Part 3: Level 2
Update 3:29th Day of the Month of the Aardvark, Common Year 635 posted:
Cousin,
It has been more than two years since I sent my last missive up into the hills to be placed near the gate where I first came through into this world. I am informed that my previous letters are gone but that no reply was waiting. I am not sure if you or a servant of yours found the gate and came through, or if thieves violated the boundary pillar placed there.
I embarked on my expedition to explore new lands and have endured two long and hard years of campaigning. At first all was uneventful, though by careful looking I found occasional deposits of rare metals, burial mounds containing treasures, and other such things.I also visited fairy rings and standing stones.
Wait, I can’t say that. That’s not very heroic. 29th Day of the Month of the Aardvark, Common Year 635 posted:
I also met strange and terrible creatures. Near an ancient graveyard I did battle with ghosts. I met wandering beasts with fearsome skills and bested them in single combat to the glory of my name.
29th Day of the Month of the Aardvark, Common Year 635 posted:
After wandering for many weeks I came at last upon another town.It had virtually no defenses and belonged to fair women of the magical arts devoted to the forests.
Wait, I don’t think Ragnar would be impressed when I tell him I beat up girl hippies. 29th Day of the Month of the Aardvark, Common Year 635 posted:
As I approached it the inhabitants barred the gates. They then climbed upon the battlements and made rude gestures. They made strange noises while sticking out their tongues and said many coarse and vulgar things about your lineage.
I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. 
29th Day of the Month of the Aardvark, Common Year 635 posted:
Of course I attacked them at once. At first I was thrown back, losing many of my peasants
29th Day of the Month of the Aardvark, Common Year 635 posted:
and some swordsmen. Then I laid siege to the place, having my men construct engines of war. The catapults I constructed finally cast down the walls of the town. I was tempted, since my honor had been insulted, to burn the filthy place to the ground and slay all within.
Before I could give such an order my advisor, formerly the old peasant and now an honored chamberlain, pointed out that I could turn the town to my use and wealth.
It was there that I discovered much about this land. The town I had thus taken was a barbarian town and was filled with creatures unique to such a place. There I brought into my service more orcs, wolves, ogres and trolls, along with a powerful cyclops. I found out as well that there are many other towns scattered about the lands. Some are towns of humans alone. Others are controlled by a sorceress and magical creatures reside there.
A few towns, which are hard to find, are ruled by warlocks and have within their walls powerful and dreadful creatures such as minotaurs, gargoyles and even dragons.
I am not yet prepared to deal with such and shall avoid these boroughs.
I found out as well that there are other kings who lay claim to all the lands and wage war. They have heroes of great skills in their service and I am warned now that my power is considerable, attention will be drawn onto me in an attempt to block the growth of my strength. It appears I have no choice but to act against others before they cause me grievous harm.
I plan now to go forth and seek out these other kingdoms, to humble them, and place your standard upon their battlement walls.
Say hello to Ewine for me and ask her if she still has that curious birthmark.
Iceburn!
Anyway, my wise chamberlain tells me about the importance of the water trading routes. If we conquer them, we’ll be able to move our armies around much quicker and cut off the enemy supplies. It’s too bad I get seasick, but I know just who can burn and kill them all. 
Your way to the mainland is blocked by the Archipelago of the Ancients, a series of four large islands, each held by a different lord. The opposition must all be subdued, and they are better led this time. Boats are a necessity – use them wisely!
Ancients? Better led? Boats? You know I never realized the significance of the mention of the Ancients until now. 
This is the new setting. A nice harbor town and our hero for today is none other than lord Kil
Lord Kilburn was a NPC and a quest giver in the first Might and Magic. He was an exiled knight in that game. He is also a recruitable hero for Heroes 1 and 2. Considering the reason Ironfist came here you would almost think the other Kilburn was related and exiled due to these events. Either way, Kilburn later died.
Our home is not the Thundercats planet, that's spelled Thundera. Hey look, the archery is already there. That’s nice.
