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Sorry for the Throwback Thursday no-show last week! Today we're returning with a game that paved the way for some of the most beloved fantasy turn-based strategies.

Warlords I+II represent the best qualities of a classic turn-based strategy with role-playing elements. Set in the fantasy universe, you take a role of a leader of one of many fantasy factions, with the goal of conquering the land, vanquishing your enemies while searching for magical treasures and beasts. With loads of fun stuffed in both single and multiplayer modes, games from the Warlords series are still quite a challenge even for experienced gamers.



Let's see what one of our GOG teammates has to say about Warlords I+II and why it's a game he comes back to from time to time.

Recommended by Michal, Content Marketing Specialist at GOG
[i]If there exists a classic strategy game that can compete with the Heroes of Might and Magic series in terms of hot-seat fun – it must be Warlords. And since I started my adventure with gaming on Amiga 600 in the early 90-ties, Warlords was actually the title to tackle if you wanted to play an exciting strategy game against your friends in a turn-based strategy duel.

The game has a classic fantasy setting, obviously inspired by Lord of the Rings books, and 8 playable factions, each with its unique units. Your mission is to conquer all cities on the map or at least pound enemies’ armies so hard they’ll sue for peace. What made Warlords stand out is the fact that you could recruit heroes to command your units. Heroes were also able to explore various ruins present on the map in search of treasures and monstrous allies that could join their army, giving every playthrough a classic RPG flavor.

The success of Warlords in 1990 paved the road for various sequels, including both turn-based and real-time strategies, most of them available on GOG.COM. The cool addition to Warlords II was a level editor that gave birth to a whole stream of fan-created content that you can admire in Warlords II Deluxe.

All in all, I highly recommend playing the Warlords series, especially if you love turn-based games and want to experience a huge dose of nostalgia![/i]

The Throwback Thursday series is done in cooperation with The Video Games History Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating and teaching the history of video games. If you want to support them, we encourage you to check their donation page.
The value of the first Warlords is probably historical. Fun game though, but it is probably too primitive interface wise for a lot of people, and more limted in scope and replayability due to the lack of different maps. But charming and intersting.
But Warlords II is a pure classic with a concept heritaged by the rest of the franchise.

Imagine a more direct HoMM kind of game without manual tactical combat, and focused in warfare, pure conquest, a wargame in its core. Great AI even for today standards (but it is not very hard considering the few real good AI's existing in strategy games). In fact those guys were experts in classic wargames with good AI's.
Addicting gameplay, full of content, even fan content and a direct easy to use game once you catch the interface and the big picture.

These games remind me a lot to old games like Empire/Empire Deluxe or any fantasy Civ scenario focused in conquest. It has the perfect complexity and it is deep enough for what it is intended to do.

Obviously the third game nailed the formula but Warlords II has a lot of charm and it has something special in it. Perfectly enjoyable today in its own right.

The fourth game tried to streamline it and offered more modern graphics. But compared with II and III it is inferior in my subjective and personal view.

Indeed games to keep always installed in your HD. You will come back to them from time to time.
Post edited November 26, 2021 by Gudadantza
I guess it might be due to my own experience (starting with such games as Heroes of Might and Magic II/III, and later Age of Wonders, Disciples etc). But what actually is the "main thing" of Warlords series?


it's a bit like having strategic elements from those games I've mentioned, but with automatic fights. And without such things like in-battle spells (not counting skills used automatically by units). Am I missing something?

Don't want to decrease value of those games, I'm just asking as someone who has played them for the first time with GOG release.
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MartiusR: I guess it might be due to my own experience (starting with such games as Heroes of Might and Magic II/III, and later Age of Wonders, Disciples etc). But what actually is the "main thing" of Warlords series?

it's a bit like having strategic elements from those games I've mentioned, but with automatic fights. And without such things like in-battle spells (not counting skills used automatically by units). Am I missing something?

Don't want to decrease value of those games, I'm just asking as someone who has played them for the first time with GOG release.
At Its core it's about simplicity and pure strategical approach, nailed with a Good Ai. In fact some of the games you are mentioning predated the general idea of Warlords but adding layers over it. And like every good strategy wargame, the simplicity is only apparent.

And of course, because it was and is fun.
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Misoal: With that throwback It would be perfect moment to Add Warlords 4 to gog, please make it happen! A lot of people would buy it.
I would buy Warlords IV in a heartbeat, but that game was published by Ubisoft, who seem to have forgotten it ever existed.