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Introduction

Warlords Battlecry is the first of the Warlords series to venture into the realm of real time strategy. Where the previous games have been turn based, the Battlecry incarnation seeks to incorporate many of the features found in the older games into the RTS genre. If you listen to the PR, they'll say that Battlecry brings "real-time strategy gaming with hero-based gameplay." What you'll find is that Battlecry has some fairly standard RTS components (and some innovative improvements) with some RPG elements added.

The Hero

Heroes are Warlords Battlecry's claim to fame. This is where the RPG elements come in - the hero can complete quests, acquire items, gain experience, and rise in levels. There are nine different races and 16 possible character classes. The hero is defined by a set of statistics and skills, each of which can be improved over time. Unlike the heroes in previous Warlord titles, heroes can no longer die - they merely become incapacitated, and recuperate in time for the next battle. Heroes are accompanied by a retinue of generals, allies, and veterans. Like the hero, they gain experience and become more powerful - if they survive, that is. My generals have this unseemly habit of dying in combat...

All heroes have the old, familiar stats - strength, dexterity, intelligence, and charisma. These statistics have a contribution to the hero's skill levels. These skills cover everything from combat to spellcasting to building. Most classes (specializations) have some degree of spellcasting ability. There are 9 different spheres of magic with 82 different spells, but some of them have the same effects. The first 3 levels are spent developing the fundamentals of your hero. These are the formative stages where you choose the hero's race, profession, and specialization. After level 3, upon gaining a level, the hero receives a number of ability points that can be spent to improve skills or statistics, and gain new spells or abilities.

One of these skills, Conversion, is the cornerstone of your economy. All non-defensive buildings, including mines, can be converted to aid your cause. Your hero is vulnerable during this process and will not stop to defend himself without your direct intervention. A high Conversion skill level reduces the conversion time. All buildings within the hero's command radius are converted simultaneously. Fortunately, if your hero is slain, all is not lost. Other units can convert, notably the phoenix and the generals of each race. Each keep can also convert buildings in a large radius around it, but this is an excruciatingly slow process.