this "tutorial" campaign... to unlock the "real campaigns"...

[cmi]

...are you kidding me? How on earth do you to beat the second "tutorial" level (emperor's will)? I did multiple tryouts on this map ("normal" difficulty), but the last castle has usually way to many units and he keeps spitting out very strong heroes once a week which doesnt help building up a force (yes, I hold all of the forts). This is a joke Ubisoft, it's a frickin' tutorial ffs!

[RunfromChron]

plus no auto calc - like i want to do the same ♥♥♥♥ over and over and over... or did i miss something?

[Araell]

its not that hard, you just have to let him waste his units on those week attacks, and after a few weeks, you should be able to defeat him :)

[Bathysphere]

If you're still having trouble, give the tutorial campaign a rest and start building up true skills and dynasty levels on skirmish maps. I daresay you'll have a better time, and then you'll be able to apply your lessons to the campaigns later on.

[b4ry]

Really? Instead of killing his three heroes (the ones u have to kill to open the last gate) build up your army.

[DiceWrangler]

I gave-up on playing this game on "Normal" because it, essentially, forces you to play the "One True Way." Playing it on "Easy" is *much* more fun, imo, because you can:

1) Experiment with character builds
2) Afford to make minor mistakes; you may still have to restart/reload if you screw-up too much
3) Explore the map and not to have study guides or replay it to "know" what to do
4) Fight everything and not to have bypass challenging fights due to expected attrition
5) Read road signs and interact with objects that would otherwise waste movement points

[RunfromChron]

Originally posted by b4ry:

Really? Instead of killing his three heroes (the ones u have to kill to open the last gate) build up your army.

yep pretty much only way is to cheese it - i have a feeling the whole game is gonna be like that... i hope not

[cmi]

Rofl.. this is so cheesy I didn't even think about it. Gathering huge forces BEFORE triggering actually works? I had the assumption the AI would become stronger and stronger and stronger. Still, I'm feeling pretty sad about this... I mean you buy this game and struggle at the frickin' tutorial. It's not like HOMM is a hardcore ww2 strategy game or something. Something smells wrong here.

[The Fabulous Gravy Train]

Originally posted by b4ry:

Really? Instead of killing his three heroes (the ones u have to kill to open the last gate) build up your army.

I was under the assumption the enemy heroes would grow stronger as well because the game told me the creatures grow every week and I can recruit more every week, therefore they would grow every week. Are you telling me the Haven enemy heroes and the one Necropolis enemy hero do not grow?

[RunfromChron]

Originally posted by The Reapero:

Originally posted by b4ry:

Really? Instead of killing his three heroes (the ones u have to kill to open the last gate) build up your army.

I was under the assumption the enemy heroes would grow stronger as well because the game told me the creatures grow every week and I can recruit more every week, therefore they would grow every week. Are you telling me the Haven enemy heroes and the one Necropolis enemy hero do not grow?

you should be able to get the necropolis before having to waiting 2-3 weeks for reinforcements.. at least thats how i did it (during that 2-3 weeks i cleared all neutral spawns with minimal losses)... then i took that last fort with the woman defending it, gates opened and 1 more wolf army appeared... i avoided that army, went to the castle then finished the map. all in all yes pretty easy but the fact it has to be played in such a manner, cheesing the fact wolf army dont spawn when you have 2 out of 3 killed bothers me.

[RunfromChron]

Originally posted by The Reapero:

Originally posted by b4ry:

Really? Instead of killing his three heroes (the ones u have to kill to open the last gate) build up your army.

I was under the assumption the enemy heroes would grow stronger as well because the game told me the creatures grow every week and I can recruit more every week, therefore they would grow every week. Are you telling me the Haven enemy heroes and the one Necropolis enemy hero do not grow?

they do grow stronger, but you should have almost all of the forts/castles/barracks so you will grow quicker. key is taking out as many of those mission objectives as possible and putting yourself in a safe spot to build your army to a decent level (100+ of each unit worked for me)

also dont forget to upgrade your buildings in town to get tier 2 troops

[The Fabulous Gravy Train]

Yeah I was going to try taking the Necropolis first then the Wolf on my next try. I made a few mistakes on my first try so this time I'll know what to do. It's just a matter of getting the growth rate right, I know, but not taking too long.

[cmi]

Ok, I used the cheesy tactic and can confirm it really works. Hold all red forts with some random hero, keep raising your army by some hero train and finally attack the last orc fort and then the castle.

I had to fight the stupid black screen of death as well (for whatever reason it kept occuring at the last orc fort) but I stomped the big bad wolf in the end. Achievement unlocked: "complete the tutorial" (level 4) \o/ ;)

Thanks guys. :)