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   /______/   B. Arathi Basin    \______\ 
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*OVERVIEW: NODES*
     The second battleground you're likely to frequent is Arathi Basin, or AB.
This is my favorite battleground in the game because of its resource-imposed
time limit. No matter what, this game isn't going to last much longer than half
an hour. It's also a pretty battleground with a dynamic and interesting design.
Have fun with it; I know I do.
     AB differs from Warsong Gulch in that the goal is to capture a number of
resource nodes around the field in order to obtain 2000 resources before the
opposing side. In addition to providing resources, each node has a graveyard
with a spirit healer. If a node belongs to your team, your faction will be able
to resurrect there. If a node is contested or untouched or Alliance-controlled,
the spirits of dead players will default to the nearest graveyard or the
original graveyard to the far south (which is very inconvenient).
     To capture a resource node, you must "open" the node's flag by
right-clicking on it, and then channelling the opening action for about five
seconds. If you move or are hit, the opening action will cancel and you'll have
to try again. Once you've "opened" the flag, it will become neutral. After a
few minutes, it will convert to your side if no Alliance tag it. Then the node
will begin producing resources for your team. After a node has been captured,
an Alliance player can contest it by opening it. If they succeed, it will
become neutral again, and every player who dies from then on, and every ghost
waiting in the graveyard, will teleport to another GY. If you're already dead
and you can see the node being tagged, you might want to leave the GY to avoid
being teleported. If your corpse is still nearby you can wait to rez there or
wait for a teammate to recapture the flag, instead of trekking from another GY.
If a Horde player opens the flag before it changes to an Alliance flag, it will
immediately revert to Horde without any sort of delay period. So if a flag is
contested, it's important to run to it, kill, sheep, charm, or run off the Ally
there, and open the flag.
     The five nodes are the Farm, which is the node closest to the Horde base,
the Stables (Stabs), which is closest to the Alliance, the Lumber Mill (LM), on
the western or left side of the battlefield, on top of a hill, the Mine in east
or right side, in a depression, and the Blacksmith (BS), dead in the center and
surrounded by a moat.
     All of these nodes have their own strategic significance. The Farm and
Stables are most notably the easiest for Horde and Alliance to defend. You'll
often find that only a few defenders bother to hang around these points,
commonly one or even none at all. This makes the Stables node a great place to
have sneak attacks at. As a Horde player, owning the Lumber Mill node is
helpful, because it's easiest to sneak around the western side to hit the
Stables flag.
     The Lumber Mill is also the most difficult node to get to. You have to
hike up to the LM on either the north or south side.
     The Mine is easier to reach because you can jump down the depression to
get to the mine and even featherfall directly to the node.
     The Blacksmith is probably the single most important node, however,
because it provides an extremely convenient resurrection point for either side,
from which they can reach any of the other four nodes. As such, it is heavily
contested and should be fought hard for. That said, it is still not essential,
and intelligent Horde leaders should know when to let the Alliance have the BS
and attack, say, the Stables. 
     When you enter the battleground, everyone should call out the node they
want to take. If players don't do this, some of the nodes are likely to be
forgotten or tagged too late. I've seen a number of games in which no one
remembered to hit the farm, and it was captured five minutes after the Alliance
captured their stables. Listen to what nodes others choose and try to have tag
teams for each of the five nodes. There usually isn't enough time to organize
proper number games on who goes where; as long as there's one person going to
each node, your team will at least know what the Alliance is doing.
     One very important thing to remember is to fight at the FLAGS. Bridges,
crossroads, buildings, none of these are important. They're all eye candy. The
flags are what you must defend. As a mage or warlock, AOE them until they're
captured or when they're being opened, and sheep or charm full-health players
that are causing trouble for your teammates. If you come to an enemy flag that
has a swarm of Alliance, Blizzard/Flamestrike from a distance or run right into
them to Frost Nova and Arcane Explosion to soften them up. You WILL die, but if
you pop your Defiler's Talisman you'll at least live until you run out of mana.
As a mage or other mana-dependent class, you can really abuse the resurrection
system in order to keep nodes and kill off enemy players.

*BLITZKRIEG*
     One thing you'll often hear in the Basin is "hold three nodes". The three
most important nodes to the Horde are the Farm, LM, and BS, and these are
typically what players will go for. Although this is a valid and solid
strategy, I recommend this alternative: blitzkrieging the opposing team by
attempting to capture all five flags very quickly. Capturing four nodes results
in a drastic increase in productivity, and capturing five will win the game
nearly instantly (in about 30 seconds, perhaps?) As a well-structured Horde
team, have one player hit the farm and remain there, three go to the mill,
three go to the mines, four or five to the blacksmith, and the rest to the
Stables, from the western side. You can shuffle these numbers as much as you
want depending on the other side's movements. Your goal here is to box in the
Alliance and force them all into the stables. After you've beaten down
contention at the LM and Mine, take the BS and quickly push all your troops to
the stables. Leave 1, perhaps 2, players at each node, but have the main thrust
of your raid in the western stables to take their last flag. The resurrecting
Alliance players will pour out of the north, some going east, some west, and
some heading for the flag. Pester anyone who tries to recapture the stables
flag, and attempt to kill or sheep anyone who tries to get past to the south.
You should be able to win the battle within ten minutes.
     This strategy has its downsides. Sometimes Allies will get past you into
the rest of the map. Although your guards will be able to warn of the
approaching raiders, one or two horde won't always be enough to defend.
     Also, the push to the stables, boxing the Alliance in, sometimes devolves
into graveyard camping as the Horde closes in on the source. My rule is to keep
near the flag, and not to kill players until they make a break either east or
west. It could be argued that aggressively holding the stables is already GY
camping. Use your own discretion here. Is the Alliance on your server OK with
five capping, or does your server's Geneva Convention have rules against it?
     In any case, this strategy could win you a lot of games nearly before they
begin. Even in a tough battle, it's better to be dynamic and have a goal in
mind than to just decide to hold three. From a purely mechanical perspective,
pestering nodes cuts off their flow of resources temporarily. Attacking the
Alliance in unexpected places also allows you to manipulate and harry them;
psychological warfare is a powerful tool.