A few days the publication of the Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword review (the title is describes as a great expansion), GameSpy's Heroes specialist Allen Rausch posts a preview of the Tribes of the East expansion. He tries the Shatter ability and wonders what kind of impact it will have on the game's balance:

"As Orc leaders level up, they'll gain access to special "Shatter" abilities that weaken or even altogether block certain kinds of magic. Enough money and sacrificial victims on the altar and I had enough "Shatter Magic" levels on my hero that I was able to run over a bunch of powerful human mages like they were just a group of old guys in silly robes. The problem, of course, is one of balance. Factions that rely on suppressing others' abilities often become either unstoppable or road kill, so it should be interesting to see how the team at Nival deals with the Orcs."

Also of interest is the fact that the Orc town is once again called "Bastion" in the article (GameSpot did the same thing if I remember correctly), and GameSpy mentions September 25 as the release date. Now that the major previews are done with, I guess there are only a few weeks left before the last Heroes V expansion goes gold.