The campaign mode consists of three interconnected stories. The human part follows general Pfeil, a former mercenary, who attempts to stop an orc invasion, led by a dangerous chieftain Ugraum. The second part has the player experience Ugraum's conquests firsthand, while the third part follows an elf sorceress Teya, who investigates the unusual orc activity, and learns about true instigators of the invasion.
The game was followed by a sequel, originally subtitled "Higher Race"note , but better known in the West as Elven Legacy. There also was three lesser stand-alone expansions, subtitled Ranger, Siege, and Magic, all of which were released under the Elven Legacy name in the West.
The series is not related to Fantasy War Tactics in any way or form.
The game provides examples of:
- Another Side, Another Story: Downplayed. Human and orc campaigns overlap in time, but two armies never meet each other. They do, however, narrowly miss each other, with Pfeil's army recapturing a city that Ugraum has to conquer in one of his missions.
- Gameplay Grading: There's a gold victory available if campaign missions are completed quickly. Lesser medals are awarded for other time limits.
- Hero Unit: Important characters are known as Heroes, and they go into battles alone, without an escort. They are roughly equivalent in power to a strong unit, but they don't suffer casualties, and thus don't require money to fully recover.
- The Horde: Orcs, who were stuck in strife for generations, form a huge horde under the lead of Ugraum. Human kingdoms can't stop it outright, and so Pfeil' campaign focuses on recapture of conquered lands and surgical strikes.
- Mage Tower: There's an enormous magic tower in Seelent, dozens of times taller than the city walls. Its middle is replaced with some magic crystals, and large slabs of stone float around it.
- Our Orcs Are Different: Mostly Warcraft-like... prior to Warcraft III, that is. Orcs are quite brutal and hate humans, but ultimately, they're just another race. Orcs are shown to use various unusual inventions, and Ugraum even keeps a diary.
- Suspiciously Small Army: Downplayed. Each unit that is not a Hero, siege engine, or the like, consists of several (three to fifteen) separate fighters, that visibly suffer casualties as their HP bar is depleted. As a result, your army near the endgame will likely number over a hundred people, plus flyers, siege engines, etc, which is still too small for such an epic scale, but more believable than most other Strategy RPGs. Siege expansion allows for bigger battles, further downplaying the trope.
- Timed Mission: Most campaign missions need to be completed in a number of turns. In case of defense missions, the timer shows how many turns the player needs to hold out against.
