Fanstratics update #45 – End of development…

Author: Liso1 January 8, 2025 0 Comments

Previously, I touched upon my continuing health issues and the perpetual lack of progress. I have tried numerous approaches to alleviate my collection of conditions, with mild degrees of success, but my accumulated experience and research point to the obvious. My illness is more than likely permanent, and I will likely never again be what I was when I started this project.

While my spirit is willing, my flesh is weak, and I need to be honest with myself and those of you who subscribed to this newsletter. My chances of finishing Fanstratics are remote. Thus, I am concluding development.

As for the future, considering my physical and mental decline, I need to step back and figure out what I can and cannot accomplish. I have enjoyed writing the HoMM3 Recollections, and I think I could turn them into a memoir. We’ll see what happens.

In my welcome email to these newsletters, I said this would be a journey. Not all excursions are successful.

Take care.

​Greg

Fanstratics Troop: Crossbowman

Vulnerable up close, but solid from a distance, Allegiant Crossbowman do not pursue prestige. Tasked with eroding advancing combatants, or finishing off opponents engaged with Allegiant melee Troops, Crossbowman take pride in their ‘implied assistance’. Able to occasionally fire two crossbow bolts, in the time most ranged Troops can only fire one, these stoic marksmen quietly delight when demonstrating their exceptional training.

HoMM3 Question: You have mentioned Redcaps as an alternative Tower unit. There is also documentation of a Will-o’-Wisp unit for the Fortress that was cut. Were there any other units cut during the development stage?

In the initial stages, when I was creating the factions, numerous other Troops were included in the first draft. Far too many for me to recall. Specifically, I remember the Redcaps and Will-o-Wisps because they were two of the last I cut in the final draft.

HoMM3 Question: Why did you replace the Phoenix in HoMM3, prior to the Conflux?

Thematically, I thought the Green and Gold Dragons were a better fit. This also allowed me to use the Phoenix for the Conflux in the latter expansion, where I thought it was a better fit.