Second War #10: The Horde's bluff

July 31, 2026•Lore•Brendo Arruda

"Second War" series — Second War #10. The story of Warcraft II, from the exodus of Stormwind to the destruction of the Dark Portal. The episodes are listed in order at the end of the post.

While the Alliance watched the mountains, the Horde was preparing another path. In a bay in the southwest of the Wetlands, where Menethil Harbor stands today, the orcs built a fleet with help from the goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel. The plan was to take the war by sea to the heart of the Alliance. The Horde's bluff was to make the Alliance look in the wrong place.

An orc fleet

The orcs were not a seafaring people. On Draenor they had no fleets, and in the First War they fought only on land. To build ships, the Horde needed help. It came from the goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel, who sold their services to whoever paid.

With the timber and iron of Khaz Modan and goblin engineering, the Horde put together a war fleet in the Wetlands.

The bluff

The Alliance expected the Horde to keep advancing over land, through the mountains. Meanwhile, the orc fleet was getting ready to cross the sea. It was a way to strike where the Alliance was weakest.

For the Alliance, the sea was guarded by Kul Tiras, with Admiral Daelin Proudmoore's fleet. And that is where the Horde showed the weapon no one expected.

The sea as a battlefield

The Second War was the first war in Warcraft with naval battles. In the game Warcraft II, ships were a central part of the strategy, with transports, destroyers and battleships on both sides. The lore follows this: control of the sea decided several phases of the war.

What this changes in the story

The Horde's fleet shows how Orgrim thought about war on a large scale. He did not rely only on the strength of the orcs: he hired the goblins, used the resources of Khaz Modan and prepared an attack the enemy did not expect. It is one of the reasons the Second War is remembered as the most balanced of the old wars.

The relationship between the Horde and the goblins also begins here. The goblins sold to both sides, and the Steamwheedle Cartel is still neutral in WoW Classic. The goblins only officially join the Horde in Cataclysm, with the Bilgewater Cartel.

Episode timeline

The Horde hires the goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel.
The orcs build a fleet in the Wetlands.
The Alliance watches the land route.
The orc fleet gets ready to cross the sea.
Kul Tiras prepares to defend the coast.

Who's who in this episode

| Name | Who they are | |------|--------| | Orgrim Doomhammer | The Warchief who planned the attack by sea. | | Steamwheedle Cartel | The goblins who helped the Horde build the fleet. | | Daelin Proudmoore | The admiral of Kul Tiras, who guarded the sea. | | Wetlands | The region where the orc fleet was built. |