Part 1: Level 1
UPDATE 1It's long.
23rd day of the month of the Raven, common year 632 posted:
To my great and munificent lord, King Ragnar, from his loyal cousin Lord Ironfist – Greetings.
Mu-nif-i-cent:
Adjective
1: Extremely liberal in giving; very generous.
2: Characterized by great generosity, a munificent bequest.
I didn’t know that word.
23rd day of the month of the Raven, common year 632 posted:
It has been thirty days since I crossed through the mysterious gate which opened in the Varnal Hills and thus found myself in this strange and uncharted land. I wish my dear lord and cousin, through this missive to dispel the ugly rumors about me, which I fear you might believe.
I was deeply shocked, dear cousin, by the attempt of the wizard Guthbert to slay you. I heard that upon the rack of pain, shortly after you had his arms torn from their sockets, that he cried out my name as the one who had paid him. Dear cousin, it has injured me grievously to hear that you believed him. You know my loyalty to you is undying.
Even though you took the hand of fair Ewine to be your queen, though I loved her dearly, still it is wrong to think I would wish harm upon you.
That wretch Guthbert must have forged my signature to the letter you found in his chambers. As for the satchel of gold bearing my mark, I know not how it came to be in Guthberts possession. I believe some dark enemy must have planted it to cast blame upon me for such a dastardly crime.
Please trust me on this.
This seems like a reasonable request considering the evidence.
23rd day of the month of the Raven, common year 632 posted:
I was sorely grieved to hear that you barons had set out to arrest me. I am deeply hurt to hear it being said that I fled like a coward up into the Varnal Hills to escape your justice. I was merely going on a hunting expedition, dear cousin – an innocent trip to escape the heat ofjusticesummer accompanied by a few trusted servants. The fact that I took my family jewels with me was simply to keep them safe, for there are always the problem of thievery on the part of servants while the master is away.
It’s much safer on the roads where there are no thieves or rogues. 23rd day of the month of the Raven, common year 632 posted:
How I came into this strange land is still somewhat of a mystery to me. While wandering in the Hills, I, and my few retainers, stumbled into a narrow pass on the borders of your realm. As we walked into the pass, a strange glowing light engulfed us for a moment. We turned to go back from whence we came, but an invisible barrier was now in place. Try as we might, we could not penetrate it.
So we continued on, passing out of the Hills down into a strange uncharted land. All seemed different in this new place. The sun is not like the red of our lands, but rather has a strange yellow hue.
Thus far all of my attempts at flying and lifting horses above my head have proven futile. The failed attempt at flying by Arthur has left a dent in our morale, future attempts will be made in more controlled circumstances. 23rd day of the month of the Raven, common year 632 posted:
It seems that objects do not fall quite as fast when dropped and the air holds more moisture to it.
We wandered for many days and found no trace of pillars marking boundaries, no rulers, or any hint of kings and laws. All was wilderness, untamed, and untouched by the hands of thinking beings.
Of course, my dear cousin, I immediately realized that here was an opportunity to extend your realm and win for you greater honors and treasure. Thus did I erect boundary markers and raised up your banner to lay claim to, in your name, all the lands as far as my eyes could see. Please accept this as a sign of my fealty and family loyalty and ignore any disparaging rumors about earlier events.
My dear cousin and liege lord, after wandering for many days I bethought it appropriate to try and return through the gate and inform you of my great discoveries in your name. I wished to bring word of my discoveries to you personally, before other barons tried to do so first. But my lord, the mysterious gate was still closed and I could not pass through it. This did I erect a pillar next to it, and shall place there this letter and those that I will write afterwards, to show my service to you in extending your realms. I shall keep you informed of my progress in service to you and your undying glory.
Please extend as well my most humble respects to the fair, gentle and lovely Queen Ewine. Tell her that out of loyalty to you I think of her each morning and night and wish her happiness at you side. Loyally, Ironfist.
Note the name of the hills. The Varnal Hills. The word V.A.R.N. should be familiar to people who have played Might and Magic (or read about the games). It stands for Vehicular Astropod Research Nacelle, which denotes a research vessel created by a race called the Ancients. This is one of the few hints as to where Ironfist came from. VARN-4 was the location of the first Might and Magic, however whether or not it was VARN-4 that Ironfist came from is never made clear.
