Posts from "The Art of Strategy," a section for reports.

Kolobokk (blue, Heaven, Vitya - level 30) defeated ADv (red, Elf, Anven - level 20) - 1-4-6

The adjacent zone was a long stretch of sand, and the start was not easy. He managed to gather artifacts and sell them. By the middle of the second week, he started to gain momentum. The first training was already at the end of the 2nd week - 7 Incubi. And the 3rd and 4th - 20 each. He moved quickly with the Log, Stable, Boots, and Path of War.

Vitya with wasps is tough. And then he bought the Book of Light. After that, everything became much easier. 100 Titans in one stack were easily defeated.
ADv surrendered on the 4th week due to my hero's advantage.

Thank you for the game.

I confirm...
At the beginning, Ilfina and Anven, and the second one immediately grabbed the Log and ran...
Up to the 2nd week, he was doing pretty well, but then he got completely lost, and followed the route:
adjacent zone (swamp) - adjacent zone (grass) - resource zone (lava) - adjacent zone (swamp)
Meanwhile, it was already the end of the 3rd week... the level was only 19, so he had to gain levels in the same adjacent zone, which took another 3 days, probably.
He rushed to the city and on the 4th week, he decided to break through the main city (100+ Unicorns, 100+ Vampires), there was resurrection and regeneration in the castle,
but the hero didn't have Skilled Light yet.
In general, he didn't pay attention to the fact that the Unicorns had an aura :) the stacks standing nearby were completely burning... BDP didn't help much here...
As a result, he lost... he wanted to surrender, but they decided to load the game.
He went to break through one of the centers, made a mistake, and accidentally placed Archers against 150+ mages, he didn't gain much with regeneration, in general, he decided to surrender again :smile52: but they loaded the game again...
After breaking through this center, he noticed that Vitya had already done a lot of work there, so he decided to end the game...
Fortunately, there were 5 days left to the 2nd center, and the opponent was moving like a locomotive... he wouldn't have been able to catch up anyway...

Anven, level 20
1 racial - arrow
3 log - up to keen mind
3 leadership - up to empathy
2 light - wrath + wind,
3 defense - up to BDP, reflection

Thank you for the game!

P.S. Twice during the tournament, I lost to humans with elves, the first time I attributed it to inexperience, after all, it was the first time I played with this build, the second time I just lost momentum due to the inability to break through centers early. IMO, humans are still stronger in this matchup, especially if the elves don't get Ossir in the 1st and 2nd weeks

Xodyn (red, dwarves, Karly lvl 26) lost to Smerti_Po (blue, mages, Nura lvl 20 + Razzak lvl 23). 2-2-7.
Nura ramped up, Razzak finished. Treasure zone as always not found:). Bought a ring of +20 initiative in town, and a dragon eye in a shop on the map. Unfortunately, I had to leave 400+ gremlins and 100+ gargoyles for the cockroach, because Razzak's presence was urgently needed in the castle:smile26:.
The finale was in the mages' town. Before that, I tried to outmaneuver with Nura, but even with BDP it wasn't her turn . The battle was even, with mistakes on both sides. At the end, only spearmen and golems remained. They decided among themselves who was stronger:). Though the confrontation was not entirely fair, since the spearmen were under slow and confusion.
Lucky that all 3 berserkers went through, otherwise the outcome would have been the opposite:).

Thanks for the interesting game.

Xodyn (red, dwarves, Karli level 26) lost to Smerti_Po (blue, mages, Nura level 20 + Razak level 23). 2-2-7.

I confirm! It was indeed an interesting game and battle. During the battle, I got a bit carried away and thought victory was mine, but as often happens, that opinion turned out to be wrong:smile01: I made many mistakes; those berserkers under Fury killed almost all the warriors:smile07: when I got distracted and it seemed like they were reaching the Titans:smile50: and so on. Be more attentive:smile16:
Razak's Dark Magic against Karli's Summoning looked good. And in the end, Throwers against Golems too:D

Thanks for the game!

ekzekutor (red, elf, Gilraen, and Knight) defeated twaryna (blue, humans, Axel) 2.1.5
With the Knight on the first week, I didn't experience a shortage of resources, and then Gilraen joined in. At the end of the second week, I built a castle with all the troops. By the end of the third week, both of us were in the center. The Knight defended against artillery, and Gilraen leveled up to 20. I didn't want to prolong the game with the humans, so on the fourth week, I merged into a castle, took spells, and headed for the Grand Order, leveling up there. Seeing that the opponent was actively leveling up, I occupied his castle with troops in one turn (I already had about 40 knights). Then we tried in the field, and although I was afraid of the knights, against a mass of musketeers with 2 rings of initiation and soldiers' luck on unicorns, he couldn't hold out. Well, and the Knight did his best)).

