"I know you don't understand it now, Waerjak, but someday you will. Yes, we are Barbarians. Yes, we are born warriors. But a warrior is not just a killer. He's a protector! You must have respect for life, and an even greater respect for your ability to take it. Otherwise, you're just a murderer."
—Tarnum
A New Way is the first scenario in the Glory of Days Past campaign in Heroes of Might and Magic IV.
Walkthrough[]
"The tribeless warrior, Waerjak, realizes that if the Barbarian people don't turn from their life of murder and war they are going to disappear forever. So, Waerjak and his foster father, Tarnum, rejoin their people after a lifetime of wandering to transform the Barbarian society into one that puts the community first. Perhaps then, they will survive extinction."
Waerjak, a young man has traveled with his foster father, Tarnum, and read books Tarnum bought. Waerjak knows that Tarnum is a strong, honorable warrior, who is like a war god on the battlefield. They went to a place where they heard a battle. Though the battle was over, there were many corpses, most of which are from young barbarians. Tarnum tells Warjak that there are more and more deaths for barbarians, including those that perished in the Reckoning, so this cannot continue further. Tarnum tells Waerjak that the barbarians' blood caused the slaughter of these people. Waerjak blames the former king, Kilgor, for the current position. He knows that the war he started was senseless and killed many barbarians. While some of barbarians managed to go through the portals, many feared them and died in the Reckoning.
Waerjak starts out at first level, with a few berserkers, in the northwestern corner of the map. He can buy more at the nearby longhouses. Heading south they will meet some centaurs. Tarnum defeats them in a contest and they join Waerjak (even if Tarnum was hurt in the process). Since he is unable to convince his foster father, Tarnum, to attempt to become the new Barbarian King (even thinking Tarnum could've defeated Kilgor), Waerjak decides to achieve the title himself. For this, Tarnum gives him his sword for beginning. The pair travel around to the nearby Strongholds, to show the other Barbarians the benefits of a proper community, and that being an honorable warrior does not mean being weak.
There are three neutral Strongholds on this map, and one hostile one. The neutral Strongholds are blocked by quest towers that only Waerjak can open. The only Stronghold that can build a tavern is the enemy one, so Waerjak will be the only hero available. The nearby Stronghold of Kilmar refuses to join him until he returns their Cart of Ore, which has been taken by pirates and is located on the island to the east. It is in the hands of the pirate Screaming Tom, a third-level thief, and his army of bandits and pirates. Waerjak thinks of killing them in their sleep, but Tarnum reminds him Tom would kill him if Waerjak slept. So, Waerjak blows the horn three times and wakes up the pirates for battle. Near them is a green Keymaster's tent, which Waerjak should visit before heading back to Kilmar with the cart.
Once the town is his, Waerjak can train some reinforcement, and head south past the green gate. The two-way portal here is blocked by an orange border guard, so the only way forward is to the east, where the Stronghold of Frunag is suffering from poisoned water. Heading east and clearing out the orange player's medusas (who were brewing a new poison) will fix the problem, and the town will join Waerjak. North of the town is a teal border gate. Waerjak's forces can't pass through, but the enemy can, so Frunag should always be well protected to stop enemy raids.
The medusas were next to an orange keymaster's tent, allowing Waerjak to go through the portal to the west. Heading east from the portal will lead to Battlepeak, a town that will join Waerjak if he kills the purple player's behemoths to the east, since they are killing herd and capturing people. Before facing behemoths, Tarnum tells he will do fine against behemoths (since Tarnum lectured him about them) and plans on smoking them away while rescuing the people inside the cave. The purple keymaster's tent next to the behemoths will allow him to attack the enemy town to the northwest. Northeast of the behemoths, Waerjak can find a Breastplate of Regeneration, which will be incredibly useful, both against the behemoths and the enemy forces.
Once all three towns belong to Waerjak, he can gather an army and assault the enemy town.
Strategy[]
Waerjak will find hard to combat all forces, especially since he does not own a town. It would be good to get as many dwellings and towns as possible, as the enemy will find a way to get to his lands. To prevent this, Waerjak should get the enemy's first town as soon as possible to get ogre magi or cyclopses, then gather the forces and attack.
