TUF Defeats YARR, RE Easily; War With SIN Remains

The Unfettered remains the hottest military alliance in the game, with the alliance’s leader and warlord Agalloch continuing to rack up impressive victories in wars against Broken Lands aggressors. TUF’s most recent accomplishment: defeating both YARR and RE in their recent wars. Peace between TUF and RE was recently announced in GC:

[06:49]<System> ** News flash: War ends and peace declared between Roman Empire [RE] and The Unfettered [TUF]

While the terms of peace have yet to be disclosed, TUF was the clear winner in this war. TUF razed five RE cities and broke the sieges of two RE sieges. Roman Empire never managed to raze even one TUF city.

To be fair, RE was completely outmatched against TUF, which sits on the first page of alliance rankings, with 28 members and 3,825 squares of land claimed. Roman Empire has only three more alliance members, but only claims 1,679 in land.

The same can be said of TUF’s defeat of YARR, which only has 2,002 squares claimed in spite of having 41 members. However, considering that TUF had to fight YARR, RE and SIN simultaneously, the victories are indeed very impressive — especially against two alliances that claim to be military-focused in scope. In spite of YARR’s slight edge in points on the War Score Card, TUF managed to push them out of Pawanallpa and otherwise rebuffed YARR’s war declaration and mission.

Now, all that remains for a TUF victory is to vanquish The Hashashin, who by some accounts have stumbled into its war with TUF after a few SIN members attacked Josh without permission from leadership. SIN finds itself out of position against TUF, and from the early goings of the war, could struggle in dominating, since TUF appears to be every bit SIN’s match in terms of activity from its members.

The pressure is clearly on SIN, who currently find themselves losing to TUF on the War Score Card.

Blaxx Blasted? Unconfirmed Reports Suggest RE Bloodbath in Elgea

The aftermatch of a major assault on RE’s Blaxx Stoneaxe by TUF forces in Elgea suggests that the veteran RE fighter may have lost as many as four cities, further adding to TUF’s string of successes against the BL military alliance.

On July 18, the Times reported on a spate of new sieges against Ms. Stoneaxe, the majority of which were launched on her isolated cities in Elgea, far away from the defensive reach of the RE empire in Westmarch. Blaxx adopted trolling city names such as “Easy isolated target” and “Isolated easy target 2” to highlight the ease of sieging the cities, while the renaming of one city to “Target of unbowed scrub” appeared to be a dig at lead sieger Spektor, who co-led SHARK and Unbow against SIN in NW2.

The Times received no reports from either RE or TUF on the outcomes of these sieges. However, based on a review of the battlefields, the following sieges appear to have been successful:

RE on the Ropes Early as TUF Razes Another City

TUF appears to be focusing the majority of its offensive efforts on Roman Empire, with a new, active siege on an RE target in Elgea that has netted a raze. The Herald reported earlier on the details of the dual siege in its siege section:

parthenon [RE]	Elfend	[211|43] in Middle Kingdom	Xander [TUF]	Sun 10 Jul 17:18
parthenon [RE]	Elfend	[209|44] in Middle Kingdom	AianNick [TUF]	Sun 10 Jul 18:32

The dual siege by Xander and AianNick is well positioned in the Middle Kingdom amid dense forests around the city. The terrain combined with few supporting RE cities suggests that this is yet another opportunistic siege for TUF, who will easily pick up a siege victory in its ongoing war.

The raze, which was purportedly completed by AianNick, marks two successful sieges in a row where TUF will have risked little to achieve victories that, while not necessarily likely to drain RE troops or dramatically affect the outcome of the war, do show that TUF is in control in the early going of the war, putting together successful ops.

TUF Scores Easy Raze in Long White Against RE

TUF has made up for its siege break and recall of its first easy siege attempt in The Long white with a successful raze of vgsrhhheth, whose city of lonesome was left isolated and indefensible in onset of the war.

The Times noted that the city no longer exists, and have given the raze to TUF’s ThorOdin. TUF has not communicated any official notification of the raze to the Times.

