Video Game / Chronicles of the Second War

Chronicles of the Second War is a Fan Remake of the classic Blizzard RTS game Warcraft II, developed by LoreCraft Designs by modding Warcraft III: Reforged.

The game boasts an expanded storyline that fits with the current Warcraft lore, seven hours worth of cutscenes, full voice acting, Warcraft III style heroes and stats, and many more. While only the Horde campaign of Tides of Darkness is currently available, the Alliance campaign, titled "Rise of the Alliance" is currently in development and will be released in batches of four missions. There are plans to also remake not just the two campaigns of Beyond the Dark Portal, but Warcraft 1 as well.

Official Twitter Page here.
Launch Trailer

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Tropes:

• Ain't Too Proud to Beg:
  • In the introduction, Gul'dan wastes no time begging for his life when Orgrim Doomhammer made clear he only waited for the warlock to wake up from his coma so he'd be aware of his impending death.
  • At the end of the fourth mission, the Hillsbrad Foothills magistrate (who refused to increase his town's defenses due not believing the Horde would attack) begs for his life to Blackhand and Zul'jin, offering them gold for sparing him. Zul'jin wordlessly puts an axe through his head.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • The original version of the Gnomish Flying Machine/Goblin Zeppelin is an unarmed flying unit that only serves to scout and see invisible enemies. In this mod, they can attack air units by default and can be armed with bombs, which are quite effective against foes that cannot fight back like Cannon Towers.
  • Unlike in the original Warcraft II version, heroes are not simply stronger versions of standard units who must be kept alive at all costs, but function like in Warcraft III, with their own skillsets and the ability to level up, wield items and be revived if killed. Because of this, heroes can now be actively used in battle instead of having to be hidden safely away from the front line while the player tries to complete the campaign without using them. Though Teron Gorefiend averts this, being just a stronger than normal Death Knight like his original incarnation.
  • The Orcs in canon were not a seafaring people and their only naval victory was due to the Red Dragons they had forced to serve them. In this mod however the Horde beats the Alliance on multiple occasions in naval battles securing their control of the sea.
• Adaptational Expansion:
  • The Horde and Alliance are both given new sub-factions, representing the different kingdoms and clans that made up the opposing sides which, while mentioned, weren't really fleshed out or accurately represented in the original game.Downplayed in that the changes are only present in the basic units (Grunts and Orc Spearthrowers for the Horde, Footmen and Captains for the Alliance).
  • The Dwarves, High Elves and Draenei have also been made into unique factions, with their own tech trees and units.
  • The Tides of Darkness campaign features four brand new missions (the Tomb of Sargeras and all three bonus missions) that were made from scratch, without being based on any missions in the original game. The Warcraft I remake is also planned to feature events before the opening of the Dark Portal, which originated from Rise of the Horde and were never presented in any official game.
• Adaptational Heroism: As part of the Backported Development, the campaign takes the modern, more heroic characterisation of the orcs, and transplants it to Warcraft II, when the orcs were still pure evil. The conversations between the characters show that although the Old Horde was an invading force of destruction, not all orcs were completely on-board with it, and some at least had some redeeming qualities. For instance, Utok Scratcher is shown to still respect the old shamanistic traditions of the orcs, and even Rend Blackhand seems to have some second thoughts about Fel corruption.
• Adaptation Name Change: The Orcs' submarine was renamed from Giant Turtle to War Turtle.
• Affably Evil: Zuluhed the Whacked, the Dragonmaw Clan chieftain, is a shaman who rejected the Horde's embrace of Fel magic, and his kind, grandfatherly demeanor makes him one of the nicest characters of the Horde. He's still very much on board with the Horde killing thousands of humans, dwarves and elves if it means conquering the continent, and was directly responsible for the enslavement of the red dragons.
• Ascended Extra:
  • The three heroes that appeared in the campaign, Zul'jin, Gul'dan and Cho'gall, only appeared in one mission each, and Gul'Dan wasn't even playable. Here, they appear in multiple missions and cutscenes, with Zul'jin also being the protagonist of one of the secret missions.
  • Multiple characters that were mentioned in the game but never appeared or weren't even mentioned in the game itself but supplementary material stated that they took part in the conflict, do appear here as playable heroes, such as Rend Blackhand (who is arguably the Horde campaign's main character), his brother Maim, Orgrim Doomhammer (while he's the Horde Warchief he was pretty much The Ghost in the original game), Eitrigg, Zuluhed the Wacked and Nekros Skullcrusher.
  • The Orc race as a whole. In the original Warcraft II they only had two units to their name (The Peon and the Grunt) and you never got to use orc heroes until the expansion. Here, you get to control a variety of heroes of which only two aren't orcs, some clans still use the Orc Spearthrower as their main ranged unit instead of the Troll Axethrower, plus you will always have an orc demihero like Utok Scratcher or Tharbek.
