SIN Breaks 6th Unbow Siege at 136|-2148

[136|-2148] — remember those coordinates. It is home to a small abandoned campsite on plains, as well as the most siege-broken square in Newlands History. SIN officials shared details of what marks the sixth siege on this spot, with the first attempted siege by SHARK being broken in mid-November 2015.

The final hit came from SIN member DML, who hit the remaining siege stack with a palpable cavalry force:

From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Mishra’s forces at [136|-2148] in Newlands by DML’s forces from D11 ss Ws
Received: 25 Mar 2016 16:27
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.

Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.

Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.

Attackers:	Unit:	Quantity:	Casualties:	Survivors:
Commander: D11-K4	Knight	1	Damaged for 30, 170 health remains.
Troops:	Knights	30000	9219

The spot is tantalizing for Unbow, since it affords them an opportunity to siege an otherwise “unsiegeable” SIN position in the Newlands. However, that single siege square is fraught with difficulties, as it is on plains, and the lack of any other free square makes it impossible to blockade the city.

The following is a list of the previous five siege attempts on the city:

• Worker’s siege of Stukahh’s city of Foot to the Throat on November 11, 2015.
• Worker’s siege of Stukahh’s city of 7. Foot To The Throat on November 29, 2015.
• lodi’s siege of Stukahh’s city of 7. Foot To The Throat on December 8, 2015.
• Spektor’s siege of Goldy1’s city of 4 Deerfield on February 24, 2016.
• Mordred’s Siege of Goldy1’s city of 4 Deerfield on February 27, 2016.

Halcyon’s failed siege joins the ranks of these five. This is now the 24th siege that SIN has broken. The last attempted siege by Unbow/SHARK/VIC was on this very site nearly a month ago, which was also broken.

SIN Takes Down 3 of 4 Unbow/SHARK/VIC Cities in Recent Op; New Unbow, SIN Ops Land

SIN’s extended incursion into northern Newlands has netted them three more successful sieges, with the fourth bring broken by Unbow.

The operation, which begun with the touchdown of four sieges simultaneously across the Newlands peninsula, appeared to begin with a quick break of the siege on Elanderrich’s city of 01. Deloviana. Senior Illyriad Times pundit Zebraphile commented on the 24th, “The siege on 01. Deloviana has been broken. Now renamed Limp Sword’s Epic Fail,'” with Elanderrich renaming his city to troll Silent Sword, who initiated that siege. However, in spite of this loss, Silent Sword went to raze his two other sieges, along with a capture by Jejune. In the case of Silent Sword’s razes, while no activity was seen or reported around the Worker siege, there appeared to be fierce fighting at Valdoras’ city of Yavin 4.

SIN officials provided confirmations of the operations:

From: System
Subject: FW: Yavin 4 razed!
Received: 23 Mar 2016 22:26
Original Message:
Yavin 4, belonging to Valdoras which was located at 236|-2012 has been razed by Silent Sword.

From: System
Subject: FW: Durcton razed!
Received: 24 Mar 2016 04:24
Original Message:
Durcton, belonging to Worker which was located at 280|-2058 has been razed by Silent Sword.

From: System
Subject: FW: Elderburg captured!
Received: 24 Mar 2016 08:35
Original Message:
Elderburg, belonging to Coltman which was located at 101|-2206 has been captured by Jejune.

In addition, Zebraphile also called attention to a new round of sieges launched by Unbow and SIN:

“There are new sieges.

Wright [VIC] Garden Springs [264|-2246] in Newlands Snellman [SIN] Thu 24 Mar 05:14

Garden Springs has a population of only 319.

Goldy1 [SIN] 4 Deerfield [136|-2148] in Newlands Halcyon [Unbow] Thu 24 Mar 10:04

This town has been under siege before. One interesting thing to note is that Unbow have claimed sovereignty on a pair of squares close by which, if occupied by towns would form an unsiegeable pair. I presume the claiming of sovereignty allows exodus to occur within 10 squares of 4 Deerfield.

There are at least two other such pairs of unoccupied squares surrounded by impassable terrain. If they were to be occupied it would seem to represent a determination by both sides in the conflict to dig in for the long haul.”

The Times concurs with Zebraphile on the assessment, as it appears that an Unbow effort is underway to place cities in close-by unsiegeable squares in order to engage 4 Deerfield. The Herald is reporting details of both sieges:

Goldy1 [SIN]

4 Deerfield

[136|-2148] in Newlands

Halcyon [Unbow]

Thu 24 Mar 10:04

Wright [VIC]

Garden Springs

[264|-2246] in Newlands

Snellman [SIN]

Thu 24 Mar 05:14

Indeed, the city of 4 Deerfield — or more precisely, the land that that city sits on — is by the far the most sieged plot of land in NW2. Prior to Goldy1 occupying it, the land was occupied by Stukahh, who was repeatedly sieged there. The siege operation is incredibly tricky, since there is only one square to siege from, which is on plains. This affords immense bonuses for attacking cavalry. In addition, no simultaneous blockade can be put on the city, meaning that Goldy1 can build through the siege and buy time for additional cavalry hits. Unbow/SHARK/VIC have targeted this land with almost the same steadfastness as their engagement of He-Man in Kul-Tar, which led to an immense loss of troops on both sides of the early war.

