Posts from Balance-2009

Unfortunately, I have to write:

KostyaN (red, Stronghold, Gurni, Gurni) def Mizrael (blue, Tower, Aen, Gunnar), 126, Balance.

Slow roads - so not everything is very good, the pace is low, there's nothing special to write about by day...

1st week. Claimed an external dwelling of goblins, native secondary dwelling, scouted 2 Griffin Conservatories, 2 fat Dwarf Cottages, an external dwelling of wolves; a total of 6 heroes were running, since there was too little free loot, I decided to go for early upgrades and take a mini Griffin Conservatory, which I did on day 115 with a remainder of 70 goblins and 7 wolves, the angel was needed to break through, in particular, 3 shooter stacks already on the 1st - I think it was worth it; built up Hordes with Orcs in the Citadel with a thousand.

2nd week. The scout hero reported a free +4 to attack from the corner of the map, also took a +2 shield with the wolf external dwelling for Elves, took 2 max Dwarf Cottages with just Hordes and goblins with a total loss of about 20 goblins (5+5 single units and morale on a fat stack), the 2nd Griffin Conservatory - maximum, and although there is expert Earth, there is no Slow in the two castles, and the spell is 1, didn't touch it on the 2nd, ran to beat the Orc Horde for Teleport, already placed Bears and Magistrates - since even after the Dwarf Cottages the money situation was absolutely terrible. But then news of the concession came (knowing that Mikhail, by his own account, already had Boots - the auto didn't give it, which is in principle correct in a tournament game...).

Thanks for the game!

KostyaN (red, Stronghold, Gurney, Gurney) def Mizrael (blue, Tower, Ain, Gunnar), 126, 2sm4d(3)

We played in short, intermittent sessions. During one of them, I wasn't focused and made some silly mistakes: the plan was to take out the gnome mage with 2 nagas and a lot of kentaur, and then use the money to bring in more mages from home and kill the harpies. The gnome mage went down easily (offense, armorer with good stats), but I forgot to bring in mages for the harpies, attacked - there were almost 100 of them, goodbye boots, earth magic, offense, and armor :)

There are 2 days left. I wouldn't mind extending the tournament for another week, but I don't see the point. For now, three players have advanced to the next stage. If their number doesn't increase, it will be quite difficult to create a fair Olympic-style tournament for such a small number of participants. Perhaps I'll replace the final stage with a small round-robin tournament. Share your opinions on this.
I won't be available all day tomorrow. I'll be back on Monday and will immediately summarize the results of the tournament.

There are 2 days left. I wouldn't mind extending the tournament for another week, but I don't see the point. For now, three players have advanced to the next stage; if their number doesn't increase, it will be quite difficult to create a fair Olympic-style tournament for such a small number of participants. Perhaps I'll replace the final stage with a small round-robin tournament. Share your opinions on this.
I won't be around all day tomorrow. I'll be back on Monday and will immediately summarize the tournament.

We'll try to finish it today or tomorrow, don't worry;).
Added 2 minutes ago

Just noticed this now:
"KostyaN (red, Stronghold, Gurny, Gurny) def Mizrael (blue, Tower, Ain, Gunnar), 126,2sm4d(3)." (and this is in the Balance-2009 tournament - lol:D)

In reality, the balance is...

Wic (red, Dungeon, Shackty) def Alessandro (blue, Conflux, random, Labeta) @ Balance, 126

111 Gave me 2 stacks, at Castle there's an external dwelling of medusas behind a horde of elves. Some money.

112 Killed the elves with Solmyr, didn't paint the external dwelling yet, in case something more worthwhile appears.

113 I reveal the external dwelling of Evil Eyes - sehr gut. I'm 1 tile short of reaching the native village. There are 2 roads - one to ГО and somewhere else.

By the end of the week I built Evil Eye in the Citadel with a portal, a thousand (gold), and mushrooms, upgraded the village to Castle, built Evil Eye there, a portal, and mushrooms. The miner stays overnight in the stables, have air magic.

The second road is cleared - a dead-end village. A scout hero found a passage off-road to a mud respawn.

121 Setting up a chain for growth delivery, Shackty runs to the discovered passage.

122 Growth is delivered, harpies are upgraded, a Pandora's Box for 5K exp is taken (gave Earth magic) and the native village.

123 Another Pandora's Box for 5K exp (gave armor), I position myself before a horde of Lich Lords on grass.

124 The remaining growth is summoned, Evil Eye already at 68, Liches are broken through - decided not to take Troglodytes to avoid losses, the remaining Conflux butterflies from Fiu'r from week 1 helped, their speed on grass is higher than the Liches'. I lost about 10 Evil Eyes and 15 unupgraded harpies.

I take the sword +2/2, neutral Conflux (no ore to build a guild), mini Naga bank.

125 I trade for ore from 4 markets, build a guild - have Haste and View Air. I defeat Gundula and train Slow on the miner via Iona.

View Air shows hero banners to the left, a couple of days away. A path also leads there past another horde of Liches. I clear that one with the same tactic, Evil Eye count is 51, but Troglodytes are intact. We mastered Armor, Air is still advanced, Earth has been expert for a while.

