It’s not “just” goblin technologies, it’s technologies far above what most of Azeroth has ever seen, so of course it had a fighting chance against the arcane tech of the draenei. And the whole idea of throwing plague through an arcane barrier, from the catapults in barrels that would get vaporized with the lasers kinda calls for something to remove such defences from the equation… like a clique of draenei hoping to become eredar themselves. Especially if they’re given green light (literally) by Kil’jaeden.
All of the Iron Horde’s technology was powered by iron stars, which were creations of Blackfuse Co. It was goblin technologies first used on Azeroth during the Siege of Orgrimmar.
Like it or not, this is exactly what happened. The removal of such defences from the equation was that this isn’t Shattrath at the height of its power, it’s Shattrath after years of gruelling warfare against the orcs that saw almost every other draenei settlement burnt to the ground, with only Shattrath left standing as a beacon of light amidst the darkness that was the Horde. A Horde that had just drunk the blood of Mannoroth, who stood poised with an army unlike anything Draenor had ever seen before, with demons being summoned left, right and centre and the Red Pox tearing draenei defenders down before they ever saw an orc up close.
The Iron Horde conquered AU Shattrath with a fraction of the preparation, while draenei civilisation was still at its height and with only a handful of clans, all without fel and just goblin created technology.
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Couldn’t they have just overwhelmed the lasers with numbers at that point?
They tried, and got slaughtered enough to resort to demonic blood and forcefully growing their youth.
They drank Mannoroth’s blood in Karabor before they started their march on Shattrath and began forcefully growing their youth with fel magic at the very beginning of their war with the draenei.
Neither had anything to do with the defences of Shattrath, which the Iron Horde in the AU broke with just technology.
https://warcraft.wiki.gg/images/thumb/4/42/Chronicle2_Siege_of_Shattrath.jpg/1024px-Chronicle2_Siege_of_Shattrath.jpg
They didn’t have to. We have never heard of the draenei having any kind of defensive lasers on Draenor, at least in context with the war against the orcs.
I mean, I know this is the headcanon thread, but proclaiming headcanon as actual canon goes abit far, no?
“Technologies far above what Azeroth has ever seen” has to be the biggest overstatement here, with Gnomish tech being superiour to Goblin in every way 
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That’s called unedited old lore. Back in the days it was far simplier than it is now, but with how much WoD has added it’s safe to assume that there aren’t that many differences except that the Horde went with replacing fel with tech, or that some characters’ paths went differently. The situation before the war began, especially regarding the draenei, was quite similar.
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Literally linking the Chronicles here, which is the most recent addition to lore lmao
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That’s the entire point of it being an AU, it’s meant to be different from how events played out in the MU. For example, in the AU the orcs are about to drink Mannoroth’s blood at the very cusp of their war with the draenei, with most of the orcs not even having warlocks amidst their clans as evident by their uncorrupted skin. Whereas in the MU they waited until the draenei were all but defeated with only Shattrath left standing.
This happened the way it did because several months before Garrosh arrived and began spreading the technology that rendered a fair bit of what Legion could offer pointless, at least in the eyes of the Horde. Or at least not turning them into blood-crazed savages… arguably, but still. Gul’dan had to accelerate his effort lest he’d be completely left behind if not for some meddlesome heroes able to stop the whole army in its tracks.
It just plain didn’t, things played out very differently on alternative Draenor and it was the reason this timeline was chosen over any other. Garrosh only went 35 years back in time, and that’d put his arrival in Draenor at just 4 years prior to the orcs invading Azeroth.
By that time in the main timeline Gul’dan’s claws have thoroughly sunk into the Horde, the Horde itself is already 4 years old at this time and Blackhand is Warchief, all of the clans have embraced warlocks and started magically aging their young - all of them are green, except for the sick in Garadar. Every draenei settlement except for Karabor, which was sacked 4 years before the First War started, and Shattrath is either destroyed or abandoned.
In the AU the Horde isn’t formed yet, Blackhand isn’t Warchief, the Shadow Council wields but a fraction of the power they commanded at the same point in the MU, and draenei civilisation is still going strong without issue.
In the AU the Iron Horde is completely formed by the time Gul’dan tried to pull his gambit for the first time. Grommash is the warchief, with Garrosh as his first advisor, and the lack of Shadow Council is compensated for with the high-tech troops, Void casters trained by Cho’Gall and overall better preparedness.
Long languishing lizard lore ex caput.
Uno.
Their entire body being a weapon, Evokers have a sense of rarely carrying conventional weapons. When devastation is just a breath away, magically potent fang and claw at immediate disposal and their innate wellspring of magic seemingly unending, there’s little need for other tools of war. Something sure to set them apart among more traditionally armed dragonkin. The dracthyr who do not weild the innate draconic magic are of a lesser rank; a more basic kind of troop than the sorcerous Evokers, thus far still in stasis.
Dos.
