Posts from Reports on online games and their confirmations (Winter 2009-10 season).

It was a tough game! There were many setbacks, but I still managed to win. The start seemed good: I captured a brown Castle in the first six days. Pirre, a level 5 expert in logistics and artillery, is there. But then... In the second week, I had no money, so I went to the Medusa's lair. It turned out to be a level 6 lair, and they petrified all the Efreet and killed them all – I only managed to escape with one Efreet, losing more than 90% of my army :( I barely managed not to surrender... Then I bought some Creatures of Evil and took a few more resource buildings. I spent the whole week playing on the verge of defeat... I searched the entire map, but there was nothing, and I had 0 money. I was happy even to find a Treasure and a Crypt, and if I came across a Naga Bank, that was a real celebration. I couldn't buy anyone; my army was weak, and my main force was Hellhounds! I had two outposts, but not on my main territory, but quite far from the city. The Efreet were losing strength, and I couldn't get enough of them by the end of the game... I captured my main town. Then, that pink guy took it from me. Actually, I shouldn't have been so cocky back then because he built a Fort there. Later, I thought this map didn't have any Mermaids, but then my opponent told me that he had taken three Mermaids and had a full set of artifacts for Necromancy... I started to feel uneasy. Although Tant's stats weren't scary. I rushed around the map, exploring all the zones. I found a few Hives and Conservatories, but it felt like someone had already been there and collected everything. Finally, very far underground, where the pink and orange players were, probably in zone 18, I found an Outpost, and from there, very, very far away, I saw a Mermaid, a Hive, and two Naga Banks. But Tant was already coming. I managed to reach the Naga Bank. I exchanged all my resources on the market and moved about 90% of my army from the city of Enove, but there were Imps and a few Hellhounds left for Tant to fight the skeletons. Tant recaptured my capital and went for the outposts; by the way, there were only 530 skeletons. Kiryusha, with his Rocs, prevented the blue scouts from reaching the Stronghold. Pirre, with Nimbus, took the Treasure and the Naga Bank at once, and also the Mermaid. The Creatures of Evil were battered in the Mermaid :( only 22 of them remained, but I couldn't take the Hive – I wouldn't have enough moves to reach the Mermaid, and I needed money for a bribe – in case Tant attacked. But now I have more than 50,000 to bribe Enove. But Tant isn't going for it; he's killing the Earth Elemental horde and, for some reason, not taking the Ring of Health from them. In the Mermaid, I got the Titan Helmet and chainmail +4 to attack and defense. On the next turn, I took the Hive, then another one, and in general, I was thinking about how to get out of these... hmm, edges... because everyone had dug in there. I took two Pandora Boxes for 10,000 experience and gold, and Tant went to my Treasure. He scouted me from the Outpost, and I positioned myself so that he would go deeper into it behind me, but I pretended to be returning and wanted to avoid meeting him. I have money for a bribe, but I'm very afraid of the War Lock. Enova breaks through zone 15 into zone 3. Tant attacked with more than 1000 skeletons, but he had few other troops. I hesitated to run, and I managed to kill all of Tant's troops with almost no losses, except for a few skeletons, of course. But at the end, when they were all killed, my opponent cast Haste on the skeletons, and they killed all five of my Angels! He finished them off with a Lightning Bolt and then I bribed him (I could have turned the Angels into Demons, but never mind). I bribed him in the Stronghold, which previously belonged to the brown player. Now, the main danger was that Tant might have a Town Portal (he has the Earth Expertise) and could teleport directly to my capital. But no, my opponent tried to attack with scouts, but the Treasure is very well-defended (I was also afraid that he would break through Tant into the capital), and he bribed the pink player who was running around there nearby. After taking three Mermaids, he probably has a lot of money... But no, and Pirre took it back on Sunday and started building up there. The following week, I bought everyone, strengthened the Stronghold, and fled to zone 9, where a Hive and a Cyclops Cave were spotted. I managed to build a Guild Hall 4 in the capital and learned Phantom and Resurrection there. I also have scrolls with Meteor Shower and Counterspell. I took the Cyclops Cave, the Hive, and then I saw another Hive, so I took that one too. At the same time, the Creatures of Evil were turning dogs and Rocs into Demons. I saw another Hive. Kiryusha attacked a Castle town with two Efreet, but there were 27 Griffins there – a loss. (Was I stupid?). On the next turn, Tant captured this Castle town, but he didn't have enough moves to settle there. I entered it, bought Pikemen and Archers to turn into Demons. The Archers died in the Hive, but the Pikemen were preferred by the Imps to kill the Creatures of Evil... I shouldn't have divided them into two squads, but then I attacked the Wolves again and turned the Pikemen into them. I didn't settle in the town; I built a Market there, exchanged all the resources, and I still had 6000 for a bribe... Tant attacked, and I managed to kill him!!! Mainly because of the large stack of Demons and the Phantom spell... Thanks for the game!!!