I take a cloak +2/2 from the medusas.

126 I run further along the path, see Labeta rushing in a village-dungeon.

Stats 9-8-5-5 vs 3-4-8-6. I have 156 Troglodytes and 51 Evil Eyes, while Labeta has weak troops - 4 birds and minor elementals, no shooters.

I fortify against fire magic, exchange mass words, but Evil Eyes hit very hard, and there's nothing to approach with. In the 2nd round, after an enemy archer shot, I cast Haste on Troglodytes and they already move faster than Phoenixes. In the 3rd round, Phoenixes die.

2:0

Thanks for the game!

Wic (red, Dungeon, Shackty) def Alessandro (blue, Conflux, random, Labeta) @ Balance, 126
2:0
Thanks for the game!

That was it. Thanks for the game and the auto-pick.

numOne (red, Castle, Valeska, Valeska) def Hermit (blue, Swamp, Tazar, Tazar), balance, 227

Another tense game, but this time the situation was more favorable for me. By the end of the 3rd week, I had 7 towns against my opponent's 2, and I had placed +1000 bonuses everywhere, and I built Angel dwellings in all my towns. Tazar spent too much time in his native swamps and paid the price for it.
Starting from the 4th week, there were constant skirmishes where, although I was inferior in parameters, I gradually gained the upper hand due to my numerical superiority, pushing the blue player off the map. We divided the treasure roughly in half; I acquired a chain of 400+ and in the Fortress Battle, I killed Tazar without much difficulty.

Thank you for the game and for the auto-play!

numOne (red, Castle, Valeska, Valeska) def Hermit (blue, Swamp, Tazar, Tazar), balance, 227

Another intense game, but this time with a more favorable outcome for me. By the end of week 3, I have 7 towns against the opponent's 2, I put +1000 everywhere, built Angels at home. Tazar, on the other hand, stayed too long in his native swamps and paid for it.
Starting from week 4, there are constant skirmishes where, although I am inferior in terms of parameters, I gain the upper hand with superiority in meat, gradually pushing the blue player off the map. We split the treasury roughly in half, I acquired a chain of 400+ and kill Tazar with Chain Lightning without much trouble.

Thanks for the game and for the auto!

That's exactly how it was. The passage was guarded by a group of Cyclopes; the second one was not found at all. In the treasury — a horde of Genies and many Manticores. On the first [treasury], Hydras in the Citadel, but I didn't capture the secondary one, where the Basilisks were sitting — though it turned out to be just one. On the second, there is a Medusa Shrine with max Dwarf Cottages, then a max Conservatory, more Medusa Shrines, and on the third, I attack the GO, but I make a mistake in choosing the direction and end up at the GO on the opponent's respawn. There, though, I take the max Naga Bank and a Chain Lightning scroll, turn around, and with the growth I managed to buy, I go looking for the passage to the main treasury. I see the passage guarded by a stack of Vampires and a stack of Pegasi. I take a Medusa Shrine and a Cyclops Shrine. By the first battle, I had Expert Earth and Air, but there was no View, no Haste, no Slow in either of the two Mages' Guilds Level 1 I built. Still, I considered Tazar with 6 Hydras and 3 Angels (one was sacrificed at the GO) to be a very strong hero and boldly went across the sand into the dark, but then Valeska attacked in all her glory with a bunch of upgraded troops — over 200 Halberdiers alone — and Mass Haste, and proved that this was a mistaken opinion... Actually, I could have built two Mages' Guilds Level 3 the day before, but for some reason I didn't. I ransomed myself with the Lizardmen. I bought back Tazar, bought him Dragon Flies, and then through the sage Xyron, I learned both Haste from Brissa and Slow from Void, and went again as if into the treasury, but actually to provoke Valeska. I managed to cast two Chain Lightnings, killing two Angels, two Champions, and some smaller units, and ransomed myself. I bought back Tazar again, finally broke through the Cyclopes and the horde of Stone Golems behind them, and went into the treasury again. The opponent had already broken through the Vampires, and I entered through that passage — I had money to ransom, but to my surprise, Valeska did not attack. The next day, I grabbed two mini-hives and Magic Armor, and Xeron, at the Swamp respawn where I had broken through the Cyclopes, found a View spell and from there saw Valeska as clear as day, moving almost parallel to Tazar behind the mountains, and a chain leading to her. She had many more troops and Angels again — I thought they were from the Conservatory and was happy when I killed them, but it turns out they had been built. She and I were about to meet. With Expert Pathfinding, I managed to take 3 hives almost right under her nose and got 35 Wyverns. The opponent attacked. Overall, I might have been able to win, but he significantly reduced the Wyvern stack with Chain Lightning, and I had to ransom again. Then I found a Fly scroll and took another three hives, but while I was in the treasury, the opponent captured the capital, and despite having 30 Wyverns, I couldn't do anything against the huge army and Chain Lightning.

Thanks for the game!

RetroFM, write here, I can’t find you on AIM… Only one day left. I’m ready to play.