• Backported Development: Much of the lore and designs of the Orcs and Humans that were developed in later instalments have been implemented here to match continuity.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The Orc Campaign ends with the Horde successfully destroying Lordaeron winning the second war for them and guaranteeing Horde domination of the Eastern Kingdoms for the foreseeable future,
• Baseless Mission: Missions in the Tides of Darkness campaign where you don't have control over a base are Wetlands (6), the first part of Dragonqueen (secret 1), Zul'Aman (secret 3), Tomb of Sargeras (13) and the hidden second part of The Fall of Lordaeron (14).
• The Bus Came Back: Due the fact that only a couple clans get Troll Axethrowers (mostly the Blackrock and Black Tooth Grin clans), the rest of the clans continue using the Orc Spearthrower from Warcraft I. Similarly, some Alliance factions continue using Human Archers as opposed to High Elven ones.
• Boss Battle: Several missions will have you fight a powerful opponent with nothing but your heroes and sometimes a few troops:
  • The first half of the Dragonqueen mission has you fight first against Kar the Everburning, a Firelord, and then against the Red Dragon Orastrasz.
  • The Lost Isles mission ends with the Blackhand brothers fighting against Cho'gall. Utok and Zuluhed will help by throwing healing runes into the battleground.
  • The Tomb of Sargeras ends with Zuluhed fighting against Rakmar Sharpfang, a former Necrolyte turned Death Knight, in a one on one battle.
• Call-Forward:
  • Gul'dan carries the Orb of Shadows as his Stuck Item, which he will lose upon dying and then will be found by Maiev Shadowsong many years later.
  • During the Lost Isles mission, Gul'dan's base can produce Stormreaver Necrolytes and Stormreaver Warlocks, which explains their presence there when Maiev and her army arrived there decades later.
• The Cameo:
  • Teron Gorefiend makes a couple of small appearances, both before and after becoming a Death Knight.
  • Varok Saurfang also makes a few appearances in some cutscenes.
  • A pre-Ashbringer Alexandros Mograine appears as the main hero antagonist during the attack on Stratholme.
• Canis Major: Both Rend Blackhand and Orgrim Doomhammer ride dire wolves in battle. Averted for the rest of the Horde, since Doomhammer banned wolf riding.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Gul'dan convinces Doomhammer to spare him by reminding him that his war effort needs all the advantages it can find if the Horde is to stand a chance on Azeroth. Naturally Gul'dan makes Orgrim regret this decision.
• Civil Warcraft: The Lost Isles (Tides of Darkness 12) is an Orc versus Orc mission, albeit between different subfactions.
• The Dragon: Many high ranking orcs such as clan chieftains often have a second in command.
  • Rend Blackhand quickly becomes Orgrim Doomhammer's right hand man. Zul'jin, in turn, becomes Rend's own right hand man after being rescued by the latter.
  • Cho'gall is Gul'dan's apprentice and main enforcer.
  • Zuluhed's second in command in Nekros Skullcrusher, his former shaman apprentice.
• Fan Remake: Developed by a group of dedicated fans, the game uses modified assets of Reforged to retell the story of the Second and First Wars.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Warlock heroes like Gul'dan and Nekros Skullcrusher do Chaos damage when attacking as opposed to the standard Hero damage.
• Good Powers, Bad People: Zuluhed might be a shaman, but do not think he's Thrall or Drek'thar; he's perfectly willing to help Doomhammer raze the continent to the ground in his war of conquest, and he was the one who gathered an Artifact of Doom knowing that it could be used to enslave an entire race of sentient beings.
  Kar the Everburning: I sense that you've been touched by the spirits, yet you serve ignoble masters!
• Guest-Star Party Member: Nekros Skullcrusher and Eitrigg are only playable in one of the secret missions each.
• Head-in-the-Sand Management: The Hillsbrad Foothill magistrate believes the threat of the Horde is overblown and refuses to do anything to evacuate the population to the north and increase the town's defenses, despite Rend Blackhand rapidly advancing from the south and the warnings of a Stormwind survivor about the brutality of the Horde. It's not so subtly implied that his refusal to prepare for an attack is because it would hurt his pockets. He ends up paying his greed and negligence with his life.
• Hero Must Survive: Usually averted. Heroes do not function like in the original version (as just stronger versions of standard units who must be kept alive throughout all missions in which they appear, save for the final one), but like in Warcraft III (with the Town Hall/Great Hall also serving the Altar's role of resurrecting dead heroes) instead, and thus only need to be kept alive in sections where they cannot be revived.
• Hero Unit:
  • Major characters in Warcraft lore (like Orgrim Doomhammer, Gul'dan and Cho'gall) appear as Warcraft III-style heroes, who use the Three-Stat System, have four unique skills each, can earn experience and carry items (if player-controlled), and be revived from the Town Hall/Great Hall if they die.
