Archibald's intro image
"The sorceresses send their regards for your aid, and promise to make available their best practitioners while you remain in my service. My good general, I require your counsel. The time draws near when we must prepare and launch an attack against my evil brother. My advisors have given me mixed advice. Half say that I should send you to gather troops for the attack against the lords that remain loyal to Archibald, while the other half tell me to send you on a quest through the travel gates to find the fabled Ultimate Crown. What say you?"
—Roland's intro
"Your swift elimination of those country lords almost makes it look easy. Perhaps next time you should slow down a little, just to give them a sporting chance! (chuckles) The time to prepare for the final attack against Roland has come. My advisors are of two minds: One is that we should focus our efforts on gathering the armies necessary to defeat Roland, while the other is to search for the Ultimate Artifact. Since you are the man in the field, what is your decision?"
—Archibald's intro
The Crown is the eighth scenario of Roland's campaign, and the ninth scenario of Archibald's campaign, in Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars. In Roland's campaign, the player has to choose between this scenario and The Gauntlet, while in Archibald's campaign, it's this scenario or Greater Glory. Either way, they choose between having the Ultimate Crown and carry-over forces in the last scenario.
"Find the Crown before Archibald's heroes find it. Roland will need the Crown for the final battle."
—Roland's description
"Find the Crown before Roland's heroes find it. Archibald will need the Crown for the final battle with Roland."
—Archibald's description
Presented with the choice of either raising an army or locating the Ultimate Crown, the commander chose the latter. Following the clues from the obelisks, the crown was eventually found.
Walkthrough[]
There are two versions of this scenario: one in Roland's campaign, and one in Archibald's. The only difference is what factions are available, and where the commander begins.
The commander and his adversary has one castle each. The commander starts with one hero, while the opponent has three. When following Archibald, the opponent has wizards, while Roland's commander faces warlocks. Archibald's forces are red and at the southern end of the map, and Roland's forces are blue and at the norther end.
The goal of the scenario is to follow the obelisks on the map and locate the Ultimate Crown before the opponent. There two basic strategies available: race for the obelisks, and find the crown as quickly as possible, or defeat the opponent and find the crown later. The opponent starts with roughly the same forces, so it's possible to build up quickly and defeat them.
It's not necessary to visit every obelisk on the map - once enough have been located to see where the crown can be found, the heroes should go there and dig it up.