I am starting this thread to talk about Desert War and meet people who would like to play it with me. And also anyone is welcomed to talk about any other FIXED maps.
265121872 is my icq #. So if you wish, add me to your contact list. (We will play IP games).
Desert War, made by Alex_killer from Russia, is definitely the best map IN MY OPINION and I have been playing this map for more than 3 years now. And I am not ashamed to know only one fixed map and one template (DW and Balance).
The newest version of DW can be d/l from
Here(Right click and choose save target as)
For sample saves, real game saves. click
Here(Right click and choose save target as)
And Here(Right click and choose save target as)
i played red in both. blue were both chinese players as well.
Important guide for individual towns, under 100%,
1. Castle, get angels as early as possible (day 5, even day 4), and don’t be afraid to trade in your resource for gold, coz even one angel makes almost everything so much easier. In week two, 3 archangels and 12 crusaders are soooo useful when taking the utopia; bring all your shooters with you because you need fodders. Try to make the game a long one because archangels are very nice to have in late stage.
2. Rampart, depending on how many elves you start with you can decide whether upgrading elves in week one or not. Pegasus must be upgraded in week two if 12 is larger than the enemy’s fastest unit (e.g. red dragon, thunderbirds). Dragon isn’t a must in week one but definitely is if the battle lasts more than 2/3 weeks so don’t trade in all your crystals/ore if you don’t have the victory in your pocket.
3. Tower, if you use a might hero, archery is nice to have. But most of the time you HAVE to use a magic hero to rush your opponent because of the speed limit tower has. When rush, go with 4th level spells or with only second level spells (lightening/ice bolt) is a dilemma you have to make. Latter one has more troops (hit points) but much less aggressive spells. Taking the utopia in week two with summoning is also a choice (if you don’t have true resurrection, remember to retreat when there is one or two greens left, and get the arties with your scouts).
4. Necro, very slow/weak units in week one but so strong in second week that taking the utopia is usually a piece of cake, so most of the time it’s banned.
5. Dungeon, it is probably the best town that’s not banned on this map. 100 trogs in week one can do a lot especially with haste/bless, mana vortex makes magic heroes 2 times stronger and all its units are very good so having a might hero is also comfortable.
6. Inferno, inferno’s strength has been weakened since armageddon is banned. Inferno’s weakness in first week and extreme power in second week makes this town a little risky to use though, but still, learn how to use magogs to kill 2-hexa units(esp. in week one)and sultans.
7. Fortress, it’s very strong, with one hydra any hero can do almost anything (except maybe not 30-battle dwarf-treasure) in week one and 3 can take most of the utopia guards in week two if you have armourer. Moos can do the rest. Dragonfly is a must in week two.
8. Barbarians, well, it’s the worst town in my opinion so I don’t have many tips associated with it. Just get as many thunderbirds and behemoths as possible.
9. Conflux, banned. Even weak but the speed advantage is just too much to have.
The above is about main town choice, now about second town:
1. Human, if you are rich enough, get stable, it helps. Archers are good fodders when attacking shooters/middle town.
2. Rampart, it’s probably the worst you can have for a second town (unless you start with rampart, but any town becomes so much stronger when doubled). Build elves if you see elves or grand elves (must be those that are joinable) and you got a diplomacy hero.
3. Tower, good spells, and lookout tower helps you explore a great deal.
4. Necro, bone dragon is one option. skeleton transformer is another. you can have both if you take your second town on second day.(day 2)
5. Inferno, it’s always one of the best to have. Especially when the middle town is inferno (inferno gates do wonders).
6. Dungeon, mana vortex, summon gate.
7. Fortress/barbarians, both good for their cheap/valuable units.
8. Conflux, if you want to get turkeys and h/r your opponent to death or just for the sake of speed, you have to start building on day 2. Or, you can get your main hero the magic school he needs most.
Now about middle town:
1. Tower, it is always the best middle town to take. Build lookout tower and/or spells.
2. Dungeon, build mana vortex and/or summoning gate.
3. Inferno, as previously mentioned: if any of your starting two towns is inferno, then castle gates should be built.
4. Conflux, magic university should be built if one or more magic schools are needed badly.
5. Stronghold, escape tunnel should be built. One thing you can do is that bring all your fodders with you, and if your opponent attacks, try to let the arrow tower and your magic arrow do as much damage as possible, remember to retreat.
6. Necro, cover of darkness is always nice to have
7. Fortress/Human/Rampart, these towns don’t have many special buildings so build whatever you need. One thing to keep in mind is that, fortress is the hardest middle town to conquer because the door can’t be blocked without losing unit.
Development of main:
Might heroes are highly favoured because the existence of recanter’s, shackle of war and the high chance of might heroes getting log. To build a good might hero, tactics and expert haste/slow is always the best combo. They make any might hero unbeatable when playing against magic heroes. Mass-slow is important against computer for both might/magic heroes. Generally, armourer is better against computer and might heroes, offence is better against magic heroes. Always get as many D as possible when using a magic hero and always get A/D whichever is higher when using a might hero.
