This week I’d like to talk about airships because I think airships are cool and I want you to think so as well. Airships play a critical role in the Warcraft III campaign and are even more critical in World of Warcraft where the airships charter people from one end of Azeroth to the other. This will be the last week of random topics because next week we’re going to launch into nothing but Cataclysm for a bit.

So, let’s begin by talking about the different types of airships. There are “airships” which appear in the Isle of Conquest, “gunships” which appear in Icecrown, and “zeppelins” which travel between the various Horde cities. For this article though we’ll call them all airships.

Airships are used to transport Horde troops to Northrend. Who knows what they'll be used for in Cataclysm.

The first ships we were introduced to were the zeppelins. These bad boys were engineered by the Goblins who designed them to transport people over distances for a fee. Zeppelins are not filled with hydrogen or helium, but are instead filled with hot air that is pumped into them from a “phlogiston boiler.”  Because Goblins have to name things in a funny way, right?

Anyway, they’re 100% safe and are probably one of the few inventions out there that just doesn’t blow up all the time. Well, that’s a lie. There are a ton of zeppelin crashes throughout the world! There is one in Dustwallow Marsh, one in Hellfire Peninsula, a couple near Warsong Hold, and I’m sure there are a few more out there.

Now, onto something more fun. Gunships are created by both the Gnomes and the Goblins and are used by the Alliance and the Horde whereas Zeppelins are Horde exclusive. The Goblin gunship is designed like a Zeppelin while a Gnomish airship simply uses propellers to lift it up. The Skybreaker and Orgrim’s Hammer are both fine examples of gunships and we’re supposed to be getting more of them in with Cataclysm.

As for the lore, there isn’t a lot to go by. The zeppelins were created to transport people by the Goblins and the gunships were made because the Horde and Alliance couldn’t make a ground base in Icecrown. Such simple explanations for something I’m so fascinated by.

Personally, I feel that we should be able to command our own airships in the world. I think that it’d be an interesting feature if players, for a massive cost (100,000 gold) could command their own airship in the skies. Why such a high gold price? Well, I think we’d all travel with one if we all could afford one, but then the sky would be littered with them.

That might be an expansion for WoW one day where you’ll take to the skies and fight enemies on different floating platforms. The Blue Dragonflight uses those Surge Needles, or what about true floating cities or floating dungeons on some undiscovered continent on Azeroth. Of course, all of that is needless dreaming.

Lore Theorycrafting

In many RTS games you’re given super units in small quantities and they’re explained in the story with something like “all of our resources were poured into this project”  or something like that. What if the gunships were used in Warcraft 3 in the defense of Hyjal? Do you think the gargoyles would have sunk them or would we have not suffered so many losses when combating the Burning Legion?

What if gunships were used against the Frozen Throne before Illidan took his seat? Would we have defeated the Lich King?

Personally I think yes to all of this. I think if we had the power of the two gunships in Icecrown that the war would have ended much sooner. The Burning Legion doesn’t have much in the way of air superiority. A squadron of planes could easily handle gargoyles while the gunship itself is loaded down with tons of turrets and defensive mages.

As for the Lich King, I’m sure we could have blown up the spire in Icecrown with the super weapons onboard each and have won the war before so much was razed. Alas, though, a story is not told in quick victory. A video game story requires strife in order to give us a reason to fight.

Anyway, that’s the Lore Corner this week. See you next week where we take a look at the major plotlines coming in Cataclysm.