The Warlord scenarios include a new type of Great Person unit - called a Great General. You can use a Great General in a city to create a "super specialist", military advisor or along with other Great Persons, trigger a Golden Age. However, if the Great General is attached to a military unit, he becomes a Warlord, invoking a litany of combat and morale bonuses that exist until that unit is destroyed.
There are several scenarios that focus on famous, pre-packaged Warlord units - Alexander the Great's sack of Asia Minor, Viking legend Ragnar Lodbrok's raid across Northern Europe and Ghengis Khan's giant campaign of terrorism through Asia.
An alternative history scenario, Omens, puts you in a 150-turn conflict between Catholic France, Protestant England and the native Lenape civilization. Victory is determined by who has spread their religious influence the furthest throughout the Ohio River Valley. The scenario introduces supernatural events that punish the wicked - so make sure to say your bedtime prayers.
Lastly, longtime Civ fans will appreciate finally turning the tables on the pesky barbarians and getting to control a horde in the Barbarian mode. It plays very much like that last round of a long game of tabletop Risk. You'll attempt to "run the table" by slaughtering every city on the map with a giant army, burning and pillaging as you go.
With something to satisfy everyone, we are braced for the sleep-deprived weeks ahead. Civilization IV: Warlords rolls out to retail on July 24, 2006.