More interesting even is that this is about the only hint/link in the games with regards to the SciFi background of the Might and Magic world. I didn't even know about the SciFi part until I read about Heroes3 Forge Town incident years after it had happened.
The other hint is his name. Might and Magic contained a Lord Ironfist that gave you several missions, the most notable mission compared to this game was to find lord Kilburn who is now a recruitable hero and sports a mustache that would make Mario jealous.
Nothing was ever made final on the matter, but as far as I can tell everyone agrees that M&M Lord Ironfist is not Heroes lord Ironfist. M&M Lord Ironfist is either cousin Ragnar, an ancestor or totally unrelated.
4rd day of the month of the dragonfly, common year 632 posted:
My dear lord, King Ragnar,
It has been more than a month since my last missive was sent up to where the mysterious gate was located. There my most trusted servant waits in hope that the barrier preventing our return dissipates and he may deliver my pronouncements of fidelity and news of your growing estates here personally. I have moved my headquarters a dozen leagues down out of the hills and into a fair valley filled with game, great trees and swift running streams.
Let's do some quick introductions to the town screen of Heroes1. The screen you have here is not one we'll be seeing in the main game, I made it in the map editor.
Towns have 2 states. Village and Castle. This is the village state. It only earns 250 gold pieces a day and you can't build anything until you upgrade it to a castle.
Our hero here is Lord Haart, doing his best impression of Lord
The world of Heroes of Might and Magic runs on several resources, which can be seen in the lower right corner:
Common: Gold, Wood and Coal
"Rare": Crystal, Gems, Mercury and Sulfur. (Unless you're Heroes 6 which only has Crystal.)
Gold is always required for building/recruiting. Rare materials are required for certain buildings and the highest level units. Coal and Wood are only required to build dwellings.
4rd day of the month of the dragonfly, common year 632 posted:
It is a curious place and at first I thought the lands were devoid of all those who walk upright and can speak. For days I pondered what next to do. I wondered if all around me was thus. And then on the seventh day after arriving in the valley, a wandering peasant came through the woods and I thought, here at last is your first new minion.
He looked a bit like Chuck Norris and his strength was an inspiration to all. 4rd day of the month of the dragonfly, common year 632 posted:
I tried to put him to work chopping down trees so that he might plant grain to make my bread for me, but he was recalcitrant, as are most peasants. Finally I deemed it necessary to lower myself to speak to him at length. We had here a great problem. My retainers, being men of the arms, of course could not be asked to work and our one peasant refused to labor. Though tempted to kill him (it seemed like a stiff breeze would do the trick) I realized we would starve next winter, if there is a winter here, if we did not reason with him.
I asked him where were the people and creatures I needed to serve me. He bargained long and hard for the secret, something I found distasteful. Finally I agreed to pay him if he would tell me the secrets of this place and reveal a way to bring in those who would serve me. He then gave me this cryptic answer:
“If you build it, they will come.”
I was angry at such a stupid saying and prepared to slay him and then he explained.
The following day I set the peasant and my men to building huts. It took some reasoning with my men to convince them that this was not peasant labor, but rather was the simple building of shelters in the same way that they would prepare an encampment. Even with this logical explanation many were reluctant to work beneath their station. I was forced at last to bribe them with some of my jewels to convince them of the dignity of what they had to do.
Lo and behold, on the morning after the huts were completed I awoke to find a deputation of peasants outside my tent, begging me for the right to occupy the homes that had been created.
I thought long and hard upon this before lowering myself to speak to them. I explained to them that by living upon the land I had claimed and living in the huts I had made for them, that they owed me the obligation of their liege lord. They were to cultivate the ground, offer a tithe to me and that the men were to serve in time of war. In exchange I would offer them the protection of my sword.
Protection, which they'll receive from me as I send them into battle. You know, this backstory to recruiting units amuses me. No, you don’t train units at their dwelling. You build the dwelling and they wander out of the woods to your doorstep.
4rd day of the month of the dragonfly, common year 632 posted:
They willingly accepted. Marks were made upon a piece of parchment and the agreement was struck. The peasants moved in that same day and began to work.
