TUF Gets Tough With Dlords in Elgea, Reigniting War

Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 7.27.01 PMJust as the war between Dlords and TUF-Tuna appeared to be petering out, a new siege has begun, once more reigniting the action. News of the new siege being led by elfs bane, TUF leader Agalloch’s alt, as well as Nikodemos, flashed across GC earlier:

[12:00]<System> ** News Flash: Gladys AxeWright’s [Dlord] large city of Forest of Jean is now under siege by Elfs Bane’s [TUF] sprawling city of..Thunderdome

Later, details of the siege operation were posted in the siege section of the Herald:

Gladys AxeWright [Dlord] Forest of Jean [233|215] in Middle Kingdom Nikodemos [TUF] Fri 22 Apr 10:29
Gladys AxeWright [Dlord] Forest of Jean [231|216] in Middle Kingdom Elfs Bane [TUF] Fri 22 Apr 12:00

TUF has positioned their sieges on a small hill and forest, which will prove daunting considering Dlords’ close proximity to the city as well as their stalwart ranks. At the time of this article’s writing, units that looked to be cavalry speed were seen streaming toward the siege on the small hill.

Lull in Dlords/TUF-Tuna War After TUF Dumps Bikey John To Avoid Quadruple Raze

Screen Shot 2015-08-15 at 11.31.17 AM

There has been little action in the Dlords/TUF-Tuna war in the wake of three sieges by the Dlords on a recently dropped TUF member in Elgea revealing that, despite attempts to control the narrative in GC, TUF likely dropped their alliance mate to avoid having to defend a hopeless Elgean TUF member and suffer falling behind in the war.

Well-timed Dlords sieges against Bikey John flashed across the screen in GC last week in triplicate, followed by a posting of them in the Herald’s siege section (the fourth siege arrived later). TUF co-leader viperone was quick to get out in front of the issue concerning the siege, claiming in GC that Dlords’ targeting of Bikey John amounted to targeting inactives:

[08:51]<viperone> clarifying ‘bikey john’ is not a permasat…rather a semi active player who was not aware DLords had declared war on TUF
[08:51]<viperone> so it looks like DLords is doing exactly what they accused TUF of doing and attacking non active players…..how ironic
[08:53]<viperone> skips merrily over to his neon pink siege blocks….sits down
[08:53]<Chris G> stirring the pot are we viper?
[08:54]<viperone> no clarifying remarks made earlier
[08:54]<viperone> just the truth chris

However, despite viperone’s claim that Bikey John is a “semi active player,” his growth chart indicates steady builds, recent attack and diplo activity, and even a possible exodus over the past 30 days:

Screen Shot 2016-04-14 at 10.48.35 am

 

An independent Illyriad Times investigation in fact reveals that that the timing of Bikey John’s departure from TUF coincides with a triple-launch of Dlords siege on him in Elgea. Bikey’s profile indicates that he left the alliance on Aprill 11th:

Player Alliance From To
Bikey John The Unfettered [TUF] 30 Oct 2015 11:45 11 Apr 2016 19:37

After Dlords leader Belegar Ironhammer confirmed to the Times that the siege armies traveled at the maximum dwarf siege velocity of 7.5, the Times used the GC and Herald siege information together with Digioso’s Distance and Travel Speed Calculator to confirm that Bikey John either left the alliance or was booted by TUF leadership after sieges were en route.

Siege 1:

[08:00]<System> ** News Flash: Bikey John’s small city of Blacktop City is now under siege by Belegar Ironhammer’s [Dlord] huge city of Karak Hirn
Bikey John Blacktop City [-200|-193] in Tor Carrock Belegar Ironhammer [Dlord] Thu 14 Apr 08:00
According to DillyTools:
Distance between 429/-326 and -201/-193 is 643.886 squares.
It would take this unit 3 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes and 5 seconds to travel this distance.

Siege 2:

[08:00]<System> ** News Flash: Bikey John’s city of Campfire City is now under siege by Jack Aubrey’s [Dlord] huge city of Ashgrove
Bikey John Campfire City [-225|-214] in Tor Carrock Jack Aubrey [Dlord] Thu 14 Apr 08:00
According to DillyTools:
Distance between 407/-356 and -224/-214 is 646.780 squares.
It would take this unit 3 days, 14 hours, 14 minutes and 14 seconds to travel this distance.

