Was it that Wyvern rider that I took out somewhat early on? That turned out to be a LOT luckier than I thought; it was set to mess with me in several ways before I'd have been able to push it out.

How distant? We'd been to most corners of the surface, and except for that one underground entrance in the middle, there weren't a whole lot of ways to get underground.

I already had frogs starting south in the underground river, looking for more things to steal. I suppose the undead town might have been near another entrance; I never quite explored that area after pirates killed my initial scouts.

One of the things messed up in this map and to my teams advantage was the number of campsites on the surface. We were able to recruit almost all of them which gave us tons of cannon fodder. We'd summon a unicorn or frog to explore the far reaches, find a campsite, use those troops to find the next magic relay, and then perpetuate the cycle.

Something I'd love to do is try the Horseshoe map again with different starting positions. It's one of the best PBEM maps I've ever played. Really well balanced with well thought out resources and layout.

Yes, not only the wyvern but a spectre - I lost it to the pirates near the undead city. I had plenty of gold, also due to Southern donating, I could have bought that tower and the troops in it. Would have been a decisive moment. - but saving money means not building a lot, so for example I did not pursue Doom Bats.

And yes, I have a Goblin Town deep down south, underground, where I would have had another tower the next turn....
I do not mind, great map. One fix should be the guards - they are static but should be area guards I guess?