Posts from HALL OF FAME! (for the second stage of the WCG)

This thread was created for voting on descriptions of maps for the second stage of the tournament “named after Van Kanigem.” After the vote, all descriptions will be moved to the general topic HALL OF FAME!

P.S. I want to remind everyone that all participants in this nomination will receive Grails!

P.P.S. Original style and spelling are preserved without changes…

Abbreviations: Barbarian heroes — B, Warlock heroes — W, numbering — in order of appearance.
B1 — Ergon.
B2 — Crag Hack
B3 — Jezebel
W1 — Agar
B4 — Phineos
W2 — Whisper
W3 — Ariy
W4 — Barok
W5 — Krodo
W6 — Castor
B5 — Sundax
B6 — Atlas
W7 — Falagar
W8 — Rasmont

Day 1 (gold collection and hero purchase)
B1 leaves the orcs in the castle, heads south, and destroys 17 fairies with 16 goblins (4+4+4+4) (losses — 9 goblins), takes 1500 gold and another 2000 to the left of the peasants.

B2 leaves the army and takes 2000 on the left of the road. Then heads north.

B3 — 41 gob.+9 orc+1 orc+1 orc+1 orc against the archers on the right. Losses — 2 gob., 12 orc. 1 orc was specifically left in the castle so that it would not reduce the movement speed tomorrow. We take 2000 near the mines.

W1 leaves the centaurs and attacks goblins near the mill with 4 garg.

Day 2 (gold collection, hero purchase)
B1 destroys the peasants, takes 500 gold from the campfire + 400 near the gem mine and the mine itself.
W1 takes 600 from the campfire, 1000 from the casket and the Bottomless Bag, and gives B2 gargoyles instead of a goblin.
B2 takes 1000 from the casket and 400 from the campfire near the boars in the north.
B3 kills the peasants and goblins under the mercury mine, takes 1000 and moves south.
B4 with one gob. takes 2 campfires on the right 500+600.
W2 leaves the centaurs in the castle and approaches B3 closely with 4 garg.

Day 3 (destruction of 2 boar packs, troop distribution)
W3 transfers the entire army from the castle to B1, and B1 destroys the boars in the south.
19 cent+2 cent+4 garg+36 gob+8 orc against 20 boars, (losses — 1 cent+2 gob+2 orc).
After this, he gives the entire army back to W3, keeping 4 garg+4cent for himself, and returns south.

B4 turns around and stops 1 cell short of the boars in the west.
W3 with the entire army stops near B4.

B3 takes 4 garg., trains in the gazebo and fights the boars in the southeast.
1 gob+1 gob+1 gob+35 gob+4 garg against 20 boars, (losses — 8 gob+2 garg).
Spends the night in the witch's hut.

W2 follows B3, B2 and W1 stay in place.

Day 4 (destruction of 2 boar packs, troop distribution, offensive against the enemy)
B3 visits the standing stones, the gazebo and manages to take 2000.
B1 visits the mill +500 and ends the turn near the crystals in the southern part of the swamp.
W2 visits the mill in the southeast +500 and the campfire + 500.
W3 gives the entire army to B4, after which he is dismissed.
W4+W5 gather their modest army together and also transfer it to B4.

B4 — 33 cent+34 gob+1 garg+5 garg+6 orc destroys 20 boars in the west (losses 1 cent+1 garg). Then gives the remaining goblins and centaurs in a chain W4 — W1 — B2 and continues moving west.

B2 — 30 cent+1 cent+34 gob+1 cent+4 garg fights 20 boars in the north (losses 2 cent+6 gob). Then, undeterred by the yellow, rushes north.

Day 5 (capture of Barbarian and Necromancer castles)
B2 captures the yellow castle, guarded by 2 ogres (to make the computer take the rest of the army from there, a correct combination of your own army is needed, not too strong, but capable of defeating those very ogres).
B3 captures the empty Necromancer castle.
B1 continues the path to the orange castle.
W1 moves across the desert to the northeast, towards the mercury mine.
W2 finds +400 in a campfire.
W4 runs to the home mercury mine.
Wolves are built in the castle (to increase movement speed on the terrain for 1 turn), and W5 takes 1 wolf and moves west, towards B4.
B4, after dismissing 6 orcs, continues the path to the red castle.
And at night, both green heroes crash against the gates of their own castle…

Day 6 (capture of Knight and Elf castles, preparation to destroy the remaining enemy heroes)
B1 captures the orange castle 1 cent+1 cent+1 cent+1 cent+4 garg against 3 druids (losses 4 cent+2 garg).
W2 picks up another 2000.
W4 takes the mercury and wood and goes into retirement.

