Chapter Summaries

The Orcs Vanguard used Voidwalkers, logs, and protected Shamans to push through the smoke screen, forcing Sylvanas’s Frostwolf Rangers to retreat. Sylvanas assessed the limits of her forces’ weapons and wondered what profession could provide the High Elves with summoning power.

• The Orcs Vanguard sent Voidwalkers dragging heavy logs into the smoke while Wolf Riders protected the Shamans and advanced behind them.
• The Frostwolf Rangers used Concussive Shot and surprise attacks to delay the Orcs, but the Wolf Riders shielded the Shamans and returned fire into the fog.
• The Shamans dispersed the smoke, leaving the Frostwolf Rangers with too little room to maneuver and forcing them to retreat before the Orcs threatened the Hunting Squad.
• Sylvanas received a reconnaissance report and recognized that her smoke-screen tactic could not halt the Orcs’ steady advance.
• Sylvanas considered the limits of Anti-Tank Land Mines and Wingblades, then wondered whether the High Elves had any profession capable of summoning creatures besides Water Arcane Mages.

Sylvanas reflected on the High Elves’ need to prepare for the Burning Legion’s eventual return while the Orc Vanguard cleared the smoke and discovered the devastation of the High Elf ambush. The Orc commander blamed the Death Knights and Voidwalkers for not helping, but they remained confused about what had happened and wary of the traps and nets.

• Sylvanas considered the threat of the Burning Legion and the need for the High Elves to prepare for its return.
• The Orc Vanguard’s Shamans dispelled the smoke, revealing that poisoned traps and attacks had killed or wounded many Wolf Riders and Worgs.
• The Orc Vanguard commander realized his force had lost more than one hundred elite Wolf Riders without seeing the High Elves.
• The Orc commander confronted five Death Knights and three Voidwalkers, angrily asking why they had not helped the Wolf Riders.
• A Death Knight explained that they had received no orders, while the Death Knights wondered how the Wolf Riders had died and remained concerned about the nets around them.

The Orcs Vanguard Commander punished the Death Knights for refusing to enter the smoke and changed how the Wolf Rider Vanguard would advance. After learning that more Pathfinder Squads had vanished, he faced mounting losses and growing pressure from High Elf Rangers he could not see.

• The Orcs Vanguard Commander accused the five Death Knights of cowardice, then ordered them to help rescue surviving Wolf Riders and march at the front with the Voidwalker demons.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander sent a report and plan to the main army, and ordered Pathfinder Squads to stay within two hundred meters of the Vanguard.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander weighed the Vanguard's losses and the strain on morale caused by Wolf Riders dying or disappearing without seeing the enemy.
• Messengers reported that the Pathfinder Squads on both flanks had disappeared, costing the Vanguard another twenty elite Wolf Riders.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander realized that the High Elf Rangers' combat capabilities had exceeded the orc command's estimates.

The Orcs Vanguard Commander recognized that the High Elves fought far more effectively in forests than on plains and reconsidered the Orcs’ assumptions about their strength. He understood that Warchief Doomhammer’s order to conquer and hand over Quel'Thalas territory was meant to draw Zul'Aman forces into garrisoning it, securing the Orcs’ rear before their advance on Lordaeron City.

• The Orcs Vanguard Commander recalled a Zul'Aman Troll priest’s warning that Singing Forest aided Trolls and High Elves, then acknowledged the High Elves’ advantage in the woods.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander realized that the High Commanders were wrongly judging forest warfare by the High Elves’ performance on the plains.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander reflected on Warchief Doomhammer’s order to keep advancing and drive the High Elves toward Silvermoon City or the Western Sea.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander understood that Doomhammer intended to give conquered territory to the Zul'Aman Trolls to persuade them to commit their forces and garrison the occupied lands.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander recognized that the Troll garrisons would protect the Orcs’ rear as the two Elite Burning Legions turned toward Lordaeron City.

The orc Vanguard tightened its formation and halted near Sylvanas’s hidden ambush while the orcs’ wider plan relied on the Zul'Aman trolls drawing in high elf forces. Sylvanas found no sign that the orcs had detected her trap and decided to wait another day.