This set my mind to thinking and I asked the crafty peasant for more advice.
Heeding him, the next day I set my men to building huts of straw and huts of sticks. This cost me more money in payments, but that was offset in a small amount when I demanded of the peasants and received rent payments, even if it was but a few coppers.
I kept wondering, where did my money go and where did they get coppers? 
4rd day of the month of the dragonfly, common year 632 posted:
The huts of straw and sticks were finally completed and to my utter amazement goblins and orcs appeared from out of the woods, willing to serve me in exchange for the places of dwelling. We struck the same agreement as I had made with the peasants.
Although they will not be living with us for long since they smell funny. Despite what the letter says we can't recruit them from the same town, though this does at least explain the victory screen. (which I hope to show many many times)
4rd day of the month of the dragonfly, common year 632 posted:
Frankly my lord cousin, these seem to be foolish creatures who are in need of a leader and Hero to provide them with places to live. They seem not self-reliant at all but expect some form of liege to provide everything for them. I heard them exclaim that such a thing was their right and their ruler should provide to them all things. I gladly gave it to them and easily convinced them that I am their all-knowing leader. Now they are mine to use as I see fit, for they are fearful of losing what I have given them.
Thus I have started the building of a town, which we are considering naming after you. My only fear is that it will not become great enough to be worthy of the name. To ensure you would not lose faith we have chosen our family name, so that should the town fail all will think it was named for your humble servant. I cost much to begin, but even now a small but steady amount of money is starting to trickle back, for these creatures do have pieces of copper in their pockets, though I wonder who out there it minting the coins.
I will keep building all sorts of structures and I will see what else will come.
Please extend to Lady Ewine my warmest thoughts and tell her I have many fond memories of times I spent with her. She’ll know what I mean.
18th Day of the Month of the Unicorn, Common Year 633 posted:
Dear Cousin Ragnar,
It has been nearly a year since my last missive to you, but I have been preoccupied with many things. I should add that my messenger reports that the gate is still barred shut and no one may pass it. After some months he felt it necessary to cease his vigil. He told me as well that the last two letters I left for you atop the boundary pillar I erected have not been taken, but I shall continue to write you nevertheless.
Through my leadership and strength much has changed in this valley which I now control and have named the Valley of Ragnar in your honor. Where once forest stood, now there is a thriving town. I continued to build things, using all my wealth, but I know my lord that you will be pleased with what I have done to honor you, and that when the time comes you will pay me back the difference in what I have spent here so far. A full accounting of the cost is enclosed. All income has gone to maintenance.
As to the management of my barony, I felt it important to build the population of the realm first. Therefore, I set out to construct many different dwellings to bring under my banner a great host. With the building of a brick house mighty ogres came to live in the valley.
Apparently Ogres have much better taste and standing than most humans in this world. Peasant live in poverty in a thatched hut, meanwhile those Ogres get a fine brick house. Look at them being all superior with their fancy canes and hair. 
18th Day of the Month of the Unicorn, Common Year 633 posted:
When I commanded that a bridge be placed over the River Morglin, I returned there the next day to find a troll having taken up residence beneath it. As each of these creatures came I presented them with parchments to sign, recognizing me as their liege, which they gladly did.
Jep, that’s a trollface.
18th Day of the Month of the Unicorn, Common Year 633 posted:
Wolves are always worthy allies and they can scent trouble from afar, therefore I commanded that dens be made. The following day massive, intelligent beasts came out of the woods and offered onto me their service.
Next I sought men of skill. The peasants had spoken of wizards and such many times. With the digging of a well, to provide cooling spring water for the tempering of steel, a blacksmith and then a rank of pikemen came into my service. A field was then cleared and the grass cut short. Target butts were set up and archers appeared to offer their services. A tavern near the bridge was built and from within its rooms swordsmen drink their fill and have fun bloodying each other as they argue about dice and mates.
Only swordmen drink, pikemen aren't real men. Those pikes must be compensating for something! 18th Day of the Month of the Unicorn, Common Year 633 posted:
There are more plans afoot here as well, my lord. Even now I am building a most curious structure, tiny houses set up in the trees to rally the fairy sprites to my side.
Cottages near the side of the mountains are being hewn of stone so that dwarves will serve me, while in the woods I have been advised to set up targets so that elven archers may come to try their sport.
