Hey all. Fairly new to HOMM3. Played as a kid but only just now coming back and actually playing it for real. Was looking for a scenario to jump into and saw a lot of good things about Monk's Retreat so I decided to give it a shot.

Really struggling though, I feel like I just get overwhelmed almost immediately. My last attempt failed when I tried to send my main hero out to the other islands asap to claim more towns for better income before the AI got there, but they were there just as fast as I was. Then it became an issue of the AI hitting in multiple places at once. When I focused on trying to deal with the heroes on one island, a few of the other AI would go claim another one.

Does anyone have advice for this scenario? I've tried maxing out on heroes to do chains with, but with the turns lost to getting in and out of the boats I just haven't been able to manage it well. Not to mention I just have no idea what to prioritize with the AI all splitting up across the map. Been playing with Castle so far with no luck. I am playing on HOTA as well, too.