For TUF, the raze puts them ahead early in the War Score Card, as they appear set in an opportunistic strategy to find soft targets against RE. For their part, RE will likely look to target TUF cities in the west of the Broken Lands, which are clustered but far enough away from other enclaves to be heavily reinforced.

TUF Completes Elgean Siege on YARR’s Korlat2; RE Shakes Loose of TUF Siege in BL Thanks To SIN

TUF’s most recent round of counter-siege attempts have borne mixed results, with the embattled military alliance racking up a raze on a protracted siege in Elgea while a seemingly easy siege on RE in southern BL was thwarted by a SIN siege break.

The Times noted that Spektor’s siege on Korlat2’s city of Black Coral, which began on July 4th, finally stormed and razed the city. Currently, the city is gone, and only a few remaining reinforcement armies remain. For Spektor, this is his first raze for TUF since joining the alliance to assist in their war.

Black Coral was reduced to a population of zero before being stormed. It is believed that the city had been reinforced with a large spear army that had to be cleared before Spektor could take the city. It is unknown what the size of the storm force was, as neither alliance has provided the Times with any correspondence on the battle.

For TUF, the raze comes 12 days after their last successful siege operation, with Josh razing Urlond Bloodaxe’s city of Khedesh on June 26, 2016.

TUF Sieges RE; Struggles With YARR Korlat2 Siege in Elgea

TUF is doubling down on sieges in its widening war with BL alliances, targeting a Roman Empire city just on the heels of a war declaration on RE and lost siege to SIN. News of the new siege flashed through GC earlier:

[11:31]<System> ** News Flash: Knight of Ancients’ [RE] large town of Vgrumkik is now under siege by kaven’s [TUF] burgeoning city of just stolen

The announcement was followed up with additional information in the siege section of the Herald:

Knight of Ancients [RE]

Vgrumkik

[448|-3299] in Jurgor

kaven [TUF]

Wed 06 Jul 11:31

The city of Vgrumkik is on the very southern edge of the BL map, far removed from the RE land claim in the west. Knight of Ancients’ city is virtually indefensible, and will likely fall without issue to TUF.

Meanwhile, TUF appears to be struggling in its bid to raze Korlat2’s YARR city in Elgea. Ex-SHARK and Unbow co-leader Spektor’s siege on Black Coral began on July 4th and is still bombarding, in spite of the siege being almost 4 days old. The Times witnessed three slow-moving forces enter the city, indicating that Black Coral has been reinforced, likely with spears. The Times also saw what appeared to be a cav clear coming from the south that hit the city.

SIN Opens Up First Siege Op Since War Declaration; TUF Declares on RE

SIN has established its first siege operation against TUF since The Unfettered declared war amid rogue SIN siege ops on Josh. The new siege, which is taking place in Shardlands, is anchored by SIN’s stalwart sieger OleBlacklord:

persona non grata [TUF]	publi city	[495|-2778] in Shardlands	OleBlacklord [SIN]	Tue 05 Jul 02:00
persona non grata [TUF]	publi city	[493|-2778] in Shardlands	OleBlacklord [SIN]	Tue 05 Jul 02:00

Both siege camps are taking advantage of small forests to the southeast and southwest of the city. There is still no blockade on the city.

Blacklord is one of only a few remaining veteran dwarves in SIN who have integral to the alliance’s success. Recently, SIN she-dwarves Tink XX and Janadorf both abandoned their accounts, while Goldy1 defected to TUF.

RE Jumps Into Fray With Block Break on Elgean TUF Siege

TUF has tripled down on its list of current enemy combatants, declaring war on Roman Empire [RE] after veteran RE dwarf Blaxx Stoneaxe reportedly sought to break a blockade on a besieged YARR position in Elgea. The TUF siege, which is curiously being anchored by once SHARK/Unbow co-leader Spektor, is still on the siege board in the Herald:

 

Korlat2 [YARR!]

