Warcraft: Orcs & Humans Part #5 - Act 3: To make a Halmet, you have to crack a few skulls

Part 5: Act 3: To make a Halmet, you have to crack a few skulls

Act 3: To make a Halmet, you have to crack a few skulls

: To battle! Lok-Narash! Arm yourselves!

: Chieftain, is this really wise? We have nothing to gain from this.

: Private, perhaps you're overlooking the strategic value this place holds for the Horde.

: ...Chieftain?

: We're here.

Grand Hamlet, for some reason, is one of my favorite maps. I suppose it's because it's the first stage you have versus an actual human base, but I feel like it may be something deeper. For instance, this map intersects nicely with the human campaign's mission of "Protect Grand Hamlet from the invading orcs." This is essentially the first major split in canon, where Grand Hamlet gets destroyed. Of course, this could remain factual, if we assume that the humans just forgot about Grand Hamlet after the first siege.

: Peons, start cutting some lumber, and get to mining. Our coffers are not overfull from the journey. Soldiers, begin scouting this... strange land.

: Mud is fuzzy here!

: Chieftain, why the sudden display of leadership? You seem unusually tense.

: War is tense, Bloodgut. War is tense.

: Chieftain! Water strange here! See through! Magic!

: Quick, Bloodgut. My spyglass.

: When did you get a spyglass?

: I made it especially for this raid.

: Well?

: ...Send the men out. I want this area secured, double-time. Let no human leave this land alive.

: We obey Chieftain good. Crush humans better. Hehe. Vilefeast make joke.

: Chieftain, you have to explain yourself, you're acting rather-

: Human! Lok-Narash!

: It okay, Vilefeast here! Smash!

: I'm beginning to worry that Vilefeast will never die.

: Bloodgut!

: Huh-?

: The peons ran off, scattered by the human attack. round them up for me, so that we may continue our siege of this town.

: Chieftain! As well, the Barracks is constructed. I'm beginning to enjoy this serious side of you. It seems that you're finally taking this invasion to heart.

: No time for talk, peon, we have business to tend to.

: Chieftain! Human!

So now we get to see the human forces actually mounting an offensive. The occasional footman or archer meanders over to your base and starts slapping your peons around. However, they're very tiny attacks, and can be taken care of with relative ease. Here you see a very suicidal footman.

: ...Isn't that a bit of an overkill, Vilefeast?

: His skull stuck in chest. Help me get out! Put in kitchen. Add atmosphere.

: I want that man strip searched. Anything he owns, bring it into my quarters. I'll be tending to the town. Bloodgut! Make yourself useful.

: With pleasure, Chieftain. I'll take the men scouting downriver. We're sure to find something.

Later...

: Water. By the sweat of my brow, is it just water for miles?

: Hah! A bridge! And some human guards with it... It looks like we've discovered our passage to the human settlement. And only two mere guards...

: Err...

: Vilefeast! Vilefeast!

And now for why Spearmen are so awesome.

They're faster than footmen. This is great for setting up traps, training them around, or even running ahead a bit then pausing to fire before running again. Come on, sticks versus swords. You gotta do what you gotta do.

: Cry of little one? Bin mog g'thazag cha! Men! Charge!

: I have never been more glad to smell your presence.

: Me roll in more mud today. Much more.

: I have a favor to ask. I saw another human downriver. Perhaps-

And here is why I believe the humans clearly outclass the orcs. The cleric. The cleric is your worst enemy, I feel. As you may have guessed, they heal nearby humans. Constantly. If you can't maneuver your men to get at them first, you pretty much just have to run out their magic. Which means you'll be sustaining heavy losses in the meantime. However, units are mirrored in this game, right? Surely the orcs have something to compare! We'll see in just a moment.

: No more talk! We move!

However, they have the armor and hit points of a tiny child. Their combat isn't any better, either.

: I meant capture him! We could have interrogated him!

: Me no follow.

: I have no possible idea why I would assume you would do otherwise.

: Vilefeast did good then. Vilefeast champion!

Back at base...

: The mill is up and running. Hmm... all this progress is giving me a thought. Why limit ourselves to wooden structures? I mean, by the daemons, Blackrock Spire was carved of solid rock!

: You there! I have a few plans for you...

And now that we have a mill built, we can begin building Advanced structures. You'll note that our peon friend there has an extra button there. What qualifies as an Advanced building? Guess we'll have to find out.

