The Golden Horde[a] (released as Great War Nations: The Mongols in some territories) is a 2008 real-time strategy video game for Windows.

Although some critics lauded the ability for the player to arm their soldiers with opponents' discarded weaponry, the majority were unimpressed with the AI, pathfinding, and LAN-only multiplayer.

To achieve this end, the player must engage in some basic economic micromanagement, such as gathering resources and constructing buildings.

[5] Whether playing in single-player or multiplayer mode, each game begins roughly the same way; the player is positioned at a set location on the map, sometimes with a prebuilt base building, and often with a certain number of soldiers and/or workers.

[6] The game features two types of resources; wood and metal, which are required to construct buildings and manufacture equipment.

[11] Initially, the player is restricted to using default equipment, but once the forge is built and the smith starts to earn experience, more weapons and shields become available.

For example, rain slows down all movement, snow decreases visibility and shooting range, ice can break and drown troops, fire can spread from one object to another depending on wind direction and speed.

Ignoring the demand, he begins preparing the city for attack, contacting Yuri Vsevolodovich, Grand Duke of Vladimir, for assistance.

[21] Although initially successful in defending the city, after several weeks of sustained attacks, Ryazan eventually falls.

Towards the end of the siege, a boyar named Evpaty Kolovrat manages to escape with a group of about 1,700 men, and after the city falls, he begins to lead them in attacks on Batu's forces.

[22] They put up a valiant fight against the much larger Mongol force, even managing to slay Jebei, but eventually they fall along with Kolomna.

The following year, the Livonian Order, a branch of the Teutonic Knights, occupy Pskov, hoping to exploit Novgorod's weakness in the wake of the Mongol and Swedish invasions, but Yaroslavich successfully liberates the city.

As the Cumans travel towards the Balkans, destroying any villages they encounter, they cross paths with a group of Teutonic Knights, who immediately send word for help.

However, the messenger troop is intercepted and all but two are killed - a cleric and a young knight named Herman von Salza.

Determined to complete their mission and carry the message to its destination, the duo manage to sneak out of Hungary and alert the Teutonic Order about what is happening.

Believing that uniting the Courland church with the Order will weaken any enemies in the region, Gregory agrees, and places von Salza in charge.

Led by von Salza and Magnusson, the Order occupy Izborsk, before setting their sights on and successfully conquering Pskov.

Determined to complete the invasion before the beginning of spring, Batu orders Burundai to set up camp along the Oder River.

[25] In a series of hit-and-run battles, Magnusson is able to defeat multiple contingents of the Mongol army, slowing down the European invasion.

He was critical of the "tedious micromanagement and sluggish paint-by-numbers real-time strategy gameplay", as well as how the story was presented, arguing that the game provides little context to any of the missions.

Although he praised the variety of objectives within each mission, and argued that the AI was improved upon since the previous game, he concluded, "everything about this RTS is a blend of been-there, done-that formula.

He was unimpressed with the "agonisingly slow pace", the AI (which "seems to rely too heavily on specific, limited triggers and exploitable scripted behaviour"), and the pathfinding.

Although he praised the ability to equip units with enemies' weapons, he concluded "if you're absolutely chomping at the bit to get your hands on an RTS that lets you fight as Medieval Russians and Mongols, you don't have too many other options, but there's not much else here to recommend.

"[27] PC Zone's Ed Zitron scored it 36 out of 100, writing "its got everything you could possibly expect from a middling RTS but is hindered by wonky concepts."

He concluded, "the middling graphics, the hilariously bad voice acting, and AI that's erratic enough to sever any immersion you might be feeling all combine to make The Golden Horde patently unrecommendable.