I have drawn the pairings for the 2nd round. See post #1.
Wicc is still waiting for his opponent.
A big request to the participants: Mizrael, KostyaN, wowa, Kash, KobRa_RR, RetroFMsss, please write in this thread about your desire/lack of desire to continue the game and at what exact time you are available to play this week (days and hours). I really don't want to deal with so much bureaucracy, but please understand me: this is a necessary measure.

PS in the Kash-wowa pair, it seems that Kash will advance further, as wowa is not appearing at all, neither on ICQ nor on the forums.

A big request to the participants: Mizrael, KostyaN, wowa, Kash, KobRa_RR, RetroFMsss, please write in this thread about your desire/lack of desire to continue the game and at what exact time it is convenient for you to play this week (days and hours).

I definitely want to continue playing. I have the opportunity to play in the next 2 days, either in the morning (from 8-10 Moscow time for 3-4 hours) or at night after 1:00 Moscow time, also for the same amount of time. From Thursday, I can play in a more normal schedule (in the evenings).

A big request to the participants: ..., wowa, Kash, ... please write in this thread about your desire/lack of desire to continue the game and at what exact time it is convenient for you to play this week (days and hours). I really don't want to deal with such bureaucracy, but please understand me: this is a necessary measure.

PS in the Kash-wowa pair, it seems that Kash will continue, as wowa doesn't appear at all, neither in ICQ nor on the forums.

If we don't engage in bureaucracy, we can write 0.5 for each game. In a draw, we played according to Chinese rules, helped each other, and parted amicably. Wowa wanted to write a report, so here it is:

Kash (blue, random, dungeon, random, Shakti, Shakti) draw wowa (red, random, Tower, random, Theodorus, Tazar), balance, 221

I can't please you with anything else.
Maybe Wowa was online on weekends, I wasn't around.
I also didn't show much activity, I didn't write in the official forum. But I wouldn't mind playing a few more games. The time is almost any, but by agreement

I'm available, every weekday from 09:00 to 17:30, and at night from 00:00 to 04:00.

Okay, I'll post this now to avoid any technical issues: Mikhail and I played one game, and after that, I realized I need at least another year of training to win against experienced players :D, although in the last two weeks, I was somehow overly confident about winning....

So, the score is 1:2 - congratulations to Mizrael for advancing!

Reports tomorrow.

Mizrael(red, Tower, Aine, Dessa) def КостяN (Castle, Tyris, Tyris) 144

Roads are slow, no special goodies in sight, but Dessa showed up, decided to play. On the second day, native village, fed a couple of chests to dad. Then an external dwelling of genies was found (turned out to be the only one), two paths: on the road, a horde of dragonflies; off-road, a lot of demons or orcs. The external dwelling was captured by a scout, the genies took it upon themselves to lose morale and halve the gremlins. Punching power decreased, and the demons also whittled down the gremlins when breaking through to the wasteland. Day 6 - Necro village. End of the week: genies in the citadel with the external dwelling, two small villages.
122 - medusa dwelling, 6 per stack.
124 - unpleasant to fight the dragonfly horde, broke through Crusher to another wasteland, returned the treasury to the Necro area to capture mines.
125 - Dungeon village, perfect for a portal to the genies. End of the week: nagas in the castle.
131 - Capitol at home, dad runs to the Dwarf Cottage (few money-producing buildings were available, each one felt like a holiday :)).
132 - Master Genies delivered, Dwarf Cottage taken, Dessa runs at 11 speed.
133 - captured Necro with Fort, several Pandora's Boxes visible.
134 - Stables! And a Preserve found, we live.
135 - another Necro village, Naga Bank taken, 3 per stack, chain from home finally built (logistics heroes always run far away, by the time you catch up...)
136 - 3 angels in the pocket, Tyris popped up near the first Necro village. So I rush home, upgrade the genies, the nagas, and also school magic to level 2.
141 - Dessa a day's travel from home, Tyris also hurries home.
142 - dad on genies runs to the bugged passage to another wasteland through a mine, nagas and angels via the chain capture armor +1 all (no artifacts at all, only the starting +1 duration necklace dangling and that's it).
143 - armor captured, dad broke through, which turned out to be the treasure zone!!, but couldn't take anything there in time, as Tyris breaks through ГО from the desert and marches towards the capital.
144 - armor and nagas return home via the chain, from there I buy out everything and bring it to Dessa. On her turn, Tyris takes the capital and reaches dad, finale:
Dessa 9-6-7-36mana. Expert Wisdom, Logistics, Water, Air, Archery, Learning. 117 gremlins, 10 Naga Queens, 40+ gargoyles, 3 angels, 35 Master Genies, a bunch of golems and mages.
Tyris 11-11-4-34mana. Expert Leadership, Tactics, Archery, Offense, Logistics; Advanced Water, Basic Earth.
First turn for Tyris - a Lightning Bolt flies into the mages... Mass Haste in response, I shoot down the archers, angels and genies with wait slam into the wyverns and cavaliers. Round two - genies and angels are knocked back, a Lightning Bolt into the marksmen, and the gremlins with mages reduce them to 5 pieces :) Without archers, Tyris has no trumps left, and genies with wait are painful. Thanks for the game.