History VideoGame / WarlordsBattlecry

* ALoadOfBull: An entire faction, serving under the horseman of war. They're [[BloodKnight fans of fighting]], hard hitters, and have what's possibly the strongest general in the game, in the form of a '''huge''' minotaur with an axe that could chop a tower in half.

* FinalDeath: Ironman Mode in ''II'' - if you are killed for any reason, your character is deleted and your save file is erased.

'''Warlords Battlecry''' is a series of {{RPG}}/RealTimeStrategy games and the {{Spinoff}} of the well-known ''Warlords'' franchise, published by SSG/Enlight Interactive/Ubisoft and released on the PC from 1999-2004.

----

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the second, the AI will merrily use Army Setup Points to get units that are unavailable to the player, such as Undead AI getting Doom Knights when the best the player can do in the same situation is Slayer Knights. The above example of being TheAllSeeingAI also counts. Don't even get started on the High Elf Hero in Lunarion with '''219''' Attack.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the second, the AI will merrily use Army Setup Points to get units that are unavailable to the player, such as Undead AI getting Doom Knights when the best the player can do in the same situation is Slayer Knights. The above example of being TheAllSeeingAI also counts.

-->'''[[WorkerUnit Quasit]]:''' Bite my tail, monkey boy.
-->'''[[EvilIsHammy Doom Knight]]:''' '''''DOOOOOM IS AT HAND!'''''
-->'''Bronze Golem:''' [[HulkSpeak I squaaaaash...!]]
-->'''[[PraetorianGuard Khazrimi]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Guard]]:''' Hail the king!
* RedEyesTakeWarning

* SnakePeople: The Ssrathi, who have the lower body of a snake.

** Actually, in the game data the Dwarves are marked as neutral race. The fifth "Good" race are Barbarians. Yes, this guys who scream about razing and burning and have slavery.

** Actually, in the game data the Dwarves are marked as neutral race. The fifth "Good" race are "Barbarians". Yes, this guys who scream about razing and burning and have slavery.

** Actually, in the game data the Dwarves are marked as neutral race. The fifth "Good" race are **Barbarians**. Yes, this guys who scream about razing and burning and have slavery.

The series' plot focused on a continuing struggle between the Civilized (Human, Dwarf, Undead), Barbarian (Orc, Barbarians, Minotaur) and Elvish (Dark Elf, Wood Elf, High Elf) races, who are all vying for power. In the two sequels, several races end up forging alliances to stop the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse from plunging the world into eternal darkness.

** Actually, in the game data the Dwarves are marked as neutral race. The fifth "Good" race are *Barbarians*. Yes, this guys who scream about razing and burning and have slavery.

* BonusBoss: There is an island inhabited by Undead and Daemons, you don't really have to go there but if you do, expect to find yourself fighting a lvl 75 undead hero who can cast a lvl 2 ice ring without its status screen even suggesting it has access to such a spell, did we mention that the game can't process a player controlled hero past lvl 50, and that the undead faction is backed up by 3 daemon heroes and that the "difficulty" settings is only for the A. I. while their level and skills are raised to match those of the player character?

** Minotaur Kings and Giants seem to play it straight as both are massive monsters with higher resistance and strength than regular minotaurs and ogres plus the ability to inflict fear and hit both air and ground units. The former takes it further by negating the defence of it's target (making it able to kill even high level heroes, Dragons and Titans in a few hits) and healing from eating animals that it's own race can produce with ease while the later does so by being able to hit in a wide area rather than a single target (making it capable of preventing enemies piling on it while racking up exp faster)

* BonusBoss: There is an island inhabited by Undead and Daemons, you don't really have to go there but if you do, expect to find yourself fighting a lvl 75 undead hero who can cast a lvl 2 ice ring without it's status screen even suggesting it has access to such a spell, did we mention that the game can't process a player controlled hero past lvl 50, and that the undead faction is backed up by 3 daemon heroes and that the "difficulty" settings is only for the A. I. while their level and skills are raised to match those of the player character?

