Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is the first part of my Let's Play as the Elves of Cormanthyr in the mod Faerun [Forgotten Realms] : Total War, or simply Faerun: Total War - for the PC-game Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, a strategy game from the year 2006, updated with the Kingdoms expansion in 2007 - it's a turn-based real-time-strategy game for the computer.
The mod allows you to take control of 23 factions in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) IP, taking place in the world of the Forgotten Realms on the continent of Faerun.
I'm going to be playing for 3 hours, 30 minutes in this first episode of my Elves of Cormanthyr let's play.
The Elves of Cormanthyr is an Elven coalition consisting of the many different Elves of the Cormanthor forest, and the Elves of the last strong Elven settlement of Evereska far away from the forest. In the campaign their goal is to conquer 40 regions in the long campaign, and 15 regions in the short campaign - whilst also defeating their main enemies, which are the Kingdom of Cormyr and the Zhentarim in the short campaign, and int he long campaign they'll also need to defeat the Empire of the Shadovar and the Republic of Sembia.
This being the new version 0.8 release of the mod, released on New Year's Eve in 2026 - on January 1st, 2026 - the mod has many new additions that weren't in the old demo release V.0.2 from October 20th, 2020.
In this episode in particular the Elves will build up their economy and starting settlements, enter many abandoned forts and then conquer areas from the Minor Factions/Rebels - the Minor Factions in this mod have full stacks everywhere as their regions are seen as either independent City-States that should have entire armies per city, or they're occupied by monsters, Elves, bandits or dwarves.
In the old release from 2020 no regions had rebels and were either empty or had just the general with a bodyguard unit. The new rebel garrisons will make sure that it won't be easy to just conquer huge swathes of land inthe early game.
There are three campaigns - the main campaign accessible from the single player menu and from multiplayer/hotseat, then there are the Merchant Script Campaign adding a very unique script for the mod that spawns merchants in the form of diplomats and allows factions to trade etc, you can trade ancillaries and stuff - this campaign is extremely slow and not recommended despite being the original campaign, as the original creator Vladyvid decided to scrap it for the much faster without the scripts - this campaign also has the named forts placed out all over the map representing the many villages, towns, cities, castles, forts and towers of Faerun, as Medieval 2 has a 199 settlement limit.
Then there is the third campaign in which all the named forts are kept but any other scripts are removed, this allowed the campaign to be almost as fast as the first campaign and not extremely slow like the Merchant Script Campaign - whilst still keeping all the named forts around the campaign map. This is the campaign I will be playing, and is likely the best campaign for hotseat-multiplayer, but I do play singleplayer games through the hotseat menu - this is easily done if you make sure to just select one faction before starting the game, and also make sure to disable the first faction (the Kingdom of Cormyr) if they're not the faction you are going to play as - this is done by clicking on them after you have selected the faction that you want to play as.
The Main Campaign and the Named Forts campaign both have extremely fast end turn times, whilst the Merchant Script Campaign is extremely slow - I only recommend the later for people who are curious about the scripts and the original idea for the campaign.
As for the Named Forts Campaign the AI will turtle more with all the forts so even though they're still aggressive they are going to defend more, so if you want to chill more play this, also play this in hotseat against other players as I suspect it would be more fun with all the like 100 forts or so.
In the main campaign the AI will expand more and be more aggressive, so play this if you'd like the AI to turtle less and instead be a bit more on the offensive. In the Named Forts Campaign they will still invade but due to all the forts on the map it will also garrison the troops inside the forts, an option that doesn't exist in the main campaign which is why the AI will instead attack you sooner in it.
The AI will also need to conquer all the rebel settlements first before war really gets going, as quite a few factions have rebel regions between them and another faction at the start of the campaign.
Download-link:
moddb.com/mods/faernforgotten-realmstotal-war-mod/downloads/faerun-forgotten-realms-tw-v08
PS: All three campaigns are equally updated and stable, fully playable and has all the units, rebels, mercs, custom strat-models, custom mounts etc - they may lack unit cards for most of the new units, and proper costs/stats for the units- enjoy
This is the first part of my Let's Play as the Elves of Cormanthyr in the mod Faerun [Forgotten Realms] : Total War, or simply Faerun: Total War - for the PC-game Medieval II: Total War: Kingdoms, a strategy game from the year 2006, updated with the Kingdoms expansion in 2007 - it's a turn-based real-time-strategy game for the computer.
