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Eye of the Beholder, H4 Scenario in Contest Maps folder. Medium Sized, Expert map. Played on Expert.
Fun but not terribly challenging. Lots of interesting logistics problems. Had a bit of a Sim Cities feel. There are 4 factions, Order SW, Death SE and Life NE. Lots of water, a sand bar that cuts the map in two diagonally. Lots of chains dividing the seas. You pretty much have to go counterclockwise. Each land mass contains a neutral town and a town occupied from the start.
You start with a druid, an archer and a preserve with only a fort. You need to rely heavily on your creatures so a knight is a good early addition. Gold will be a problem for a good while. Get ships out scavenging, the whirlpools won't kill the last creature. I took the neutral preserve at 1,2,4. I had to give up all my sprites or most of my wolves and white tigers in that battle. {My finishing army had 841 sprites and no wolves or white tigers.) At that point I decided that a hit and run campaign for the gold mine guarded by dozens of cyclopes was top priority. I used the three heroes with potions of immortality and toughness along with 4 sprites. Killed 7 on the first try and won on the second attempt.
Summon Ship is crucial. There is a Magic School north of your second city that offers Life Magic. Once you win the neutral Academy in the SW you can start hiring Order Lords, I had 11 at the end. My initial plans for the Academy, creatures last priority. Once you get Quicksand you can take on the large armies of ground pounders and when you can disable three (at least two) shooters you can take on the cyclopes. The Potions of Binding let you defeat flyers.
Early in Month 4, I formed a second army with a Knight, a Mage and Order creatures. The purpose was to clear the routes that had been blocked by neutral creatures placed at the beginning of each month. A Death Knight would have been a better choice so both Order an Death creatures wouldn't hurt morale. I had so much gold by this point that this army could do almost anything my main army could.
Finished at 5,1,1 with an army of L21 Paladin, L20 Archmage, L20 General, 40 Faerie Dragons, 184 Elves an 841 Sprites.
Hope you enjoyed my account.