breached the Town Portal for the Guardian Wyverns with only 20 mana - they devoured all the Centaurs. Behind the teleport were champions; I replenished mana and attacked the next day, already seeing blue flags, but there was no other choice - there was simply nowhere to run. I should have returned to the castle (or maybe not - the opponent starts living on the teleport, and I had nothing to counter their reinforcements), but instead I went for the Pandora's Box (only 5k exp) and immediately the scout hero took the capital. I attacked Rissa hoping she lacked mass haste - but she had both mana and water and air spells... GG.
The post-mortem revealed a web of roads to all the other castles for blue, and several canned goods.

Thanks for the game.

...
The autopsy revealed a network of roads leading to all the other castles belonging to the blue player, and a few bottlenecks. :) Thanks for the game.

Rom, you saw how those bottlenecks were positioned – even with the entire chain – it would take about 3 days to capture them. So, I decided to give up on taking them. I didn't have enough units to take the second one, and waiting for the third one seemed risky. I decided to go for an earlier push into the village area, and I actually got lucky – it took me only 1 day to get there on the rough terrain, while it probably took you 4 days on that road.

Alex was the first to say that Balance is still a great hero, even when generated with 0.0(0) chances against a Chinese hero. Everything depends on luck, which is not entirely true.

Rom, you saw how those outposts were positioned – even with a whole chain, it would take about 3 days to capture them, so I gave up. There was nothing to take the second outpost with, and waiting for the third one felt risky. I decided to go for an earlier route to the village area, and I actually got lucky – it took me 1 day to get there on the rough road, while it probably took you 4 days on that main road.

This isn't a criticism of you – you played well and got the most out of it. I'm just annoyed at the map generator:D

Added 1 minute ago

Alex was the first to say that the map generation is terrible, when it generated a map with 0.0(0) chance of winning against a Chinese player. It all depends on luck, which isn't right.

But sometimes it can be very interesting when both players have to make tough choices, and it all depends on how evenly the roads are distributed.