Prelude to Invasion, Max 15, Champion
Copied from Informed_User on Gamefaqs
1 altar of death magic, 1 altar of combat skill, 1 attack crystal, 1 defense crystal, 2 speed crystal, 2 mp crystal, 1 magic school, 1 level up tree.
Baron Von Tarkin is the main hero of the death campaign. He starts with nobility and death magic. I recommend changing Tarkin's class to assassin, combat and death magic. You also get the death knight Krik for the first and second map. Turn Krik into a general, combat and tactics. For the first map you should focus on raising Tarkin's necromancy and combat defense skills. You must have at least expert death magic to be able to learn grandmaster necromancy. Since the undead don't benefit from morale boosts; Krik should not learn leadership.
The 5 order towns offer opportunities to buy some basic skills which saves your heroes some time. Have Tarkin buy: demonology, necromancy, mining, life magic. You may be able to buy basic combat from the war university north of your town.
You start with 1 death town in the southeast. There are 2 additional neutral death towns north of your town. You must defeat 4 allied enemy players who each start with 1 order town. The enemy towns are in the northwest and southwest. The neutral order town in the center will probably be a major choke point. Keep on eye on that town and don't let the enemy hold it for long.
Vampires are the key to winning this map. Your first town can produce them so work on getting a mansion built there as soon as possible. The second death town near yours will give you 2 vampires when you capture it, however, you can't build a mansion there so those 2 are all you get from that town. The third death town has a lot more defenders but that is because you can build another mansion there.
On lower difficulties you can capture the 2 other death towns in less then a month. On expert or champion you need 10-15 vampires before you should try to capture the third town.
Thieves are also invaluable on this map. After building a city hall in your first town, build a tavern and hire a thief. Send the thief over to the west side of the map, enemy side. The thief can distract the enemy by flagging their mines. Have the thief visit the learning stones near the enemy towns to get some quick levels, for better stealth. With at least expert stealth your thief can visit the barrows and grab the amulet of the undertaker. Give the amulet to Tarkin.
To win this map you have to collect the 5 artifacts from the barrows around the edge of the map. You also must defeat the 4 enemy players. A quest hut hidden on an island in the center of the lake asks for the 5 artifacts. Give the 5 in exchange for 3 artifacts that will carry over to the next map. Use a thief with master stealth to collect the barrow artifacts before capturing the last enemy town.
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From my Journal.
Week 1, BRUTAL start. You have no combat skill or damaging spells. Sent out imps to make suicide runs for resources. Bought a ship in hopes there will be resources in the water. (Didn't work out.) Hired a thief.
Pitiful H&R killed 10/212 skeletons.
Week 2, Hired an Order Lord. Should have hire him before the thief. Finally broke through to the sawmill and ore pit on day 5.
Week 3, day 6 broke through to access the Learning Stone.
Week 4, built a mansion.
Week 5, took the nearby necropolis. Captured Red's central academy.
Week 6-7, conceded both my academy towns (I want to finish the barrows before I finish the towns) but captured the other neutral necropolis. Captured an academy unopposed.
week 10, I hold all but one town, only Blue has survived. Von Tarkin reached L15. I'm missing one death artifact, go NE young man.
Week 11, cleared the last Barrow. Both BVT and Kirk reached L15. Defeated the remaining Red heroes with my Life army.
Week 12, traded the artifacts. Won @3,4,5 using my backup army.
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Copied from Informed_User on Gamefaqs
Flies in the Ointment
2 attack crystal, 2 defense crystal, 2 speed crystal, 2 mp crystal, 1 level up tree.
You start in the southeast with 1 death town. There are 2 enemy players, purple and green. Purple has 3 life towns in the southwest. Green has 2 nature towns in the northwest. To win you must defeat both enemy players and then go through the gate in the northwest.
Purple is closer to your starting position and more dangerous due to having a catapult factory. Deal with them first. You can rush Purple's first town using just Kirk and Tarkin. To reach the 2 life towns behind a garrison you should probably wait until you have 15-20 vampires.
Green is easy to beat after purple, just use your vampire horde to capture both towns. The game must register both enemies as eliminated before you can exit. Make sure to beat all garrison armies and save and reload if the game does not list a player as defeated.
Looting the sacred temples is a good source of early game gold and you might be able to pick up a useful spell scroll from them, regeneration for example. You equip a scroll in a hero's shield slot and will be able to use the spell even without any skill in that magic school.
In the north is a quest hut that asks you to defeat the hero Thomas Acorn. Acorn is hiding with a large army in the northwest corner of the map. Beating the hero nets you a flaming sword which you can use in the next map.
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From my journal
Wood and ore are a problem for at least the first month. Most of this scenario BVT only used an army made up of ghosts he had raised.
Week 1, most handy battles too close for H&R. 50 Crusaders fell to the Baron on day one, using Poison, Plague, etc. On day 4 I captured a Purple Haven to my west.
Week 2, defeated 3 high level Purple heroes (they had 2 Catapults). Captured a neutral Haven. Green invaded from the north and took the former Purple Haven releasing 5 high level Purple Heroes.
Week 3, Recaptured that Haven but before I could run down the green army, I had to fight the 5 Purple heroes. That was a tough battle. Tried to take the garrison guarding the yellow portal. Ran out of mana and had to run.
Green took my central haven. This is just annoying.
Week 4, Took back my haven. Hired a priest and a knight to develop a defensive army. Purple is rolling out two strong armies toward my central haven (where his 5 great heroes are imprisoned).