ekzekutor (red, elf, Gilraen, and Knight) defeated twaryna (blue, humans, Axel) 2.1.5

Confirmed. The opponent played very well; I didn't make many mistakes, but I played "without passion," I guess. Greed ruined me again – I gave up the Castle without a fight. We tried to replay for fun – I would have lost completely to twaryna's Knight :D. It was very late, and my brain wasn't working properly. Thanks for the game, and good luck in the future! :)

Raykkonen(Stronghold, Tilsek, Red) lost to Hero_of_heroes(Haven, Rutger, Blue) 1-4-3

The start was terrible: on the starting respawn there wasn't a single pile of ore, as a result I couldn't upgrade my archers for a long time; one adjacent zone was guarded by flame priests, which I still had to break through, because the exit to the resource zone from the other adjacent zone was guarded by druids...
But I did make it into the resource zone, leveled up to level 20, and was heading home to pick up 55 inquisitors and go after Raykkonen through ГО, but he had to leave somewhere, as a result he surrendered, since it was no longer possible to continue another time....

Thanks for the game, shame we couldn't finish it....

Smerti_Po(hell, Deleb) won against ekzekutor(elf, Ossir) 2-2-4.

Deleb, after clearing two adjacent zones and a resource zone, rushed into the GO hoping to catch the opponent off guard. But that was not to be. Charging towards her, apparently with the same goal, was Ossir :). That's where they met. I was lucky to reach the market first, where the staff was lying. Only thanks to it did I win, as the shooters did not have time to take down the ballista. In the field, we just beat each other up with spells. And I had sold a ring a couple of days before that :). The ballista gave me a slight advantage in meat, and the opponent had to buy himself out. The second battle in the castle was already a mere formality, since I hadn't had time to sell another ring of Grol :).

Thank you for an interesting game.

I confirm Hero's report.
At the beginning of the fourth day, I was already at level 26 with a lot of artifacts from the ruins and abandoned castle, but I had to leave, and judging by Leo's posts, he wouldn't have let us continue for another day. It's a pity to waste so much time and nerves, but deadlines are deadlines.

I confirm Hero's report.
At the beginning of the fourth day, I was already at level 26 with a lot of artifacts from the ruins and abandoned castle, but I had to leave, and judging by Leo's posts, he wouldn't have let us continue for another day. It's a pity to waste so much time and nerves, but deadlines are deadlines.

Well, don't make me out to be a demon:smile51:; I agree, I'm a proponent of strict deadlines and I'm sure it's for the good of the tournaments and the overall number of participants, but I try to treat everyone individually with understanding. So, I would give him one more day;) But no more:smile10:

Smerti_Po (Hell, Deleb) won against ekzekutor (Elf, Ossir) 2-2-4.

Deleb, having cleared two adjacent areas and a resource area, rushed towards the main castle in the hope of catching the opponent off guard. But that wasn't the case. Ossir, apparently with the same goal, was rushing towards him :). They met there. Luckily, he managed to get to the market first, where the staff was located. He won only thanks to it, because the archers didn't have time to shoot down the ballista. In the field, they were just exchanging spells. Moreover, he sold a ring a couple of days before that :). The ballista gave him a small advantage in terms of power, and the opponent had to pay up. The second battle in the castle was already a mere formality, because Grol didn't have time to sell another ring :).

Thank you for the interesting game.

I confirm. I searched everywhere for speed boosts, went around the center and the city, in the tavern, but it seems it wasn't meant to be. I barely found the Word of Power and bought Anti-Magic in the library. So, against the staff and the slow effect with vulnerability, only the Word of Power helped, and even then, not until the ring was equipped.
Thank you for the game

