So are the forums dead now? Katauri did not even make a KB2 section?

Looks like so. Besides, not Katauri is making the new KB, but the so called "1C Company" (the new one). The same guys who said the new KB will be only 30% battles instead of 70%.

When the game will be released? I'm really anxious about the new iteration of the saga, and hope for the best.

In the Q3, I think, but the game is gonna be an RPG with armies limited to a max of ~12 soldiers (it was said in the dev dairies, so it's official).

Yeah, I know. Still hyped. I have played the game series for thousands of hours (literally) And I love RPGs too.

I am hyped too, but I am more interested in battles than in the RPG part (at least for now, because who knows, maybe the story is actually very good) in a KB game. Besides, since they made the battles a less important part of the game, they could at least let us have thousands of soldiers, since this and the "always changing army" thing is what bothers me the most. But again, I might be wrong and like the new game the way it is.
I have played the KB games a lot too, but only for ~ 500-700 hours (4 times each game, WotN only with Ice and Fire, since it makes the 3rd game more interesting).
Also, ever played HoMM games? I discovered the series several months ago, and, as a KB fan, I couldn't help but like the game. If you didn't, maybe you will like it too, since it's similar to KB in certain aspects (especially battles and units) and some parts from KB were inspired by it. As a side note, the 3rd installment is the best, the fifth is pretty good too (with expansions), but the 6th and the 7th aren't that much (their community is almost non-existent, since Ubisoft knows how to destroy game franchises).

Yep, I know the saga quite well. :) Heroes of M&M 3 was my last installment, though. Very good indeed, but I got tired of the mechanics eventually. I think I'm probably more attached to Age of Wonders, specially to Shadow Magic.

The battles from Heroes are simmilar to the ones in KB, yet I find the latter much more varied, complex and inmersive.

By the way, until KB 2 comes out, have you tried The Trent war unofficial campaign for Crossworlds or Matt's mod for the Legend? I recommend both without hesitation. The first overhaul enemy heroes AI (among other things), and Trent War is simply too well designed and balanced out to overlook (moreover, I put my grain of salt on it myself)

Yes, I played the Trent War too. There are many visual "bugs" (unpainted parts of the map, bland decoration, etc.), but maybe that wasn't the strong point of the creator. The scripts used in the campaign where pretty great, just like the camapign itself. However, it did get kinda boring after reaching Upper Trent, due to lack of "real" dialogs and plot. I also remember an island full of isles. That was my favorite part. The decorations where better thought there, in my opinion. I think I'm more attached to the "epicness" of games, not necessarily to the balance or certain other technical stuff, like those introduced in Trent.

What version did you play with? I don't remember so many places where the lack of painting felt weird or annoying.

I agree about the islands area, though. That part is full of details.

Epicness is overrated for me. I'm tired of it. You have tons of games with such a tone.

On the other hand, on my book, balance is key. The absence of dominant strategies, the unpredictability and real challenge mean all much more to my taste. I play on Impossible, by the way.

I play on impossible, too (first time was Normal, the rest Impossible). One of the places left unpainted were on some sand island arena, on the dino island (and man, every time a "cutscene" played, I was always seeing that part; however, I turned animations faster later on). I'm not exactly referring to "epicness" (just couldn't find the word for it back then), but more to the feeling of the game, of the visuals, etc. Just like some guy said, even though you give him a game that is well-balanced and well-made in terms of strategy and other stuff, if the visuals and decor aren't good at all, he might not even play it. Now, I wasn't saying Trent looks horrible, only that it should need more attention in several (visual) areas, especially Lower Trent and starting isle.

And about the balance and strategies (and all other stuff you mentioned), that is still mandatory. I never said I didn't really care about that. Only that I also like to have very nice visuals (one of the reasons I chose HotA over WoG for HoMM3). And nowadays, there are many games that just tend to become more grey, more darker in terms of graphics. HoMM7 without color-enhancing mod is all just a sea of grey-toned colors, and let's not even talk about Diablo 4 (I never played any of the Diablo games, but one of my relatives did). Even KB2 lacks that amazing UI, replacing it with a grey-toned Xbox game UI, a thing that I dislike.

Anyway, I've gotten a little off-topic. I'm sorry for confusing you with my epicness :-). That's not what I really meant. And balance and tactical part of the game are still a big part (but in KB they really exist, Trent too), but it's always really nice to include good decorations when making a map or anything of sorts, in my opinion (one more reason why HoMM7 is pretty bad; let's not forget the awkward animations). But again, it might not have been the creator's strong point, so I don't blame him (I think it's him), even though the adventure map was relatively well made.