: And you men, without Vilefeast to lead you, I ask that you head eastward into human territory. I want to see some progress!

: I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

: BY THE SKIN OF MY KNUCKLES! WHAT IS THAT MONSTER!?

: Hold it at the bridge! I'll get Vilefeast! Vilefeast!

: Why won't it die!?

: Vilefeast! Bloodgut! Anyone? Please!

: Eh? Vilefeast popular today. Popularity interrupt nap.

: You wake Vilefeast! Smash human! SMASH!

: Hehe. Is good day.

: Remind me to give you a promotion, Vilefeast. Now, then... back to my project...

: A temple, Chieftain? Are you sure that's wise? We may attract the wrong sort of attention...

: Bloodgut? Ah, back from patrol I see. No, you see, it will attract the right kind of attention. Imagine a swarm of pilgrims coming out to see this temple, spreading their knowledge to the troops.

: They worship daemons, Chieftain.

: Nonsense!

: Although some of their rites seems to be a little unsettling...

The temple allows us to train the orcish equivalent to the priest: the necrolyte. So instead of getting the kickass ability to heal our troops in battle, we can raise their dead bodies. No, they don't come back to life as they were, instead they're amazingly weak, tough as paper, temporary units that will expire in a minute or so. That said, they're not terrible as half-assed suicidal scouts.

Seeing as we lack a good suicidal scout at the moment though...

: We still need more information of the human lands. Hmmm... Send someone from the infirmary. The humans wouldn't dare hit an orc with a broken arm and internal bleeding.

: I wonder what he found.

Units this close to death are pretty damn useless with no way to heal themselves. However, seeing how powerful scouting is in Warcarft: O&H... well... You served the Horde well, spearman.

: Well, if those humans want to play dirty, then we shall. They use two men to guard their bridges, then I demand three!

: Chieftain, the gold mine-

: I've already looked into the matter, Bloodgut. Unfortunately, the nearest gold mine is in human territory. This will be a dangerous foray.

: Ssssomething I may be able to help with... Chieftain.

And here is our first necrolyte. As much as I'd love to say that these guys will be constantly bolstering our forces... well, they're situational. It helps to turn the tide in a larger fight. I'll be touching on their full spell list later, however. Right now, all we have is Raise Dead, which is pretty lackluster. this is also a good time to talk about the magic system. You may notice that our necrolyte has a magic meter there. That will slowly grow so long as he doesn't attack or cast any spells. This is an abstract system of how powerful they are. A necrolyte that is just about halfway charged can raise up to two skeletons, while a fully-charged one can raise four. They then, of course, lose the magic charge.

: Rogue, announce yourself!

: Point your sssspears away from me. I have been sent by Gul'dan to oversee your operationssss.

: Gul'dan? Chieftain, I don't like this. There's larger politics at play, here.

: Should I know this Goldan? And you-

: Darkweaver, if you will.

: Darkweaver, if you can help us secure the nearby gold mine then you can stay within our ranks.

: Ssssuperb.

: Now to demonstrate my abilitiessss.

The skeleton. Not your most powerful fighter, especially at this point in the game. The magic bar here indicates how much longer they have until they fall apart. They can't really take a hit, and they move fairly slow. What are they used for? Well... I mentioned the scouting. They can also cover a retreat, if necessary, but I doubt we'll be seeing that very much.

: Chieftain, the gold mine-

: Darkweaver, we have to act fast.

: I'm on it... Go, my minionssss.

: Alright, peons! Go, while they're distracted. I want this town leveled by the morn.

: We'll finish thingssss up here, Chieftain.

: Heheh... foolssss...

: Chieftain, I'm... concerned. This Darkweaver fellow has me on my guard.

: You're too untrusting, Bloodgut, I mean... look at him! He's a saint!

: Bwahahaha! Die, humans! DIE!

: Look, he has ties to Gul'dan. We might be in over our heads, here. What if the Shadow Council has plans for you?

: Bloodgut. The battlefield is no time to be telling me about your imaginary world of fears. I mean, "Shadow Council", really? Gotta watch out for the "Dark Bad Guys of Evil", too, right? Besides, there's something of great importance in this town. We'll need it to continue our invasion.

: Chieftain, I don't think you- What is he doing to those bodies.