SIN Breaks Tricky Siege in Newlands on Goldy’s 4 Deerfield

SIN has broken the second consecutive siege on Goldy’s city of 4 Deerfield in the Newlands — a city with only one adjacent siegable square, which happens to be plains. SIN officials provided a copy of the battle report clearing the siege, which was sent by SIN leader Chandrian:

From: System
Subject: FW: Victorious battle against BayNights’s forces at [136|-2148] in Newlands by Chandrian’s forces from 06
Received: 27 Feb 2016 11:46
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.

Cavalry comes into its own when able to strike hostile forces at will, and from unexpected directions – and nowhere is this more feasible than on open plains. Lightly armoured spear units, however, prefer terrain where there’s some cover available.

Fighting defensively on open plains, cavalry draws strength from the ability to form and reform their lines of engagement depending on the direction of battle, and it is here where cavalry excels.

Attackers:	Unit:	Quantity:	Casualties:	Survivors:
Commander: t2 cav 1	Death Pack	1	Damaged for 88, 12 health remains.
Troops:	Death Packs

 

Defenders:	Unit:	Quantity:	Casualties:	Survivors:
Troops:	Pikemen			0
Commander: Memento Mori	Knight	1	Damaged for 600, 0 health remains.
Commander: lrg1	Knight	1	Damaged for 200, 0 health remains.
Troops:	Knights			0
Commander: Commander 4	Knight	1	Damaged for 250, 0 health remains.
Troops:	Knights			0
Troops:	Battering rams			0
Troops:	Catapults			0

While the reinforcements were on the small side for the side, they did include troops from more than one city, and the siege force itself included a full complement of catapults and rams. Later, a neutral observer sent a screen shot of the siege break:

It is unknown when Goldy moved his city into this position, replacing a Stukahh city that had also been sieged but repelled. However,t he city has been under intense pressure and involved in recent operations for SIN as well: while the Times cannot independently confirm, the most recent recalled siege by Goldy1’son Stephen Stormcrow’s city of Storm Front on February 25, 2016 was purportedly launched from this city, according to sources who had seen the GC news flash.

SHARK’s Mordred Attempts Fresh Siege on SIN “Unsiegeable” in Newlands

SIN’s Goldy1 is once again playing host to an opposition siege in his precariously placed city in Newlands. Last night, server time, .Mordred. from SHARK landed a new siege on the sole passable square next to the Newlands city of 4 Deerfield — an abandoned campsite on plains. As of this morning, the Herald is still showing the siege to be active:

Goldy1 [SIN]

4 Deerfield

[136|-2148] in Newlands

.Mordred. [SHARK]

Fri 26 Feb 21:18

This is at least the third siege battle fought at this campsite — Unbow recently attempted a siege there, and SHARK previously attempted sieges on Stukahh’s city, which had been in the same position, but must have switched with Goldy at some point during the war.

Cities such as Goldy’s are often referred to as “unsiegeables,” in that they are impossible — or at the very least extremely difficult — to siege. Most unsiegeable cities are twin or binary cities where alliance mates occupy dual squares in a mountain pass or valley, making sieging literally impossible. In the case of 4 Deerfield, the only available square is a treacherous, exposed plains tile, meaning that only a single camp can be used without a blockade, and it is exposed to withering cavalry attacks that benefit from their substantial terrain bonus on plains.

Unbow Appears to Recall Siege on SIN Newlands City

An Unbow siege launched on one of SIN’s few cities in the center of the Newlands penninsula appears to have been recalled. The Times observed this morning, server time, that the occupying force on the sole passable square next to Goldy1’s city of 4 Deerfield was no longer designated a siege camp. The Herald’s siege section confirmed that siege engines were no longer firing from that position.

This is the second failed attempt at sieging a city in that position, after SHARK had previously attempted a siege on a Stukahh city that was placed there early in the war. The precarious placement of that city — with only one plains square adjacent to its walls — makes it quite difficult to complete a successful siege campaign, as the attacking army cannot establish a blockade and must defend a single-square siege on plains.

On the other hand, the recall may have been an attempt by Unbow to cause a diversion by baiting SIN cavalry to that square.

Unbow Goes After SIN Outpost in Central Newlands

Unbow has set up  siege on one of SIN’s few outpost cities in the heart of Newlands. The siege touched down at 6:00 am server time, and was reported on in the Herald:

Goldy1 [SIN]

4 Deerfield

[136|-2148] in Newlands

Spektor [Unbow]

Tue 23 Feb 06:00

Goldy’s city is similar to other “unsiegeable” spots in Newlands, except for the fact that the one open square next to him is a special square that cannot have a town on it. The plains square makes it susceptible to being hit by cavalry. Adding to this the fact that there are no other squares to mount a blockade, Goldy will be free to pres build through the siege.

There are a few nearby SIN cities, however, so far there have been no attacks against the siege camp.

The spot where 4 Deerfield is positioned is the same spot that Stukahh once had a city in. Stukahh’s city of 7. Foot To The Throat was previously sieged by Worker and broken by SIN on November 29, 2015.