A game that combined the ideas laid out in King's Bounty with the characters and setting of the Might and Magic series. It became the progenitor of a cult series.
Like in KB, the game takes place in two modes. In the global mode, players travel across the map of the continent, archipelago, or another region of the world of Enroth. In their travels across land and sea, they discover new lands, find treasures and artifacts, and encounter groups of various creatures. All heroes have an army consisting of a maximum of five troops, each made up of a specific type of creature. If lucky, the opponents may want to join the ranks of fighters, if the army is large, they will flee in fear, but most often, they will have to fight.
Battles occur in a turn-based "tactical" mode, divided into rounds. Troops from both sides move across a battlefield divided into cells. Each troop has a number of parameters: speed determines the turn order in a round and the distance traveled; health determines how much damage each fighter can withstand, and damage is, accordingly, important when a troop hits someone; the difference between attack and defense stats increases/decreases the damage dealt. Troops also have a morale level - with a positive value, there is a chance for a repeat turn in the same round, with a negative value, there may be a missed turn. Similarly, the luck level determines the probability of double/half damage. On their turn, each troop can perform one of the actions: movement (if the troop is flying, it can bypass obstacles), melee attack (if needed during movement), ranged attack (available only to shooter creatures if there is no enemy adjacent to them). Each troop can once per round respond to a melee attack with a counterattack.
Castles and (game title not recognized) are the most important elements in the game. Lose them - and you lose immediately. Lose only the castles - and you lose after a week. Additionally, in castles, you build structures and hire creatures into your army. Both of these require gold, which is supplied daily by the same castles. However, high-level structures and creatures also require five other resources - wood, iron ore, mercury, gems, sulfur, and crystals. All of these are mined from structures on the map, which (game title not recognized) must capture.
Hero parameters include attack and defense which are added to the corresponding stats of creatures. The Hero's knowledge determines the number of spell copies they receive at the magic guild, and Power affects the strength of spells when cast. During battles and travels, (game title not recognized) gain experience and increase their parameters as they level up. Also, (game title not recognized) increase their parameters through found artifacts - shields, swords, amulets, and so on. There are even boots that increase the radius of movement per day.
Besides single scenarios (with one map), the game has 4 campaigns (canonical for Lord Ironfist). Accordingly, there are 4 factions in the game, each with its heroes and castles. Knights have the highest defense stats, a bonus to morale, and their army is the classic one: swordsmen, archers, paladins, and so on. Barbarians are strong in attack, can move across any terrain without losing speed, and their army consists of wild beasts from swamps and steppes. Sorceresses excel in developing Knowledge, have a movement bonus on water, and their troops are fairy-tale forest creatures. Finally, Warlocks possess greater magical power, a bonus to visibility range, and a whole set of various monsters in their castle, including dragons.