Rep: Alliance Vanguard and Horde Expedition.

Well we did it, we completed all of the reputations from the Burning Crusade and now move on to those we are dealing with right now in Wrath of the Lich King and Northrend. Congratulations! You will soon discover that at least four of them work in conjunction with one another reputation wise.

For the Alliance this coalition is called the Alliance Vanguard. The Horde equivalent is called the Horde Expedition. Simply put they are the combined forces of either the Alliance or the Horde in Northrend, made up of "sub-factions" which all feed into them. Earning reputation with the SUB factions is what allows you to gather your reputation for the "head faction". In addition to this running any dungeon in Northrend while NOT wearing a faction tabard will grant you reputation with these faction based upon your affiliation. Before patch 3.3 the head factions were the ONLY one of the factions who you could gain reputation with in this way. However as of the patch it now also grants reputation with each of the SUB factions, though on a MUCH lower scale.

The four Sub Factions that make up the Alliance Vanguard are: The Dwarven run Explorer's League, with Brann Bronzebeard as their head. The Human controlled Valiance Expedition which make up the main armies of the Alliance. The Silver Covenant, who are the High Elves and provide security for Dalaran under Veressa Windrunner. Finally the native Frostborn, being lead by an individual they named Yorg Stormheart.

The Horde Sub Factions that make up the Horde Expedition are: The Warsong Offensive which contain the balk of the Horde forces under the command of the controversial Garrosh Hellscream. The Forsaken group Hand of Vengeance, who as their name implies have a very single minded focus. The Sunreavers, lead by Archmage Aethas Sunreaver protect the Horde presence in Dalaran.  Finally the native Taunka, relatives of the Tauren.

For engineers especially these two reputations are VERY important because in order to obtain the much desired  Mekgineer's Chopper or Mechano-hog Schematic you MUST reach exalted with them FIRST. Some Tanks also go after this reputation for the helm enchant.

For the next few weeks I will be going into more detail about each of the Sub-factions. Explaining their lore as well as how you can obtain reputation with each of them individually.

On to Northrend!