A chain W6-W5-B4 is organized from the main castle, after which W5 manages to pick up 1000, and B4 has 3 cent+2 cent+2 cent+1 wolf+7 garg and attacks the red castle against 4 swordsmen (losses 8 cent+1 wolf+5 garg).

Trolls had to be built in the yellow castle, after which B2 runs with the entire army east, toward the enemy heroes.

B3 takes the campfire near the wolves.
Markets are built in 2 castles, after which all resources, except for 12 mercury, are exchanged for gold.

A moat is built in the Knight castle.

In the orange castle, we buy back W3 again, who sets out to search for orange heroes, while B1 stays to sleep in the castle.

B4 barely repels an attack by a red hero trying to take his castle, and a second hero gets closer, but does not make it in time this day.

Day 7 (destruction of remaining heroes, skill leveling, mercury collection)
W1 takes mercury in the desert.
W6 picks up a campfire near the shield.
W2 finds a chest of gold.
And W3 destroys an orange hero with magic arrows.
After this, the warlocks, who by the way had come to the aid of the barbarians, resign until better times :)

B2, having 2 trolls and the rest of the army, systematically destroys both yellow heroes, after which the barbarian race is also crushed.

The last orange hero is driven out by B1 with the help of W4, W7, and W8.

B3 picks up a casket and increases his primary skills to 11.

And B5 and B6 come to help B4, after which mercury is collected on the red territory, and finally, B4 destroys the last computer player — the Knight.

Victory!!!

1. Reconnaissance.
A brief analysis revealed the following aspects:
-) On the first level of magic, there are archers in the Castle of Magic and Knights;
-) There are Thief dwellings on the map (not useful);
-) There is a free upgrade for Orcs, Ogres, and Dwarves on the map, as well as a free upgrade for Spearmen and Swordsmen (nothing was useful);
-) There is a large amount of "penalty surface" on the map.

2. Walkthrough.
Day 1.
The starting hero (leaving almost all Goblins and all Orcs in the Castle) goes down, takes a chest and a campfire.
Buys a second hero, also a Barbarian, transfers all Goblins and 4 Orcs to him, goes down, defeats the Pigs (Orcs died, 22 Goblins remained), takes a chest.
Day 2.
Hero 2 goes down.
Hero 3 (Barbarian) is bought, goes with Goblins to the left, takes a chest, a mine, goes up.
Hero 1 returns to the Castle, where Wolves are bought.
Day 3.
Hero 2 goes down.
Hero 1 buys everything in the Castle and transfers it to Hero 3, along with the Wolves.
Hero 3 goes left, up, to the Pigs. Hero 1 follows him.
Day 4.
Hero 2 takes the Castle of Magic.
Hero 1 transfers everything to Hero 3. Hero 3 defeats the Pigs and transfers everything (except the Wolves) back to Hero 1, after which he goes to the Barbarian Castle. Hero 1 follows.
Day 5.
Hero 2 goes up for some reason, takes a chest, defeats Goblins, takes a mine.
Hero 1 transfers everything to Hero 3. Hero 3 takes the Barbarian Castle. Hero 1 positions himself so that the Barbarian attacks him, and not Hero 3.
Warlock Hero 4 is bought in the Castle of Magic. He stays in the Castle (why? Probably to avoid accidentally taking a place in the top three).
Day 6.
Hero 3 seems to be standing in the Castle, buys Trolls there. And stands (why? Probably to let a few more opponents get ahead).
Hero 4, having bought built Druids, goes up and to the right to the Gazebo. On the way, he transfers the Druids to Hero 2.
Day 7.
Hero 3 finally goes left to the Knight Castle. With Trolls and Wolves.
Hero 4 goes to the Necropolis. Hero 2 follows him.
Day 8. A Hero 5, a Barbarian, is bought in the captured Barbarian Castle. With Trolls and Wolves, he goes to Hero 3.
Hero 4 goes to the Necropolis (to the right).
Hero 2 follows him.
Hero 3 goes to the Knight Castle.
Day 9.
Dedicated to VDV_forever.
In the main Castle, we buy a Warlock hero, give him Wolves, and go to the right, defeating the Archers. The goal is to collect Mercury (it would have been better to start thinking about this on day 4. Or at least on day 5. Well, at the latest on day 6).
Hero 4 goes to the Necropolis, reaches +1 magic power, and visits.
Hero 2 follows him, having previously transferred 3 Druids.
Hero 3 has a Knight hero and goes further to the Knight Castle.
Hero 5 follows him.
Day 10.
Hero 2 transfers 21 Goblins to Hero 4.
Hero 4 has a Necropolis hero, and then the Castle. The sum of the parameters is 11 (I was still hoping that this would help...).
Hero 5 transfers troops to Hero 3. Hero 3 has a Knight hero, and then the Knight Castle.
A number of heroes are bought to capture Mercury, 2 markets are built, and the remaining resources are exchanged for Mercury. What a mess, what was I thinking on days 4-6, when I could have finished the game on day 9?
Hero 3 is dismissed (blocks the exit from the Knight Castle), a Warlock is bought in the Knight Castle and catches up with the last Knight hero.
Game over.

