Tactics: the Altar of Naias

Operation: Evict Naga From Naias Site

Background

Naga are building a temple on the Haunted Isle. Nearby, murlocs have been attacking the Bilgewater ships. Grom'gol is also a few miles from the site. Our goal is to evict the naga from the Altar's immediate area, and destroy the temple.

Nearby: Horde (Grom'gol), Neutral (Bilgewater Cartel goblins, troll tribes).

Naga numbers: "hundreds". Murloc numbers: "thousands".

Island diameter is estimated at 2 miles. This is about 6.2 miles of circumference. At spacing of 100 yards apart, this would leave about 100 sentries to watch the shoreline. Assuming 24-hour coverage, anywhere from a quarter to a half of the total naga force might be on guard duty, and/or it may be assigned to murlocs.

Island is ~2 miles from shore.

The naga have chaliced, or are in the process of chalicing, the shore settlements of jungle trolls.

Assumptions

Island defenses: an outer ring of sentries, plus an inner ring of other defenders, workers, and the like, surrounding the temple site. Possibly other fortifications.

The Bilgewater Cartel ships may or may not have cannon. If we can keep their ships free of murloc attackers, they should be able to shell the temple. This will let us attack any forces taking shelter inside.

Objectives

These missions have the following objectives:

1. Secure extra time for the Bilgewater Cartel to get their supply line in good order for an assault on the island.
2. Drain the naga of valuable personnel (the leaders of the war-party).
3. Obtain intelligence about naga disposition (via lamia and interrogation).

Mission: Recruit Grom'gol and Bilgewater

Someone needs to make contact with the Horde at Grom'gol, and the captains of the Bilgewater Cartel, and coordinate action with them.

If Grom'gol does not have any ships at the ready, we should have some of them board the ships to act as marines, to hold off murloc boarding parties.

Standard Operating Procedure should be to submit all personnel to a grail cleansing, in the case of chaliced spies. Purely mercenary spies can't be so easily detected, so we will have to rely on existing security procedures. This means everyone in Grom'gol and everyone aboard the Bilgewater ships.

Objectives:

• Send Sookie and Kagarn to the Bilgewater Cartel ships
• Bilgewater Cartel crews grail-checked
• Send Ezra, Kaliera, Nerai and Saeren to Grom'gol
• Grom'gol crews grail-checked
• Grom'gol soldiers assigned to troll diversion detail

Mission: Stage a False Flag Operation

We will have a small party, disguised as jungle trolls. Speaking something the sentries will recognize as Troll will be useful.

Saeren will use the war-wave until we get a converted lamia, and we will make sure that some sentries escape to bring word of this to the naga leadership. Not knowing about the war-wave or the catalyst, their only conclusion should be that jungle trolls somehow can convert naga via their magic.

Using gate magic, we can give the illusion that two separate troll units hit different parts of the island at about the same time, this deceiving the naga into thinking that there are multiple such weapons.

We will have enough information upon reaching Grom'gol to know which troll tribal markings to use to complete the illusion. We should arrange it so that clues will lead the naga inland, to a location we can predict. A likely candidate is the Skullsplitter tribe of Zul'mamwe.

Objectives:

• Procure troll canoes and other implements
• Approach haunted island from the north under Illusion Disguise
• Attack sentries until at least one lamia is converted
• Gate to the southern part of the island
• Attack sentries until at least one lamia is converted
• Escape with lamia

Mission: Ambush the War Party

The most likely naga response will be to send an exploratory war-party inland to find out more about this. We will prepare to ambush this war-party. Due to the long travel times, it is likely that the forces involved will be prepared to attack a good-sized troll tribe, not merely to spy on them, and that constant telepathic contact will be maintained.

The naga will send a large expeditionary force inland for these reasons:

1. Time lag in sending forces to the right place means that a strong squad needs to be present - even if the naga were to gate in replacements, they would need to know where to gate to, and that site would need to be secured.
2. The quarry (the nominal "jungle trolls") could ambush them at any point along the trip.
3. The naga have force to spare against any trolls previously encountered, except the Gurubashi or the Zandalari.

They will need water, so will bring their own supplies along. Saeren should use the Catalyst to taint those supplies, once we lure them to a likely camp site inland. Once they wake up and drink, we spring an ambush. We can set traps and mines around the perimeter, possibly radio-detonated, to prevent murloc runners from escaping with reports.

Objectives:

• Use a Grom'gol zeppelin to get a foothold team to the area of the ambush
• Casters can use Gate to bring reinforcements onsite
• Find likely campsite
• Set up ambush points around campsite to catch runners
• Wait for naga war party to make camp
• After nightfall, disable sentries
• Taint naga water supplies with Catalyst
• Post guards, wait for naga camp to use water
• Attack in force

Mission: Zeppelin Bombardment

Assumptions: the naga are sending murlocks and the like to disrupt and distract the goblin cannoneers aboard the Bilgewater Cartel ships - they come out just long enough to let the incoming supply shipment haul their cargo off the beach, then run away.

We can hit one or more of these supply runs by cloaking a zeppelin in clouds or mist or fog, and having them shell the beach with grapeshot and the like. The murlocs/naga can't just board a zeppelin, and the clouds will obscure us from ranged attacks. Saeren and Sookie can cooperate to shoot any archers imbued with Air Vision or the like.

Assuming we can keep the beach clear enough, we can actually retrieve some of the supplies - grapeshot will tend not to seriously damage stuff in heavy crates or boxes or the like.

Objectives:

• Mount light cannon on a zeppelin
• Send Grom'gol fighters to act as marines aboard ship
• Station it near the Bilgewater Cartel ships
• Wait for a shipment and the attack
• Shamans form a cloud around the zeppelin to neutralize return fire
• Forward observers aboard Bilgewater ships relay coordinates to gunners aboard zeppelin
• Zeppelin attacks the staging area until beach forces retreat or die
• If possible, once beach forces are driven off, retrieve as much of the supplies as possible