Siege 3:

[08:01]<System> ** News Flash: Bikey John’s thriving town of Pikey Park is now under siege by Curiam Nicht’s [Dlord] huge city of 4. Schnauzer
Bikey John Pikey Park [-200|-204] in Tor Carrock Curiam Nicht [Dlord] Thu 14 Apr 08:01
According to DillyTools:
Distance between 515/-361 and -200/-203 is 732.249 squares.
It would take this unit 4 days, 1 hours, 37 minutes and 59 seconds to travel this distance.
A fourth siege opened up on Bikey John later, after this initial grouping:
Bikey John Queer Town [-208|-290] in Tor Carrock Belegar Ironhammer [Dlord] Thu 14 Apr 12:22
Screen Shot 2015-07-19 at 10.05.04 AM
The cities appear to have been subsequently razed, and Belegar confirmed that TUF did not contest the razes.
For the purposes of scoring sieges on the Illyriad Times‘ War Score Card, the editorial staff’s policies do not require a player to be active — only that the player be in the alliance at the time a siege touches down. The rules also protect against alliances from dropping players from their ranks to avoid being counted as a raze, and then adding them back:
” . . . if an alliance drops a player out of the alliance before a siege touches down, it will not count on the War Score Card unless the alliance re-instates that player after the siege. If the player is reinstated at any point during the war, any sieges conducted against his or her cities will be retroactively scored for the sieging alliance. However, if the player is never brought back in, then we deem it as a victory for the sieging alliance in that their siege effectively chased out an enemy combatant, weakening the alliance.”

The razes will not count on the war’s War Score Card. However, if Bikey John is reinstated back into TUF or Tuna during the war, all three razes will be retroactively scored in Dlords’ favor. However, based on Belegar’s comments to the Times, that is unlikely. “Bikey John never reached out to surrender until after the sieges landed and then by way of a 3rd party,” noted Ironhammer. “We never reached an agreement and decided to leave him with 3 cities as was customary in the old days of Illyriad. The account has since moved to a training alliance. I consider it to be a poorly-managed permasat (his largest city lost 6k pop in an apparent food shortage a week or so before we attacked) so we are no longer concerned about it.”

The uncontested sieges on Bikey John have been the only action in the war since a battle on April 9th when the Dlords executed a decisive siege break against TUF leader Agalloch, claiming that he lost a million troops in the melee.

Dlords Break TUF Siege in 8 Hours, Claim That “Aga Has Lost About 1 Million Troops”

The Dlords have executed a decisive siege break in Elgea in a short number of hours, claiming that the operation cost TUF leader Agalloch close to 1 million in troop losses. Both Dlords and TUF officials provided details on the siege, which was on Dlords’ Bargnothaltros’ city of Orc Prison Probationer, as well as the siege break.

TUF officials note that a blockade arrived at 07 Apr 2016 22:24 in the large forest southeast of the city, which was broken by Bargnothaltros just a few hours later. The siege on Orc Prison Probationer was broken by Dlords’ Skybreaker on 08 Apr 2016 12:44, and the entire operation was purportedly hit hard by “intense stalwart resistance from the start.”

Dlords reports more or less corroborated the TUF report, with Dlord leader Belegar Ironhammer noting that “the siege lasted for 8 hours. The blockade lasted 4 hours.”

Subject: FW: Victorious battle against Agalloch’s forces at [466|-426] in Turalia by Skybreaker’s forces from Astrapor
Received: 08 Apr 2016 12:44
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.

Bowmen hate it – and even cavalry units have difficulty moving purposefully to attack forested terrain. This is, however, the natural provenance of the footsoldier who excels.

Suffering the same problems as attackers, defending cavalry and ranged units intensely dislike fighting in forested lands. Like the attackers, however, the extra cover and confined spaces is favourite amongst defending swordsmen.

Attackers: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors:
Commander: Crazy Tom Stalwarts Stalwart 1 Damaged for –, — health remains.
Troops: Stalwarts Stalwarts
Commander: Julian Delphiki Stalwarts Stalwart 1 Damaged for –, — health remains.
Troops: Stalwarts Stalwarts
Commander: Ranalos Stalwarts Stalwart 1 Damaged for –, — health remains.
Troops: Stalwarts Stalwarts
Commander: Skybreaker Stalwarts Stalwart 1 Damaged for –, — health remains.
Troops: Stalwarts Stalwarts
Commander: Surly Stalwarts Stalwart 1 Damaged for –, — health remains.
Troops: Stalwarts Stalwarts

 