The mod allows you to take control of 23 factions in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) IP, taking place in the world of the Forgotten Realms on the continent of Faerun.
I'm going to be playing for 3 hours, 30 minutes in this first episode of my Elves of Cormanthyr let's play.
The Elves of Cormanthyr is an Elven coalition consisting of the many different Elves of the Cormanthor forest, and the Elves of the last strong Elven settlement of Evereska far away from the forest. In the campaign their goal is to conquer 40 regions in the long campaign, and 15 regions in the short campaign - whilst also defeating their main enemies, which are the Kingdom of Cormyr and the Zhentarim in the short campaign, and int he long campaign they'll also need to defeat the Empire of the Shadovar and the Republic of Sembia.
This being the new version 0.8 release of the mod, released on New Year's Eve in 2026 - on January 1st, 2026 - the mod has many new additions that weren't in the old demo release V.0.2 from October 20th, 2020.
In this episode in particular the Elves will build up their economy and starting settlements, enter many abandoned forts and then conquer areas from the Minor Factions/Rebels - the Minor Factions in this mod have full stacks everywhere as their regions are seen as either independent City-States that should have entire armies per city, or they're occupied by monsters, Elves, bandits or dwarves.
In the old release from 2020 no regions had rebels and were either empty or had just the general with a bodyguard unit. The new rebel garrisons will make sure that it won't be easy to just conquer huge swathes of land inthe early game.
There are three campaigns - the main campaign accessible from the single player menu and from multiplayer/hotseat, then there are the Merchant Script Campaign adding a very unique script for the mod that spawns merchants in the form of diplomats and allows factions to trade etc, you can trade ancillaries and stuff - this campaign is extremely slow and not recommended despite being the original campaign, as the original creator Vladyvid decided to scrap it for the much faster without the scripts - this campaign also has the named forts placed out all over the map representing the many villages, towns, cities, castles, forts and towers of Faerun, as Medieval 2 has a 199 settlement limit.
Then there is the third campaign in which all the named forts are kept but any other scripts are removed, this allowed the campaign to be almost as fast as the first campaign and not extremely slow like the Merchant Script Campaign - whilst still keeping all the named forts around the campaign map. This is the campaign I will be playing, and is likely the best campaign for hotseat-multiplayer, but I do play singleplayer games through the hotseat menu - this is easily done if you make sure to just select one faction before starting the game, and also make sure to disable the first faction (the Kingdom of Cormyr) if they're not the faction you are going to play as - this is done by clicking on them after you have selected the faction that you want to play as.
The Main Campaign and the Named Forts campaign both have extremely fast end turn times, whilst the Merchant Script Campaign is extremely slow - I only recommend the later for people who are curious about the scripts and the original idea for the campaign.
As for the Named Forts Campaign the AI will turtle more with all the forts so even though they're still aggressive they are going to defend more, so if you want to chill more play this, also play this in hotseat against other players as I suspect it would be more fun with all the like 100 forts or so.
In the main campaign the AI will expand more and be more aggressive, so play this if you'd like the AI to turtle less and instead be a bit more on the offensive. In the Named Forts Campaign they will still invade but due to all the forts on the map it will also garrison the troops inside the forts, an option that doesn't exist in the main campaign which is why the AI will instead attack you sooner in it.
The AI will also need to conquer all the rebel settlements first before war really gets going, as quite a few factions have rebel regions between them and another faction at the start of the campaign.
Download-link:
moddb.com/mods/faernforgotten-realmstotal-war-mod/downloads/faerun-forgotten-realms-tw-v08
PS: All three campaigns are equally updated and stable, fully playable and has all the units, rebels, mercs, custom strat-models, custom mounts etc - they may lack unit cards for most of the new units, and proper costs/stats for the units- enjoy








![Warcraft: Total War - Stormwind vs The Horde & Dark Horde | Alpha Roster Edition (Unreelased)
[NOTE] This mod is currently unreleased, under development, and features heavily restored/upgraded retro assets.
Welcome to a massive, three-part battle showcase in Warcraft: Total War! In this video, the Kingdom of Stormwind faces off against the crushing might of the Orcish hordes in three distinct cinematic clashes. Across all three engagements, the Horde emerges completely victorious—but the real spotlight is on the massive roster deep-dives, visual overhauls, and rare asset restorations.