Apparently the Elves have an agreement with the archers. Any targets in the forest are theirs, all other belong to the archers. It’s a strange world that I find myself in. 18th Day of the Month of the Unicorn, Common Year 633 posted:
Once the elves and dwarves serve me, I am told that they will help to make such things as great stone circles for the pleasure of druids, fenced meadows for unicorns and fearful red towers for the mighty phoenix.
Already I have created a dwelling place for users of magic and one is now in my service. He is expensive though, my lord, for to master his spells is a costly process. My funds have run short and I have made the decision to let the arcane arts of magic wait. For the price of but one spell I can marshal a host of peasants. I remember as well the fool Guthbert, your court magician. He wasn’t worth very much if memory serves me well.
Don't pick the peasants you fool! Get the magic! Sell the peasants!
18th Day of the Month of the Unicorn, Common Year 633 posted:
Speaking of money I should point out to you the tens of thousands in gold that I have spent so far in this venture, which was started solely to glorify your name. My pockets are not bottomless, cousin, and though my servants now bring in some small income, still it is not enough.
Therefore, if you read this letter, I would ask of you to send more money to me, for after all this has become quite an expensive proposition. Your flag does not fly over this realm, cousin, without incurring some obligation in return.
Oh yes, I should add that I did erect a modest dwelling place for myself, which I call Morglin’s Keep. I have tastefully appointed it as befitting the honor of one of your servants.
Once the spring planting has been finished I plan to take part of my new host and go adventuring, for I am told that this land is vast and that if one looks carefully there are riches to be found and glory to be won. Of course, my lord, whatever I find shall be for the glory of your name.
Do send my best to Lady Ewine.
With that out of the way. Now watch the intro movie. This is not mine, I don’t know why but my version doesn’t play this cinematic masterpiece. It was uploaded by the people from celestialheavens.com, a Might and Magic fansite.
That movie clears things up doesn’t it? Don’t you just feel motivated to slay someone for Ragnar’s greater glory?
I need to conquer more land. According my chamberlain there is a town called “Gateway” not far from here. He claims that it is an important town and should we take it, it will greatly increase our strategic position in this land. It must be a huge and bustling metropolis, well guarded against any intrusions by well trained and blood thirsty men… I think I’ll send one of my knights.
Title screen, let’s get this game started.
Note how much the portraits here look like the portraits in the manual. Queen Lamanda is not amused.
Also interesting is the look of Alamar.
Compared to his later portraits, it looks like Morglin did a number on him after winning.
Scenario 1: Gateway
You have established a foothold in the new land. This small island is fiercely contested by three other factions, all vying to capture the strategic town – Gateway. The town is located in the center of the island, and so dominates its surroundings that the other factions will surrender to the lord that captures it. Beware the dragon guardian of the Gateway!
Day1:
Lord Ironfist doesn’t like fighting himself, so our hero for today is Ambrose who looks like he stepped in something.
Let’s have a look.
Ambrose’s stats are the same as those of every knight. Attack and defense are added to the attack and defense scores of your creatures, while spellpower and knowledge deal with magic which we'll deal with when we get some.
The two golden birds next to his stats are our morale. We currently get a +1 for being a knight hero and a +1 for having an “army” consisting of only human/knight troops. Like most things in games, the higher the better. High morale can cause units to get another turn.
Below that our luck. We currently have neutral luck. We can get both positive and negative luck by visiting sites and in addition we can find artifacts that provide positive luck. There are no artifacts that provide a debuff on your luck in this game. Luck is great since a lucky strike does double damage.
Below that, our Experience. Heroes level up as they fight or visit certain places at which point they’ll randomly receive a point extra in their stats. The odds however are weighted, knights are more likely to receive a +1 on defense. Barbarians are more likely to get attack, Warlocks are more likely to get spellpower and the Sorceress is more likely to get knowledge.
Our mighty army currently has 40 peasants and 4 archers. We have room for 5 different types of units and due to engine limitations I am unable to split up our horrific force of peasants into two stacks. Something that was made possible in later games.
Unlike in later games we have 14 generic slots for items. Yes, we can wear 5 pairs of boots if we can find them and by god won’t we look fabulous.