• The orcs’ secret strategy depended on deploying the Zul'Aman trolls in Quel'Thalas before turning their forces toward a surprise attack on Lordaeron City.
• After the battle, the Orcs Vanguard Commander placed voidwalkers and death knights at the front, tightened his formation, and continued marching without further high elf harassment.
• Seeing morale was low, the Orcs Vanguard Commander ordered an early camp just three kilometers from Sylvanas’s ambush area.
• Sylvanas inspected the ambush and reviewed intelligence throughout the evening, but found no indication that the orcs had discovered her plan.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander halted because legion headquarters had ordered it, likely in response to the Vanguard’s losses and his report.

The Orc Vanguard advanced toward the High Elves’ Eastern Sanctum, while Sylvanas prepared an ambush to destroy its mounted wolf archers. Her forces struck as the Orcs marched through the mist, leaving the archers under attack from charging Raptors and a volley of arrows.

• The Orc Vanguard Commander obeyed headquarters’ order to keep advancing and summoned fifteen Voidwalkers to clear the way alongside the death knights.
• After receiving intelligence from the Nightstalkers and Owl Rangers, Sylvanas ordered her troops to lure the Orc vanguard into an ambush and target the mounted wolf archers in the middle of its column.
• The Orc vanguard marched through the drizzle for nearly an hour before a horn sounded and the army halted.
• The Orc Wolf Rider commander realized the mounted wolf archers were under attack and ordered them to close in, while the Orc Vanguard sounded a call for every unit to converge.
• Six hundred Raptors charged out of the mist on both sides of the road, and arrows flew over them toward the Orcs.

The High Elf Rangers ambushed a hundred Orc Wolf Rider Archers with a massive arrow volley and heavily armored Raptors. The Orc squadron was overwhelmed before it could escape.

• The Orc Wolf Rider Archers saw a powerful volley of arrows descending on them and realized they were badly outnumbered.
• The first volley knocked most of the Orc Wolf Rider Archers from their worgs and left their formation in chaos.
• The surviving Orc Wolf Rider Archers tried to flee, but the High Elf Rangers slowed them with Concussive Shot magic arrows.
• Heavily armored Raptor battle pets charged from both sides of the road, cutting down the riders and their worgs with serrated blades.
• The High Elf Rangers' Arcane Shots and the Raptors' charge wiped out the Orc Wolf Rider Archer squadron before it could escape.

High Elf Rangers annihilated the Orc Wolf Rider Archer squadron and formed a three-layer wall that trapped the Orc Vanguard. With the roads through the woods blocked and the route to the Burning Legion's main force cut off, the Orcs Vanguard Commander held his troops in place and waited for reinforcements.

• High Elf Rangers and armored Raptors destroyed the Orc Wolf Rider Archer squadron and formed a steel wall between the Orc Death Knights and the Vanguard's main force.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander sent scouts toward the High Elves, and the Wolf Riders returned after seeing the size of the enemy force.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander ordered a magical signal flare and sent messengers to summon the Burning Legion's main force.
• The messenger squad reported that High Elf Rangers had surrounded the Orc Vanguard and blocked their route to the main force.
• The Orcs Vanguard Commander learned that Poison Needles and poisoned caltrops made the woods impassable, so he chose to hold position and keep his troops steady while awaiting reinforcements.

The Orcs Vanguard Commander held his Wolf Riders in a defensive formation while waiting for the main force, unable to see how many High Elves had ambushed them. Meanwhile, fifteen Orc Death Knights and fifteen Voidwalker demons were stranded just over two hundred meters away from the Vanguard, with no orders and no way through the High Elf blockade.

• The Orcs Vanguard Commander kept his Wolf Riders from charging through the mist and regretted sending the Death Knights and Voidwalker demons ahead.
• The Orc Wolf Riders formed a ring with shield-bearers on the outside while their shamans planted around ten Earthbind Totems.
• Fifteen Orc Death Knights and fifteen Voidwalker demons halted before the High Elves' steel blockade, unable to return to the Vanguard's main force.
• One Death Knight asked whether they should retreat, but their leader noted that the elves were not attacking and they had received no orders.

Sylvanas waited for the morning mist to clear before attacking the orcs, trusting the Gryphon Riders to delay their reinforcements. Meanwhile, Yu Lin Bloodhawk met the Lyk Brothers and asked Steven Lake to devise a weapon the troops in Quel'Thalas could use to attack enemy tanks.