I have it on good authority that boats are a necessity, as such we can build a shipyard. Shipyards can (logically) only be built on coastal towns, such as the one we currently have. I think most can confirm with me that you don’t get to build them very often in Heroes of Might and Magic 1-6.
Now I cheated a little bit. In most heroes games water contains a lot of flotsam and thus treasure. Thing is I wasn’t certain if Heroes 1 also had them since I couldn’t see any bobbing on the water along the coast, so I just played a few days with a boat and without saving. Does that count as save scumming?
Except it didn't really help me, I still don’t know what to do, do I build a tavern for swordsmen or build a shipyard for boats to go scouting. I think I know what I need to make a good decision.
Yep, problem solved. (Feel free to yell at me if you think I made the wrong choice) We buy peasants and archers and off we go!
Day 2
It’s national Shrek week. The nice thing about the new week is that my next hero will also have a starting army to go sail with.
Wrathmont, impressed by my ability to steamroll retarded AI has decided to offer his services again. I pick the Warlock again because, as always shooters and flyers make for a great combo. Much better than slow dwarves and flying hippies. (I actually love sprites and hated Heroes3 for removing them in the base game)
We also buy an armory, swordsmen and all the archers. We’re just short of an entire army, I have a feeling I’m forgetting something...meh
Oh right, a boat. I already built something in my infinite wisdom so I can’t build a harbor. Maybe I should hire a sorceress next time to get the water movement bonus.
Oh well, Wrathmont spends the time by going after the treasure chest. +1.000 gold. We also find a horde of peasants protecting a passage to the other side. (you can see their trident near the edge of the screen) Seems like perfect practice for Wrathmont.
I forgot to save.
Every shot killed a stack.
Meanwhile Kilburn heads further up and encounters another group of peasants.
Day 3
Kilburn goes camping. (+500 gold +5 wood) Meanwhile people with at least one working eye have probably noticed the compass artifact. My many years of Heroes gaming tell me that this will probably help sailing somehow. I want it, preferably before I go sailing. Unfortunately it’s guarded by archers and as I’m totally above save scumming I’m not going to try and get them to join. Instead I’ll build an army and flatten them. I have to impress Wrathmont (and Ragnar) somehow.
Is there no end to them?!
Wrathmont goes exploring further.
He finds another town, or village more accurately. It’s a knight village.
Day 4
Kilburn takes the sawmill and the logs and heads to the cottage. We almost have an army worthy of mention.
Meanwhile. Wrathmont heads to the cabin. I don’t remember what’s in there, but I probably want it and there are crystals next to it. I need crystals to build a cathedral for our ultimate units.
I thought so.
In the snow we can’t move as far as we normally could, so that’s about all Wrathmont does. Back home we build a blacksmith.
Day 5
There is a lot of stuff in the screenshot here. You may have noticed obelisks in earlier screenshots. Wrathmont is going to get one now which makes this the ideal moment to talk about it.
There is also a shipwreck in the lower right corner. I’ll probably go in there to commit suicide at some point.
And finally there is a portal here, maybe a way home?
Obelisks are a holdover from King’s bounty. Every obelisk gives you piece(s) of a puzzle forming a treasure map. The map shows a place somewhere in the game, which it marks with an X. Find the X, dig a hole and find the ultimate artifact. There are 4 ultimate artifacts that you can randomly get, each one gives you a +12 to a stat. Needless to say, this is great.
The second heroes keeps it the same, but adds 3 more artifacts to the mix two of which add to all stats and one is a golden goose.
In the third heroes the ultimate artifact is replaced by the holy grail which provides a special game breaking building once you get it to your town.
In the fifth and sixth heroes the ultimate artifact becomes the Tear of Asha, a fancy name for the holy grail. I think I prefer it the way heroes1 and 2 did it. You always get attached to your primary hero and bestowing a mighty weapon unto him just feels great. It also adds more risk of losing it during battle.
In this game the map is animated, so the water moves. This doesn’t help much in narrowing it down.
Wrathmont spends the rest of his movement walking to the gargoyles near the sulfur mine. I’m leaving the portal alone for the moment.
Kilburn meanwhile picks up the gold (+900) and is out of movement points.