Now let’s look at our units.
The peasant is the level 1 unit for the knight town. They cost a whole 20 gold and are worth every penny if they would pay you that amount to work for you. They are unique in that they have a 1 for everything. Taking defense of opponents into account it means that peasants can do less damage than that you have peasants. Also, they remind me of Chuck Norris. Odds of being in our final army are zero. At least they breed like rabbits.
I do still often buy them and keep them as garrison. Archers
Archers are the knight town level 2 unit. 150 gold. They’re the only shooting unit we have at the moment which automatically makes them great...for now. They’re not exactly sturdy or fast. They have 12 shots available. If they run out, they have to use those tiny knives.
I didn’t say this yet, but the little grey block below the
It also has this nifty calender function. I wish my lock screen would look like that. All days look the same except the seventh day.
Our castle is just a castle and a thatched hut where we can recruit more peasants.
I don’t know who named the castle, but I’m not sure if it will give people a positive opinion of their soon to be king.
The starting dwellings of the town are randomized. During my tests I would occasionally get a town with an archery range built. Unfortunately I couldn’t continue with that game after I learned a valuable lesson concerning let’s plays and saving often. I am above save scumming.
(currently) 
All the stuff we can or are going to build. Some buildings have prerequisites. Here, have a flowchart to check it out.
Most towns have some prerequisites to building, but for the knights this is another problem. In most towns you build one level and the next level is unlocked. However the knights have to build two “useless" buildings, namely the well and the tavern before they can build their higher level units. Yes, I used quotes for useless, I will explain as we get there.
Also, apparently the knight castle can also be called the Farm Castle.
Our peasants take an age to get to the other side, so let’s build an archery range.
It pops into existence and people appear alongside it. You can’t see it on this screenshot, but the screen is animated. The water everywhere sparkles, the banners wave in the wind, the archers look around nervously to see if I´m watching and the peasants do what they do best. Nothing. It’s a nice touch.
Fortunately, you can see the motions on the following gif.
Anyway, we buy our units and…
Ambrose takes one step to the side
and we buy another hero. Clicking their portrait shows us what they have. We have a knight who looks like Teal'c without shaving and dental plan and Agar the Warlock. Warlock it is.
He comes with a free spellbook, but no spells.
We’re picking a warlock for multiple reasons.
One is that centaurs are shooters. Adding another shooter is great. Two are the gargoyles. Though not exactly strong, they are fast and are flying units. Flying is very useful since our peasants aren’t likely to see battle unless the enemy comes over to us.
Third reason is that he is a spellcaster, magic is pretty powerful as we’ll undoubtedly see.
The trade screen. Agar is going to give his units to Ambrose for “safe keeping”.
He keeps a single Gargoyle. Gargoyles are fast flyers and like in later games hero speed is influenced by the speed of the unit they are carrying. I need Agar to run for the gold and be part of the supply line.
Try as I might, you can’t trade spellbooks.
Look how happy Ambrose looks with his new army. 
Agar goes for the gold and the wood.
Ambrose goes to the hut where we recruit more peasants. Almost all units can be recruited on the map from dwellings, this includes units belonging to other towns. Level 1 units join for free, making them a good deal whenever. Higher level units still have to be bought. I always found it strange that the hut here looks like a real house, but within our walls they’re forced to live in straw huts. Anyway, we attack the goblins.
They are impressed by our army and wish to join.
“Wandering” stacks of units will either fight, flee or join with you upon making contact. They will generally flee or offer to join if you’re much more powerful than them. In addition, joining chance is increased if you have an army comprised of units from their hometown. Wandering is between quotes since the units are stationary, but the manual calls them that anyway. It's probably a hold over from its King's bounty roots where wandering stacks were actually wandering around the map. 
Look at our army! Also, look at our morale.
Creatures don’t mind working together, but too many different alignments adds a negative to your morale. For 3 alignments it’s -1 and for 4 alignments -2. You know, considering the relative strength of the knight town I wonder if the +1 to morale is an attempt at balance.
Welp, all out of movement points so let’s end this turn.
Day2:
First thing to note is the movement points of the two heroes. Agar has a lot more thanks to having a fast unit.