Defenders: Unit: Quantity: Casualties: Survivors:
Commander: Fang Fangs Fang 1 Damaged for 495, 0 health remains.
Troops: Fangs Fangs 5966 5966 0
Commander: Wolfrider 3 Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 503, 0 health remains.
Troops: Trebuchets Trebuchets 10 10 0
Troops: Tortoises Tortoises 4 4 0
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 8445 8445 0
Troops: Clan Guardsmen Clan Guardsmen 429 429 0
Commander: Fist Fists Fist 1 Damaged for 214, 0 health remains.
Troops: Fangs Fangs 1293 1293 0
Troops: Fists Fists 232 232 0
Commander: Wolfbrother Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 499, 0 health remains.
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 3970 3970 0
Commander: Wolfrider 2 Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 503, 0 health remains.
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 2182 2182 0
Commander: Pup Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 503, 0 health remains.
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 14558 14558 0
Commander: Dog Master S Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 224, 0 health remains.
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 9742 9742 0
Commander: Long Tooth Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 239, 0 health remains.
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 5602 5602 0
Commander: Who’s your Daddy? Death Packs Death Pack 1 Damaged for 484, 0 health remains.
Troops: Fangs Fangs 5676 5676 0
Commander: Skylos Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 174, 0 health remains.
Troops: Kobold Cohorts Kobold Cohorts 9437 9437 0
Commander: W Freaky Wolfriders Wolfrider 1 Damaged for 134, 0 health remains.

The disagreement over the battle appears to be in Dlords’ claim that, “In the last 12 days Aga has lost about 1 million troops.” Later in GC, Dlords’ Smoking GNU and TUF’s Agalloch and recent city destroyer ajqtrz sparred over the issue:

[13:37]<Smoking GNU> we just killed about a mill troops this morning from someone trying to siege a city in our homeland
[13:39]<Agalloch> a mil?
[13:39]<Agalloch> you overestimate
[13:39]<Agalloch> i dint send 50% of my forces i send less
[13:39]<Agalloch> so put on your seat belt this ride just started
[13:39]<ajqtrz> well, I’d be rather afraid of anybody who had a million troops and could just send them willy-nilly at your homeland….one has to wonder what else they have…and be very, very afraid….LOL
[13:40]<ajqtrz> Maybe you should quit now?
[13:40]<Smoking GNU> lol
[13:40]<Smoking GNU> hahahaha
[13:40]<Cormoran> that sounds like you’re trying to bully him out of the game, aj
[13:40]<Agalloch> lol
[13:40]<Smoking GNU> my cities in the homeland are always open to any siege, gentlemen
[13:40]<Agalloch> we dont bully, we bury em instead
[13:40]<Lord_Johnny> hey GNU
[13:40]<ajqtrz> Observations, Cormoran, just an observation.

For Dlords, this was a key siege break, revealing the alliance’s ability to fiercely defend cities in its tightly-clustered homeland. The decisive siege break may reveal how difficult it may prove to be for TUF to raze cities aside from the opportunistic few that exist in the Broken Lands.

TUF’s ajqtrz2 Destroys Dlord Player’s City After Protracted Siege

images
WARLORD: ajqtrz gets his hands bloody in first raze against another person in Illyriad

ajqtrz2 has picked up his first raze against another person in Illyriad.  TUF officials have confirmed that Jhag’s city of Clan Dollogh Outpost was razed today at 12:51 by ajqtrz2. The siege began in the early morning, server time, of April 4th. The Times reported on three siege camps — two of which were commanded by ajqtrz — however, eyewitnesses reported that originally a fourth siege camp had been launched as well jy AJ but was destroyed within an our of landing.

In spite of having three active siege camps firing, the siege on Jhag languished for days beyond what a normal multi-siege operation would normally last. TUF officials note that the city was actively prestige built throughout the siege and many vans were captured by TUF blockades, ostensibly filled with basic resources.

TUF also appeared to struggle with keeping all of its first round of blockades up and running, as long range stalwart hits were were said to have been used on the blockades to clear them.

In a comment on the Times in a previous article, TUF co-leader viperone suggested that early indicators were that Jhag was an inactive account that appeared to come alive and prestige build once the siege arrived. “[viperone] ponders, to quote Belegar, how an ‘inactive’ account holds out and prestige builds. Certainly not a ‘sat account’ as sitters can’t spend prestige.” viperone went on to suggest that someone in Dlords may have been multi-accounting, which would be in violation of Illyriad ToS. “‘Shared password’ nahhhh…that would be against Illy Rules….shrugs and skips away merrily down the bunny trail…lalalala.”

Belegar responded saying, “Inactive as he has been mostly flat-lined for a month and only returned to increased activity at the start of the war. Sitters can’t exo cities otherwise it would have been done ages ago. A multi-accounter would have exo’d the city before the war started.”

The win for TUF is significant, as it keeps the embattled alliance in the lead in terms of razes, despite being the alliance that was declared on.

EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Dlords War Prep Messages Reveal Motivations, Concerns

A player in the Dlords’ organization has leaked a series of alliance-wide Dlord IGMs from alliance leader Belegar Ironhammer, revealing some of the inner machinations of the current Dlords/TUF-Tuna war. An exclusive report by the Times on March 26th featured a leaked transcript from TUF AC, revealing the alliance’s plans to eventually attack Dlords — a claim that TUF leader Agalloch and other TUF players have denied, suggesting the conversations were in jest. At the time of the leak, Belegar  stated that “We took their words seriously. Add this information with their attacks on our sieges in BL made a TUF war seem all the more likely. Thus, we resolved to fight TUF at a battlefield of our choosing before they could attack our people.”

These newly-acquired transcripts reveal Ironhammer’s mustering of troops and preparations for the engagement with TUF-Tuna, as well as his concerns over some of his alliance’s ill-positioned cities which he desired to see moved — one such being Jhag’s city of Clan Dollogh Outpost, which remains under siege after 3+ days.

 

Future Concerns

Sent By: Belegar Ironhammer [Dlord]
Received By:
Date: 21 Feb 2016 06:03
Hail Lords and Ladies,

I hope this letter finds you all doing well.

As many of you have noticed, Illy politics have been a swirling mess as of late. The Broken Lands are engulfed in war and rumors of wars. GC has been relatively rough and aggressive with accusations being hurled about like small bombs.

We have endeavored to plot a course that would lead to the greatest benefit of Dlords.

However, we have many enemies and the storm clouds of war gather upon the horizon. Nothing is certain save for the courage of dwarven hearts and the might of our steel. But the possibility for armed conflict now exists.

Make your troops. Stockpile your war resources. Switch your sov to troop production. Do not delve too deeply into your gold reserves, but be prepared to.

All players outside the homeland are advised to move their cities into the homeland for better defense. Contact Belegar or Skybreaker for city locations. If war breaks out, small players or those not wishing to fight can switch to DiL. Do not switch right now however.

I cannot give more specifics at this time. But we must be ready for the enemies knocking at our door.

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me.

Do not mention any information contained herein outside of the Alliance Chat.

Be courageous. We are Dwarves and we know no fear.

Baruk Khazâd!

Belegar Ironhammer
Thane of the Realm

 

 

 

Current Political Situation

Sent By: Belegar Ironhammer [Dlord]
Received By:
Date: 18 Mar 2016 21:00
Hail Lords and Ladies,

War is a certainty now and will probably start within a few days. Our enemies cannot be named at this time, but they are planning to attack us even now. To that end, we aim to strike first and end this threat.

That being said, if you have not already provided your troop numbers to me please do so as soon as possible so plans can be made accordingly.

Also, I highly recommend that cities outside the homeland be moved to the homeland or in the alternative be prepared to switch to our training alliance, Dwarven-in-Law, who will not be targeted in the event of a war.

Du Bekar!

Belegar Ironhammer
Thane of the Realm

TUF’ING IT OUT: Jhag Holding Out As ajqtrz2’s Siege Languishes

TUF’s long-range siege on Dlords’ Jhag in the far-flung reaches of Coanhara is languishing, with only one of the the three-reported siege camps remaining active. The Herald’s siege section reports that only ajqtrz’s alt’s siege camp remains:

Jhag [Dlord] Clan Dollogh Outpost [-653|-2377] in Coanhara ajqtrz2 [TUF] Sun 03 Apr 21:28

Considering that the siege operation against Jhag included at least three siege camps and a contingent of blockades, and that the city is located in a nearly indefensible region for the Dlords’, the fact that the siege has gone on this long –more than three-and-a-half days — is surprising. With a current population of 3282, Clan Dollogh Outpost must be nearing raze population, but since the current state of AJ’s siege camp is unknown, the siege might be at this point disabled.

If the razing of Clan Dollogh Outpost is successful, it would be ajqtrz’s second successful siege operation in meta-war. His first completed siege was against himself in the HIGH/B|B war, AJ picked up the raze on his city of Doralia 5 by using his alt on August 9, 2015.

READ NEXT: EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Dlords War Prep Messages Reveal Motivations, Concerns

Ron Fay Initiates New Siege Against Unbow in Newlands

Screen Shot 2015-07-21 at 3.32.37 PMRon Fay is hosting his first siege since joining the ranks of SIN, opening up a new operation in southern Newlands against Unbow using his Odoacer alt account. The Herald reported the landing of the siege this morning:

Vitruvius [Unbow] Shiskabobo [94|-2263] in Newlands Odoacer [SIN] Tue 05 Apr 05:00

The city of Shiskabobo is situated on relatively defensible terrain, with only one small hill aside a nearby lake. SIN has set up its siege on this hill, accompanied by several blockades.

