Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf

## Overview

***Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf*** takes place seven years prior to the events in Kenji's Journey. The Wolf Clan has suffered under the lash of its Lotus slave masters for three decades, toiling endlessly in the brutal depths of the shale mines. As Grayback, the new chieftain of the Wolf Clan, players must unite the scattered Wolves and win their freedom from tyranny. At their disposal are slaves wielding shale-breaking sledgehammers strong enough to shatter iron; hurling burning pitch to sear the flesh from their enemies' bones; even brawling two-fisted with massive slabs of stone. Grayback must use his knowledge of the mines to defeat superior forces, rediscover the powers of the lost Druidesses, and convince his fellow slaves to risk everything for their chance at freedom.

## About

**Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf** is the expansion pack of the real-time strategy computer game Battle Realms , developed by Liquid Entertainment and Crave Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. The game was announced on January 1, 1999 and released on November 5, 2002.
In the expansion you play as Grayback, lord of the Wolf Clan who begins the campaign by staging a rebellion against his Lotus Clan enslavers. Grayback must unite and rally his forces and restore the Wolf Clan to freedom over the course of an 11-mission campaign.

Your main goal is to escape the slave shale mines and unite your clan.

In addition to the campaign, the expansion also adds new units to the existing four factions. In skirmish mode, there is an option to play with only the original Battle Realms units or with the new units added from Winter of the Wolf expansion (ie. BR mode and WW mode).

## New units and structures

The new structures and units included in the expansion are:

Wolf

* Forest Temple = New training structure from upgrading the Wolfball Court
* Digger = New unit
* Dryad = New unit
* Wildeye = New Zen Master

Dragon

* Royal Academy = New training structure from upgrading Town Square
* Guardian = New unit
* Battle Maiden = New unit
* Teppo = New Zen Master

Serpent

* Assassins' Den = New training structure from upgrading Town Square
* Enforcer = New unit
* Witch = New unit
* Taro = New Zen Master

Lotus

* Flesh Crucible = New training structure from upgrading Town Square
* Reaper = New unit
* Overseer = New unit
* Yvaine = New Zen Master

## Story

The story begins with Grayback, the last heir to the Wolf Clan's throne, explaining that long ago that life was better for their clan before the storms came and drowned their paradise. They were saved from death by their druidess order using their clan's most sacred treasure the White Wolf's Skull, given to them by their clan's totem, the White Wolf.

The skull guided them to the lands of the Serpent empire where their new neighbors the Serpent and Lotus Clan welcomed them as allies but unfortunately they trusted them.Thinking that their lives seemed simple and good again little did they know that Lord Zymeth of the Lotus Clan made a deal with the Serpent emperor and attacked them by surprise. The Serpent Clan looked away as the Lotus burned their towns and killed their people, many wolvesmen tried to fight back but were unsuccessful, the survivors of the battle became slaves in the Lotus shale mines, ever since then Grayback trained his fellow miners in the arts of war, led them to rebellion and struggle for freedom from the grip of their slave master Mistress Yvaine .

## Reception

Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf mostly received mixed reviews. In comparison to other game companies' marketing, Battle Realms lack of media promotion meant that the game went relatively unnoticed by the gaming community. Winter of the Wolf was packaged with the original game for $30. It was also sold separately.