Old Horde

Full History

The orc clans of Draenor had their own chiefs, rivalries and spiritual traditions long before they became one invading army. That changed as Gul'dan and the Shadow Council spread the influence of the Burning Legion. Warlocks supplanted much of the old shamanic order, and a campaign of deception and bloodshed bound the clans together under a new purpose. Blackhand was raised as warchief, while Gul'dan's circle exerted power behind the visible command.

Medivh and Gul'dan opened the Dark Portal, carrying the Horde into Azeroth. Its first great campaign was fought against Stormwind. The human kingdom resisted under King Llane and Anduin Lothar, but the Horde ultimately shattered the capital's defenses. The victory made the orcs masters of a fallen kingdom and drew the surviving humans north in search of allies.

Orgrim Doomhammer overthrew Blackhand and struck against the Shadow Council, but he could not discard every weapon inherited from the warlocks. Gul'dan purchased his survival by promising new powers, including death knights. Doomhammer led the Horde north during the Second War, bringing ogres, forest troll allies and goblin engineers into a campaign that threatened Lordaeron itself.

The invasion failed in part because Gul'dan pursued the Tomb of Sargeras and deserted the Horde with forces Doomhammer badly needed. The Alliance rallied and eventually defeated the orcs at Blackrock Mountain. Many survivors were imprisoned in camps, where the loss of demonic power left them lethargic and broken. The Old Horde's collapse did not end orcish history; it left Thrall and others the task of recovering a people from the instruments of their own conquest.