• An orc death knight leader ordered his troops to wait as the morning mist thinned, while Sylvanas also held her forces back and expected the Gryphon Riders to surprise the orc reinforcements.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Christine found David Lake and Steven Lake in the War God Armor workshop and learned that David specialized in machinery while Steven specialized in explosives and cannons.
• David Lake and Christine became absorbed in discussing ballista production, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Steven grew bored and went to inspect the workshop.
• Steven reminded Yu Lin Bloodhawk that he had made the tank's cannon and the Anti-Tank Land Mine, which Yu Lin had removed and which frontline troops in Quel'Thalas found unsuitable.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked Steven whether he could devise an actively offensive weapon, and Steven confidently claimed that the Lyk Brothers could solve the problem.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk and Steven discussed how to attack the Stone Men, but Steven insisted he could build a ballista cannon. Yu Lin realized the idea might work and apologized, though Steven remained suspicious of the crooked merchant.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that cannons and Steven's oversized tank gun were too heavy to transport to the battlefield.
• Steven proposed launching cannonballs with ballistae and insisted the Lyk Brothers would find a way to do it.
• Steven named his proposed weapon a ballista cannon, prompting Yu Lin to reconsider whether adapting ballista bolts might work.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk apologized for mocking Steven, who accused him of being insincere and vowed to prove his cleverness.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk recalled Azeroth's rules about not questioning goblins' intelligence or dwarves' drinking capacity.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned that Willyx had been hired as Quel'Danil City's foreign trade representative and was negotiating in Lordaeron. Steven complained about living beside Willyx and revealed that he could see him counting gold coins, leaving Yu Lin puzzled by Willyx's unusual openness.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk argued with Steven about whether Yu Lin was a crooked merchant, then asked about Willyx.
• Steven complained that Willyx lived next door and counted his gold coins aloud every day.
• Steven told Yu Lin that Willyx had become Quel'Danil City's foreign trade representative and was negotiating in Lordaeron.
• Yu Lin dropped a scale from the War God Armor to imitate the sound of coins, but Steven insisted it was not the same.
• Yu Lin questioned how Steven could see Willyx counting gold coins, and Steven confirmed that he could.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk recruited Steven to develop explosive ballista bolts by promising him five hundred gold coins. Steven eagerly accepted the challenge, but Yu Lin worried whether a wrist-thick bolt could carry enough gunpowder to destroy an Infernal.

• Steven admitted he had secretly watched Willyx count gold through a hole he dug in the goblin's wall.
• Yu Lin was relieved that Willyx would remain in The Hinterlands as Quel'Danil City's foreign trade representative and could guide them to Kalimdor.
• Yu Lin tried to provoke Steven by comparing his mechanical skills unfavorably with his brother David's, prompting Steven to storm off toward ballista research.
• Yu Lin offered Steven five hundred gold coins to design explosive bolts for the ballista, and Steven eagerly accepted.
• Yu Lin explained that the bolt had to explode on impact and asked whether a wrist-thick bolt could carry enough gunpowder to destroy an Infernal.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk promised Steven research funding to develop a weapon capable of fighting Big Stone Man. Steven left with a thousand gold coins pledged and guarded them as if they already belonged to him.

• Steven ran off to continue his research, then raced back when Yu Lin Bloodhawk mentioned gold coins.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk told Steven he could apply to the Council for research funding and promised to pay if the Council refused.
• Steven asked for funding, and Yu Lin Bloodhawk offered him a thousand gold coins to develop something that could fight Big Stone Man quickly.
• Steven insisted the research money was his and allowed Yu Lin Bloodhawk to touch it but not take it away.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk considered hiring a goblin financial officer to keep Soross from extorting him.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk learned about Steven’s Rocket Boots and considered ordering custom-made pairs for the High Elves. As the mist cleared, Sylvanas faced the encircled Orc vanguard, whose commander refused to surrender, and prepared the Rangers to attack.

• Steven showed Yu Lin Bloodhawk the Mini Rockets on his boots and explained that Goblins used them to move quickly.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked about buying Rocket Boots for High Elves, and Steven told him to have Willyx arrange a custom order.
• When the mist lifted, the Orc vanguard commander arranged the Worgs around his troops as a shield against High Elf arrows.
• Sylvanas told the Orcs to surrender, but their commander refused and rallied his warriors with the cry “Strength and Honor.”
• Sylvanas condemned the Orcs as servants of demons and raised her arm as the High Elf Rangers took attack positions.
• The Orc vanguard commander ordered his troops to prepare for battle and tightened their defensive circle.

Sylvanas’s High Elf Rangers used the Wingblade Siege Engines to devastate the tightly packed Orc Wolf Riders. The survivors faced a ten-second ultimatum to surrender or die as the engines were prepared to fire again.