Back home we build a Jousting Arena.
Day 6
Lord Kilburn heads back home, but gets something else to drink for a change.
Wrathmont confronts the gargoyles. It’s a pack.
I wish I had spells, that would make this a lot easier. As things are now I park my gargoyles in front of the archers.
"BEHOLD! OPTIC BLAST!” 
In the first turn we lose some centaurs but nothing else. With the gargoyles having had their turn it’s our turn to shine. Centaurs go first. I have them attack and realize I probably shouldn’t have.
The swordsmen do great by the way, killing a gargoyle every blow and taking only 2 damage in return. I was counting on them to carry me through this battle.
Now, their moment to shine.
Look at that hate filled face as they lightly tap the gargoyles and… kill one?
Peasant kill count: 1
Archers fire and kill another gargoyle.
I decide my gargoyles hang back and do nothing but block the archers. Their attacking stats are quite low and I'd prefer it if they blocked the archers for as long as possible. If they attack now, they'll incur a counter attack decreasing their HP and shortening their life as a blockade.
A part of the strategy of these games comes from the fact that all units (except one) have only one retaliation. In general every unit incurs a counter attack when they attack during melee, the exception to this rule are the Sprites, Rogues and the Hydra. This means you can use two different tactics.
One is to have a weak unit attack before a stronger unit to soak up the counter attack. Sure they will die, but your stronger unit remains in full health. Pretty much the only reason to do this, is if the stronger unit has already taken damage and you don't want to lose him or if you have which nothing at all (peasants).
Alternatively use a stronger unit to soak up the counter attack leaving the weaker units to attack without fear of retaliation. During this fight I'll be having the swordsmen attacking first leaving the peasants to fight longer. The swordsmen can take quite a few hits whereas the peasants will die if someone looks at them funny.
And then the centaurs died.
Peasant kill count: 2
They’re on a roll!
We will miss him.
Meanwhile, the swordsmen are getting hammered but are still holding on. For some reason they’re completely ignoring the peasants.
Their mistake.
Peasant kill count: 3
Hoping that no more die I have the archers do nothing. One does when the single gargoyle attacks. In later games you can gamble on this much better since they show how much HP units have left. The swordsmen finish the job.
Many were lost in combat. Wrathmont consoles himself near the campfire next to the gargoyles (+600 gold, +6mercury).
Back home we build a mage guild.
That is a crap selection of spells.
Let’s review:
Dispel magic: Exactly what it says. It dispels all magic on a unit, not really worth it when the go to spell of the computer is Lightning bolt. It might be useful if the computer blinds us, their second most favorite spell.
Curse: we know this one, this is ok. Not great, but ok. I would have preferred bless.
View mines: Displays the location and type of all mines. Since I'm not talking about explosive landmines, can you guess how useful this is going to be? Please state your answer in a scale of Peasant to Dragon.
Day 7
Wrathmont gets the crystal and let’s see what that breastplate is.
It’s the divine breastplate of protection which gives the wielder a nice +3 on defense. That’s a pretty solid increase.
Kilburn returns home and we end turn. I’m saving my money for a good cause, I need to build my good karma and I hear you can buy Gods affection.
Day 8
Wrathmont gets 2000 gold from the chest at the best possible time.
Meanwhile back home we donate our money to church. This allows us to recruit the ultimate knight level 6 unit, the Paladin. Time to start killing.
Lord Kilburn buys an army and heads out to attack the archer stacks we left alone earlier. He leaves a mighty force of peasants behind to defend the castle.
Day 9
This is bad. During plague weeks we receive no new units in our dwellings, in addition any non bought units are halved in amount. In later games this also affects wandering units, it unfortunately doesn’t in this game.
I didn't buy all of the pikemen yet, and with this their numbers are halved.
Wrathmont gets another obelisk and attacks Woodhaven.
I wish I had remembered to put my swordsmen at the top of the screen.
Run!
My archers are goners. 
Despite the blockade made by the peasants my swordsmen still attack the archers. This goes on for a bit until my peasants reach the other side, at which point the balance of power swings heavily to my side.
They immediately get to work.
