Siege of Capital City

For the mission from Warcraft II, see The Fall of Lordaeron (WC2 Orc).

Siege of Capital City
Location	Capital City and Lordamere Lake, Tirisfal Glades
Result	Alliance of Lordaeron victory
Belligerents   Alliance of Lordaeron Kingdom of Lordaeron Kingdom of Stormwind Admiralty of Kul Tiras Kingdom of Quel'Thalas Kingdom of Stromgarde Knights of the Silver Hand   Orcish Horde Blackrock clan Black Tooth Grin clan
Commanders and leaders   Alliance of Lordaeron King Terenas Turalyon Khadgar Alleria Windrunner Lor'themar Theron Kurdran Wildhammer Thoras Trollbane   Orcish Horde Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer Tharbek Rend Blackhand Maim Blackhand Teron Gorefiend Utok Scratcher
Casualties and losses   Alliance of Lordaeron Heavy   Orcish Horde Massive
Previous	Razing of Blackwood
Concurrent	The Battle at Crestfall The Tomb of Sargeras
Next	Battle of Crestfall

The Siege of Capital City was the beginning of the end of the Horde during the Second War.

Battle

This section concerns content related to the Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

In preparation for the impending attack, King Terenas ordered his guards to try to get all the people and their belongings behind the city walls. Many had abandoned their homes with little but the clothes on their back and tools and other professions they had on them when they fled. They knew their homes would be destroyed, and would have to be rebuilt later. Terenas had few men to defend the city walls. The king had not expected the Horde to attack the city and most soldiers had as such previously left with Anduin Lothar.

King Terenas witnessed the Horde swarm across the lake. Some had crossed over by use of rough bridges. From his vantage point, he couldn't see any siege weapons other than a log to be used as a battering ram.

As the orcs reached the walls, Terenas ordered the soldiers to drop hot oil on them. The remaining soldiers tipped large cauldrons over the ramparts letting the boiling oil pour down the side of the walls. The oil spilled across the leading orcs, drenching them completely. They screamed in pain as it burned away their flesh. The entire front rank crumpled, writhing and twitching. A few staggered away but most were dead. The Alliance forces prepared more oil to drop on the heads of the Horde. While the oil would run out after a few more attempts by the Horde, they knew they had several weeks' worth of food and supplies and would be able to hold out during a long siege if need be.

The Alliance forces under Turalyon reached the valley leading to Lordaeron. They had ridden hard, with Khadgar and cavalry, with the infantry marching behind them. They had traveled west through the foothills of Hearthglen and emerged north of Capital City, so they could swing back down and come at the city from the wide plain behind it, where the main gates were located. The Alliance forces clashed with the besieging Horde forces, the horsemen scattering the front line while the Lordaeron defenders rained arrows and fire down on the orcs. The success lasted for some time until the overwhelming might of the Horde pushed them back. The knights were forced back by the sheer number of the Horde and for every orc they killed, another would appear with three more beside him. The Horde managed to push them across the river and left a portion to hold them while the rest turned to pound the city walls. Slowly the orcs started to climb up the walls and bring down the defenders one by one while ammunition started to run dangerously low.

Meanwhile, Thoras Trollbane had led his surviving warriors to aid his old friend who arrived in the mountains. Knowing that he needed to do something quickly to prevent the whole Horde from arriving into Lordaeron, the Stromgarde king personally led his soldiers to attack and block the passes. Though the Horde already had enough strength to storm the city, this small action would prove to be important later.

At Lordaeron, the battle raged even fiercer and the gates were starting to crack. Terenas ordered the gates to be blocked with everything they had, knowing that they were not going to hold for long.

Just as the gates were about to fall, Orgrim Doomhammer received news from the dragon rider Torgus that Gul'dan had taken the rest of Horde across the sea. The warchief saw that despite the fact that the city was about to fall, he had already lost a large number of his standing troops. Desperate, he quickly ordered his reserves to the field only to find them already slaughtered by Stromic knights and warriors. Though knowing that they did not have the numbers to stand against the Alliance, Doomhammer nevertheless ordered the Black Tooth Grin clan, which provided a bulk of the standing troops to track down Gul'dan, hoping that he had done the right thing.

This action was all the Alliance needed and the human knights and elven rangers crossed the bridge clashing with the surviving orcs. With no sign of reinforcement and cornered by the Alliance and Lordaeron forces on one side and Stromgarde troops on the other, the standing orc forces retreated. The Alliance had won.

Forces

Alliance of Lordaeron

• Footmen
• Archers
• Archers
• Rangers
• Knights
• Paladins
• Ballistae
• Mages
• Demolition Squads
• Flying machines
• Gryphon riders
• Various siege weapons, hot oil
• Warships

Orcish Horde

• Grunts
• Axethrowers
• Berserkers
• Ogres
• Ogre magi
• Catapults
• Death knights
• Sappers
• Zeppelins
• Dragons
• Various siege weapons, ladders, battering rams
• Warships

Gallery

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  Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness orc victory over the ruined capital of Lordaeron, that would be non-canonical in all later sources.