Posts from "Newcomer-2009. Winter"
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First Week: "Operation J or Tazik's New Adventures"
I recklessly chose all restarts and ended up in a bit of a tight spot. Roads are slow, no money, the wood mine is permanently blocked. On 113 I'm hesitant to take on 2 crypts with the starting army, I don't have enough money for Wyverns, so without much thought I buy 4 Basilisks, take the mini-crypts and pre-mini-crypts :(. But now I don't have wood for Wyverns, a scout finds a pile behind Troglodytes, I move the chain there, because I might be stuck with Basilisks in the Citadel. However, the next turn another scout finds a pile, I break through the Pikemen instead of the Troglodytes to get a path to the grass. There, near the road, a wood mine and 1 pile miraculously allowed me to place 1-6 in the Citadel +1000, I take a neutral Lizard stack, there's a Griffin Conservatory. The scout picked up the Conflux. Glad that Tazar got and Expert-logged Logistics :).
Second Week: "Tazya Bought Himself New Skates"
I take +1 to All behind the Demons, take the Dungeon, gather some cash, near the Conflux 10+ Rock elementals guard the University and Boots of Speed! I take Griffin Conservatory for a pittance :( (by the way, there were no more Hives or Conservatories on the 3 remaining respawns) and I break into the Conflux, grab the Boots :smile54:. Tazar is now zooming around, "like crazy" :cool:. Below the Conflux, a treasure zone on the rocks is spotted, and at the end of the second week, Blue breaks through a teleport there. To avoid being left behind in progress, I also force a path there and send a scout on Flies. Beat it, collected a decent amount of cash: Hydras in the Castle, upgraded units in the secondary towns, and 10k for a ransom.
Third Week: "Where Are You Going!?"
I enter a completely empty treasure zone, raise the Wyvern count from 9 to 33, take a Griffin Conservatory for 3 Angels. The best artifact in the treasure zone is Shield +4, no Dragon Utopias. I spent almost the whole week there :mad:. Meanwhile, scouting reports that 3 Dragon Utopias have been spotted on the rocks, Blue has painted 2 neutral Horse stacks, but no Blue heroes in sight (1 dead scout doesn't count). I decide at all costs to take those Dragon Utopias first, otherwise things are looking grim.
Fourth Week: "Bloodbath in the Library"
On 142 I check Blue's teleport, it's right next to a Swamp secondary town, bad. But no choice, Tazar moves at full speed from the Conflux towards the first Dragon Utopia, stops next to the teleport. On his turn, Blue flies out from there (literally, he has wings), kills my scout, I notice a decent stack of 17 Champions, but he doesn't attack Tazar, instead flies slightly upward, kills a horde of Grand Elves, and stays the night in the library. Immediately dump all resources into the marketplace, bring up the remaining army, attack:
Neela 8 12 5 8, 17 Champions, 60 Marksmen, 34 Royal Griffins, 16 Monks, 8 Wyverns, 1 Angel, and about a dozen Pikemen + Golden Bow in hand.
Tazar 7 15 5 3, 37 Wyverns, 5 Hydras, 21 Basilisks, 19 upgraded Gorgons, about 70 Lizardmen, 4 Angels, and also a dozen Flies, have Advanced Tactics, both without Mass spells, I only have Advanced Earth.
I lose 31 Wyverns and 4 Angels, Neela retreats with 6 Champions. I take the Swamp town, I don't intend to go for the Castle without flyers, I head towards the Dragon Utopias.
At the end of the week I took a third town, lost all the Basilisks, some junk Gladiators were shoved in.
Fifth Week: "The Hat. Exit"
I take 2 more Dragon Utopias, both are mini, dammit, but one gave a Helm of the Seer :smile23:, the other gave junk. I break into the enemy Swamp town, there I built and upgraded Hydras. On 215 with Dimension Door and Flight, I take the main town.
On 216 I move towards the opponent's last Castle (have View Earth). Neela meets me with Sorcery at 25, army is not great. Immediately cast Anti-Magic on the Hydras, a Lightning Bolt for 1k hits the Gorgons. Next rounds: I cast Anti-Magic on the highest-HP stack, he bolts another. In a few rounds, Neela falls.
Thanks for the game!
P.S. Special thanks to Pasha Dubrovin, who stayed with me until 3 AM, supported me, and helped with advice ;).
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I'll climb into a completely rotten dungeon, increase the number of lives from 9 to 33, and take a contract for 3 angels. The best artifact for the dungeon is a shield +4; there are no boots.
Satyr (red, Swamp, Tazar, Tazar) def XL (blue, Castle, Caitlin, Neela) 2SM4d(3), 216
Thanks for the game!
P.S. Special thanks to Pasha Dubrovin, who stayed with me until 3 a.m., supported me, and gave me advice ;).
I confirm! Thanks to you too for the game.
The map turned out to be decent, but there were some nuances: I spent a long time running to the secondary town on the first week, and right in front of it, a group of liches guarded Utopia – a week wasted.
