Kogan this map takes place after the third war, hence the aftermath part of the name. At this point Arthas has already taken the Urn of King Terenas long before. Your right about Tirion though, it looks like he wasn't actually part of the silverhand at the end of the third war.
I could always use one of the Paladins that arthas, Sylvanas and Kel'thuzad fight when they try to destroy the human survivors in the expansion campaign, but those Paladins are such minor characters most people will not recognize them.
Tirion was involved in the creation of the Ashbringer so if I remove him it that would remove the event where silverhand gets to forge it (I know the Ashbringer was forged during the third war but I want to include this as an event).
Its funny you should mention Etigg, I am thinking of including him as an event hero for Horde, any ideas on an event for Horde where he can gain Etigg?
Your right about the name change for Argent Dawn, I will see to that. I want to also add that Argent Dawn are supposed to represent not just the human Paladins but also other factions within the Alliance such as the Dreani and High Elves.
I actually like the way Scarlet Crusade and Silverhand transition now, done your way players will just suicide Silverhand heroes and go Argent Dawn. Being kicked out the alliance gives them more incentive to keep heroes alive.
Argent Dawn (or should I say Argent Crusade) will have an ultimate objective now in next version: The reformation of Lordaeron. As well as many bonuses for achieving this event their name will also change to: New Lordaeron. Tirion will be the only one who can trigger this event.
Forgive the wall of text, these idea's just kept expanding as I was writing them.
I know it takes place after the third war, the whole mention of the Urn was to clarify for those who have no idea who Ballador is, which I assumed was damn near everyone (to be curt, I think you skimmed that because I thought it was very clear, but if I somehow didn't explain it properly I applogize). And the whole reason for him is that all the good paladin's weren't really present or already dead at this exact point in the lore if you choose not to replace Tririon with Alex. Meanwhile Ballador somehow survived his first encounter with Arthas despite that Gavrinad and Uther died, which means he could make a decent filler hero as not many can make that claim. I'm just doing this to try and be as lore accurate as possible.
As for the Crusade, didn't they accept anyone willing to set aside their differences and fight their common foe? Their members ranged from Humans, to Orcs, to Tauren, to Forsaken. If you wanted to represent them as I think you want to, you basically need one unit from every race. Unless you're speaking of the Dawn, in which case the Draenei weren't there for it's formation as that I know of they didn't become very prominent members until the time of the Crusade. Though yousef brought up an interesting point: the Crusade did have the Death Knights of the Ebon Blade present didn't they? Personally I like the Crusade better without having to worry about undead units but it is something to consider.
Also are you sure Tirion had anything to do with the Ashbringer? He was exiled from the Silverhand before the Third war, so technically wouldn't he have had nothing to do with it? Also this is a quote Directly from the Wiki:
"Mograine and Fairbanks traveled to Ironforge, where King Magni Bronzebeard forged the blade himself upon The Great Anvil, infusing it with rage and vengeance for his brother Muradin Bronzebeard whom was believed to have fallen before Frostmourne."
I don't see any note of Tirion, and if Fairbanks got note I'd think a big name like Tirion would have, but wouldn't be the first time someone got left out. I also did some research on Tirion Fordring himself, but I couldn't find mention of him being with them on that trip.
This makes me think Lb could be without 2 heroes at first, and have Alex Arrive with the Ashbringer and Fairbanks after 5 minutes at Tyr's Hand. This will give him a reason not to abandon it. If Tyr's falls before then, either they automatically die, something about being ambushed and killed upon arrival or having one of the lesser paladins spawn as a booby prize, saying that Alexandros went off to slay undead himself. This is also why I considered the branching path a good possibility as it prevents things from getting too lore messy while still allowing many prominent figures to make their appearances. Also, the whole reason I suggested my idea for paths is that as it stands people are still very eager to suicide Silverhand heroes once the 20 min mark comes around. Yes they don't want to give up Ashrbinger, but this is a small price to pay for how powerful the Argent Crusade is.