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Disregarding the ability of most units in the game to get exp and increase their power; "General" units are technically meant to be the "best" units of their race and get the ability to convert building like heroes from the get-go (something that is impossible for even the most heavily trained non-general units) but can play the trope straight, downplay it, or subvert it in regards to the "asskicking" part but compensate with an special skill that is useful in general to the playability of their race or become asskickers through that particular skill:
** Minotaur Kings and Giants seem to play it straight as both are massive monsters with higher resistance and strenght than regular minotaurs and ogres plus the ability to inflict fear and hit both air and ground units. The former takes it further by negating the defence of it's target (making it able to kill even high level heroes, Dragons and Titans in a few hits) and healing from eating animals that it's own race can produce with ease while the later does so by being able to hit in a wide area rather than a single target (making it capable of preventing enemies piling on it while racking up exp faster)
** Generals that could be considered to downplay the trope would be (among others): The Bronze Golem and Dwarf Lord; the former is technically stronger than the Iron Golem but lacks the ability to hit everything around it and spawn spider bombs but can scavenge destroyed buildings for resources which are specially important seeing the cost for golem and siege machine production. Dwarf Lords in the other hand seem to lack the sheer hitting force and high critical hit rate that [[EliteMook Khazrimi Guards]] have, but they are specially useful in raiding the enemy bases since they have way more defense, take less damage from ranging attacks allowing them to close the distance on towers and siege machine and inflict much more damage to buildings.
** a Subvertion might include the Wood Elve's Dryad, while not exactly the weakes of their units, the Dryad is quite frail and her hits aren't really notorious, her main use comes from her high speed and ability to convert mines much faster than any other general, making her more of a support unit that wins battles by helping the rest of her army as opposed to an unstoppable base raider.

* BonusBoss: There is an island inhabited by Undeads and Daemons, you don't really have to go there but if you do, expect to find yourself fighting a lvl 75 undead hero who can cast a lv 2 ice ring without it's status screen even suggesting it has access to such an spell, did we mention that the game can't process a player controlled hero past lvl 50, and that the undead faction is backed up by 3 daemon heroes and that the "difficulty" settings is only for the A. I. while their level and skills are rised to match those of the player character?

* CriticalHit: A somewhat odd variation. Blows can be a whiff (ScratchDamage), do half damage, full, twice the damage, crit for triple damage AND an effect based on the type of damage, and a lethal blow that's usually a OneHitKill, or close, accompanied by a PreMortemOneLiner.

* LightIsNotGood: Among the "light" races you have the High Elves, who suffer from the typical [[CantArgueWithElves elven arrogance]], and don't care about the fate of other races as long as they can serve their idea of a greater good; the Empire, whose main trade is invading other countries for treasure; the Dwarves, who like the Empire, are driven by greed; the Knights, who usually like to act chivalrous but still see orc-slaying as an sport and aren't above trying to invade the Empire themselves and finally, the Fey, who are kind of the only (maybe 2) not invasive or highly arrogant races, but enforce GoodIsNotSoft and have some in-universe NightmareFuel

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: The horseman of destruction, Gorgon, the BigBad of the third game. Although the player fights his forces multiple times they never actually see him. In the end he's not even fought... his fortress is sealed within the planet, with him inside it.

* NonIndiciativeName: Not a single one of the five horsemen actually rides a horse.

* DinosaursAreDragons: Zig-zagged in ''III''. While they are clearly separate units (every race potentially has access to dragons, while dinos are Ssrathi units), the Dragonslayer class has a skill that grants bonus XP to both dragon and dinosaur units

[[http://www.gog.com/gamecard/warlords_battlecry All]] [[http://www.gog.com/gamecard/warlords_battlecry_2 three]] [[http://www.gog.com/gamecard/warlords_battlecry_3 installments]] are available for purchase at Website/GOGDotCom.