Previous reports have indicated that Unbow was willing to exodus siege targets away from oncoming SIN sieges if they had adjacent small hills, but Unbow appears to be willing to contest this siege. At the time of this writing, the Times has already seen the siege camp possibly being hit by one army, with another possible army inbound — the trajectory suggests cav breaking launches from Unbow and not reinforcements by SIN.

SHOCK: TUF’s ajqtrz Leading Aggressive Siege on Dlords’ Jhag in Coanhara

Screen Shot 2015-08-15 at 11.31.17 AMIllyriad pundit and philosopher ajqtrz is the unlikely siege leader of an aggressive, triple-teaming siege one of Dlords’ few cities in the Broken Lands. The Herald’s siege section is reporting the three poorly-timed sieges, all of which have landed at haphazard times:

Jhag [Dlord] Clan Dollogh Outpost [-652|-2375] in Coanhara ajqtrz [TUF] Sat 02 Apr 05:04
Jhag [Dlord] Clan Dollogh Outpost [-653|-2377] in Coanhara ajqtrz2 [TUF] Sun 03 Apr 21:28
Jhag [Dlord] Clan Dollogh Outpost [-654|-2375] in Coanhara Ppjotr [TUF] Mon 04 Apr 07:47

As the first and second siege army on the scene, both ajqtrz and his alt ajqtrz2 are in line to storm the city first and second, assuming the city falls to raze population. In addition, TUF has established three blockades. All camps in the operation take advantage of mountainous terrain.

It is likely to come as a surprise to many on the server that ajqtrz, a player who has railed against the use of aggressive game mechanics to damage or destroy other players’ cities without their prior consent, would not only have joined the ranks of one of the bloodiest, most aggressive BL alliances in TUF, but also would partake in a siege operation designed to so quickly and comprehensively destroy a city that is completely isolated from its alliance hub and unable to adequately defend itself. ajqtrz has argued that when a city or army is attacked in Illyriad, that attack is a personal one against the player who controls that army or city, since it a “real person” who plays that account, and not simply an “avatar.” He has also argued that war activities should only be engaged in when both sides consent.

It is unknown at this time if Dlords’ Jhag consented to being triple-sieged or not.

Dlords Demolishes TUF City in Recent Raze; Siege Trains Used

Screen Shot 2015-11-26 at 1.40.16 pmDlords have struck back in its preemptive war with TUF-Tuna, with leader Belegar Ironhammer leading the siege effort. Dlords officials provided proof of the final raze:

Visit? Bring cold Beers ! razed!

Sent By: System
Received By: Belegar Ironhammer [Dlord]
Date: 03 Apr 2016 12:09
Visit? Bring cold Beers !, belonging to Ppjotr which was located at 235|-861 has been razed by Belegar Ironhammer.

The city of Visit? Bring cold Beers ! was originally located in Tallimar.

 

Sources tell the Times that the entire operation was composed of 3 sieges and 4 blockades, and took roughly one day to storm and raze the city. The progression of the siege was accelerated by the use of “siege trains” by Dlord. Siege trains are when players place catapults into direct city attacks. When these armies hit their target cities, assuming the army is not destroyed by defenders, the catapults in the army launch a single volley of catapult strikes at the city, damaging its buildings and reducing it population. A large concentration of such strikes can hasten the fall of the city since it drops the population quickly.

TUF Destroys Third City in Fresh War; “Mercs and Factions Defending Dlord Towns, not Dlords”

Screen Shot 2015-07-19 at 10.05.04 AMTUF has completed its siege on the Dlords city of Mortadoon in the Farshards, picking up its third destroyed Dlords city in a war that the premiere dwarven alliance launched preemptively to halt purported plans for TUF to dominate Dlord silversteel mines. TUF officials confirmed to the Times that the raze was completed on March 31, 2016 at 15:56. Mexican Dwarf picks up the official raze.

TUF officials claimed that there was no Dlords defense of the city, as prognosticated by the Times earlier. However, TUF pointed out that the siege was hit by faction forces. “Interestingly, there were two small faction attacks from The Lost Clans, who are at -95 with all races but at -80 for dwarves.” To date, this is the first time a faction has reportedly hit a live siege in a metawar that clearly favored one race over another. It remains unclear, however, how racial standings may have actually impacted the attack from The Lost Clans, since while Dlords are composed entirely of dwarves, Mexican Dwarf himself is of the same race as well.

The officials also noted that “so far it has been mercs and factions that have been defending Dlord towns, not actually them themselves.”