On the note of Eitrigg, he was adviser to Thrall and then Gorrash, so maybe he could be tied into the Warsong offensive event as an objective for Green? Or much less lore accurate idea, perhaps if green captures Stratholme, it can be something like "Stratholme has fallen to the Horde, while scouring the area for remaining undead, Orc forces stumble upon Eitrigg who came in search of his old friend Tirion. While he continues to search for his blood brother, he happily agrees to help the Shamanistic Horde in their fight" (I chose my words carefully there in an attempt to justify things, such as why the hell he's there to begin with). There is one more idea for him, which would be he joins the Argent Crusade if they destroy the Warsong offensive, however I assume you want him as a Horde hero.
I got your idea.
So, when Isillien dies (and who will be the replace for Tirion), player will have to chose from two factions the Argent Dawn and the Scarlet Crusade.
The Argent Dawn will have Fairbanks, Darion and Maxwell Tyrosus, when the player chose Argent Dawn, undead Alex will spawn for gray, if the player killed undead Alex he will get DK Darion and go Argent Crusade, remove the Draenei, and replace them with DKs and DK Darion and give Ashbringer to Tirion.
If the player choose Scarlet Crusade, he will get Alex, Isillien and General Abbendis.
If Alex and Abbendis died he will go as Argent Crusade, and will get the Draenei, and the Ashbringer with Tirion (DKs are only if the player choose the Argent Dawn and he wont get the Draenei).
Let me start by saying that seems like you're own idea and if that's what you're expressing I apologize and disregard the following. However I will respond assuming it's a misunderstanding of my idea. To make an addendum, this is all under the assumption that Garithos and Galen are removed or given to someone else because lets be frank, they're forced and IMO, Galen sucks and Garithos belongs with Dalaran.
Yes and no, The starting Silverhand heroes would be Alex, Fairbanks, and Saiden (all prominent and active members of the Silverhand during and after the Third War). When they all die the player makes the choice. As Argent they would have Maxwell, Raymond, and MAYBE Darion (considering how Cliche he is at this point). I would say keep the two heroes. The point of being able to stay allied here is that he becomes MUCH weaker, less heroes, and a much smaller army, maybe only able to make 20-30 expensive troops as the Dawn was NOT a well funded group that could recruit many members. This coupled with the grand task of Killing undead Alex would likely be too much if the team isn't doing well so it might encourage them to choose the very underused Scarlet path. The Scarlet path would have Alex, Isillien (nobody cares about Fairbanks during scarlet), and Saiden. Saiden remains present for the sake of being able to gain Bal and go risen. As I said before, this may require Scarlet getting a buff, perhaps some method of healing besides Saiden (I don't count the paladins because their holy light isn't fantastically strong and their mana pool only allows them to cast it twice before requiring regen).
Expanding on the Scarlet idea, how about giving them an event besides risen? The idea is simple, all they have to do is fight their way over to the Trisfal Monestary and gain Renault, Herod, or Sally. You could decide to include one, or more, or make a few demi's, or hell even do a lottery like you did yellow's items as to which "survived the onslaught of the undead" but this idea would likely require that Trisfal be made invulm until the event as that thing never survives. Also perhaps give it three total paths which rely on a few conditions. First is clearly the Risen, and second there were some members which jumped ship and formed the Argent Crusade so that still works, but how about the Scarlet Onslaught? This third path can occur if Tyr's Hand falls. They gain the base of New Hearthglen on Northrend, as well as the new heroes, Admiral Barean Westwind and Brigitte Abbendis. If you wanted to get real freaky, this third option could have Mal'ganis as a potential hero, at the price of Brigitte (This would have an activation button on the character's ability window much like the one on Balnazzar, except it would be something like "reveal himself" on Barean).
I know you're not keen on the split path's idea for LB, but at least consider the options to spice up Scarlet, because Alex is too easy to kill compared to Tirion and he's basically the only reason people use Scarlet besides to Risen which is also fairly lackluster ATM.
I'm also aware you like Sliverhand as it is Marsh, but it's such a linear path for them, just depends on where they feel like trying to stop, but ultimately they usually end up in the same place. My idea's are here just to stay as loyal to the lore as possible, as thus far nobody has restored Lordaeron, the best they've done so far is Restoring Hearthglen.
P.S. Marsh I hope you're reading this, I've narrowed down the upgrades that cause the priest bug. I'm pretty confident it involves either the final or second HP upgrade for mana casters. Not sure if you know this one too, but the bug also seems to work on Scarlet priests, but not the Draenei ones for some reason.
