Battle of Hillsbrad Foothills

This article is about the Alliance-Horde battle of the Second War. For the Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness version of this event, see Assault on Hillsbrad (WC2 Orc). For the later Forsaken-human conflict in the same area, see Battle for Hillsbrad.

Battle of Hillsbrad Foothills
Date	Early 6 ADP
Location	Hillsbrad Foothills, primarily near Southshore
Result	Alliance victory, Horde successfully lands in southern Lordaeron but cannot force the Alliance from the battlefield, Horde retreats east to the Hinterlands and Quel'Thalas
Belligerents   Alliance of Lordaeron Seven Kingdoms Knights of the Silver Hand Kingdom of Quel'Thalas   Orcish Horde Blackrock clan Black Tooth Grin clan Stormreaver clan Twilight's Hammer clan
Commanders and leaders   Alliance of Lordaeron Supreme Commander Anduin Lothar Turalyon Uther Khadgar Alleria Windrunner   Orcish Horde Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer Tharbek Rend Blackhand Maim Blackhand Teron Gorefiend
Casualties and losses   Alliance of Lordaeron Moderate   Orcish Horde Thousands
Previous	Invasion of Khaz Modan and start of the siege of Ironforge, skirmish at Zul'Dare
Next	Battles of Tol Barad, battle of the Hinterlands, burning of Quel'Thalas

This article contains lore taken from Warcraft novels, novellas, or short stories.

The Battle of Hillsbrad Foothills (or Assault on Hillsbrad) in early 6 ADP was the first major land battle of the Second War. Considered the official start of the war, it was the first time in history that the full power of the Horde and the Alliance met on the battlefield, and also marked the first wartime appearance of the death knights and the Knights of the Silver Hand. The fighting lasted for hours and took place in the Hillsbrad Foothills near Lordaeron's southern coast.

Preparations

Immediately after being appointed Supreme Commander of the Alliance, Anduin Lothar had the Alliance forces gather in Hillsbrad Foothills near Southshore, a location central enough to quickly reach any part of continental Lordaeron. This was vital because Lothar and the Alliance leadership did not know where the Horde would invade, though they expected they would attempt to cross the Thandol Span from the occupied Khaz Modan, an effort which would take them many months. While waiting in Hillsbrad, Lothar planned strategies with the Alliance kings and his four chosen lieutenants: his second-in-command Turalyon, Uther, Khadgar, and Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore. He also beseeched Quel'Thalas to send aid and make good on their ancient debt to his bloodline, but King Anasterian sent only a token fleet and commanded the rest of his forces to stay in Quel'Thalas. Alleria Windrunner disobeyed Anasterian's orders and independently led a handful elves to join Lothar's forces as well.

Meanwhile, Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer had constructed a transport fleet that would take the Horde across Baradin Bay. Orgrim believed the Horde could reach southern Lordaeron before the Alliance had time to muster a proper defense, giving the Horde a small but vital advantage. He planned to march inland and cross the Alterac Mountains to reach Capital City, the fastest way to strike at Lordaeron itself. Human scouts discovered the fleet and reported to Lothar that the invasion would happen much sooner than he'd anticipated. Lothar sent the Alliance army to gather in Hillsbrad at the most likely location for the Horde's landfall, and sent Proudmoore and the Alliance navy to waylay the Horde fleet. The latter intercepted and initially overpowered the Horde fleet at Zul'Dare, sinking dozens of transports and killing thousands of orcs, but were forced to retreat following the appearance of three of the Dragonmaw's enslaved red dragons who had been sent by Nekros Skullcrusher to protect the Horde fleet.

Battle

With the Alliance fleet scattered, the Horde made uncontested landfall near Southshore and began marching inland toward Alterac. The red dragons stayed behind with the fleet—Nekros had ordered them only to protect the ships, and the dragons refused to kill more humans than necessary. Lothar anticipated Orgrim's plan and arrayed his troops across Hillsbrad to bar the northern and western routes to Capital City, while the newly-trained paladins of the Silver Hand boosted the soldiers' morale.

Lothar charged from his line alongside Turalyon and Uther and met the advancing orcs head-on, but retreated back to the Alliance line to avoid being overwhelmed as more Horde ships continued to reach the shore and thousands of more orcs landed. Lothar and Turalyon had their forces form shield walls which inflicted heavy casualties each time the orcs crashed into them. Meanwhile, Alleria and her rangers and Khadgar and his magi thinned the Horde's ranks from afar with arrows and arcane magic.

The Horde's death knights entered the fray, creating a corruptive fog across the battlefield and raising slain humans to throw themselves at their former allies, horrifying and demoralizing the human soldiers. The Alliance lines began to crumble until Uther and the other paladins used the Light to reinvigorate and protect them from the death knights' magic. With the exception of Turalyon, who stayed by Lothar's side, the paladins charged out of the Alliance lines to attack the death knights directly. Neither were able to gain an advantage over the other, and the death knights and paladins kept each other occupied for the remainder of the battle.

Sporadic battles broke out in Hillsbrad. The Horde brought several club-wielding ogres forward to crush whole sections of the Alliance shield wall. In response, Turalyon and the other Alliance leaders changed their tactics. They split their forces into smaller shield units which fell back and regrouped at the base of the hills, where they formed a new shield wall. Rangers harassed any orcs and ogres that came close, and Khadgar conjured a storm to kill several attackers. Turalyon used this distraction to reinforce the new wall and order brush fires set to prevent the orcs from advancing to the west and flanking and surrounding the Alliance. The ogres continued to advance, but the Alliance targeted them with magic, arrows, and ballistae.

The Horde and Alliance were evenly matched for the time being, but Orgrim knew that the longer he stayed in Hillsbrad, the more time the Alliance had to call in reinforcements from their other territories. His only option was to head east through the Hinterlands to find another route to Capital City. The Amani trolls agreed to guide the orcs through the area in exchange for the rescue of their captive leader, Zul'jin. As battles continued across Hillsbrad, Orgrim led a small raiding party to Durnholde Keep, rescued Zul'jin, and convinced him and his people to join the Horde in exchange for helping them destroy their ancient enemies, the elves of Quel'Thalas. This meant having to go farther north of Capital City than Orgrim wanted, but the battle in Hillsbrad had taught him that the Alliance was formidable and that the Horde would need the Amani's support to win.

Unaware of the Horde's change of plans, Lothar and Turalyon—who feared that the continuous Horde reinforcements from the shore meant they would eventually simply roll over the Alliance lines—led cavalry charges into the Horde's front lines, until the orcs called a retreat and turned east to the Hinterlands. Lothar immediately understood the Horde's new plan, but after hours of battle, the Alliance forces were fatigued, short on materiel, and in need of rest and resupplying before they could pursue the Horde. Still, Lothar considered Hillsbrad a victory: they had kept the Horde from Capital City, and had shown the Alliance's soldiers that they could stand against the Horde and win. The battle earned Lothar his moniker, "the Lion of Azeroth", from Alliance soldiers who had seen his lion shield flashing through the orc ranks.

The Horde navy was left anchored in Southshore, indicating that the Alliance couldn't fully expel the Horde from the region.

Forces

• Alliance of Lordaeron

  • Footmen
  • Archers
  • Rangers
  • Knights
  • Paladins
  • Ballistae
  • Warships, human and elven

• Orcish Horde

  • Grunts
  • Ogres
  • Death knights
  • Warships
  • Warlocks