Some time ago I decided to replay all of the campaigns from HoM&M3 in chronological order for the first (and probably last) time. I was searching for the chronological order on the interwebs and found some but when I played the campaigns I find out I don't agree with any of those lists 100%. Mainly because of the Chronicles campaigns (they are a bit of mess in terms of retcon). Sometimes they SHOULD be before/after some of the other campaigns but it didn't make sense story-wise and character-wise (Tarnum's) imo.
So I did my own chronological list with basic bulletpoints for each campaign stating what is going on in each of them. I hope it will be useful for someone eventually. This is pretty much exactly what I was looking for roughly a year ago and didn't find it. So I did it myself and now It's here for other players.
There may be some campaigns you would put before/after some others for whatever reason and that's cool, that's your opinion. This is mine.
I hope you'll enjoy this list (all 3 people who will find this useful :D).
Abbreviations:
HC - Heroes Chronicles
HCHD - Heroes Chronicles HD (mod; highly recommended for HeroesChronicles playthrough)
SoD - Shadow of Death
AB - Armageddon's Blade
RoE - Restoration of Erathia
HC: Warlords of the Wasteland
\- Tarnum creates Barbarian Empire
\- intro to the Tarnum's origin story
\- Tarnum becomes the Barbarian Tyrant and eventually dies
HCHD: The Glory of War
\- Tarnum is a death knight; "dies" again; memory loss
\- 2nd campaign (almost immediately after the death in 1st)
\- non-canon; some story/logic inconsistencies; meh maps and writing
\* can be skipped imo
HC: Master of the Elements
\- saving the world from the Elemental Lords
\- officially this campaign takes place between RotB & TWT
\- alternative timeline: this takes place few years after WotW & GoW
\- Tarnum distrusts magic at first; still "barbarian"; still bit of a dick at start
\- Bracada already exists at the start of campaign (instead of old Bracaduun)
\- 30+ years spent on this campaign due to time dilatation
HC: Conquest of the Underworld
\- saving Queen Allison's father's soul from the Underworld
\- roughly 30 years after death at the end of 1st campaign
\- already uses magic (so after MotE?); Tarnum is more civilized
\- Tarnum has personal growth & working-out issues in this campaign
HC: Revolt of the Beastmasters
\- leading revolt of the future Tatalia for independence
\- should take place few centuries after Tarnum's barbarian empire
\- Tarnum is already "good" and his old empire/statues are quite old/destroyed
\- Tatalia created in this campaign
HC: The World Tree
\- saving/protecting the World Tree
\- unspecified time after CotU (few centuries)
\- mayyybe right after MotE
\- mentioned at the end of MotE something about dressing in barbarian clothes again
\- Krewlod already exists some time
HC: The Fiery Moon
\- rescuing the Ancestors and stopping Vorr
\- right after TWT campaign
SoD: Birth of a Barbarian
\- Yog's "origin story" & disassembly of AngelicAlliance
\- Tatalia, Erathia & Bracada already exists
SoD: New Beginning
\- Gem's "origin story" & assembly of the CloakOfTheUndeadKing
\- 1 year after Succession Wars ended
\- Erathia, AvLee & Dayja already exists
SoD: Elixir of Life
\- Gelu's "origin story" & assembly of ElixirOfLife
\- Gelu finished ForestGuard training
SoD: Hack and Slash
\- Crag Hack's "origin story" & assembly of the ArmorOfTheDamned
SoD: Rise of the Necromancer
\- Sandro's & Fineas' rise in Deyja's ranks
\- Sandro still officially under Fineas' command
SoD: Unholy Alliance
\- Gelu, Gem, Yog & Crag Hack attacking Deyja
\- Sandro defending Deyja
\- Gelu, Gem, Yog & Crag Hack seeking AngelicAlliance artifacts
\- Sandro defeated (but not dead)
SoD: Spectre of Power
\- Sandro weak; trying to rebuild armies again
\- preparations for RestorationOfErathia campaign(s)
\- assassination plot agains king Nicholas Gryphonheart