Ambrose gets the campfire and visits the little gazebo behind it. Campfires always give low amount of money and a random resource.
The Gazebo hands out a free 1000 exp points. Exactly 1 level.
He looks thrilled at his new power. We leave the treasure chest and move to kill some peasants.
Agar flags the Sawmill and grabs the coal and flags the mine. Flagging buildings means that you claim them. Sawmills and coalmines provide you with 2 units of their resource each day.
At home we build a Tavern. It increases morale during sieges, nothing helps a siege quite as well as drunk soldiers. Really, the only reason we build it is to get swordsmen. It’s not quite useless when you get attacked, but in this stage of the battle it is completely useless and a waste of a turn.
This gif also shows the magic of newer computers and older games.
Day 3:
We attack the peasants and it’s a horde! I didn’t talk about this yet, but army sizes get strange names to confuse us.
army sizes posted:
Few 1-4
Several 5-9
Pack 10-19
Lots 20-49
Horde 50-99
Throng 100-249
Swarm 250-499
Zounds 500-999
Legion 1000+
They want to fight, whatever will we do.
Unit order is decided by speed, followed by placement in the army. If I had 2 units with speed fast and one was at the top of the army and the other at the bottom the top one would’ve gone first.
Heroes1 and Heroes2 have a strange thing going on with flying units. While for other units speed determines the order in which they get their turn and determines their range of movement. For flyers it only determines when they get to go. Every flyer can go anywhere on the map at any moment.
The screen is a lot smaller than in later games only five hexes high and like 6 or 7 wide.
Our hero is
The peasants are slow, so let’s huddle around our archers and let them pick off these fear inducing foes from afar.
While we wait let’s see what the monsterdex has on the Gargoyles.
Gargoyles are pretty great. The level 2 unit of the Warlock faction, costing 200 gold. They are fast flyers so they get to go first a lot of times especially early game. Defense is great, but attack is a bit low. Great for blocking other archers. I always wonder if gargoyles are female. Look at that chest area. Or maybe that is my internet influenced mind and those are actually muscles to move the wings.
Centaurs are ranged units, shoot to kill!
Oh my god, where is that arrow going?!
While we enjoy their look of surprise, let’s talk Centaurs. Centaurs are the level 1 unit from the Warlock town. Costing an expensive 60 gold they’re pretty great. Their medium speed means they are quite fast and their 8 shots is the same as the archer. They are probably the best level 1 unit. The only downside is that it is a 2 size unit meaning they’re easy to block.
What the hell are you shooting with? Hollow point arrows?
The peasants have no idea what hit them!
The archers, afraid to be outdone by something that’s only half the man he is try their hand.
I love those expressions.
Next, EYEBEAM!
We need a dickpunching101 smilie.
Goblins are the level 1 unit for the barbarian town. Costing only 40 gold, they are the first example of what the barbarians are all about. Attack, attack and die due to bad defenses. Counting the level 1 neutral unit they are the fourth best unit, beating only the peasants in strength. Of course, one goblin is worth like 3-4 peasants, so that extra growth the peasants have on the goblins doesn’t mean a thing.
I’m not transcribing this fight. Nothing happens.
Peasant kill count: 0
Next another horde of peasants. They want to fight as well and it’s a repeat of steps. We didn’t even move from our starting positions.
Peasant kill count: 0
Agar gets the gold!
In Heroes1 it isn’t possible to boost the income of your castle unless you find certain artifacts. As such I will be picking gold. It’s 2.000 and 1.000. In later Heroes games it is possible to boost your income. In Heroes2 you can buy a statue for an extra 250 and in heroes3 and later you can upgrade your castle for more money.
We buy an armory and another hero. We now have hairy Teal'c and a guy with a really
name. He will probably be more useful in the long run so I pick him. He stays on the castle and we end turn. Day 4:
We buy a mage guild allowing us to buy a spellbook for Ambrose, maybe he can use it to right the table. In better news it also allows Agar and Wrathmont to learn spells.
Not a bad selection of spells.
Let’s see:
Bless: You’ve probably seen that unit damage has two value’s (unless you're a peasant). A higher one and a lower one, bless allows troops to always do maximum damage.
Curse: The exact opposite of bless.
