Dlords on a Roll; Breaks 2 More TUF Sieges

“Enemy troops were horribly timed and lacked any cohesion at all — a hallmark of TUF military efforts.” – Dlord Leader Belegar Ironhammer

More outcomes in the recent round of heavy sieging and fighting between Dlords and TUF are being reported to the Times, with Dlords once again chalking up more wins — this time in the defensive column.

Dlord officials confirmed the successful TUF siege break reported earlier on Gori’s city of Helm’s Deep, with the Dlords noting that the siege included 57 catapults and “tens of thousands of troops to begin with.” Xaylia picked up the final siege break, featuring ajqtrz’s forces in the combat report:

TUF-Dwarf Smackdown! Sieges A’Plenty Light Up Server

Just on the heels of a new siege staged by TUF’s Karl Aegis on Dlords’ Gori, the server erupted in a flurry of activity between the two enemy alliances, with new sieges, exoduses, and siege breaks highlighting the day thus far.

Aegis’ siege was preceded by a double-team siege by Dlords on viperone in Lan Larosh:

viperone [TUF]	Hiding the Stepladders	[-655|-419] in Lan Larosh	Jack Aubrey [Dlord]	Mon 25 Apr 08:59
viperone [TUF]	Hiding the Stepladders	[-654|-420] in Lan Larosh	Belegar Ironhammer [Dlord]	Mon 25 Apr 09:00

While Lan Larosh is known for the dense forests in its interior, the periphery of the region is dominated by plains. The Dlords’ sieges are set up on plains, as are their blockades, however, TUF’s defenses are thinner in Elgea, which may make it difficult for them to effectively stretch cavalry to the siege camps in time.

TUF’s Karl Aegis Targets Dlords’ Gori in Azura

TUF is continuing to take the fight to Dlords in Elgea, despite the dwarven alliance’s robust footprint there. The most recent siege involves TUF’s Karl Aegis laying down a siege on Dlords’ Gori in Azura. News of the siege flashed across GC earlier:

[12:25]<System> ** News Flash: Gori’s [Dlord] large town of 4. Helms Deep is now under siege by Karl Aegis’ [TUF] burgeoning city of Harmony’s Perch

Followed by an official posting in the siege section of the Herald:

Gori [Dlord]

4. Helms Deep

[-582|-794] in Azura

Karl Aegis [TUF]

Mon 25 Apr 12:25

The siege may be a difficult one for Aegis, as the siege and blockade are both on plains sieges, which are usually susceptible to cavalry strikes. In the case of the Dlords, however, where cavalry is not the race’s strong suit, the choice of a plains siege may prove to be more viable.

Dlords City of Chocolates Melts Under Withering TUF Siege

TUF won a key early siege early Monday morning, server time, with Karl Aegis razing the Dlords city of Chocolates in what is being described as a completely uncontested siege. The siege’s storm force is all that remains of the city, which once stood on a large hill. The building to the east of the city has now been vacated, suggesting that the siege may have been waged entirely by Karl and unsupported by other TUF forces.

With the Dlords capitulating this siege, the hallowed dwarven alliance has now fallen behind TUF-Tuna in the War Score Card rankings, after declaring war preemptively in response to a leaked TUF AC transcript showing plans to attack Dlords in the future.

The combination of the city of Chocolates being incredibly isolated from the Dlords’ cluster, as well as the poor city placement likely led to the alliance’s decision to capitulate the siege.

Red box indicates site of the siege — green cluster represents Dlords’ stronghold in Elgea.

For TUF, the siege operation was an opportunity to take the early lead in a war that otherwise caught them off guard.

In response, Dlords will need to engage TUF in the few remaining areas in Elgea where it can. TUF still has a large number very isolated cities in Elgea, and with the alliance slowly building a cluster in the southern reaches of the Broken Lands, these cities will be largely indefensible if the Dlords can manage to land siege camps on them quickly.

Map of Elgea. Dlords in green, TUF in red.

Conversely, Dlords only has two cities in all of the Broken Lands.

[UPDATED] TUF’s Karl Aegis Captures One, Initiates New Siege on Dlords in Elgea; TUF Claims Dwarves Hired Mercs For Defense

The TUF/Dlords war is now in full force, with TUF initiating a new siege in Elgea after capturing the city of Unicorns yesterday. The Herald is reporting Karl Aegis’ active siege in their siege section:

Gori [Dlord]	Chocolates	[-23|553] in Kal Tirikan	Karl Aegis [TUF]	Sun 27 Mar 05:02

Gori’s city of Chocolates is in a poor position in that it is bordered by an old abandoned lodge to the city’s east, which affords Karl’s siege force with ample coverage from cavalry strikes. Currently, there is no blockading force on the city, however, there are plenty of terrain options for blockades around the city, including forests and large hills.

Prior to this siege, Karl also managed to capture the city of Unicorns from Dlords’ at 22:30 server time yesterday. TUF officials claim that “there was little Dlord resistance, but Dlords paid the mercenary group Soldiers for Hire [SforH] to attack the siege.”

[Updated March 27, 2016 20:57 ST]

TUF has provided proof that they absorbed at least one hit from SforH on their siege of Unicorns. Hammond is a member of the merc alliance:

Subject: FW: Victorious defense by Karl Aegis’s forces at [-17|545] in Kal Tirikan under attack by Hammond’s forces from Mariselle
Received: 26 Mar 2016 18:36
Original Message:
Two opposing forces clash against each other.

Swordsmen, and especially cavalry, find attacking into very mountainous terrain difficult – although ranged units can excel.

Narrow passes and gulleys hinder any mounted units’ ability to defend adequately. Nimble spear units have no such worries here, and defending bowmen are able to use their height advantage to maximum effect.

Attackers:	Unit:	Quantity:	Casualties:	Survivors:
Commander: Delphina Princess of Range	Longbowman	1	Damaged for 100, 0 health remains.
Troops:	Knights	56	56	0
Troops:	Charioteers	233	233	0

No proof has been provided suggesting that SforH was indeed hired, but this hit implicates the alliance in the war. Lance the Great, leader of SforH, claimed in comments that, “Soldiers for Hire did not sanction a hit against the Siege. They were not paid. SforH has not been hired at this point from either side.”