"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?"
The Gauntlet is the seventh scenario of Roland's campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars. The player has to choose between this scenario and the Crown, and will either have carry-over forces or the Ultimate Crown in the last scenario.
Gather as large an army as possible and capture the enemy castle within 8 weeks. You are opposed by only one enemy, but must travel a long way to get to the enemy castle. Any troops you have in your army at the end of this scenario will be with you in the final battle.OffBck
While preparing for their final attack against Archibald, Roland sent his commander out to gather troops for the battle. Building up his army, the commander returned to his king with a vast force.
Walkthrough[]
The commander has a warlock town on an island in the northeastern corner, and a barbarian hero on the shore. There's no way to reach the town.
There are three paths to take: Wizardwood goes west, Knight's Trail goes southwest, and Sorceress Forest goes south. Each of the three paths has three towns that can be captured to hire creatures - wizard, knight, and sorceress towns, respectively. None of the towns can be upgraded to a castle. By picking a path and building up an army, the commander can be prepared for the final battle.
In the southwestern corner, there's a warlock town that can be captured, and building a shipyard will allow the hero to reach the yellow player's town on the island. But it's also possible to build dwellings and hire creatures in the town, and since none of the previous towns can hire sixth-tier creatures, building a tower and hiring dragons may be the best way of gaining creatures on the map - black dragons are powerful, and there's plenty of sulfur around.
Since the goal is to build up an army, it's best to wait until the last week before attacking the enemy. The town will be heavily defended, but every creature that survives will be available for a later scenario.