  • 'Secondary' heroes representing player-controlled minor characters (like Utok Scratcher and Tharbek in the Tides of Darkness campaign) are not treated as heroes in-game. They still have an inventory (though since the Three-Stat System is not used, any Strength, Agility and Intelligence bonuses will be wasted on them); while they cannot gain experience, they can instead 'level up' by completing side quests (treated in-game as spellcaster ranks), and they also have four skills which grow stronger in a specific order when they 'level up'. If they die, they drop all items and cannot be further used for the rest of the mission.
• Honor Before Reason: When it's obvious that the Horde is about to take Stormgarde, Liam Trollbane urges his brother the king to flee. Thoras Trollbane refuses, since he doesn't want to be remembered as the king who fled while he let his city be conquered, and wants to at least put up a Last Stand. Thankfully subverted as Liam convinces Thoras to live today so he can fight another day, and go to Lordaeron in order to seek King Terenas' help.
• Ignored Expert: Captain Meryn, leader of a remnant of the defeated Stormwind army, tries to warn the magistrate of Hillsbrad Foothills of the coming Horde invasion, urging him to evacuate the civilians and to barricade the town. Too bad the magistrate believes the threat of the Horde is overblown and doesn't do anything, allowing Rend Blackhand and Zul'jin to raze the town to the ground and kill every man, woman and child living there.
• Infinity +1 Element:
  • Being Warlocks, Gul'dan and Nekros Skullcrusher inflict Chaos damage instead of the usual Hero damage.
  • Enforcers, the Stormreaver clan's variant of the Grunts, also inflict Chaos damage, since Gul'dan charged them with more demonic power than other orcs.
• Mêlée à Trois: At the end of Tomb of Sargeras (Tides of Darkness 13), when Zuluhed fights Rakmar Sharpfang, his ultimate Call of the Elements will no longer summon a controllable elemental, which is replaced by a neutral Felfire Elemental hostile to both himself and the boss—though it's not difficult to ensure that the Felfire Elemental and Rakmar will focus on each other, so you'll only have to deal with his summoned undead minions.
• Mythology Gag: During the attack on Stratholme, Gul'dan claims that "the entire city will be purged".
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: The Wetlands mission has crocolisks crawling around the swamp, with one large crocolisk that must be fought.
• Nostalgia Level: "The Tomb of Sargeras" is this to the mission of the same name of the Night Elf Frozen Throne campaign: besides using the same location, it also features finding a betrayer as its main mission, gives you control of a hero with a short-range teleportation ability that you can use to reach hidden zones, has an optional mission involving finding ten pieces of a powerful artifact, and ends with your hero fleeing the tomb before it collapses.
• Pet the Dog: Despite he could have perfectly said no, Doomhammer accepts Rend Blackhand's request of having his wolf back.
• The Remnant: Mission 4 of the Horde campaign features a remnant of Stormwind's army as one of your enemies.
• Resource-Gathering Mission: The final objective of Southshore (Tides of Darkness 3), which wasn't present in the original version, is to gather 9000 oil.
• Secret Level: The Tides of Darkness campaign features three bonus missions that are not unlocked by default: Dragonqueen (unlocked by collecting all four pieces of a dragon statue, three in Chapter 5 and one in Chapter 6); The Hinterlands Ploy (unlocked by finding the Wildhammer dwarf camp in Chapter 8) and Siege of Zul'Aman (unlocked by beating Chapter 11 without letting your troll ally's base be destroyed).
• Stuck Items: Most playable heroes have one item (except Orgrim Doomhammer and Nekros Skullcrusher, who have two each; Zul'jin, who only receives one in the hidden Siege of Zul'Aman mission; and Eitrigg, who doesn't have any) that is locked in its slot and cannot be dropped. Zuluhed also receives two additional ones in Tomb of Sargeras (Tides of Darkness 13): Aluneth, Greatstaff of the Magna (which is undroppable as soon as the first piece is picked up and remains so for the rest of the campaign) and the Head of Gul'dan (which is automatically given to Zuluhed when the Pit Lord is defeated and cannot be dropped until the mission ends; in the next mission, it's given to Orgrim Doomhammer and can be dropped like normal).
• Summon Magic:
  • Gul'dan can call Infernals down the sky, like the Dreadlords. Unlike most Dreadlords, he has this as a normal ability rather than an Ultimate.
  • Zuluhed's ultimate summons one of four elementals at random.
• Support Power: The Runestone Powers in The Dead Rise as Quel'Thalas Falls (Tides of Darkness 11) are treated as a hero (and thus easily selectable at any given time, despite not even having any physical presence), whose spells can be cast anywhere on the map, with no mana cost but long cooldowns.
• Timed Mission:
  • In Southshore (Tides of Darkness 3), one objective is to build four Oil Platforms. Of the five Oil Patches present on the map, only three are free; the other two are occupied by enemy Oil Platforms and actively being harvested by Oil Tankers. As a result, you must take over at least one of them before both are fully harvested by the enemy.
  • In Wetlands (Tide of Darkness 6), Cho'gall must be escorted to Grim Batol before dawn. There's no visible in-game exact timer; only the current hour of the day is displayed to you.
  • In the first part of The Hinterlands Ploy (Tides of Darkness Lost Chapter 2), you have 30 minutes to destroy all three Wildhammer settlements.
  • In the second part of Tomb of Sargeras (Tides of Darkness 13), Zuluhed must escape the Tomb before the timer expires.

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