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Update 7: Level 3: Save the Dwarves!
So this is an interesting update, though not for the reasons that I like my update to be interesting. Read my thoughts on it at the end.
Day 1
The start of a new map, time for some guys in metal pants.
Wouldn’t it have been prudent to consolidate first and wipe out later? In this game it seems more productive then just splitting up your forces from the word go. 
Hey look, the kingdom overview is being useful.
So we have three heroes with the most powerful armies Roland was able to muster. When Roland comes to your aid you know you’re saved. The three heroes are none other than Ambrose, Dimitri and Gwenneth.
Gwenneth is new to Heroes of might and magic. Dimitri and Ambrose however are veterans from the first game.
Actually, seeing Gwenneth again made me realize how gender fair the Heroes of Might and Magic games actually are. Heroes 1 doesn’t have a lot of women, just the properly dressed sprites and the entire sorceress faction. However in Heroes 2, did you know for example that the archers/rangers are female? I never even noticed until many years after I first got the game. Sure they have long hair, but even men can have long hair. I never realized it until the LP, but the trolls in game are possibly also female. At least the artwork of them in the manual is. Meanwhile, there is a complete faction composed solely out of women and none of them appear dressed in battle thongs based on what we can see in the portrait or the generic hero on the battlefield. There are female knights and barbarians with varying states of beauty.
For comparison, Heroes2 shares it's release year with games like Duke Nukem 3D. Not the same genre I know, but still.
I personally slide Heroes3 slightly lower on the scale, due to the depiction of Queen Catherine and possibly the nagas and the pegasi. Everything else is still really subdued, even the genies (though it’s a bit weird that the upgrade makes them male) and really I don't find the nagas all that bad. It’s not like they’re defensive tanks. Let’s not forget that each faction has plenty of male and female heroes and while female barbarians ride around in battle bikinis, male barbarians ride around in battle loincloths. Equal opportunity reigns supreme. Have you compared sprites (the unit) throughout the games? It wasn't until Heroes5 where they suddenly go anime naked on us.
Ubisoft introduced the anime nakedness, but even in this day and age it’s still being very fair. (also, spidermonster tits!) Just look at powerful female leads like Anastasia, Irina and even Isabella. The first two are even proportioned like real women while Isabella in all her artwork looks ready for battle in full armor. The only real exception is that everything that’s evil is immediately scantily clad, look at the dungeon and demon factions. But yeah, sex is evil.
It's really something that isn't appreciated enough.
Ahem, anyway about Dimitri,
He didn’t age much, but he did manage to find a castle under the protection of several scarecrows to pose in front.
Ambrose still has the weirdest expression on his face, but in light of his services he received some awesome plumage on his helmet. Also a nice mountainous backdrop to pose in front off, well either snowy mountains or the sea. It’s a bit hard to tell.
Meanwhile, you may have noticed that I make 2.250 gold each day. That’s because in addition to having a castle we now also have 5 villages. Each village has been decked out with at least a dwarven cottage. Two of them have upgraded cottages allowing the recruiting of battle dwarves. All of them have level 1 mage guilds and four of them have a tavern. The last village probably only has gnomes with fake beards, who ever heard of dwarves not having a tavern nearby. 
Dwarves being what they are have protected the villages, so all villages have some dwarves and/or battle dwarves protecting it. The villages can’t be upgraded, so there will be no phoenixes in my future. 
One of my villages is being watched by Ari. His army is a starting army, so I don’t expect him to attack a group of 10 dwarves and 5 battle dwarves, but who knows. His army does have a hero backing it up, so he does have an advantage.
Welcome to castle Dwarfhall, home to the humans who have come to the dwarves aid. We also find 20 normal dwarves here. I assume that they did the remodeling of the castle to fit your choice of town. There is also a mage guild, let’s see what spells we can get.
That’s an okay start.
Mandigal is hired. His boars will help us with the scouting. Meanwhile his Halflings can help Gwenneth’s army.
There is a hillfort nearby! Happy day, I can upgrade my dwarves for free.
Gwenneth is on course to claim some resources, Mandigal will flag some mines and stuff.
I see that Dimitri is almost right next to the hillfort. How fortuitous.
So what am I to do with you? I think I’ll have you scout east.
That’s the third witchdoctor house I’ve seen this map, I guess I can make some really smart knights.
day 2
Ambrose is going to get the hang of this spell casting thing.
I’ll have one order of free Battle Dwarves to go please.
He visits the Halflings afterwards and is now going after the gazebo. I’ll give him a level and he’ll get some scouting experience afterwards. Maybe we can find some enemy villages to take over. I was actually planning on sending him after the Alchemist, but decided that I don't have a need for mercury. I'm a knight, all I need is loads of wood and ore and 30 pieces of crystal.
Indeed it is.
Gwenneth is on her way to get more battle dwarves, she can leverage them to do some proper fighting.