Peasant killcount: 36
Like I said, this goes on for a while, two left.
And guess who finishes the job.
Peasant killcount: 38
Screw the paladins, I have peasants!
Level up for wrathmont, spellpower +1.
Welcome to Woodhaven. Wait...all that trouble for this? At least I can replenish the army with more peasants!
Thanks to a friendly goon called Cuc I can now offer you the soundtrack belonging to the castles. Please enjoy, they are really quite good.
We’ll get right on that, as soon as I find a gold mine or something.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the island, Kilburn attacks the archers guarding the compass.
Showing how much superior I am to most animals I don't make the same mistake twice and actually remember to reposition the units.
All my preparation for naught! Am I allowed to complain?
+30 archers…Nope never mind me.
I move to get the artifact and of course things wouldn’t be that easy. Let’s take the paladins for a test drive.
We let them have the first turn and the paladins wait.
The cavalry immediately goes to work. The pike men can’t reach anything, so I have them wait.
Rogues are fast attackers and I managed to miss their attacks. They did 6 damage to my paladin. He strikes back.
Yes! The knight ultimate unit. Clad in golden armour while shouldering that massive blade they strike fear into the enemies heart...twice. These Olympic sprinters can keep up with the cavalry in speed, but quadruple their damage thanks to the skill and almost double their HP. This is the ultimate show of might for the Knights. What could possibly stop me now? Well how about all other level 6 units (though I'm not sure about the barbarian Cyclops) and some level 5 units.
For comparison let's have a look at the stats of the strongest unit in the game.
Go team? At least they're much cheaper. And you know what, despite their short comings I just can't help but have a soft spot for them. What's not to like about a giant sword and that sound they make as they sprint across the battlefield.
And with this you’ve seen all two frames of attack the cavalry has.
The last guy dies to having 40 arrows stuck in his body.
It’s even better than I thought, it improves movement on sea and on land. Look out world, we’re coming for you! (+14 wood +1.000 gold.)
Kilburn, bolstered by his success moves to attack the other archers.
Day 10
See the effect of the compass.
They didn’t want to join our merry band.
Everyone runs to the center while the enemy takes aim. The paladin runs ahead. George the lone pikeman can’t run nearly as fast as the others and is left in the dust. I wish I had haste. I wouldn’t use it on him, but it would save me some archers.
Each shot kills an archer.
The paladin bludgeons the enemies with his sword. It looks like the archers will survive, but remember that he hits twice. They don’t survive. This does immediately highlight a problem with the paladin. They need to survive the counter attack to do their second strike. That’s no problem in this case, but it could be later on.
Now you see them,
Now you don’t. Going through this old game, I can't help but start to like that death cloud. I don't know why, but it somehow appeals more to me than the way units are hit in later games.
Victory tastes like an obelisk. That sounded like something from a bad porn movie.
My keen intellect tells me that the artifact is hidden on an island somewhere.
With that, Kilburn heads home.
Wrathmont picks up the resources he finds lying around (+6 mercury) and gets to the cabin.
Dwarves? At least they joined for free and they make great garrison units.
Back in Tundara, we buy a shipyard. I mentioned that I don’t hear any music right? This game does have working ambient sound. Depending on where you are you hear different background noises. Near the sawmill you hear them sawing, near the mines you hear a pick axe and near the ocean you hear this. Guess what I hear most of the time on this map. This is starting to get on my nerves.
Day 11
Wrathmont picks up the gems (+6) and the mercury (+4) and heads to flag some mines. I’m a bit lazy flagging mines since we only need it for the mages guild.
Kilburn returns home and we’re short the wood needed for a boat. So we wait and end turn.
Day 12
Wrathmont claims the sulfer mine and heads to the left side for gold and a crystal mine. Kilburn waits.
Day 13
Boat time!
I shall name thee, the Solaris!
Do you see the grey flag thing on top of the sail, the moment someone enters the boat it takes on the color of your faction. A nice little detail.
And you know what, with us getting a boat and our second town I have decided to end the update here. It’s long enough I think. Next time we fight more enemies and hopefully overthrow the others.