Grim Batol (WC2 Human)

Grim Batol is the seventh mission of the Alliance campaign in Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

Mission briefing
''Advance scouts report that they have located Grim Batol - the primary base of the Horde's Refinery operations in Khaz Modan. Seeing a chance to strike a decisive blow against the Horde, Lord Lothar has ordered that you infiltrate Grim Batol and put an end to all Orcish activity there. Once Grim Batol has been destroyed, Lothar believes that the Orcs will have no further use for Khaz Modan, thus pulling their forces back to the mainland of Azeroth. Victory could secure the shores of Lordaeron and greatly impede the Horde offensive.''

Objective

 * Destroy five Oil Refineries

Background

 * Note: this account comes from the Official Strategy Guide, which features a first-person description of each mission from the game.

Milan's forces landed as close to Grim Batol as possible. From there they would have to march south, leaving the workers and transport ships behind for safety. As they proceeded, they were disturbed to discover two enemy catapults, fortified behind a wall and guarded by several orcs. Swearing oaths to all the Gods, they steeled themselves and rushed directly toward them. Milan believes the Gods heard their prayers that day, for the catapults were unmanned, and after killing the guards, they broke through the wall and claimed them. Continuing south, they destroyed an enemy tower with the Horde's own war machines and claimed yet another catapult. Only then did they summon transports and peasants south to join them, following which their force boarded ship to land on the other side of the river. This time they swept northward, careful to remove enemy towers with the catapults, and soon leveled all the foul orcish structures so that they could raise their own.

They quickly erected a town hall near a gold mine to the north and began collecting resources. Milan's commander was planning to build battleships for the attack, so a lumber mill and a shipyard were needed as soon as possible. While the shipyard was being built, they decided to place a refinery at the southeastern tip of a small peninsula, conveniently near an oil patch. After tankers had been build to exploit it, a foundry was raised near the shipyard, which provided the heavy cannons and armor for battleships. Unfortunately, the mine was running dry, so they built a transport to ferry workers across to another nearby mine and a temporary town hall near it to collect the resources. Finally, construction of battleships began; they spent their extra time and gold to develop better cannons and armor to ensure their success.

At last they had six tall battleships with which to attack and sailed them south into enemy territory. They made quick work of the enemy vessels that tried to stop them. Ignoring the oil platforms and refineries for a time, they then concentrated on removing the towers and catapults that guarded them. As the Horde watched helplessly, they began pounding their structures; soon they were forced to surrender to their might.

Aftermath
While Milan's unit had some success at destroying the surface structures around Grim Batol as well as its refineries, forcing the Horde units to surrender, they had failed to clear the Horde forces that were stationed in the underground portions of the city. Grim Batol would not be captured until after the Second War.

Forces

 * Alliance of Lordaeron
 * Footmen
 * Archers
 * Rangers
 * Knights
 * Ballistae
 * Flying machines
 * Warships
 * Catapults


 * Orcish Horde
 * Grunts
 * Axethrowers
 * Berserkers
 * Ogres
 * Catapults
 * Zeppelins
 * Warships

Trivia

 * This mission is one of the only appearances of the Bleeding Hollow clan in the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness campaigns.