immortal (Red, Elves, Anwen lvl 30 + Vittorio lvl 23) defeated Xodyn (Blue, Haven, Rutger lvl 29) week 6.
At the start, Anwen and Vitya arrived immediately, which I was very happy about. I gave Vitya the army from two heroes and sent him to clear. Anwen went to catch up after building Elves. On day 6, I discovered that the dancer dwelling was blocked by ГО guard, but decided not to restart since a lot of time had already passed, and the start was very good. On one of the early level-ups, machines were offered — I thought it over and decided to level the enchanted ballista. On week 2, Osya arrived, thanks to which Anwen had no trouble in battles in the adjacent zone; only the lack of logistics and the snow zone slowed things down. Vitya leveled up better — he quickly took logistics and pathfinding and went on elementals to another adjacent zone. With two heroes, I had no money problems; wood was tight but still enough. By the middle of week 3, Anwen reached the resource zone, broke through there, and farmed; Vitya returned home for dragons (found regen in one of the towers). After taking them, I went to break through the center. Meanwhile, I leveled Anwen to level 20, expert chaos, and rushed home. At the start of week 5, Vitya entered the center first, followed by Anwen (the second center was snow with no roads — I opened it from the resource zone and released the spider). A couple of turns later, the simultaneous turns ended, and a turn after that, I saw Rutger. He had about 100 archers, around 40 Inquisitors, 40 Griffins (old upgrade), and 30 Squires. I wanted to attack him with both heroes one after another, but I messed up with Anwen — she entered a well, and I didn’t have enough movement points to attack. In general, in that battle, Vitya with dragons under regen might have been enough, but domination on the dragons decided it — I bought them off, losing 5 in exchange for ~90 archers and small amounts of the rest. Anwen moved as close as possible to Rutger; I thought about attacking next turn, or maybe he would attack himself. But then the opponent started doing something unclear — he ran away from Anwen with Rutger into my snow adjacent zone. Well, I decided to let him wander there — I couldn’t catch him anyway; I went to grab the second pair of green boots for Vitya — he headed toward Rutger’s home to lock him there. Instead of portal-ing home for the army and clearing the other center, or trying to knock me out of this one, Rutger began to delve deeper into my zone... Meanwhile, Anwen found a sand treasure zone. It turned out that this treasure zone bordered my snow adjacent zone at the very bottom. Rutger came to this spot, then jumped into the treasure zone. Naturally, I headed straight for him, grabbing a Dragon Utopia along the way. Rutger wanted to take it too but didn’t make it; after visiting a few skill upgrades, he portal-ed away from me back home. By this time, Vitya had reached the opponent’s adjacent zone and started pressuring him, preventing him from moving far. Anwen was clearing the treasure zone. Then it turned out that both treasure zones bordered each other; I jumped into the second one. I finished collecting the Dwarf’s set and portal-ed home. Meanwhile, Rutger came toward me through the ГО. I met him at my exit, but he turned around and ran home. The final was near his castle. Overall, I thought it would be easier, since I also had a Pendant of Mastery, but in the end, 18 logs and about 40 dancers remained — the darkness still interfered... Though before that, I lost about 50 archers and 2/3 of the fairies in the treasure zone... In the battles for the Armor of the Forgotten Hero and the Dwarf’s Helm — there were over a hundred dungeon witches. Well, I also left half the Druids and some horses in the town for a second wave just in case. Thanks for the game.

immortal (Red, Elves, Anwen level 30 + Vittorio level 23) defeated Xodyn (Blue, Haven, Rutger level 29) in week 6.

Confirmed, esteemed immortal. Please accept my apologies for not following your plan and for running in the wrong direction... :smile02: Paradox.

Raykkonen (Irrand League) defeated Alex NV (Necropolis). The opponent surrendered due to constant crashes during the game. I didn't try to persuade him to continue.

Raykkonen (Irran League) defeated Alex NV (Necropolis).
The opponent surrendered due to constant crashes on the Yubi map. I didn't try to persuade him.

I agree! This is the first and last time I'll play on Yubi maps, especially huge ones.

barma21 (now Detmers) (haggesh28, krag20) won against twaryna (gnomes, dwarf21) in week 7. In short: a standard haggesh – I chose the path with a gatling attack, defense, and luck. I didn't bother guessing with antimagic; I took it for the gatling and lucky guys. It ran through, leveled up, didn't drown or break any temples or shrines – fearing losses, and they didn't appear anyway. The guard was also without level 7 – I got lucky. It was a good guard. Then I made a mistake – I should have broken the guard on his side and taken the castle in one day, but instead, I just revealed myself too early. I got lucky with artifacts – ice shield and others – I changed them 2 times. In the opponent's castle, I couldn't take anything; he broke the catapult with arms and ran to the guard. There, I couldn't attack again, and now he bought himself out. Gradually, I killed all the spiders he had and trapped him in the castle, and a stalemate situation arose. In the castle, I was afraid to attack him (not much meat), and he was in the field, attacking me (the gatling would destroy any unit, and resistance worked well). We decided that I had slightly better chances. Thanks for the game.