Swordsmen with a speed of 5 and Pikemen with a speed of 4 were both slower than Marksmen with a speed of 6. Therefore, this round became Wayne's turn to act first.
In truth, once the flying units were gone, the battle held no suspense for a veteran like Wayne.
In Heroes III, most players didn't prioritize the "Ballistics" skill, which was used to control the catapult and increase its accuracy and power. Under normal circumstances, even with decent luck, it would take several turns to smash a hole in a wall.
Wayne's three stacks of split-up Halberdiers were already lined up in front of the city gate. If a section of the wall was breached, they could move to block the gap immediately.
Hudson, looking at his screen, was nearly in tears. "Bro, what am I supposed to do? No money, no troops—how am I supposed to keep playing?"
In Heroes III, the "Surrender" and "Retreat" options were specifically for escaping when a battle was unwinnable.
"Surrender" could only be used in battles with an enemy hero. It required paying a sum of money based on troop losses to let the hero flee back to the main town's tavern, where they could be rehired with their remaining troops intact.
"Retreat" cost no money, and the hero would also return to the tavern, but they would be left with only a single unit.
Another crucial function of these choices was to save a hero who had been painstakingly leveled up, along with any artifacts they were wearing. Once a hero was completely defeated, their troops were wiped out, the hero disappeared, and their artifacts were captured by the opponent.
"I'm not giving up!" Hudson shouted, ordering his Swordsmen and Pikemen into defensive mode to minimize damage, hoping to hold out until the catapult finally broke through the wall.
Wayne monitored Hudson's battle out of the corner of his eye, but his main focus was on Little Tess.
Her side was going even smoother than expected. She had used Solmyr twice to cast Chain Lightning on Hudson's reinforcements while carrying only a single Halberdier. Ironically, Hudson—with Hicks's help from screen-peeking—had tried to copy Wayne by splitting his Pikemen and Swordsmen into two stacks each to protect his Archers.
He didn't realize that by grouping his units closer together, he played right into the hands of Chain Lightning...
After two electrical discharges, a cautious Hudson—under Hicks's frantic warnings—realized his "ally" on the other end was also being wiped out.
With that, the two-pronged pincer strategy of the two factions completely collapsed.
Although they had repelled the enemy without losing troops, hiring tavern heroes just to cast spells had cost them some gold.
Little Tess was summarizing the tactics she just used and couldn't help but ask Wayne: "Boss, if they had used magic on me before I could hit them, wouldn't I have been at a disadvantage?"
"If they were veterans, yes," Wayne replied. "But they really don't know how to play yet. The hero Tyris comes with the 'Tactics' skill, which allows you to rearrange unit positions at the start of battle, but he skipped that phase entirely... it shows he still doesn't understand many parts of the game."
"Against experienced players, what we did would be risky. You'd need to field a unit with a speed higher than all enemy troops to ensure you cast your spell first. There are units in the game that are cheap and fast—perfect for 'hit and run' magic tactics."
"Also, sacrificing a hero like Solmyr isn't usually cost-effective. But against these beginners, it's a guaranteed win."
"Even if they realized they could use magic and killed your single unit with their first move, their mana would be depleted. Their heroes are only Level 3 with a Knowledge attribute of 2, meaning they only have 20 mana. Using 5 mana before the final showdown just to kill one basic unit isn't a bad trade for us at all."
After that battle, Hudson and Verdan's early-game economy was crippled, their forces were heavily depleted, and the time spent marching across half the map to Wayne's base was time they should have used to gather resources and occupy mines.
Two weeks later, supported by a strong economy and a secondary hero exploring the map, Wayne's main town, "Camelot," had already built the "Cloud Temple" and successfully recruited two "Archangels."
On the other side, under Wayne's guidance, Little Tess used the "God-tier" heroes Orrin and Solmyr. Orrin led the Marksmen and Monks—the ranged units—with a few Halberdiers as meat shields, while Solmyr led the heavy hitters like Archangels, Cavaliers, and Crusaders. Using High-level Archery and Chain Lightning, they occupied Hicks's main town and turned the fields beneath Hudson's walls into a bloodbath.
Meanwhile, Amy and Jyssetta had been developing steadily in the upper-right quadrant of the map. Although they hadn't built a Capitol as quickly as Wayne, they hadn't participated in any wars, allowing them to clear all the mines, resources, and neutral mobs in their area.
However, they hadn't unlocked Archangels; they stopped at the Tier 6 unit, the Cavalier.