I took the swordsmen's lair, gathered for the secondary Swamp town with 2 horses.
On the second week, Neela arrived, luckily, in the Seer's Hut they require the Badge of Valor, I was distracted and looked at the prophecy cards, but I saw the Badge of Valor in them((((It was already night)(( I lost about three days fighting for cards that no one needs, and after clearing it, I realized that I messed up and continued in the same spirit(, I don't even want to continue... The opponent was worthy! And I realized for myself that you can't play at night, the game ended at 3 a.m. Moscow time, I had 7 a.m. (playing half-asleep), while the opponent had 2 a.m., but nothing can be done((.
Huge thanks to the tournament organizer, all participants, and fans, IMHO the tournament was a success. Participating in it brought a lot of positive emotions.
Congratulations to Satyr on winning the tournament!!! Keep it up!
Of course, I want a rematch...
Let me throw down two gauntlets, one to the tournament winner, and the other to Pavel Dubrovin.
See you on the battlefields!!!
All congratulations and a bunch more words from me will follow tomorrow or the day after, but for now, I'm handing over the topic for expressions of appreciation to the audience. And don't be shy... guys, I think they deserve praise :)
Added 1 minute ago
Yes, and a special "oh no" from me to Pasha Dubrovin - what was that "advice" about? :smile51:
Satyr (red, Swamp, Tazar, Tazar) def XL (blue, Castle, Kaitlin, Neela) 2SM4d(3), 216
А так играют Мастера! :smile13:
Yes, and a special "tsk tsk" from me to Pasha Dubrovin – what was that "advice" about? :smile51:
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Winners:
1st place - Satir
2nd place - XL'
3rd place - Deriel_Linch
First and foremost, all the praise goes to Satir. An impeccable walkthrough, not a single defeat! Very impressive. Congratulations. I'm glad that Satir is now my clanmate. The Vampires have clearly become stronger, it seems. :)
I remember Erdem suggesting that we organize a super-match between the two winners of "Novichok" after the tournament. So, I propose that this match should happen, and that we hold it at the highest level, with a broadcast and visuals. Let it be the final chord of the winter tournament, and we can take a couple of months to rest from it. :) Then we can talk about the medal, although it's rightfully yours already (I apologize, it's just not ready yet).
Satir's glory would be incomplete without mentioning his rivals. These guys are far from being pushovers! :)
XL' - three defeats in the entire season, and from whom! - Valenok, Deriel, and Satir. He took revenge on the first two. A well-deserved second place, bravo.
Deriel_Linch - I won't hide it, and I'm not hiding it now, I was rooting for him from almost the very beginning. I've become quite close to this guy (another newly-minted Vampire, by the way). I almost shed a tear reading his last report. A worthy game, thank you.
I'll name a few more nicknames that pleased me with their strong and beautiful game: the third Vampire, from Siberia - BA/IEHOK, judging by the nickname, our sworn friend - KillerVampire, the cool guy Romka - RomarioGrom, the persistent and meticulous Tolikandro, the gentleman Fidail, as well as: Ban238, marajan, Pradromalo, mals, RiMpel2, Serg™, Kaliostr. Thank you very much for the games, guys. And... sorry, but I won't be taking you in the next "Novichok". You've outgrown it. :) Which I congratulate you on. Good luck on the heroic front and in life! I hope we'll meet again in adult tournaments.
Special words of gratitude to Vitka-Banditka, Ellin, Enik, and Neyre Drake. Thank you for adding some variety to our harsh male company and for brightening things up with your presence. And yes, happy holidays! :)
And I want to keep spreading positivity...
It's a pity to end it..
No matter how much the old man Cash grumbles, no matter how much he occasionally curses, condemning everyone and everything and swearing never to take on anything like this again, he actually enjoys it. :) Therefore, we'll organize a super-game between Satir and Erdem, take a short break, and in a couple of months, we'll start "Novichok-10. Summer".
Once again, thank you to everyone who participated in the winter tournament, both players and viewers, and see you in the summer
I hope it will soon find its owner, i.e., Satyr. :)
Thank you, RAPER'y. We decided not to overcomplicate things and use the format from the previous season. Now Leslie is the symbol of the tournament, whether we like it or not... Once again, thank you to the original creator of the medal's image - WhiteLizard'y. Satyr, wear this image with pride, you are worthy of each other :)

P.S. We initially planned to put the inscription "Novice-2010", but we realized it in time :)
Thank you all who believed in me, who wear long hair, who drink Jack Daniel's, who are afraid of spiders, who do cross-stitch, who listen to Wanda Jackson, who play hockey, who collect stamps, who watch Animal Planet, in short, thank you all! I am very happy with my achievement! :smile49:
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Well, show it on the first page of the thread, that Satyr is the champion... :)
Satyr, Erdem, when will you be playing the super-final?
And what is this "super-final"?