Their army being disbanded, a detail oft ignored, the dracthyr are still trained soldiers with little concept of civilian life. This usually produces one of two individuals: the awkwardly rigid, disciplined and excessively formal trooper and the more relaxed, liberated integrating citizen. The former make decent diplomats with subdued, respectful manners instinctively aware of subtleties of rank and station while the latter are more independent and work well with the likes of the dragonscale expedition. They also have a greater drive for self expression and a focused approach to the arts. Both remain perfect soldiers when called to the task.
Tres.
Dracthyr art lends itself to structure as a product of their nature as artificial soldiers; a psychological inclination that thus far gifts the world intricate geometric designs, patterned cloth of incredible detail and remarkably catchy marching tunes. A few eccentrics experiment with painting, making something resembling abstract expressionism in reaction to convention.
Cuatro.
Dracthyr, being vat-grown artificial creations lack distinguishing characteristics that they instead relish in working into their visages. The rigid soldier’s life leaving little room for individuality and expression, many approach their visage with an artistic zeal, frequently making alterations big and small for how they want to be seen. Many others are perfectly comfortable in their chosen form but do not consider it a big deal if their fellow dracthyr’s visage appears as a woman one day after months as a man; they instinctively know each other’s dracthyr nature regardless, visages radiating a unique personal magical signature akin to a scent.
Cinco.
The appearance of the dracthyr visage as a scaly, vaugely elf-like humanoid is innate and a product of biological as well as psychological imprints that leave them instinctively aware of their nature as draconic beings enhanced by a “mortal” nature. It is what “feels right” intuitively when presenting themselves in a less draconic form, reflecting their natural being; a little of this, a little of that but entirely themselves.
Seis.
As mentioned before, the dracthyr are designed to function as perfect soldiers, independently capable and self reliant in the field and as such can eat damn near anything. Roasting it with one’s fire breath is just a formality. Peculiarly related to this biological quirk, they’re remarkably resistant to parasites and disease.
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Dracthyr often love their visage form, but missing three of their usual seven limbs (two arms, two legs, two wings, one tail) means that balance is a nightmare for them for quite some time
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So, I’ll try to headcanon 10k+ and 4k+ (Night)sabers away:
The sabers as a race are considered kin to the Night Elves; both races are blessed by Elune, one as her favored Children, the other as her favored hunters. This connection to the Moon Goddess herself is what started the friendship between both races. Unbeknowst to both, on the meta-physical level, they are more intertwined. A saber or Night Elf that connects with each other are bound together for life. So while one might outlive the other due to unnatural circumstances(Getting killed in battle, tripping and breaking one’s neck, or falling to your death, getting poisened, etc), both lifespans are tied together naturally. If an Night Elf lives for 15.000 years, so does their Saber companion. If a Night Elf dies of natural causes after 2.000 years, so does their saber.
Ofcourse this meant, that with the creation of Nordrassil and the Night Elven Immortality, so did the sabers, be they of the Night, Frost, or any other variant, gain immortality. In some cases, this extended to Sabers not bound to a Kaldorei rider.
Arcane, Mana, slime, fel and other magical offshoots of the saber are immortal by default, their magical-infused nature often binding them to planes which grant them immortality in one form or another.
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I quite like the idea of a underground element to the Om’riggor and Om’gora where you can just sort of pay a shaman in a sort of ‘lie and say we did’ deal. Even going as far as to get some rogue (pun) orc to kill a beast and smear the blood on the young Orc who’s just kinda lazing about if needed.
It just undermines the Orcs fake honour nonsense so much that the idea tickles me.
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That’s something that happened back in the pre-Horde days. Another orc (non-Frostwolf) suggested to Durotan that you can smear yourself with any blood, the shaman won’t be able to tell the difference.
The orc got soundly beat for it IIRC by Orgrim?
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A Chieftain’s Son never fails his om’riggor!
It’s actually super common and cheating is widespread, the ancestors don’t care that much unless they’re dealing with a would-be gul’dan. Orc ancestral communion in general is much less successful than what is claimed, too with the shaman going on vibes more than great-great-greatfather Blacktooth’s intercession.
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Durotan’s heart hammered in his chest as he stared at the talbuk. It was a mighty beast, worthy prey, its horns not for mere decoration but sharp and dangerous. Durotan had seen at least one warrior gored to death, impaled upon the twelve prongs as surely as if upon a spear. And he was to take it down with only a single weapon and no armour. There had been the whispers, of course. Any mature talbuk will do to satisfy the needs of the ritual, he had heard someone murmur in his ear as he sat blindfolded in the waiting tent. They are all fierce fighters, but at this season, the males have shed their horns. Other whispers: You may carry only one weapon, Durotan, son of Garad: but you could hide armour in the wilderness where none would know. And, most shameful of all: The shaman will determine if you are successful by tasting the blood upon your face; the blood from a long-dead talbuk tastes exactly like that of one freshly slain.
A flawed honour system is what makes orcs good in the same way as it does Klingons.
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Some Klingons. Most, like most orcs really, are badly written and poorly acted twits.
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