E3 06: Civilization IV: Warlords Preshow Report

Fans of Sid Meier's uniquely addictive brand of empire-building will have a whole slew of new reasons to revisit one of last year's best strategy games when Warlords, the first expansion for Civilization IV, hits stores shelves next month. Warlords features new scenarios, new units, new civilizations, and much more. We recently learned about some of the specifics of the new game and are bringing you the details in our E3 2006 preshow report.

There are six new scenarios to choose from in Warlords, representing some of the greatest conquests and struggles in history. Warlords will take you all the way back to 430 BC as you play out the dramatic events of the Peloponnesian War as Athens and Sparta wage war for control of ancient Greece. You can try your hand at conquering the world as Alexander the Great as you expand your empire across Egypt, Persia, and beyond. As you move ahead in history, you can play out the rise of the Roman Empire in an attempt to build one of the greatest civilizations in history. Moving beyond the Mediterranean, you can play a scenario in which it's your duty to unify ancient China through diplomacy, force, or a careful combination of the two. Why stop at China, though? In Warlords you can play as the infamous Genghis Khan and attempt to conquer the entire continent of Asia. Finally, there's a scenario based on the Viking civilization in which you must render and pillage Europe to amass as much wealth as possible.

In addition to those six new scenarios, Warlords also features 10 new civilization leaders for both the new and existing civilizations, two new leader traits, three new wonders, a unique building and unit for each civilization, and the addition of vassal states, which means you can assume control of any country that you conquer.

In addition to the brand new content, the expansion will come complete with all of the patches and official updates that have been released for Civilization IV. Warlords is scheduled to be released next month, so be sure to check back at that time for our full review.