This is Warcraft's real-time strategy era, the run of games that built Blizzard's fantasy universe long before it became an online phenomenon. It began with Orcs & Humans (1994), a base-building war between two races over the kingdom of Azeroth, and matured with Warcraft II's larger battles and naval and air units. Warcraft III then reshaped the formula again, adding hero units with abilities and a heavy story focus across its campaigns.
The expansions deepen it: Beyond the Dark Portal extends the second game's war, while The Frozen Throne carries the third's saga into the frozen north and lays groundwork the series would mine for years. The throughline is world-building through warfare: each entry not just refining the strategy but expanding a lore that would outgrow the genre entirely. A games-only era, and the bedrock of everything Warcraft became.
The Real-time strategy era franchise spans 7 games in the CrossBinge catalog.
Part of Warcraft.