Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 441 Crystal Warship
The Demon Hunter Griffin has been promoted to the King of Troops, and is indeed exceptionally powerful.

Commander-level dual-elemental baptism units are already quite powerful, capable of breaking through the life limit to challenge higher-level warriors. But Kings are a different level of life altogether; even with a large number of commanders, it's not guaranteed that one King will emerge.

Kings generally come with a skill that buffs the entire army, significantly enhancing the characteristics and abilities of the same unit type. A unit like Gale, which possesses the Griffin King's skill during its leadership phase—casting magic that increases counterattacks on the army—is quite rare.

After he advanced to the King rank, he obtained the Black Wings of the Demon Hunter sequence, which made him even more powerful.

With the anti-air spell enhanced to level 5, the Golden Dragon can no longer fly in the Griffin's airspace. Currently, it seems that apart from the Great Demon and the Black Dragon, all other level 7 flying units will be countered, resulting in a true airspace blockade.

Moreover, the Blackwing Barrier is also very powerful, capable of rendering enemies within a certain range unable to retaliate.

It can be said that the Demon Hunter Griffin is the epitome of counterattack, possessing both amplification and debuffs. Combined with its abnormally high health and attack/defense stats, it can even put up a fight against a Holy Dragon.

If we could have a team of griffin kings, even just 100, we could sweep across all nations.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking. A state like Lie Feng's is extremely rare. It is actually due to the guidance of governance techniques and the experience accumulated from many major battles that he has accumulated strength and finally achieved this level.

Judging from its inherent talent, Gale possesses the potential for growth, capable of accumulating power by consuming large quantities of magical materials or food. Its first advancement also involved a long period of mana hoarding, with excellent results. If it continues to accumulate power, Gale might even achieve an unprecedented breakthrough.

After Ouling and the others helped clean up the battlefield in Giraffe Town by boat, all they could see were broken ships and floating corpses.

"Isildur's entire army was wiped out?"

When Orling saw this scene, his first thought was that Isildur had been wiped out by the Duke's army of griffins, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the enemy had golden dragons and a large number of them, so it was unlikely.

"Dino abandoned some of the ships and took the opportunity to slip away."

After taking stock, Isildur lost at least 1 men in this battle.

[Ayrton casualties: -1000 halberdiers, -2600 archers, -1580 crusaders, -230 priests]

[Isildor Casualties: -5600 Centaurs, -3490 Dwarves, -1800 Archelves, -500 Silver Pegasus, -70 Unicorns, -14 Gold Dragons]

This included units subjected to elemental baptism, with an overall casualty ratio close to 1:2. The high number of enemy casualties was mainly due to the retreating Isildor and the sinking of the rearguard ships. The golden dragons were primarily killed by Titan's Arrows, while the unicorns were less fortunate; the Windbreak ships rushed too fast, preventing them from escaping in time, leaving them trapped on the shore and ganged up on until they were killed.

River and sea battles are still very much about strategy. Although Isildur had a large number of troops, he couldn't send them all at once. Dino's strategy was actually quite good. He used flying units to hold off the ranged archers while the remaining ground troops quickly broke through, which is why the sharpshooters suffered heavy losses.

In the early to mid-stages of this battle, with the Golden Dragons providing support, the casualty ratios on both sides were completely reversed. However, they encountered reinforcements from the Griffin Army, which built an iron wall along the riverbank, preventing the Barrier Legion from advancing an inch. Their ships could only remain on the river, and these were mostly melee units, thus losing the initiative.

Sumu also benefited greatly from this river battle. Although the castle forces were able to build docks, there were not many good waterways near Cangmu, so they were not very useful and have not been truly used yet.

If we control the river region later, we could consider recruiting another hero with navigation skills to focus on river and sea battles; the results would be quite good.

"The ships are in position and we can board them at any time to head towards the hilly area!"

Even though Su Mu had high expectations, he didn't expect them to be ready so quickly. It seems that the town of Goat Horn already had a considerable number of ships. "Tatiana Amirka of the Stag family came to provide support and added dozens more ships, just enough for the warships heading east."

It turned out that Tatiana had arrived. The town of Giethoorn lit a signal fire, sending the message to the capital; the distress signal could be seen in cities along the way. The Bucks family had a good relationship with Kenway, so they naturally sent troops to help immediately. However, they hadn't expected it to be this woman, Amirka, again. It seemed the Grand Duke of the Bucks intended to groom her as his heir.

The dashing Tatiana arrived atop the city wall, greeted the Marshal and the Duke, and said, "We have heard that Your Grace is planning a counterattack against Isildor. The Stag Family is willing to offer its full support. Here are 30 Crystal Warships, all of which are offered to the Kingdom. Your Grace may use them as you see fit!"

The Bucks and Isildur have a blood feud. When they heard that Sumu was going to launch a counterattack, Tatiana did not hesitate at all and offered all her ships to help.

The Bucks' thinking was: if you want ships, they'll give you ships; if you want men, they'll give you men. They'd give their full support as long as it was a fight with Isildur.

Tatiana's eyes were filled with rage. As the daughter of a Grand Duke, she was more resolute and courageous than many of the kingdom's generals. She was not afraid of the army of the Golden Dragon and the Barrier. She was indeed an excellent heir.

This is also related to her experiences in the heartland, where she truly recognized Su Mu's extraordinary qualities and now trusts him implicitly. Moreover, Yangjiao Town has just won a battle and is riding high on its momentum; now is the perfect time to sound the horn of counterattack.

Tatiana understood this better than many others. The conflict between Elton and Isildur had reached a point of no return; it was a fight to the death. If they didn't capitalize on Isildur's weakness and defeat them, the war would become even more difficult once the number of golden dragons grew.

As the most powerful family in the valley, Amirka's ships are generally of very high quality.

Su Mu arrived at the ferry and saw the warship constructed from crystals, praising it highly.

【Crystal Warship (Tier 3 Warship): Increases transport capacity by 100%, increases defense against ranged/magical attacks by 20%, and can automatically block one magic attack (below level 4)】

The warships, built from special magical crystals, are a unique craft of the castle faction. Although they appear somewhat cumbersome, they are well-suited for combat on rivers and the sea.

Unlike the Windbreaker wooden ships that prioritize speed, the Crystal Warships are designed for transport and naval warfare. Even if enemies try to ambush them from the shore, they can launch a counterattack from the ship, suppressing the enemy with long-range firepower and then safely transporting troops.

The Crystal Warship maximizes the power of the Castle's dual ranged attacks, making it an extremely powerful vessel among Tier 3 warships.

This is a perfect fit, especially for a powerful archery hero like Orling. The warship keeps moving, and the Earthbow and the Arcane Prayer sweep the guards on the shore, making up for the weakness of insufficient ranged mobility.

Ouling stared wide-eyed at the warship and nodded in satisfaction.

"So this is how archers fight! I've really learned something!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The surrounding heroes burst into laughter, looking on with delight. They were determined to let Ouling shine in this naval battle.

"Let's go! Get on the boat!"

"Target: Hilly Ferry Crossing!"

(End of this chapter)