Disciples: Sacred Lands Gold

I'll be honest with you - this game looks, and plays old. Lack of some modern conviniencies is somtimes painfull - you will have to go manualy with every single comat ( and there will be many, many of them ), experience cap is low, and advancement threes of some units are criminaly short. Races balance is bit odd ( Empire is sometimes borderline autopilot, Clans are super slow ), and generaly lot of things are done much better in sequel ( suprise suprise, isn't it ;) ? ). But even with all this, it's still a ok game. Grimdark feeling looms over Neverndarr, giving it much diffrent feel than high fantasy HoM&M, mechanics of combat are simple but still offer some squad customisation, and idea that soldiers gain leves and "evolve" into more powerfull forms was really ahead of it's time. Today there are games that do same thing better ( like mentioned Disciples 2 and Battle for Wesnoth ), but it's still fun game to see where it all begin.

This series is the biggest victim of Heroes 3 success

The mechanics are fairly simple. It's a turn based game. Every turn you get resources similar to the Heros titles. There's no random encounters and units level up after getting enough XP. You can branch them off like your soldiers can become witch hunters or paladins that give them resistance to mental spells or massive defence respectivly. You really only need one adventuring hero and another to defend, but that's about it. Whoever has the more power will win unless its agains the CPU. So the basic strat would be to kill their big hero then roll over the rest. The artwork is what drew me into this game when i was younger. The story is passable and not all stories have a happy ending. Some even end the faction. Definatly worth it on sale and a total dad game.

Disciples: Sacred Lands was a beautiful Turn Based Strategy game. It had 4 factions vying for power, the Empire of Man, the Dwarven Kingdoms, the Undead Horde, and the Legions of the Damned. All with unique tech trees that you choose between. It was an excellent fantasy game with an engaging storyline, with each campaign unveiling another piece in a long story, and an enthralling soundtrack to match, it is truly a gem. Strategy First, the company that made it, really had something special in those days, with many fantasy titles that I did not find the match of. You have a main base in the game, your citadel, that each turn converts the land around it to your type and any resources within that land you gain each turn. You create parties of troops from each city that level up as they succeed in battle and change - an apprentice to a knight, or acolyte to mage etc. You can take additional cities which will in turn create more land around them of your type. There are neutral parties on the map but you are always pitted against another of the 4 races. I remember I would rush to get my homework done to I could go hang out with the neighbor to play this game in LAN. One of my absolute favorites and possibly the first game I ever played in LAN. If you like fantasy and TBS, this is a must for you.

For those who love old Heroes of Might and Magic games but over played them and look for an alternative :-)