Here is the breakdown of the three battles and the exact technical updates showcased in each:
🌲 Battle 1: The First War (Outside Stormwind - Elwynn Forest Climate)
The Lore: Stormwind defends its home territory using its pure, 100% Alpha roster against a pure, Orc-only First War Horde.
Kingdom of Stormwind Overhaul: Stormwind shares its core alpha models (originally by Eoghan Wolfkin) with Lordaeron, but completely re-skinned in their iconic blue and yellow faction colors. While they lack Lordaerons Paladins of the Silver Hand (removing two armor variations), they make up for it with a faction-exclusive elite: the Stormwind Vanguard—heavy, two-handed plates-armored swordsmen.
The Pure Orc Horde: This army uses the classic, smaller Orc models rigged to Medieval 2 animations rather than the larger Warhammer-animated variants from later versions. The Orc Spears and Orc Archers proudly retain their classic shoulder pads.
Hero Models Turned Roster Upgrades: To avoid wasting iconic character models as single-use heroes, I have integrated them as elite armor variations! The Blackrock Destroyers now feature four distinct armor tiers—tier 3 uses Orgrim Doomhammer’s model, and tier 4 uses Blackhand’s model.
The Korkron & Leadership Upgrades: The regular Korkron unit has received the Horde Captain and General models as armor upgrades (just like Lordaerons footmen). The Korkron Bodyguard unit remains pure. Meanwhile, the Orc Warlocks have been given 4 armor variations, with the 4th tier transforming them into the legendary Guldan model!
The Supporting Roster: Features classic Peons, Spearthrowers, Raiders (Wolf Riders), Berserkers, Grunts, and traditional WoW Classic/HD WC3 fan-site assets like Kodo Beasts, Far Seers, Wyvern Riders, Shamans, and Blademasters.
🐗 Battle 2: Enter the Ogres (Elwynn Forest)
The Lore: The Old Horde pushes deeper, now calling upon the classic WC2 retro Ogre mercenary clans to break Stormwinds lines.
The Restored Ogre Roster: This battle showcases four distinct Ogre units utilizing classic, smaller models. While later versions deleted these in favor of giant WoW Classic models, Ive brought back the nostalgic retro scales. The Ogre Magi are Orc size, while the other three Ogre variants match the 1.6 animation scale of the Warhammer Orcs—making them distinct but entirely unique. The heavily armored Half-Ogre Infantry returns here as the core Ogre Warriors like it was originally intended to be.
(Note on Trolls: The blue Darkspear Trolls were cut from this specific battle as they didnt fit the green Amani aesthetic of the Old Horde era).
Stormwind’s Alliances: To fight the Ogres, Stormwind deploys its regional allies. The Dwarves utilize their modern WoW Classic assets, while the High Elves use the classic WC3/fan-made alpha models. Unlike Lordaeron’s red-and-gold Blood Elven variants, Stormwinds Elves proudly wear the blue and silver of QuelThalas.
🏔️ Battle 3: The Dark Horde Arrives (Amani Lands)
The Lore: The scene shifts to the rugged Amani territories as Stormwind fields its absolute best units against the black-and-grey forces of the Dark Horde (Old Horde).
The Green Amani Trolls: With the faction swap to the Dark Horde, the blue Darkspears are completely replaced by five unique units of green Amani Trolls alongside their dark-skinned Orc and Ogre counterparts.
Dragonflight & Drake Riders: The Dark Horde showcases its devastating aerial superiority, fielding Drake Riders (Blackrock Destroyers mounted onto WoW Classic Drakes) alongside independent Black and Red Dragonflights.
Map Continuity Note: This final battle is fought in Amani lands rather than a dedicated Dark Horde custom map, as the custom map files for this sub-faction are currently tied to the giant campaign map version and havent been ported to this standalone custom battle build yet. It is in the campaign though but I forgot to include it for custom battle.
If you love deep-dive total war mod development, retro asset restoration, and massive Warcraft lore battles, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to track the progress of the Alpha Roster Edition campaign!
#WarcraftTotalWar #Medieval2TotalWar #KingdomOfStormwind #TheHorde #DarkHorde #TotalWarMods #Warcraft1 Warcraft: Total War - Stormwind vs The Horde & Dark Horde | Alpha Roster Edition (Unreelased)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/g-KNXkoflRY/mqdefault.jpg)

