Rep: Warsong Offensive

Last week we looked at the Alliance Expedition this week we are going to look at its Horde counter part the Warsong Offensive.  Lead by the controversial Garrosh Hellscream this branch of the Warsong Clans original objective was to gain a foothold and establish strongholds in Northrend in order for the Horde to advance their fight against the scourge. This would later change. This is a faction that is fighting tooth and nail every step of the way as it progresses across Northrend just to survive let alone achieve its objective.

When the Horde arrived in the Borean Tundra it was to find that the Alliance had already claimed the only harbor for their own. This forced them to locate their own fortress further down the coast. Warsong Hold, the main base of operations for the Warsong Offensive was plagued with difficulties from the onset not the least of which being their continued struggle with supplies. Garrosh is of the opinion that simply removing the Alliance will solve all the problems while his more experienced Co Commander High Overlord Varok Saurfang has made it quite clear he will remove GARROSH if the need arises rather than revisit the failures of the past. Tension within the command structure is common in this faction and players will quickly become aware of it as they journey along the quest hubs.

The Warsong Offensive also works closely with a second member of the Horde Expedition, The Taunka. I am not going to go into detail about these cousins to the Tauren at this time other than to say that it is the Warsong Offensive that is responsible for rediscovering them and Garrosh specifically for encouraging pursuing their recruitment into the Horde forces.

The tensions between the Horde and the Alliance are the least in Dragonblight, more due to their separation than true cooperation. With the Alliance focused more on Naxramas and the Horde on Azjol-Nerub the areas of conflict are minimal between the two factions. This of course completely dissolves after the events at Wrathgate. From that point on it is open warfare.

The leadership tensions are also at there most dramatic when Horde players head into Grizzly Hills shortly after and encounter the Sisters Krenna and Gorgonna. Here not only are you dealing with the conflict over the zone but a leader who cares not one wit about you as a trooper. Even going so far as ignoring vital information since it is not part of her personal agenda. The final showdown is one few players will want to miss.

From there players have a choice as to wither they will go into Icecrown or Stormpeaks. The play experience is very different as is the lore.

In Icecrown Horde players will find themselves chasing down the Zeplin Orgrim Hammer as they combat not only the scourge but the Alliance as well. A sharp contrast to the Argent Crusade's call for unity at the tournament close by. Some of the individuals you will find on the Orgrim Hammer like the Death Knight Kolitra Deathweaver of the Knights of the Ebon Blade are a good representation of both the internal conflict as well as the conflict of interest some players may have while questing. Those who have read the recent release World of Warcraft: Death Knight will be more aware of  Kolitra's close relationship with his Alliance counterpart Thassarian.

In Stormpeaks on the other hand Horde players are facing a completely different issue. This zone is almost all about history. Here Horde players encounter the intrepid Brann Bronzebeard for the first time along with the Horde version Xarantaur the Witness.  If you are a Lore nut don't skip the quests in this zone but as for reputation gaining quests there are really not that many of them at the two quest hubs located here.

One of the largest changes to effect this faction took place in patch 3.1. when this faction became the Command force for the Horde in the Stand of the Ancients Battleground. Another was in Patch 3.3 when players we able to begin gaining reputation with this faction by killing mobs and bosses in level 80 dungeons.

Over all this is a fairly easy faction to gain reputation with in that it has a total of 145 reputation granting quests over five zones and seven quest hubs. Of those 145, nine are repeatable daily pvp quests. Four in Grizzly Hills and Five in Icecrown.