Protection: Troops gain a +3 on their defense. Pretty good for a defensive people like us.
Wrathmont visits the Gazebo (+1 knowledge) and gets the gold (1.500). Agar visits the Gazebo (+1 spellpower) and heads home to learn spells.
Ambrose heads home to learn magic and get the gargoyles, centaurs and the swordsmen we bought. He leaves the peasants behind, they won’t help much
You probably won’t see a lot of screenshots of the Swordmen in action. They are incredibly mediocre. They are the level 4 unit for the knights. Costing 250, they are infinitely better than the knight level 3 unit which is why I made this first.
Don’t give me that look Ambrose, it’s only 500.
His next target are the archers at the bottom of the screen. They are guarding an artifact. It’s a medal and medals usually mean extra morale, so it should be good. Maybe we get lucky and the archers will join us as well.
Day5:
I see the enemies already gallivanting about in the center.
Fighting archers as a knight sucks. While we’re at the castle we buy a well so we can buy a blacksmith later. Earlier I called the well a useless building, this isn’t strictly true. The well increases the weekly population growth by 2. However in other castles I would wait to buy it until the seventh day since I prefer to get my units and go creeping as soon as possible.
Archers want to fight.
The flyers need to block the archers to keep our own archers alive. We cast our first spell, so let’s talk about spells. Unlike later games, Heroes1 uses the memorization system. Knowledge determines the amount of casts each spell has, after it has been cast that number of times it is gone. We cast and promptly forget the protection spell on our archers.
Spellpower determines the damage or the duration of the spell cast. That means this spell only lasts 1 turn.
Gargoyles move to block and attack the top three archers.
Our archers focus fire on the bottom two archers while the goblins and swordsmen
And we win, but lose two gargoyles and an archer.
Artifacts are always accompanied by a short blurb on how you get them.
We get a medal that increases moral and a campfire. (+400 gold +4 mercury)
Wrathmont parks next to the cottage and end turn. As useless as Peasants are, a legion of them at least make a good distraction so I always pick them up with the backup hero.
Day 6:
We buy a blacksmith and buy the pikemen. Ambrose remembers to cast bless, takes the pikemen and the goblins and heads to the gargoyles and the enemy. We leave our single gargoyle back home.
During the enemy phase I saw two yellow heroes die against their gargoyle guardians only for a third hero to beat them.
Unfortunately that sort of thing happens to fast to cap, that would’ve made a great gif. 
Anyway, Pikemen. They are the level 3 unit for the knights. Costing 200 in gold, their only good point is their sky high defense (for their level). Too bad their bad hitpoints still mean that they will be dying in droves. There is a special "rule" for the knights. Every next level of their units is almost twice as good as the previous for only a pittance more. Like with the swordman and the pikeman.
Also it is Pikemen and Swordman according to the manual.
Day 7:
We buy a jousting arena, buy the horses and give them to Ambrose in place of the goblins. This helps boost his morale through the roof again. Ambrose attacks the gargoyles.
Look at how multicultural our army is.
Anyway, we use the cavalry to block our archers from direct attack and we get a morale boost. So I ditch that plan and charge at the gargoyles.
Cavalry are the level 5 unit of the Knight town. They are fast with decent attack and are strongly affected by the bless/curse spell. They only cost 300 gold coins which is cheap compared to other towns. But what you pay is what you get is in play here. They also reaffirm the knight rule being a lot better than swordsmen for only 50 more. Unrelated, I have a fondness for cavalry attack sounds in heroes games in general. You hear a horse whinny in the distance followed by someone tossing a broom on the floor. And through the magic of Tindeck you can enjoy this sound as well.
The centaurs attack with, I’m not really sure. A piece of glass or something? It’s so tiny.
They actually survive thanks to some timely moral boosts.
The pikeman pike the gargoyles.
The swordmen…drop their sword?
Finally the Centaurs had a high morale boost allowing them another attack as well and they finished the Gargoyles. I don’t know how, but I managed to miss all morale boosts.
We set up our supply line and get ready for the start of a new week, without the protection of the gargoyles.
And we end the update here, it´s long enough as it is. So, what are your thoughts? This is my first attempt at an LP and there is always room for improvement. So if you have any comments positive or negative I would love to hear them.