Basic strategies,
1. First of all know how far you can move when carrying speed n unit (2<n<12), with/without path finding/log, with/without stable bonus.
2. Get gold mines early as possible unless you don’t want your opponent to see your main guy.
3. Get middle town on week two day one if you need gold/4th spells, don’t do so if your opponent is and you are not inferno. All the money/gold places should be visited as early as possible.
4. Build a second hero, always, if possible. Necromancer/death knights/estate heroes/elementalists/log heroes/path finding heroes/diplomacy heroes/tactics heroes are good choices.
5. Get quest as early as possible unless your stats are high enough to win/take the utopia. Always use your scout to hit the enemy’s main b4 your main attacks him, just to see his stats/speed/artifact(recanter’s/shackle).
6. Take the utopia if you are able to&you have a considerable amount of troops left afterwards. Don’t over/under estimate your opponent/yourself, never! I remember this game I played quite a while back; I took both utopias and thought I was on top of the world. You know what? Sometimes you get cocky when things go well, and that’s when you usually get kicked in the behind and lose everything
.7. Attack the utopia with scouts before you main go in there, one way to do this is bring one-hexagon units, 4132511, and you can let those dragons kill each other, and there are also other ways which cost more but work a little better (for example, with 2 groups of dragonflies and 5 groups of one-hexagon units, can’t remember the exact number of units you need).
Basic approaches,
1. All+2 then run back home in week one and take monsters guarding teleports/gold mine/dwelling.
2. All+2 and visit the stable on week 2 day 1 with 6 single units and then attack the middle town to run back home to learn spells/double mana.
3. Build a second hero and let him/her do as much as possible.
4. Open your board as early as possible and let scouts scout/pick up resources/gold.
5. Rush your opponent in week one if you can especially when he starts with stronghold/ fortress/ necro/ inferno/ human. Or if you are sure that your opponent has an armourer specialist or a magic hero with low P (don’t let him fool you by taking off arts though!).
6. Line up all the heroes on day 6/7 and take quest in week 2 on day 1/2/3 and then either attack your opponent with all your troops (you can trade in all your resources for gold if that leads to victory), or take utopias.
7. Attack your opponent’s town when his main is on his way to get quest.
8. Stand in the middle (between stable and middle town) and cut off your opponent’s way back home or prevent him from taking your utopia! (Assume that you fight better when only level one spells are used and morale/luck both ignored).
9. As previously mentioned, build an expert necromancy hero (just 2000 exp some times) and use him to make skels (imps’ place, dwarves’ treasures, trog’s mine). Always bring your skeletons when you attack the middle town, they are the BEST fodders and morale is ignored on cursed ground.
Tips:
1. Bring similar (upgraded or non-upgraded) units with you when attacking level one units guarding wood/ore. It increases the chance of their joining you.
2. Let all your heroes (or at least most of them) visit the 1000 exp throne and see what skills they get. Even a crappy hero with log is a very good hero.
3. Don’t be afraid to get 9 heroes on day one if you see tazar, hack, gurni, or mephala, etc. But keep in mind that 2500 is a lot of gold; I usually get as few heroes as possible. The minimum is 5. Usually I get 7 heroes if I don’t have gold heroes(estate, 350), I will consider getting 8 heroes is I have at least one gold hero.
4. Leadership is better than offense if your enemy dosen’t have spirit of depression. Resistance is good to take if you have all desired skills already. Make good use of university and/or witch hut, even 2000 gold for a much needed secondary skill is not much at all.
5. Death ripple is the only spell that can do massive damage so make sure you make good use of it if you get your hands on it(don’t let your opponent know it). And never sell Pendant of Life.
6. You see that magic plain? Make good use of it. For example, view air.
7. Red, day1, speed 5 heroes can attack wood guard, visit witch hut and then take wood and unload all your slow troops. Speed 6 heroes with path finding can reach hut of the magi(lucky Clancy, or Gretchin, always). Lucky kyrre or Monere can reach the second lookout tower. Speed 5 heroes can take ore. Blue, day1, speed 6 heroes, speed 5 hero with log, or speed 4 hero with path finding can reach the hut of the magi (so many heroes can do it, Gem, Ivor, Korbac, and etc.) Speed 4 heroes can visit the windmill and then take wood and unload slow troops.
8. Speed 10 and advanced path finding will be enough for your main to go from the middle town to the lower left library within one day. To be able to reach the upper right library you need max speed + advanced path finding+ expert log.
9. the following chart shows the chance of some important spells in individual towns. Keep in mind that all 1st ,4th and 5th spell’s chance’s will be somewhat HIGHER (if not zero) due to the fact that summon boat/armageddon/town portal/DD/Fly/implo are banned(I don’t understand why Alex_killer didn’t ban scuttle boat )