Another month passed in the game world. Wayne and Tess, each controlling three towns, had a troop production rate triple that of Amy and Jyssetta. Furthermore, their secondary heroes had cleared the underground layers for resources, giving them a massive economic lead.
Wayne handed over all his elite troops and artifacts to Little Tess and guided her in capturing the final two towns. The two of them secured the expected victory.
Wayne asked Amy why she hadn't unlocked Archangels. Amy told him that building the "Cloud Temple" required a massive amount of gems, crystals, and mercury. Medium-sized maps didn't have many mines to begin with, and the upper-right corner was particularly scarce. They couldn't save enough, so they spent the resources on upgrading the Mage Guild instead.
Wayne explained the function of the "Marketplace." There, you could not only trade gold for resources but also exchange resources for other resources. The more markets you controlled, the better the exchange rate.
After this beginner match, everyone in the room was clearly unsatisfied. People like Hicks even complained that Wayne was bullying novices.
Then, whether it was Jyssetta's suggestion or Little Tess egging them on, the seven of them discussed it and decided to start a new game. On a large map, the seven of them would team up to fight Wayne alone!
They had even planned it out: Little Tess, having just been trained by Wayne, would be their captain to coordinate resources and ensure organized development.
Wayne: "Isn't this a bit much..."
Little Tess: "Boss, just show us your real skill! Don't hold back!"
Wayne: "You just want to see me make a fool of myself, don't you..."
Hicks: "Boss, we really want to see how strong a veteran truly is."
Wayne: "You... you don't want to see my strength; you want to see me get beaten into the dirt..."
Verdan: "We'll be on the same team, so we can see each other's vision. We can share resources and troops!"
Wayne: "Right... so I can't launch any surprise attacks on you, can I..."
Hudson: "Old Mil, let's do it. Everyone is asking. Just bear with it and practice with us."
Wayne: "No way. Is it really fair for all of you to gang up on me?"
Verdan: "Mil, stop wasting time. Hurry up. I can't wait to lead my troops to... I mean, watch you lead your troops to fight me."
Wayne: "Fine. If I'm going to be bullied by a coalition, I need some incentive. Otherwise, I'll just enter the game and surrender immediately."
Hicks: "Tell us, what incentive do you want?"
Wayne: "I haven't thought of it yet. Anyway, it won't be anything illegal or immoral. If you agree, I'll play seriously. If not... I'm going to go watch a movie, and you guys can play solo campaigns."
The seven of them huddled and discussed. They collectively agreed that they had seen most of Wayne's tricks by now. With Little Tess's guidance and their combined strength, there was no way the seven of them could lose to Wayne alone. Agreeing to his request made no difference.
Wayne: "It's a deal then. You're a room full of adults; anyone who goes back on their word is a shameless coward."
"Come on! I'll host the room. Let's go!"
"If you're willing to die, I'm willing to bury you!"
Afraid that Wayne would pick a map he was familiar with, they chose a random map but set the size to "Extra Large."
However, because the routes in the underground layers were confusing and they worried Wayne might get assigned to the underground and ambush them, they chose a map with no underground and no oceans.
The seven of them had played two rounds with the Castle faction and understood it well, so this time, all seven of them chose Castle again.
As for heroes, Little Tess continued with Orrin. Under her suggestion, Amy chose Adela. After these two "God-tier" heroes were taken, the others chose average ones, but they now knew to avoid "trash" heroes with skills like Mysticism or Eagle Eye, or those with wasteful skills like Learning or Intelligence.
There was one exception. Wayne saw that Jyssetta, because there weren't many heroes left, had accidentally picked the male Priest "Rion." While this hero started with the useless "Learning" skill (which increased experience gain by a small percentage), his specialty was "Prayer," which was incredibly powerful.
Prayer was a Level 4 spell that increased a unit's Attack, Defense, and Speed by 2 during battle. Once the Water Magic skill reached Expert level, it would automatically cast on all friendly units. It was a top-tier buff.
Rion could further enhance the effects of "Prayer," making him a rare, highly useful hero despite starting with a "trash" skill.
But none of this was the most important thing to Wayne.
As the other seven finished selecting their heroes and starting bonuses, they were shocked to see that in Wayne's slot, the faction icon was black, clearly labeled "Necropolis."
And the hero he chose was a man with blood-red eyes, pointed ears, pale skin, fangs, a hideous face, and no hair—a man named "Galthran" who looked like a legendary vampire.
In his class description, there were four words that made the seven people's hearts turn cold, instantly reminding them of many terrifying historical events:
Death Knight.