Posts from The First Tournament for Heroes of Might and Magic II. Auto-translated

Congratulations, vbs! Indeed, it's a very interesting move to make the Barbarian the main hero! The Mage, unfortunately, couldn't withstand him even with Starfall – the armies were too large. I also made at least 3 mistakes – all in the last week, which I had to play in a couple of hours: I sold all the resources in the castle instead of at the market near the town of mages (lost ~$10,000); I finished the game in the wrong town, so I could have also gotten 7 Phoenixes; I took Rangers to the arena instead of Crusaders (a consequence of the first mistake – I didn't have enough money). And the companion heroes became very annoying in the last 7 days – I could only dodge and chase them. I was thinking of taking out the Sorcerer, getting the Heart of Ice and the Amulet of Death, then I could have put some pressure on Necros, but time is limited, and the primary goal is the most important. Well, never mind, especially since this is my first tournament! I hope it won't be the last! Qwerty: By the way, I replayed the ending for myself – I fixed these mistakes, edited the arena. But still, the Barbarian turned out to be stronger! For the first 3 weeks, I kept a detailed log of each move, and I've already sent it to Sergh. I can post it here or somewhere else. I suggest we hold another tournament closer to autumn. There are many different maps here: http://www.heroesportal.net/maps.php I will also try to encourage more participants among the readers of the newsletter. But now, many have probably left for the summer.

I would like to take a short break (I want to play in a tournament for the third installment myself), and closer to the end of August, we can try to organize another tournament. By the way, if anyone wants to organize a tournament for the second installment, I have no objections and would gladly participate! I believe that the highly respected ADMIN would also not object to this! Moreover, we can try other formats for the tournament (speed runs, hero experience gained within a fixed time, a competition for conducting battles or tactical maneuvers, or something else).

If you wish, we can discuss the tournament itself, the walkthrough of the map, and share suggestions for the future.

It's a pity I couldn't send the save files. But I hope you'll believe me.
So, the choice of hero is obvious: the Barbarian - Thundax. The reason is simple - shooting skills level up quickly, which allows you to break through archers with 15 Nomads and Elves on day 5. Of all the Barbarians, only 2 were suitable for the chosen tactic; I chose a male hero. Also, 4 heroes were hired to level up the Finance skill. I don't remember all their names, but I definitely remember Natasha and some other "Fe...". This made it possible for the main hero to collect experience from treasure chests.
The walkthrough itself came down to collecting gold and resources in the center of the map. For this, all the heroes traveled with 1 Nomad.
On the third week, the center of the map was successfully looted, and three heroes with the Navigation skill went to the sea.
The final army consisted only of troops from the native castle: 7 Phoenixes, etc. It is important to note that I initially collected Gnomes from the hired heroes.
The hero's level is also the same as the tournament winner's - 12, but I immediately sent him to study Logistics, which ultimately made it possible to obtain advanced magic, which means level 4 spells. I built magic in the castle of the nearest companion. In addition, at the very end of the game, with Phoenixes and archers, I captured the Helmet of Anduran! Magic power became 10! True, there was only 40 mana, I didn't have time to return to the well.
The map was good, but it seems that for an arena tournament, it was necessary to either add a few more weeks for collecting troops or slightly weaken the guard of the neutral castles.

By the way, I got a bit stuck and couldn't repel the nomads... I tried to break through with archers and fairies.

Since the discussion of the past tournament is ongoing, I will share my thoughts as well.
I tried playing this map for a bit.
I replayed the first week several times.
The most interesting option, it seemed to me, was breaking through on the fourth day with gargoyles, shooters, and fairies. Although I also broke through on the third day, but the losses were much higher.
Without using the market, I built phoenixes during the second week, so by the end, 10 of them had accumulated. I captured the titans' castle on 137 and immediately placed giants there. I didn't play further after seeing that I would be building a dimensional door (dimension door) on the first day of the fourth week.
Personally, I believe the most interesting option is capturing the Necromancer castle and obtaining the berserker...
And the strongest way to play this map was demonstrated by one of the best players in Heroes II (at least in the CIS) — a direct march to the Knight castle, capturing it, then by sea to the titans, where giants were built on 127.

Ugh... I missed the tournament.
Is there anywhere I can download the tournament map?

Since the discussion about the past tournament is ongoing, I'll share my thoughts as well.
I tried playing this map a bit.
I replayed it several times during the first week.
The most interesting strategy, in my opinion, is to break through on the fourth day with gargoyles, archers, and fairies. Although I also broke through on the third day, the losses were much greater.
I built Phoenixes on the second week without using the market, so by the end, I had 10 of them. I captured the Titan Castle on day 137 and immediately built Giants there. I didn't play any further, as I saw that on the first day of the fourth week, I would be building a Dimension Door.
Personally, I think the most interesting strategy is to capture the Necropolis Castle and get a Berserker...
And the strongest strategy on this map was demonstrated by one of the best players in Heroes of Might and Magic II (at least in the CIS region) - a direct march to the Knight Castle, capturing it, and then sailing to the Titans, where he built Giants on day 127.

There wasn't much difference in when to break through (within a week), as the AI only scouted its own territory.
I could have built something on the second day, but I preferred the Shipyard, as it was easier to play with the collected artifacts. And I didn't see much point in building anything else - there were more native creatures! The goal of the battles was simply to gain experience for the main hero and collect artifacts. The tournament is an arena tournament, and as a result, the first task for the hero is to complete all the experience-boosting locations within the allotted time. I also liked the Berserker, but I couldn't get it - there was too much running around the map.
If there were standard victory conditions, it would be a different story!!!

Alright! It's almost the end of August! And in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, it's practically September already! :
Where's the tournament?! :)
I WANT ONE!
People, let's organize a tournament!

When I organized a tournament for the second installment of Heroes of Might and Magic, one of the best Heroes of Might and Magic II players in the world checked the save file.

I apologize for the off-topic comment, but if it's not a secret, who was this player?

This is no secret. This player's nickname is GreatGenius, but he doesn't visit our forum. He doesn't play much now, but he used to show fantastic results in Heroes II offline.

I agree, he's a good player, but I know several who are better than him, even when playing by the League's rules.

Does anyone know when the next tournament for "2" will be? And where can I download the map?

Can anyone tell me when the next tournament for "2" will be? And where can I download the map?

I think you should contact Qwerty, only he can answer your question.

Sincerely, VDV_forever