Week 5, Took both of Green's Preserves. Huge battle with Purple, only lost 34 ghosts.
Week 6, went far east and liberated 2 Dream Teachers, which was good for two levels on all my supporting heroes. Once Erica Fade got expert Stealth she started claiming several guarded mines.
Week 7, took the second necropolis. I delayed because they had 24 Vampires as part of their army. Erica Fade learned Master Stealth.
Week 8, BVT reached L21. Purple rolled out a couple of threatening armies and took some of my mines.
Week 9, day 1, I beat 2 Purple armies, a garrison and their penultimate haven. Purple eliminated on 3,1,2. BVT and Kirk bought L22 at the ToK on 3,1,4. (Still a few good battles unfought.) Defeated Thomas Acorn on 3,1,6. BVT has to be in the army to finish the quest and claim the Flaming Sword.
Finished @3,2,1. My final army was 6 Dark Champions, 13 Bone Dragons, 106 Vampires and 189 ghosts. BVT was still a Dark Lord, he had GM in all Death skills and had accumulated a total of 38 skill steps.
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The Hand of Death
Copied from Informed_User on Gamefaqs
1 attack crystal, 2 defense crystal, 1 speed crystal, 1 mp crystal, 1 arena, 2 level up tree.
The last map of the death campaign. You start with Tarkin and a few dark champions, in the southeast corner. The nearby death town will join you as soon as you get close. This town can only produce up to ghosts. You have to rely on Tarkin's necromancy skill to build your army.
If you made him an assassin, Tarkin can solo defeat any of the crusader groups blocking the way forward. Have Tarkin attack them alone so the crusaders are in 1 stack. Use fatigue, poison, and plague. Have Tarkin keep moving around the battle field until the enemy is wiped out from the poison and plague.
Since you can't get many troops from your starting town it helps to rush the enemy before they can build up their strength. Start by attacking the life town across the bridge to the north. The north bridge is guarded by mantises, fill your army with a bunch of dark champion stacks to stunlock the mantises with terror. While the enemy is stunned have Tarkin use poison and plague to kill them. Against the garrison, leave the catapult in front of the gate alive. The crusaders and champions can't move out to attack you while the catapult is in front, so you can poison them to death.
When you gain control of the northern life town you will start to receive 3 vampires per week from that town. Hurry to the next 2 life towns in the west. The western life towns have a catapult factory, so you need to attack them before they can get too many catapults.
In the center and northeast are 3 more life towns including Angelmist. You win the campaign by defeating the powerful hero guarding Angelmist and then taking over the town. The hero stays outside the castle but his army still grows over time. Take over all the other life towns before trying to take over Angelmist.
While Tarkin is building his vampire army it helps to also hire a thief and use them to pick up artifacts. Get the shield of death in the southeast and the amulet of necromancy in the northwest. Give both artifacts to Tarkin. You can also use the thief to visit all the oracles and dig up the grail. Take the grail to your death town and you get a building that boosts death magic and necromancy.
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The Hand of Death, Max 28
From my journal.
There are 5 Dream Teachers and one Learning Stone, 8500 xp (L7). I had 14 Order Lords generating resources and a thief with GM Stealth. BVT doesn't need the chests. He was an Archmage with 46 Skill Steps. There is a Coliseum of Magic as well as 2 Trees of Knowledge.
Week 1, the first battle looks scary but other than using a lot of mana it was easy. Defeated 50 ballistae (alone) for an ore pit. BVT (alone) defeated 158 ballistae to free a sawmill. Hired an Order Lord. Claimed a gem mine.
Week 2, cleared the neutral life army blocking my road east and received 2000 gold for my trouble. Captured the Red haven in the SW corner. Cleared the path to the Dream Teacher on the south edge of the map. Had to leave my 11 Dark Champions and only use BVT and 27 Vampires.
Blue sent a large force from the nearby haven toward my original necropolis, BVT intercepted them just in time.
Week 3, defeated the Blue Garrison, great advice from informed_user, don't kill the Catapults and Poison/Plague the other troops. Took the Blue Haven. This haven cannot construct creature dwellings but provides 3 Vampires and 12 Ghosts on the first day of each week.
Attacked 57 Angels but their quickness and morale were too much for my Dark Champions, so BVT went in alone. With his Spider Silk arrows, Raise Ghosts, Sorrow and Flight he only died once before he got control.
Captured Red's last haven. Erica Fade learned Master Stealth.
Week 4, received free troops in Martiers. Red eliminated. Broke through the Blue Garrison near the center of the map.
BVT reached L25, then L26 at the Coliseum of Magic. Took Blue's penultimate haven.
Week 5, captured Blue's last haven. Lost and recaptured the N-Central Haven.
Week 6, visited all the Oracles. Delivered the Grail to my necropolis. Finished the quests to get Vampires and Bone Dragons.
Week 7, finally defeated the cyclops/goblin knight defenders to win the gloves and mask. Defeated two huge neutral stacks on the east edge of the map opening a NS access route. BVT reached L28. Purple rolled out 2 armies, one with 18 Angels. They took my N-Central Haven (I evacuated). BVT and the main army recaptured it.
Week 8, the Red Teleporter is working! On 2,4,5 took out 2 garrisons and captured the last town.
Final army was BVT, a L17 Monk, L17 Crusader, 7 Bone Dragons, 13 Dark Champions and 190 Vampires when Purple counterattacked Angelmist.
Still had to hold my castles 2 more days after Purple was eliminated on 2,4,6. (Red and Blue eliminated earlier).
Death March
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