Day 4
Ari left, but he is now coming back despite his army looking the same as before. He’s probably after the resources.
At least there’s plenty of crystal for Ambrose to find. This should make getting paladins easier.
Nice on Dimitri, that's a find selection of skills.
Here’s a nice little tidbit. The path that I plotted is automatically changed when something gets in the way. It seems like such a small thing, but it’s important to notice. I have wasted many turns by simply clicking resume and watching my guys take the long way around. I’ll just have to move Gwen first.
Archery is going to be useless this map. Not that rangers are bad, it’s just that they’re going to be the only shooters I have. I’ll pick diplomacy instead. Young me never understood why it’s considered broken, so let’s see what happens.
Back home an armory is built. Tomorrow I could get rangers.
Day 5
I really hate slow units. It’s such a change of pace when coming from the previous map where your hero could cross large parts of the map in a single turn.
Let’s see how we’re doing.
Wood and ore are the most important resources for the knight. I’m currently 2 wood short of buying a jousting arena, which made me go check on the date before deciding on buying the ranger upgrade. It’s currently day 4 in game, so I’ll have plenty of time to replenish my wood especially since Mandigal is near my third sawmill.
Day 6
Hi Crodo! Give my regards to Ari.
PC Snob is playing the Warlock in his dimension, it amuses me that I’m fighting Warlocks here as well.
Money isn’t really an issue thanks to the villages, but let’s make sure I get as much as I can before I start upgrading my units. I may have to buy some dwarves to add more protection to the villages, though to be fair, it's not exactly a good investment. The dwarves won't have a hero to back them up, nor would they have castle walls to hide behind.
Maybe I should’ve bought some reinforcements also notice that my dwarves were cursed. When PC Snob or me try it, this will always fail. Cheating AI! 
I didn't use the dwarves on the previous map since I had genies instead. But dwarves are a really solid unit. Incredibly sturdy, with for the tier good HP and chance at outright resisting enemy magic. The only problem they have is speed. Very slow is terrible. Fortunately, if you upgrade them they get longer horns and more aerodynamic colors which improves their speed to a very workable average. They make a very good attempt at being the best second level unit in the game.
Curse is going to be a problem, but it's certainly possible to win this.
Lady luck and me are on good terms despite the enemy also cursing my battle dwarves.
He’s pretty strong.
We’ll defeat them by messing up those pony tails!
I don’t know if I should have my dwarves catch up to the battle dwarves or focus on the gargoyles. I think I’ll wait one more turn before they get to follow. I want to weaken the gargoyles as much as possible. Gargoyles are very sturdy second level creatures, but their offense is terrible, so a single gargoyle isn't much of a threat.
Run as fast as you can!
Justice is done.
That last gargoyle survived the retaliation.
And that was the last of them. Dwarves are amazingly sturdy.
Now let’s hope Ari doesn’t show up while I buy some normal dwarves to replenish.
Day 7
There we go. I wonder where Ari went, maybe he's studying the wildlife or something.
So where are all those villages I was supposed to save? I'm not finding anything interesting on this map so far.
An observatory, brilliant! Great job Dimitri.
It’s armyesque. I just want to get rid of the very slow units before she moves out.
Those wartrolls are guarding an instant magical knight upgrade. The fishhead to boost spell power and the scroll to boost knowledge. Very interesting for Gwenneth.
I wanted to buy a jousting arena, but apparently I have stuff for paladins, so let’s do that instead.
Day 8
I want to see dead people!
We immediately spot our first target. Dimitri should be able to take them.
I’m getting tired of aimlessly roaming around.
I see a bright future as a mule for you Ambrose.
Day 9
Suddenly enemy boat from nowhere! It's none other than lord Alamar himself, coming to avenge his loss in the first war.
You’ll notice the different color for the dismissed button. Guess what I’m doing.
Much better. Sure, they take hits just as well as peasants, but at least these things are fast and can actually attack.
I do so hope that they’ll land. I can steal their boat and they need another turn before they can move so my castle is safe either way.
Day 10
Now we’re talking.
If they won’t draw first blood, then I will! (Yes I’m ignoring the failed siege)
First round and we killed half of them. This should end well.
If only you could’ve moved that single step further.
One done, [number] to go! Why doesn’t Roland provide me with proper intelligence. Oh wait, I could just look at my seer screenshot, meh effort.
Ambrose is really embracing his calling as a mule.
Day 11
I’ll take one boat to go please and leave your artifacts at the door.
You dick!
His gargoyles are very fast, so he had the first turn. He immediately cast lightning bolt killing two paladins. Maybe wearing metal around people who can conjure lightning wasn’t such a hot idea after all. This does highlight a problem I expect to be having this map. The enemy can whittle down my forces with hit and run tactics.
Into the boat we go. Maybe we’ll find their primary castle.
Sorry Roland is poor Dimitri.
