War Wind is a science fantasy real-time strategy game developed by DreamForge Intertainment and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI).

Yavaun has been under the oppressive control of the Empire—a merciless regime founded and led by the Tha' Roon—for a millennium, known by all as the Thousand Years.

The Tha' Roon were once feared for their cruel and ruthless combat prowess,[11]: 2  which they used to establish the very creation of the Empire; however, over the centuries, they have relied almost exclusively on the Obblinox as their force of arms.

The Eaggra, their enslavement by will of the Tha' Roon and enforced by the muscle of the Obblinox, were obliged to construct and forge the original foundation of the Empire from the ground up, and have since been forced to maintain and expand it further throughout Yavaun.

This reliance on the Obblinox for military power and the Eaggra for virtually all labor has progressively deteriorated the Tha' Roon's once unequaled self-sufficiency.

[12]: 1  An Eaggra labor camp, of which its slaves formed a clan known as Faction E19, turned their picks against its stationed overseers and constructed their own base in the wake of its overtaking.

Tha' Roon viewed any and all mutiny, regardless of reason, as inexcusable and punishable only by death—even renegades who wished to realign with the Empire.

The player must use either their workers to build structures and mine for resources, destroy opposing factions, or escort key units to a different location.

Additionally, individual units can be physically augmented with cybernetic or natural enhancements to speed, strength, resilience, stealth, and vision.

The purpose for these bionic upgrades is to encourage more strategic conflicts, wherein a player must use a small number of powerful units, instead of building a larger, more simplistic force and rushing the opponent.

Each race has exclusive spells that its mage units can research, learn, and cast with a slowly regenerative pool of mana.

Obblinox spells, considered to be one of the rarest and most elusive manifestations of magical power, revolve around the destruction of organic life and artificial structures.

Lastly, Shama' Li spells center around the concepts of omniscience, rejuvenation, and evocation, allowing them to dispel illusions, heal injuries of themselves and others, and conjure indigenous wildlife.

Earlier games, such as Dune II, featured different sides with different attributes, but not to the extent found in War Wind.

This ability allows players to bring some of their strongest, most upgraded, and most important units to future scenarios, excluding heroes.

Additionally, each race has several hero units that can appear in the wild during scenario-specific missions or randomly at an inn after meeting specific conditions.

Courthouses are used to store resources gathered by workers; inns are large buildings that house randomly appearing workers, mercenaries, and heroes who can typically be hired in exchange for resources; homes are used to increase the amount of maximum units you are able to have; technical facilities are generally used to research bio-upgrades, vehicles, advanced structures, and complex machinery; war colleges are generally used to train warriors and scouts; and arcaneries are generally used to train mages and research spells.