It's important to gather as much gold as possible and build as many heroes as possible to gather more gold, and... well, it's obvious.
On the first day, I focus on 4 heroes: 3 Barbarians and one Sorcerer. The choice is obvious, as I need my own army, scouts, and flying units to deal with archers.
The first and second days are spent clearing my territory (no need to explain how to kill fairies and archers with minimal losses, especially peasants).
On the third day, I attack the Hog Orcs on the northern road with a Barbarian army (including wolves). The others gather resources.
On the fourth day, I exchange everything for stones at the market to build Trolls. With one Troll, I break through the Hog Orcs in the west and south. With him, Ergon goes to the Sorceress. And Barok prepares to go to the Knight.
On the fifth day, Sundax with two Trolls and a Goblin (!) runs to the Necromancer. Crag Hack delves into the Barbarian lands to buy Thieves before the Barbarian does. The others advance along their routes.
On the sixth day, we buy Thieves and kill the main Barbarian (a lot of troops remain). Ergon defeats Orcs and Centaurs – experience is urgently needed, or rather, defense. Sundax gains experience and defeats the Hog Orcs. Barok is close to the Knight's lands with 2 Gargoyles (on the move), and Finneus drags the remaining army behind him (without Ogres).
On the seventh day, at night, the powerful Sorceress couldn't reach Ergon, and he gained 500 experience in a chest (+1 defense!) and only then managed to defeat 3 Druids in the Castle. We'll stay there. Crag Hack runs to the empty Barbarian Castle. Sundax increases his magic power and defense right under the Necromancer's nose. Barok doesn't reach the Knight's Castle on his turn, but blocks the entrance to it.
A hot night on Monday.
The Sorceress is defeated near her Castle (the amount of luck in the enemy army depended on the starting position of the Troll on the second square and the left tower; by the way, there are 44 Thieves in it, not counting everything else).
The Knight is defeated by Barok (27 Fairies and a starting hero, but with 106 Peasants, he's also a good opponent).
Miraculously (and with something else), Sundax withstands the Necromancer's onslaught, preserving both Trolls. The Necromancer has 4 Mummies, 22 Skeletons, 21 Fairies, and 10 Zombie Mutants. In addition, he has Haste and Blessing. It was important to divide his army between the two Trolls so that the regeneration of both would work. And not to let the Skeleton get close, as it dealt 40 damage. The Mummy and Fairy (of which there were 4 left) attacked the upper Troll, and the Zombie – the lower one. The Skeleton remained waiting at the top, as it didn't know who to attack. The upper Troll sits in strong defense, so that the lower one can defeat the Zombie before the Mummies finish off the upper one. After all, we need to shoot at the Skeleton. The battle is won.
On the eighth day, we take the Knight's, Necromancer's, and Barbarian's Castles. The last two are unguarded, but the Knight was prepared. 3 Cavalry and 4 Swordsmen behind the walls are a big problem for 10 Centaurs, 3 Gargoyles, 23 Goblins, and 10 Orcs. The tactic is to lure them out, as a simple barrage through the walls is unlikely to help. The Castle is taken.
On the ninth day, we chase the fleeing heroes. The problem is that the Necromancer ran all the way from the Fort to the eastern gate, and the Sorceress, out of fear, fled two squares east. The Barbarian hero wanders through the desert and somehow defeats Spearmen with his starting army. But scouts sent in advance the day before catch up with them.
By the way, the last one to be defeated is the Barbarian; I put him in the save, and the coolest Sundax (with a total of 11 parameters) surpasses him. But let's not upset Alex_R and Maximixa, as they have become so accustomed to their prize-winning places. After all, this is my mistake, and I definitely do not claim a review of the results. Everything is fair.
Good luck to everyone!