This is a nice touch. You’ll notice a lot of sprites in this part of the map and even on the map in general there are quite a few stacks. Here at least it can be explained. The structure below Mandigal is a tree city, which acts as a dwelling where you can buy sprites. The tree house to his right allows you to recruit a bunch of sprites for free. This is sorceress territory after all.
Day 12
Dimtiri found another target.
Ambrose found another target as well.
Gwenneth is on her way.
Mandigal is a long way from home. I really need more crystal.
Day 13
A direct hit and Gwenneth wins her first village.
Because I can.
Dimitri gets another village as well.
And now he can cast spells.
Day 14
Let’s go northeast. I have this strange feeling that this map is going to be a lot shorter than I expected it to be.
Strangely, the adventures of Mandigal have thus far been the most entertaining part of this update for me. I’m thinking of sending him back home, but I really need 4 more crystal.
Tough choice. Despite not needing archery for my army I also don’t expect to need logistics much anymore. I picked archery.
Alamar! And he has an army! I don’t think you should attack him Dimitri. How about if you go around him and let Gwenneth take care of him. Alamar would win against Dimitri. A single lightning bolt will do 100 damage and thus wipe out either his halflings or his rogues crippling his army. I just hope he leaves Dimitri alone. However, if Alamar wouldn't cast spells Dimitri would be fairly evenly matched. Considering their relative strength without spell casting I don´t think the AI will try to attack him.
Day 15
There are no necromancers on this map. Alamar didn’t attack. I didn’t expect him to, he’s stronger than Dimitri, but not that much stronger.
Ambrose is going to try out for his mule job.
That should be doable unless there are a lot of them. 
It's hilarious when I think back to when I picked up advanced catapulting for him.
This did 22 damage, Hydras have 75 HP. This should be easy. I did lose 7 halflings to the towers though. So far the hydras seem content to just wait things out.
And the rogues finish easily.
I can't believe this. Stick a fork in them, they’re done. I have the money to buy everything here. They’re never getting this castle back. I can either hunt them down or just wait for the time to run out. 
Mandigal is a hard worker.
I can see you!
Day 16
I can't see him anymore though. Let’s use the observatory.
Hi! They actually have three heroes left.
Day 17
I’m guessing they’re going for the village. Let’s talk to Alamar again. We have unfinished business.
And that allows the pikemen to cross the map.
The normal pikeman is a below average unit, however the veteran pikemen are acceptable units who are basically the knights equivalent of the gargoyle. Except without the flying and with the very fast speed. They can take hits for a bit, but their lowish HP will let them down. At the same time they can't dish out the damage very well. Like most knight units they lack specialties. If you have to choose you're better off using swordsmen.
Welcome to the chop shop!
I love these guys. Look at those giant badass swords and the way they're gripping them like a giant lightning rod. They have a very good damage output thanks to their ability to hit twice. They synergize really well with the faster champions, who can be used to soak up the retaliation allowing the paladins to make the most of their damage. They also have decent offense and defense, but HP is ridiculous for a 6th level unit. They get quite a bit better when they're upgraded. Their demotion in Heroes3 has my ire.
Of course they ran away, why wouldn’t they.
Dimitri is going after the sorceress.
Day 18
Get back here!
Day 19
You can try, but it’s futile.
Something Ari understood.
Time for another lightning bolt.
Or not. High morale allowed the paladin to just finish the job. 
Victory spoils!
Pathetic. I'm talking about the army, not Dimitri. Dimtiri is awesome this map.
I did a stupid thing in that I had my rogues stop in front of the dwarves who can no longer reach anything because of it. I actually did it with a plan, it was just a really bad plan where I wanted to position them in such a way that I wouldn't have to move them to take on the inevitable flyer blockade.
We smell blood!
Those rogues were a great idea.
Victory!
We pick estates. We need someone to manage our new lands.
Victory again!
That looks like a good place for a holiday. I can’t believe I finished this map already.
All right, I still can't believe this happened. I said it was interesting, but if you're like me then this update was actually very boring.
So what the hell happened and how? I spent some time thinking about it and I came up with the following:
First is that I started with three heroes allowing me to cover a lot of ground really fast.
Second part is that I was the knight. I completely ignored all mines that weren't crystal (which I never even saw) and I had plenty of money thanks to the villages, so I didn't have to go after the money artifacts (of which there were three on the map) or goldmines asap.
Meanwhile, the knights naturally high stats helped get the most out of my low level units. Combine with the AI apparently taking it's sweet time and having some bad luck in the fights with me and you get a result like this.
Finally, had the AI not used a boat to come to my castle I wouldn't have been able to get Gwenneth there as quick as I did.
The endresult: a map with no build up and which ends in 19 days. Had I been any other town things would've been different, for one the laboratory I ignored would've been liberated as would've been other resource producers. It's weird how these things can go.
Join me next time as you get to choose the next faction, in the meantime let’s see how PC Snob fares.