• The Orcs Vanguard Commander saw ten concealed Wingblade Siege Engines and realized the packed formation could not withstand their weapons.
• Sylvanas ordered the Wingblades to fire, and four enormous Wheelblades tore through the Orcs’ outer defenses and scattered their formation.
• Six more Wingblades launched sixty Wheelblades into the chaotic Orc ranks, killing many Orc Wolf Riders and Worgs.
• The Wheelblades exhausted their force, leaving only about a hundred Worgs and just over a hundred Orc Wolf Riders standing amid the wreckage.
• Sylvanas ordered the survivors to surrender or die, and her Frostwolf Ranger Bodyguard began counting down from ten as the Wingblades were loaded again.

Sylvanas’s forces gave the Orc Wolf Riders a choice, and the Orcs’ commander chose death before his remaining warriors charged the High Elf positions. As the Bloodhawk Burning Legion struck them down, Sylvanas explained how its exiled patron still wielded influence in Quel'Thalas.

• The Orcs Vanguard Commander removed his helmet, charged Sylvanas alone, and died from her arrow, leaving his warriors to decide whether to surrender or fight.
• An Orc Wolf Rider called for the survivors to destroy the siege engines, and they charged through concealed Poisoned Needles toward the Wingblade Siege Engine positions.
• Rhea ordered Shidewa and the Bloodhawk Burning Legion Rangers to fire Concussive Shots at the charging Orc Wolf Riders.
• Sylvanas praised Shidewa’s talent and explained that he and Xingluoge were training Rhea and Linus to command the Bloodhawk Burning Legion.
• Sylvanas told her Frostwolf Ranger Bodyguard that the Bloodhawk Burning Legion remained difficult to abolish because the Bloodhawk City Lord’s influence and favors reached many Quel'Thalas legions.

Sylvanas’s High Elf Rangers destroyed an Orc Wolf Rider vanguard, accepted the surrender of fifteen Death Knights, and withdrew after leaving warnings that stalled Doomhammer’s advance. Back in the Hinterlands, Yu Lin Bloodhawk discussed the armor factory and ballista production with David, then learned that Goblin Village held more than twelve hundred Goblins across two villages.

• Sylvanas ordered the Rangers to finish off the trapped Orc Wolf Rider survivors, then accepted the surrender of fifteen Death Knights and had them shackled.
• The High Elf forces recovered their equipment, burned the Orcs’ bodies, and withdrew, leaving a wooden sign on the road.
• Doomhammer received the sign reading “A hundred thousand people, a hundred thousand soldiers; a thousand miles of land, a thousand miles of camps,” and learned another vanguard had been annihilated.
• Doomhammer’s forces found a second sign reading “This is only the beginning,” prompting his adjutant to urge a change in strategy.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk returned and told David to oversee the armor factory while helping Christine establish a ballista production line; David asked to hire Goblin technicians.
• David told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that more than twelve hundred Goblins lived in two villages and that the villagers had formed their own militia.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk visited a Goblin village to inspect its robot after David argued that Goblins should be allowed to join the army. He approved of the mech’s performance but found its exposed lines left it poorly protected.

• David told Yu Lin Bloodhawk that Goblin villagers wanted to join the army and that their robots could help them fight.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk agreed to inspect the Goblins’ mech and said they might be allowed to join The Hinterlands army under the Quel'Danil Army Staff.
• David led Yu Lin Bloodhawk, Christine, and Gryphon Rider Bodyguards to the Goblin village and demonstrated the four-meter mech.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk watched David maneuver the mech and test its circular saws, which performed well despite a minor repair.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk praised the mech’s performance but warned David that its protection was inadequate because its lines were exposed.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk discussed upgrading the goblin mech with David, aiming to make it powerful enough to fight demons and join the Eastern Burning Legion. David agreed to find engineers, while Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked him to identify the best mech specialists so they could be persuaded to come to the Hinterlands.

• Yu Lin Bloodhawk explained that the mech needed stronger protection, a hammer, a shield, and possibly a cannon, and David fretted about the gold required.
• David claimed that enough gold could buy Razzle's powerful mech, but warned that Razzle had bankrupted the Lyk Brothers by selling them overpriced goods.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk and David decided to modify their own mech and seek engineers and pilots in Goblin Village, Booty Bay, and Adventure Island rather than immediately poaching from Razzle's Venture Company.
• Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked David to list Booty Bay and Outdoor Worksite engineers' skills, specialties, preferences, and habits so they could persuade them to join.