Beyond the Horizon

*Only available when the unofficial expansion, Horn of the Abyss, is installed.*

 Victory condition: Defeat Hero or Defeat All Enemies

## Prologue

 Frederick : Fear and excitement are the best remedy for grief. I understood it when land appeared on the horizon. Our long, taxing journey across the ocean was coming to an end, and the new continent of Jadame was looming ahead. The escapees didn’t know yet that the land below was fruitless wasteland, and the village of miners we were heading to was a dirty, noisy hole. Burton is not a place for the weak; any settlement in these lands attracts those who do not build, till or shepherd. The right to a new home was going to carry a hefty price; yet, for the first time since the day we had left, the faces of my unexpected passengers brightened up.

## Epilogue

 Henrietta : There came the first joys and sorrows of the new world. The first successes and losses followed, with new foes and… new friends. Life had a bitter taste of blood, but with an exciting hint of victory. Jadame accepted our sacrifices, granting us what we never wanted but accepted in order to survive. Only a few of us have mastered the warrior’s trade thus far, but everyone became a hero. A select handful learned how to lead, yet anyone is ready to rise up upon hearing a call. The new wounds may bleed sometimes, but if you feel it, that means you’re still alive.

## User commentary

*Some may find the information in this section subjective or irrelevant.*

Some helpful tips:

* Don't overlook the Wood & Ore start as it is surprisingly good, especially on higher difficulties, as it allows you to build a Fort / Citadel much quicker. This can be a tremendous help for the first fight with the enemy hero. Really focus on picking up Wood & Ore early on, as Factory is insanely reliant on those two things and they're quite hard to come by in good quantity on this mission in the early stages.
* Engineers are a really good power-stack for most of the mission, and you should try to protect them whenever possible. Manipulating enemies into favorable positions so you can then breath attack them will make a lot of combats trivial.
* Automatons are far more useful alive than dead. Apart from the very early stages of the mission, it is very rare that blowing them up is the best choice. Instead, use them to attack / tank, then use Engineers to repair them back to full health; this works even if the entire stack is destroyed, allowing you to take some otherwise difficult fights early on. Beware that each Mechanic / Engineer stack can only repair once per combat.
* Focus on the eastern side of the map first; most enemy heroes early on will arrive from there, and there are more useful dwellings (Ogres, ...) and, in general, more useful things to do around that side of the map early on than the western one. Ironically enough, for a Factory campaign mission, you'll be recruiting plenty of Stronghold units. Try to ambush enemy heroes outside town if possible.
* Another reason for heading east early is to obtain a Bless scroll. While you might be tempted to Bless Halflings, a much more useful stack to Bless is often times the Engineers, as their damage range is quite big (2-5) and they have the very useful breath attack ability.
* To the southeast, you will find a Purple Keymaster's Tent which will allow you access to Pirates (in the north-northwest of the map). They are a very useful ranged stack, especially after you get the Golden Bow. You can get the Golden Bow by digging up graves and collecting certain artifacts (Rib Cage, Skull Helmet, Vampire's Cowl, Amulet of the Undertaker) around the map, then exchanging those at a Seer's Hut to the west of the map.
* Your Halfling stacks will consistently get decimated during hero vs. hero fights, don't worry too much about it. AI seems to really enjoy targeting them, which is unfortunate, but their main purpose is to help you clear the map first and foremost.
* Attempt to flag the Wyvern dwelling early if you can and let them build up (careful doing this if you still haven't eliminated the enemy stronghold to the northwest, as enemy heroes might pick them up). Pick them up for some of the tougher fights.
* The map doesn't technically have a time limit, but around month 6-7, the last enemy hero, Zog, might leave his base and try to take the fight to you. He's got a massive army and the Ironfist of the Ogre combination artifact; the army isn't an issue, but the artifact is. It seems like the most straightforward strategy is to walk between the 3 Stronghold towns you capture and recruit everything you can every week, until you can brute-force through.