\- helping Devils & Dungeons to stage invasion to Erathia
\- Sandro ends in prison
AB: Foolhardy Wyawardness
\- Sir Christian's trip gone wrong
\- saved by Queen Catherine ships
\- sailing to Erathia with Queen to attend her father's funeral
RoE: Dungeons and Devils
\- Devils killing GoldDragonQueen
\- Dungeons preparing for invasion - digging tunnels to SE Erathia
\- Queen Catherine arrives to Erathia with her fleet
\- start of LongLiveTheQueen campaign
\- Steadwick conquered
RoE: Spoils of War
\- as Tatalia's & Krewlod's mercenary plunder Erathia
\- gathering resources to invade/conquer (part of) Erathia
\- Tatalia vs Krewlod borderlands war
RoE: Long Live the Queen
\- Queen Catherine lands in Erathia after her father's funeral
\- fighting against invasion forces of Nighon & Eeafol
\- reconquering some Erathian towns (misson 1)
\- alliance with Angels (misson 2)
\- reconquering Griffin Cliff (misson 3)
\- Steadwick under siege (end of DungeonsAndDevils campaign)
RoE: Liberation
\- recapturing of Steadwick by Erathia
\- recapturing of lost territories from Tatalia&Krewlod
\- by Bracada & AvLee - alias of Erathia for now
\- pushing Nighon back out of Erathia through undersee tunnels
RoE: Long Live the King
\- reanimating king Gryphonheart's body for Deyja
\- Gryphonheart killed Fineas Vilmar after reanimation -> new king
\- preparing for Deyja's invasion to Erathia
\- invading Erathia
RoE: Song of the Father
\- fighting back the invasion of Deyja in Erathia
\- Queen Catherine dealt with the traitor & murderer of her father
\- King Gryphonheart's soul is released to the afterlife
RoE: Seeds of Discontent
\- fight for the independence of the Contested Lands
\- searching for & moving & building the Grail in town of Welnin
AB: Dragon's Blood
\- Mutare's rise to power in Nighon
\- searching for the Vial Of Dragon Blood
\- Mutare changing to dragon
HC: Clash of the Dragons
\- green & gold dragons are missing; Tarnum is trying to find them
\- Waerjak briefly mentioned as small orphan boy Tarnum is raising
\- rescuing Dragon Mothers and many other dragons
\- many ambushes plague Tarnum's army; uncovering spy
\- Tarnum fights against Nighon & Mutare the Dragon Queen
\- Mutare is defeated, but flees to Nighon (and dies later)
\- Tarnum live/marry(?) with Valita
AB: Dragon Slayer
\- Dracon is hunting & killing great dragons (Crystal, Rust, ...)
\- reclaim mines from Rust dragons on 1 map
\- killing all Faerie dragons on 1 map
\- killing Azure dragons & their leader
AB: Playing with Fire
\- Adrienne is fighting undead in Erathia & Tatalia
\- campaign starts before FestivalOfLife event and continues after
\- undead are cult of Lord Haart (ressurected as Death Knight now)
\- Lord Haart killed again and Tatalia saved from undead
AB: Festival of Life
\- Kilgor's rise to power
\- killing ancient behemoth Razor Claw and other monsters
\- defeating 3 opponents trying to win FestivalOfLife too
\- defeating Boragus, current king of Krewlod
AB: Armageddon's Blade
\- started shortly before Festival Of Life
\- Queen Catherine, King Roland and Gelu trying to prevent Lucifer from assembling Armageddon's Blade and are fighting forces of Eeofol after the blade was forged
\- elemental towns started appearing and later allied with Catherine/Roland/Gelu
\- Xeron tasked with finding forgesmith Khazandar to forge Armageddon's Blade and succeeds
\- C/R/G defeating Xeron (but not killing)
\- taking Armageddon's Blade to Kreelah (Eeofol's capitol) and killing Xeron
HC: The Sword of Frost
\- Tarnum masquerading as Nighon overlord following Gelu to prevent him from finding Sword Of Frost (Gelu wants to destroy it) to prevent end of the world
\- Kilgor's third wife Kija is looking for the Sword Of Frost too for her husband
\- Tarnum is following Gelu to the City of Volee
\- Tarnum conquers the City of Volee
\- Kija steals the Sword of Frost for Kilgor
...continuation of the story in Heroes of Might & Magic IV
