Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death/Rise of the Necromancer

Sandro must fight his way past his old master and several other lords who want the artifacts he carries. Once in Deyja he will make allies and rise to the top of the Deyja hierarchy.

Target

 * Map size: medium
 * Enemies: 5
 * Difficulty: Normal
 * Start bonus: a scroll of Lightning Bolt OR 8 Walking Dead OR +2 Attack Skill
 * Level cap: 5
 * Loss condition: Sandro is defeated in combat.
 * Win condition: Defeat all enemies.
 * Starting town: Coldreign (Necropolis; has Cursed Temple) in the middle of southern edge of map

There is a road passing by the town, east-west oriented. Restart until Sandro has few Wights, few Walking Dead and pack of Skeletons. Assemble Armor of the Damned and Cloak of the Undead King on Sandro (in the beginning all components are in his backpack).

First week
Recruit two secondary heroes and give all their troops plus all available Skeletons in Coldreign to Sandro. Said road has at its western end an Ore Pit and at its eastern end an Sawmill; flag them. The secondary heroes uncover land and pick loose resources (from Treasure Chests take always gold). Sandro goes roughly north of Coldreign, flags a Sulfur Dune, two Gold Mines, a Graveyard. There is also a Cursed Temple to be flagged.




 * toward northeast there is exit to another minizone where Tan movements can be seen.
 * toward southwest passage to swamp is blocked by White Border Guard.
 * toward northwest there are two seers, Lynwood (asks for Sentinel's Shield) and Carsten (asks for Quiet Eye of the Dragon), and a Subterranean Gate (see image).
 * toward east there is a desert where Blue player base should be located (an Blue-flagged Ore Pit is visible); passage to desert is blocked by lots of Marksmen who are also guarding a Crystal Cavern.

At week's end:
 * Sandro, stationed in Coldreign (Castle, Town Hall, Mage Guild level 1, Necromancy Amplifier, Cursed Temple, Graveyard, Estate), has horde of Skeletons, lots of Walking Dead and lots/pack of other level 1 creatures.

Second week
Build Upgraded Estate, then recruit all Skeletons, Vampire Lords and put them in Sandro's army, who then goes eastward, kills those lots of Marksmen, flags the Crystal Cavern, then marches toward south until arrives at Castigare (Dungeon, Citadel, City Hall, level 1-4 dwellings) and conquers it, vanquishing the Blue player.

The secondary hero who stayed back in Coldreign defends it against siege by one, possible two, Tan hero(es).

Recruit a secondary hero to defend Castigare and flag surrounding mines; some Tan hero could attempt to retake it, by land or disembarking.

At week's end:
 * Sandro, somewhere between Castigare and Coldreign (level 5, Expert Necromancy; if Wisdom is offered, take it) has 10 Liches, horde of Walking Dead, 12 Vampire Lords.
 * Castigare - Castle
 * Coldreign - City Hall, level 1-6 dwellings
 * The secondary hero garrisoned in Coldreign has reached level 3.

Third week
Sandro gets from Coldreign all available Liches, Skeletons, Vampire Lords and Wights, giving all Walking Dead to level 3 secondary hero. Then he goes north until arrives at a Garrison, breaks through and conquers Fortune Keep (Rampart; Fort, level 1-3 and 5 dwellings), vanquishing Tan. East of Fortune Keep there is a Shipyard guarded by pack of Griffins.

At week's end:
 * Sandro - about 40 Liches, 25 Wights, 20 Vampire Lords, horde of Skeletons.
 * Secondary hero - level 3, horde of Walking Dead, lots/pack of level creatures.
 * Another two secondary heroes.
 * Coldreign - Capitol; all creature dwellings
 * Castigare - Castle
 * Fortune Keep - Treasury

Weeks 4-6
Sandro gets some more army from Coldreign, then goes from Lynwood the Seer northward alongside sea, clears Medusa Stores and arrives near a neutral Garrison guarded by lots of Pikemen, lots of Archers, pack of Griffins, several Swordsmen, several Monks and several Cavaliers. Instead of attacking it, he goes northward, passing through a pass to a desert, then marches to northeast until arrives at Rockwarren (Stronghold; Castle, level 1-5 dwellings; City Hall; Resource Silo) belonging to Green player, conquering it.

From Rockwarren Orange player movements can be seen toward northwest, beyond a mountain range (the only passage probably is through that neutral Garrison).

A secondary hero (not Necromancer, nor Death Knight) moves toward neutral Garrison with a strong army.



East of Rockwarren there is a Shipyard and an island with two Orc Towers. West of Rockwarren there is White Keymaster's Tent, blocked by Black Border Guard, and second Subterranean Gate (see image).

At end of sixth week:
 * Sandro - around Coldreign; has 3 Bone Dragons, about 140 Liches (two stacks), 25 Vampire Lords, 100 Skeletons, lots of Wights, 10 Black Knights.
 * that secondary hero near neutral Garrison - level 2, 5 Red Dragons, 50 Beholders, 30 Medus Queens, 60 Harpy Hags, 10 Manticores, 15 Minotaur Kings, 150+ Infernal Troglodytes
 * Green player is vanquished.

Weeks 7-8
Secondary hero breaks through neutral Garrison with minimal losses, then passes through another one flagged by Orange player and marches west until arrives at Hoddar (Stronghold; Castle, level 1-5 and 7 dwellings; City Hall) and conquers it, reaching level 5.

If an Orange player (Jabarkas) tries to escape through the two Garrisons, the secondary hero must pursuit and defeat him. From Hoddar toward north there is Purple player zone, on Lava terrain; there is a pass to this zone, but is blocked by Purple Border Guard.



That secondary hero with Dungeon army goes to north until Marletto Tower, then eastward until arrives at Purple-flagged Garrison (unguarded) and Winston the Seer (asks for Titan's Gladius). See image for location.

Ninth week and beyond
In order to finish this scenario there are two possibilities: The following constitute a sketch of actions to be performed:
 * attack right away Purple player through that Purple-flagged Garrison and defeat it (should have only 3 Devils and 8 Efreets), thus ending the scenario in ninth week
 * fulfill some quests to strengthen Sandro for the next scenarios
 * Sandro goes underground through first Subterranean Gate, then marches north until Death Gate (Necropolis; completely built, including Soul Prison)
 * flag Purple Keymaster's Tent located on an island east of Fortune Keep
 * flag Black Keymaster's Tent located underground; to reach it, go through second Subterranean Gate and some winding tunnels
 * Green Keymaster's Tent is located is southwest of map, behind White Border Guard
 * seek Sentinel's Shield and Titan's Gladius; in return for these two artifacts, the visiting hero gets +13 Attack and +13 Defense