Game freezes with "occupy town" animation

[GnG DM]

I'm playing with M2TW with the latest (1.02) patch. This is a clean install, then patched with the 600+ MB patch (it IS okay to skip the first patch, right?).

The game starts okay, and I can do battles. However, AFTER I win a battle, the game seems to "freeze" with the soldier animated thrusting his sword forward towards the attacked town. I can pan left/right/up/down, but the animation is "frozen" and the in-game time seems to stop, as if waiting for the animation to finish.

I've tried searching the forums but my search skills are pretty rusty, so any help appreicated.

Thanks!

[sapi]

Remove your no-cd crack and try again

If you'r running unmodded, that's the cause