"I went back to the Tavern to give Sandro this ugly Helmet he wanted. Now he wants me to get some kind of sword from a Death Knight. That tin plated corpse is hiding out in a swamp, so I have to trudge through miles of muck before I get a chance to hack the sword out of his cold dead hands!"
—Crag Hack
Black Sheep is the second scenario of the Hack and Slash campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Shadow of Death.
Walkthrough[]
Seize the Blackshard of the Dead Knight from Marzeth to win the scenario. However, if Crag Hack is defeated in combat, the scenario is lost. Crag Hack is limited to level 15 but will carry his experience, skills and spells on to the next scenario.OffBck
To continue, Sandro has managed to contact a local barbarian town to help Crag Hack to acquire a Blackshard of a Dead Knight. Sandro claims this Death Knight has stolen the sword from a tomb and is hiding in a swamp, protected by some knights. Crag Hack doesn't like trampling through swamps to get the sword from a Death Knight, but is reminded of the rewards. Crag comes into the town and greets his barbarian brothers, but wonders how a wizard could've persuaded them to join the cause.
Crag starts off in the northeast, with a Stronghold only having village hall and fort built. To expand the area, Crag will have to take as many forces as he has to capture the local mines. Also, the western mountains (guarded by ogre magi) lies another Stronghold town, but does not have much built, with many disabled buildings. In addition, there is a monolith exit nearby, allowing the enemy to go to Crag's lands. Crag hears reports that the Knights of the Blade are guarding a Death Knight (much to Crag's surprise), as well as that Marzeth was also a Knight of the Blade, but he was twisted into a Death Knight when he took the blackshard. Crag sees this is in contradiction with Sandro's claims Marzeth stole the sword, but decides not to pay much attention to it.
With enough forces, Crag will have to defeat few faerie dragons in the west, guarding a lightblue keymaster tent. This allows Crag to cross to the enemy lands, either through the border guard in the west or the border gate in the east. However, just as he crosses the border, he has to fight some swordsmen and crusader captain. He can also defeat the enemy's towns: while the Second Sword can be easily accessed, the First Sword is protected by a green, while the Third by a red border gate. The green keymaster tent is found in north of the First Sword, while the red keymaster tent is located southwest of the Third Sword.
Crag has to focus on getting through a two-way monolith, located southwest of the Second Sword. Once in the area, Crag has to go southwest to a subterranean entrance. On his way, Crag will be ambushed by a hundred lizardmen and 40 lizard warriors. Past a sign and into the cave, Crag will find Marzeth, with 70 dread knights and 70 crusaders, as well as some undead troops. After Marzeth is defeated, Crag can collect the sword from his dead hands.
Towns[]
- Fortress
- Stronghold x2
- Castle x3: First Sword, Second Sword, Third Sword
Notes[]
There is also a Fortress town deep underground, but cannot be accessed. This town is present, should Crag capture all of enemy's towns to allow Marzeth to remain on the map, else he'd vanish and the blackshard would be unattainable.
Strategy[]
The enemy, with three towns under control, will outnumber Crag Hack. Crag will have to visit the lightblue keymaster's tent and allow the enemy to attack his lands, while he can just capture their three towns. Should the enemy be too powerful, Crag can just ignore them and go after Marzeth, but must be aware of the powerful army he has. Crag and other heroes are limited to level 15.
