Posts from Reports of online games and their confirmations (Winter season 2010-11).

01/12/2011 SEM_56 (blue, Allrandom, Tower, Solmyr, Damokon) def Might and Magic Heroes 3 (red, ALLrandom, Rampart, Mephala, Pyrrhus) jebus cross 136
We both took a restart and started, Solmyr with Tower came to me, and Rampart with Mephala to my opponent; he shouldn't have neglected her...

12.01.11 Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (red, rnd, inf, xyron, sandro) def Sevensan (blue, rnd, fortr, tiva, си эйч) 2sm4d (3) 124

Sandro is OP ) Second time in a row giving Earth on 2nd level. There's formally one path, its branch ends almost immediately in a horde of marks right by the castle. I see 2 Griffin Conservatories, a bunch of experience crystals. Let's play. 2 external dwellings of imps. Beated off gogs with spawns. Siphoned a decent amount of gold. Missed one day, but got efreeti+pit lords in the citadel. Sandro with Earth travel went through a group of harpies to the metro. There's a necro secondary, cloak +2+2, fighting for mana. Revealed one Griffin Conservatory, 3rd level. Repelling for now. Second one is behind the snipers. Mind drain. Mass slow came just in time. Saw an enemy scout in the teleport earlier, now of course almost certain I'll lose the castle. Left a few there. I had just stepped away for the Griffin Conservatory, and Crag Hack pops out of the teleport. Takes the castle, sits down. 10-3-3-1, 5 monarchs, 28 gr yaks, gnolls and a few gr flies. Mass slow-shield-stoneskin and a shooter at 121 +overwhelming force left him no chance. Thx for the game!

And then comes the well-known "female move": being immobilized in handcuffs. I die because I have no mana. I wanted to type "gg," but then I thought: I have plenty of money, and there's still time left in my turn, so who knows what might happen; maybe I'll get lucky and dig up Shakti. And I did! With my 17th hero.

13.01.2011 Neverminder (Blue, Dungeon, Shakti, Shakti) def R55Max (Red, Stronghold, Crag Hack, Crag Hack) jebus cross 142
A very difficult game turned out. At first the layout was kind of sad. Hives exist, but behind shooter guards, though a bunch of Dragon Utopias on the respawn, meaning there's no rush to the center. However, on day 4 a scout reveals an external dragon dwelling, which changes the situation drastically. Shakti in a hurry breaks back home, eats a lot of chests for experience, visits the tree, on the seventh day takes the coveted external dwelling, ends the week at level 8 (advanced Earth and Fire) not far from the stable. A portal is built right away, and there's a dragon there, of course. True, there were no harpies from the start, so the result of the first week is 1-6 in the fort. But 4 dragons on day 121 warm the soul. On the second week I took five hives for 32 ducks and on day 127 broke the first two-star Dragon Utopia, which gave nothing at all, but at least money. On days 131-133 I broke three more Dragon Utopias (two three-star and a max). Dragon Utopias without Armorer are painful, all the ducks died in the end, and stats-wise I can't say I improved much, plus the spell book only had Water. Angel Wings were the only truly excellent item. Well, you can't predict that. But I had 130k gold. Got Shackles of War in one of the Dragon Utopias. And here comes the well-known noob move: fighting with shackles on. I die, because I have no mana. I want to write "gg", but then I thought: plenty of gold, time for the turn still left, devil may care, maybe luck will smile on me and I'll dig up Shakti. And I did dig him up! With about the 17th hero. And he again with full movement points, ran to the enemy's Guardian Object, didn't quite make it, as time ran out. On day 134 I entered the center, Andrey is not visible. Over the following days of the week I killed many various creatures for Pandora's Boxes. The rewards were: all Water spells (I already had the book), all spells in general, 25 Evil Eyes, 15 Manticores, 15k gold. On day 136 I killed Andrey's Guardian Object (108 Wizards), but I only had 32 mana points, so I didn't go yet. Took a dungeon in the sands, built a Mage Guild there, settled in. On day 141 Town Portal home, Magic Doubling (480 mana points now), Town Portal to the dungeon, and rushed over to visit. Stats-wise I'm slightly superior, but there's Crag Hack, and the lack of Armorer worried me a lot. On day 142 Crag Hack 18-23-12-8 (50) attacks Shakti 22-28-15-16 (468). No Red Orb, but there is a Cloak of Reflection (meaning farewell to Summon Elementals, Resurrection, and Armageddon), but there was still something to surprise with: in the first round I cast Mass Curse! I was very afraid of Expert Water (blessing or cure — and my plan B would also go to hell), but it wasn't there. In a tough Featherweight Bout thanks to this non-standard move, as well as a Bolt for 400+ HP, I managed to secure victory. With the Red Orb, Crag Hack would have won for sure. On the other hand, without the orb and without the cloak, he would have had no chance. With the cloak, but without the orb, it turned out hard and interesting, but the scales tipped in Shakti's favor. Thanks for the interesting game, Andrey!

What perversion? I wasn't joking. Get used to playing without auto-saves — otherwise, you'll never actually learn how to play... What kind of growth as a player is possible if your mindset is "I'll just lose and that's fine" because almost everyone gives autos? And I won't even mention the textbook breakdown in bracers after the Dragon Utopia — Neverminder just showed an example of how to handle such cases, for which he has my sincere respect. Even when losing everything, there are options: when did the loss occur (116-17, for example, and there are prospects with a good build-up on the 2nd — why the hell are you begging for an auto or surrendering?)? Where is the opponent, how are they showing activity (if not at all — why surrender?)? etc. We are playing on-line, not off-line, after all ;) .