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Hand-written Russian version.
original text
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Deeper article with inline citations: Fulton's newsletters, the nine revealed factions, funding and the end; no manual Sources list.
original text
<p><strong>Fanstratics</strong> — from "fantasy, strategy, tactics" —
was an independent fantasy
strategy game by <strong>Gregory W. Fulton</strong>, lead designer of Heroes of Might and Magic III<span class="wiki-cite"
III
data-cite-url="https://heroes3wog
(
.
<em>The
net/fanstratics-heroes-3-spiritual-successor-in-dev-by-gregory-fulton/" data-cite-title="Heroes 3.5
Restoration
WoG
of
Portal (22
Erathia</em>
July
, <em>Armageddon's
Blade</em>
2020)">[1]</span><span
and
class="wiki-cite"
<em>The
data-cite-url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Fulton"
Shadow
data-cite-title="Wikipedia:
of
Gregory
Death</em>
Fulton">[1]</span>
).
.
It was meant as
a <em>spiritual successor</em> to Heroes III , but it
—
was
<strong>not</strong> an
a
official
Might and Magic game: it
used
an original world and
with
its own factions , deliberately "familiar but different"<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://homm.miraheze.org/wiki/Greg_Fulton/Fanstratics_Newsletters/1" data-cite-title="Heroes III Wiki: Fanstratics newsletter #1 (September 2020)">[1]</span>. Development ended in January 2025<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://homm.miraheze.org/wiki/Greg_Fulton/Fanstratics_Newsletters/45" data-cite-title="Heroes III Wiki: Fanstratics newsletter #45 (January 2025)">[1]</span>
.</p>
<h2>Gregory Fulton</h2>
<p>Fulton joined New World Computing in 1997, led the design of <em>The Restoration of Erathia</em>, <em>Armageddon's Blade</em> and <em>The Shadow of Death</em>, then moved to Westwood<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Fulton" data-cite-title="Wikipedia: Gregory Fulton">[1]</span>. David Mullich, hired the same day, recalled him working out the unit statistics with Jon Van Caneghem and leading the level designers<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/heroes-of-might-magic-iii-remembering-erathia-15-years-later" data-cite-title="Game Developer: Remembering Erathia 15 years later (David Mullich, 2014)">[1]</span>.</p>
<h2>History</h2>
<ul>
<li>Fulton first
began
spoke
working
of
on
the
independent
project
projects
in 2018
2018<span
and
class="wiki-cite"
presented
data-cite-url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Fulton"
it
data-cite-title="Wikipedia:
publicly
Gregory
Fulton">[1]</span>;
in July
June
2020 ,
while
David Mullich
it
told the
was
Talents
in Games conference about the
pre-alpha
game<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://gameworldobserver.com/2020/06/09/heroes-3-spiritual-successor-development" data-cite-title="Game World Observer (9 June 2020)">[1]</span><span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://heroes3wog.net/fanstratics-heroes-3-spiritual-successor-in-dev-by-gregory-fulton/" data-cite-title="Heroes 3.5 WoG Portal (22 July 2020)">[1]</span>
.</li>
<li>He caught COVID-19 in December 2021 and was left with lasting fatigue; artists left the project and the war in Ukraine cost it a candidate<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://heroes3wog.net/fanstratics-update-21-elven-centaur-art-mock-up-and-covid-update/" data-cite-title="Heroes 3.5 WoG Portal: COVID update (5 April 2022)">[1]</span>. In April 2023 he still insisted the game was in development, if slowly<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://heroes3wog.net/fanstratics-update-31-insidious-slime-and-is-the-game-still-in-development/" data-cite-title="Heroes 3.5 WoG Portal (13 April 2023)">[1]</span>.</li>
<li>His 45th and last newsletter, in January 2025, ended development: his illness was probably permanent and his chances of finishing remote; he would rather turn his recollections of Heroes III into a memoir<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://homm.miraheze.org/wiki/Greg_Fulton/Fanstratics_Newsletters/45" data-cite-title="Heroes III Wiki: Fanstratics newsletter #45 (January 2025)">[1]</span><span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://heroes3wog.net/fanstratics-update-45-end-of-development/" data-cite-title="Heroes 3.5 WoG Portal: end of development (8 January 2025)">[1]</span><span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://ixbt.games/news/2025/01/01/vedushhii-geimdizainer-geroev-3-otmenil-razrabotku-duxovnoi-naslednicy-homm-3fanstratics.html" data-cite-title="iXBT.games (1 января 2025)">[1]</span>.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Six resources — timber, ore, crystal, incense, quicksilver and gold<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://heroes3wog.net/fanstratics-update-6-allegiant-faction/" data-cite-title="Heroes 3.5 WoG Portal: Allegiant (2 December 2020)">[1]</span>.</li>
<li>Nine factions plus neutral troops, with room left for expansion factions; all nine would ship only if crowdfunding and Early Access went well<span class="wiki-cite" data-cite-url="https://homm.miraheze.org/wiki/Greg_Fulton/Fanstratics_Newsletters/3" data-cite-title="Heroes III Wiki: Fanstratics newsletter #3 (November 2020)">[1]</span>.</li>
</ul>
<tr><td>Allegiant</td><td>December 2020</td><td>grasslands</td><td>Castle</td></tr>
<tr><td>Stoutbluds</td><td>January 2021</td><td>wintry alpine mountains</td><td>Tower</td></tr>
<tr><td>Thornwood</td><td>February 2021</td><td>spring lands</td><td>Rampart</td></tr>
<tr><td>Necrotics</td><td>March 2021</td><td>dead lands</td><td>Necropolis</td></tr>
<tr><td>Krasadox</td><td>April 2021</td><td>arid desert</td><td>Stronghold</td></tr>
<tr><td>Zubhewen</td><td>May 2021</td><td>underground</td><td>Dungeon</td></tr>
<tr><td>Infernals</td><td>June 2021</td><td>volcanic lands</td><td>Inferno</td></tr>
<tr><td>Boggish</td><td>July 2021</td><td>swamp</td><td>Fortress</td></tr>
<tr><td>Chimerans</td><td>August 2021</td><td>runic lands</td><td>—</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Discussion: <a href="/forum/might-and-magic-universe/fanstratics/">the project's forum board</a>.</p>
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