How the First Line of Defense in Illyriad Warfare Has Become Not Getting Sieged in the First Place

Editor’s Note: Thank you to SHARK and SIN leadership for providing documentation of exoduses in the current war. VIC was also contacted but did not respond to our call.

Illyriad’s war mechanics are a complex, feature-rich component of the game that either directly or indirectly interface with virtually every aspect of the game. In addition to the more obvious uses of troops, terrain, magic, sovereignty, and military orders, military-oriented players and alliances have learned how to use to other aspects of the game, such as trade and city building, to give them an edge on the battlefield.

In this way, two relatively new elements of Illy warfare — Exodusing and “Unsiegeable” city placement — have now become the first line of defense in protecting cities from sieges, giving players and alliances to avoid having to fight troop-draining sieges, or make it impossible to siege them altogether.

Dlords Get First Raze Against Fairy As Devs Close Expoit, Permaban Offending Pixies

The Dlords notched their first successful siege against Fairy while also managing to expose a suspicious series of attacks from Fairy members against a blockade, prompting the game developers to take quick, decisive action that they have indeed identified as an “exploit.” In the early morning of November 2nd, Abre’s city of Nena Màgica was gone, its city plot still flanked by lingering Dlord forces. In spite of the curious string of attacks sent to the Times detailing the use of 25 commanders all from the same city, eyewitness accounts of the siege suggest that Dlords controlled the battlefield, utilizing dwarven infantry in forests surrounding the city for optimal cover.

This is the first raze for Dlords and its first points on the War Score Card for this war, which has now officially gone live.

The victory may have been particularly sweet for Dlords, who explained in their exposé of the odd Fairy attacks that they had been cheated by their adversaries, with Dlords leader Belegar Ironhammer plaining calling the attacks a “game exploit” and further adding,“I am disappointed that Fairy has decided to use such underhanded methods and I hold their leadership responsible.”

It appears that the game developers have in fact taken action.

The Perpetual Dev War

Band OF Devs [DEVS] Diplomacy Page

Illyriad has many pastimes in its vast expanse of countries and continents — anything from killing NPCs to Crafting, from Trading to Betraying, from Witty Banter to Flinging Insults. It appears that something else is going on, and has been for a while. Three out of the five Diplomatic Relationships with the alliance Band of Devs [DEVS] are declarations of war. The other two are also only ‘offered’ not accepted, but that’s not important right now.

Epidemic’s Alliance Permabanned Inc. [LOL] has all but been razed out of the game. However, Top 20 alliance Fairy Road Authority [Roads] and branch of the Crowalition Kaendran Crows [KCrow] both have War status with the Devs Alliance.

These war statuses may just be a badge of honor or prestige for these alliances, as the Devs’ cities all have permanent NEW PLAYER PROTECTION RAINBOWS, so any military action is futile. However, this was not always the case. After a look through the forums of Illyriad, reports were found that a player did in fact once raze Dev Cities. Far back in 2012, Player Brids17 successfully razed GM Cerberus’ only city, and GM ThunderCat’s capital. here is the forum Post: http://forum.illyriad.co.uk/brids-the-dev-killer_topic3066_page1.html

This reporter wonders whether the Devs will set up an account that will allow players to siege and raze, or just play military actions with the Devs, without the New player Protection on their side. This would make for interesting discussion and give many players something to strive for – the title of Dev Killer.

GM Stormcrow’s Stromont, with Rainbow

BIG HITS EXCLUSIVE: GM Stormcrow Weighs In on Han’s Attempt To Use Magic To Repel a Stark Siege

Jon Snow flailed through a thicket of brambles and tumbled out onto the north-south Almenly road in terror. Behind him, the enchanted echoes of the spirits of cursed elven warriors of generations past called out for his blood. The forest around him — one of the most spectacular in the Broken Lands — seemed to blight and decay around him into sweeping darkness. His only chance to escape this wickedness was to flee back to his city of Winterfell. Perhaps there, he thought, behind its massive wall and protected by the city’s mages, would he be free of this curse.

Bloodied from his terror-filled tear through the woods, he limped as quickly as he could until he came to a fork in the road. To the right, the road would continue northward, taking him back to where his siege army had just attempted to storm the gates at Evilbanking7’s city of M3. Meeting only token resistance at first, all had gone wrong once he and his storm force crossed the threshold into the city square, and the spirits of the disquieted elven dead seeped from the city’s dark shadows, enveloping he and his troops in a terrifying, mystical fear. “Never will I look upon that city again,” he whispered to himself. “And perhaps never upon this accursed region of Almenly, for that matter.”

At the fork in the road, a makeshift sign for Winterfell pointed down the western leg of the highway. Up ahead, the rotten, petrified forest seemed to give way to pastels, sun-lit glades, and safety. “That’s the way!” Jon reassured himself. “This is the surely the way out of this nightmare.”

As he took his first step toward the western route, a firm hand grasped his shoulder. “Jon? What the hell are you doing? What the hell are you all doing?”

It was Phoenix, his commander, who looked upon his face in bewilderment. “Do you not know, commander?” he asked, perplexed. “Have you not seen the elven spirits? They are coming for our blood!”

At once, Phoenix recognized that Jon and the others he had seen pouring out of the forest along the north-south were under the effects of a powerful spell. “Pull yourself together, man!” he intoned, slapping Phoenix at full force. “These elven spirits are folly! They are the work of elven magic.”

Jon Snow was incredulous that his eyes could have so profoundly deceived him. “Sir . . . no. You were not there, sir. You did not see what I saw. What we all saw . . . ”

“The spirits of the elves — we all know that they do not linger when they are parted from their bodies in this world,” said Phoenix, taking a softer, more reassuring tone. “The city had no defenses left, Jon. All they had left was their magic. We have to go back.”

Snow began to weep. His commander spoke with earnestness, but the fear in his heart was still palpable. And yet he knew that he’d have to enter M3 again, this time confronting not the defender’s spear, but the greatest fear he had ever beheld in this life. “We have to go back, Jon!” Phoenix insisted, shaking his officer out of his din. “We must assemble who we have left and finish this!”

Snow wiped his eyes and composed himself, nodding to the ground in agreement though every fiber of his being conflicted that sentiment.

“Let’s spread out along the road,” said Phoenix. “We’ll collect all who is left, and rendezvous at the siege site in six hours. And take heart, Jon — this grand victory is still in hand. This victory will staunch your fear.”

Snow and Phoenix mustered all who they could find — they numbered less than 300, including the 4 idle catapults left in the field. But it was enough to take M3 that afternoon — the city fell without bloodshed, as there were no soldiers left to fight. Stark forces scattered the remaining townfolk and razed the city. It was Snow himself who torched the mage tower.

Yet in spite of the victory, the destruction of that city’s mage tower, and Phoenixfire’s promises, that fear never left Jon Snow, and 30 years later, as an old man resting in front of his hearth on an early winter night, he still thought he could feel the cold, dead fingers of the elven spirits upon his shoulders.