88 Halberdiers, 38 Marksmen, 22 Griffins, and 2 Cavaliers. This was the total force led by Valeska, the female knight and primary hero belonging to Verdan.
Seeing that Verdan had specifically split off two individual Halberdiers into separate stacks to act as meat shields for his Marksmen, Wayne couldn't help but inwardly praise Tess's instructional skills.
Verdan: "Miller is attacking! I'm so nervous!"
As he shouted in the team channel, the others immediately switched their screens to spectate the battle.
Valeska was an exceptionally strong hero for early-game expansion, easily ranking among the top tier of Castle heroes. Her specialty was Archers and Marksmen, boosting the stats of these units. She also started with Leadership to increase Morale and Archery to boost ranged damage. Upon being recruited from the tavern, she typically came with three stacks of 4 to 7 Archers each.
Once upgraded to Marksmen—who could fire two bolts per turn—they became the absolute core of the Castle's early expansion and a terrifying backline damage source in player-versus-player battles.
Verdan's teammates suggested he avoid a direct brawl with Wayne. Since Wayne's army had no ranged units—whether it was the Skeletons or the Dread Knights—they had to close the distance to deal damage. As long as Verdan protected his Marksmen, he could severely weaken Wayne's forces before they ever touched him, then clean up the mess with his Halberdiers and Griffins.
Their advice was perfectly sound, but Wayne, holding the initiative at the start, instantly rendered their logic moot.
The reason Heroes of Might and Magic III had remained a classic for over twenty years was that beyond the rich variety of units, skills, and specialties, it featured a vast array of artifacts and four schools of magic with distinct functions.
Under the combined influence of these elements, battle outcomes often differed wildly from what was expected on paper. The weaker side could achieve a complete upset, while the stronger side might suffer devastating losses.
At the start, Wayne was given the opportunity for the first move.
Both Dread Knights and Cavaliers naturally had a Speed of 9. As the attacker, Wayne normally would have had a chance for the first move in round one, but Galthran wore a "Ring of the Wayfarer" on his finger. This was a Class 3 artifact that granted all units in the army +1 Speed.
Consequently, the Dread Knights' Speed became 10, granting Wayne total initiative over the battlefield.
However, he didn't move his troops first. Instead, he opened Galthran's spellbook and cast a spell on the Marksmen whom Verdan had pinned his hopes on. A "pew-pew-pew" sound echoed as a piercing flash of light ignited around the Marksmen, yet it dealt no damage.
Then, the Dread Knights chose to "Wait."
Now it was Verdan's turn to act.
Hudson: "Miller isn't moving, so don't move either. Shoot him later."
"Yeah! Shoot him to death!"
Facing his teammates' cheers, Verdan was clearly feeling insecure: "Miller just cast a spell on my Marksmen, but I have no idea what it does."
Amy asked: "Which spell? Is there a display?"
Verdan: "It's called 'Blind.' Does Tess know what this does?"
Tess scratched her head: "I don't know either..."
Jyssetta was the quickest to react: "I found it in my hero's spellbook! The effect of this spell is..."
Before she could finish, Verdan started cursing: "Damn it! My Marksmen can't move! Their turn was just skipped!"
Jyssetta: "...They are unable to act for a number of turns equal to the opponent's Spell Power... or until they are attacked..."
On the battlefield, once the Marksmen were skipped, the turn returned to the Dread Knights who had initially chosen to wait. However, Wayne didn't choose to charge the Dread Knights straight across the field in two moves. Instead, he had them follow closely behind the three stacks of Skeleton Soldiers that were already charging forward.
Round one ended, and round two began.
With the bonus from the Ring of the Wayfarer and Galthran's specialty, the Skeletons' Speed had reached 6. After moving 6 hexes in the first round, they were still 8 hexes away from reaching the enemy.
This was when one of Wayne's favorite spells, "Haste," made its entrance.
With the boost from Expert Air Magic, Haste increased the Speed of all friendly units by 5.
This brought the Skeletons' Speed to 11, allowing them not only to reach the enemy but to maneuver around them for 3 to 4 hexes to position their attack.
The Dread Knights acted first, charging the two Cavaliers Verdan had placed on the outer edge.
The spectators watched as the Dread Knights urged their blood-eyed undead steeds forward, trailing a wake of black mist as they galloped toward the Cavaliers. Then, a slender scimitar appeared above the Cavaliers' heads and sliced down through the air!
The Dread Knights struck, triggering a Critical Hit. Verdan's two Cavaliers, along with their horses, were cleaved in half, turning into a pile of bloody corpses on the ground.
88 Halberdiers, 38 Marksmen, 22 Griffins.
The gap was opened, and the Skeleton army swarmed in.
The first stack of 131 Skeletons reached the Griffins. A single strike dealt 252 damage, killing 12 Griffins.
The Griffins retaliated immediately, but since Valeska's Attack and Defense stats were inferior to Galthran's, the 10 remaining Griffins only dealt 58 damage, killing 9 Skeletons.
Then the second stack of 120 Skeletons stepped up. Verdan could only watch helplessly as his Tier 3 Griffins and Wayne's Tier 1 Skeletons traded in a humiliating ratio of 22 to 9.
The third stack of 120 Skeletons arrived. Ignoring the two single-unit Halberdier "fodder" stacks, they went straight for the main group of 86 Halberdiers.
The attack dealt 227 damage, killing 22 Halberdiers. The remaining 60 Halberdiers counter-attacked, dealing 133 damage and killing 22 Skeletons in return.
It was Verdan's turn again. He frantically asked what to do in the channel.
Everyone was at a loss. They never imagined Wayne could reach them so quickly, nor that these unupgraded Skeletons could possess such devastating lethality.
In their understanding, higher-tier units were naturally stronger. This was why they had believed Wayne—with only 4 Dread Knights—couldn't possibly withstand the rain of arrows from the Marksmen.
Finally, Amy suggested checking the spellbook for any magic.
CRACK! A bolt of lightning struck down. Verdan indeed cast a spell. He chose "Lightning Bolt," which had left a deep impression on him during Wayne and Tess' previous hit-and-run tactics.
However, he targeted the Dread Knights.
The lightning dealt 110 damage. Since a Dread Knight had 120 Health, their number didn't decrease—there were still 4...
Verdan's mentality was beginning to collapse...
With his Griffins dead, his Marksmen uncontrolled but neutralized, and his two fodder stacks possessing no attack power, leaving only one stack of 60 Halberdiers capable of attacking, he felt he had wasted his once-per-turn magic opportunity...
"Damn it! I don't care! I'm going in!"
He let out a roar, commanding the Halberdiers to swing their great axes at the Dread Knights.
Against the Dread Knights' base Defense of 18—comparable to a Tier 7 unit—the strike only dealt 71 damage, though it did finish off the wounded Dread Knight from before.
The 3 remaining Dread Knights counter-attacked. This time they didn't trigger a critical...
Round two ended. The current forces stood at 53 Halberdiers and 38 Marksmen against 340 Skeletons and 3 Dread Knights.
The battle had shifted from a supposedly even match to a complete foregone conclusion.