Black Coral

[711|-275] in Keshalia

Spektor [TUF]

Mon 04 Jul 21:03

According to a report in the Illyriad Telegraph, TUF declared on RE after the blockade break attempt by Blaxx. Frustration boiled on in GC yesterday:

Intense Fighting on Middle Kingdom Tournament Square as RoFC, ACHE, TCol, Aesir, mCrow, Roads and RE Battle for Control

RofC member and RIF fund manager Eowen the Short has filed a report from the front lines of the tournament battle for the Middle Kingdom square, highlighting a 7-way struggle to take control of the tournamanet marker as the tournement enters its endgame period. The following sequence offers a play-byplay account of the battles that have recently swumg possesstion of the square from one alliance to another, with bow and infantry units factoring in heavily in the fighting.

At the start of the day, Princess of Shadows of Aesir held the square with just over 1200 Trueshots.

The first attack arrived before dawn, at 2:00:00 from XueLang of RoFC with an army of Yeomen and Halbardiers . Despite being slightly out numbered Princess of Shadows troops dealt with XueLang’s army decisively and at the end of the battle, two thirds of the occupying army remained.

A dawn charge from Ara of ACHE and a later attack by Olaf the Mean of mCrow were repulsed but at a cost. At 10:46, just 60 trueshots remained. At 10:57, Eowan the Short of RoFC’s legion of Axemen overran the survivors and seized control.

However, their victory was short lived, at 11:18 Parthenon of RE destroyed Eowan The Short’s armies with a strong force of Trueshots. 5697 infantry fell, taking with them just 2021 Trueshots. Olaf the Mean attacked the square a couple of seconds later but his army was no match for Partenon’s host.

Revenge came swiftly for RoFC, at 11:24, just 6 minutes after the square was lost, Nreic of RoFC recaptured the square. He was quickly reinforced by Folliculo and AdamPrime and by 12:00, nearly 4400 troops occupied the square.

However, Princess of Shadows was also thirsty for blood after her earlier force was finished off by RoFC and at 12:01 her myriad attacked the square. RoFC were crushed, killing only 855 of Princess of Shadows’ soldiers.

Princess of Shadows’ army then withstood a number of attacks from both ACHE and RoFC until they finally fell to Helmsman of ACHE at 12:37. He was reinforced first by Woody and The Hijacker and later on by Drama Princess, Islacrusez, Derby and Bogbreath.

At around 13:30, a group of cotters from Nreic arrived at the square. For reasons which are unknown, they were allowed to scavenge from the battlefield by ACHE’s forces. Perhaps ACHE were too busy preparing their next defense or perhaps they felt that enough blood was being spilt. It is not currently know what happened to these cotters.

ACHE’s combined might held out against numerous attacks from RoFC, Aesir and Roads, with victory finally going to Lord Raine of RoFC at 18:51.

This started a series of short occupations with Lordzeal of TCol taking the square at 19:07, followed by Princess of Shadows at 19:19 who was defeated at an unknown time. The next record is of Bogbreath losing the square to AdamPrime at 19:28. Ara then recaptured the square for ACHE at 19:43 before having JoeK4 of Aesir take the square at 20:12.

The final battle of the day was at 20:14 when Woody wrested control back from Aesir, from ACHE. ACHE still hold the square at the time of writing.

Yesterday, there were 43 battles on the Middle Kingdom Tournament Square in total with the death toll at the end of the day being 94860. Defending forces made up the bulk of the casualties with just under two thirds of the deaths being defensive. This could show how elite forces are being used to maximise the effectiveness of troops when attacking a square.

Though the numbers of troops involved in this are relatively low, the number of missions at the square much higher than usual. If the tournament was this active every day then by now, each square would have over 1000 battles.

Nreic’s cotters at 13:30 seem to be a glitch. This glitch could be caused by the recent attacks by Nreic and other RoFC members or by the fact the RoFC has a NAP with ACHE.

Going it Alone: Dsasa Declares All DRIFT Members Noncombatants Except Himself

The conflict between DRIFT and YARR!/RE appears to have reached the beginning of the end, with DRIFT leader Dsasa deeming all of the remaining 5 members of his fledgling alliance noncombatants. This essentially leaves only Dsasa to fight the full ranks of YARR! and RE, who have already razed one of his cities in early fighting.

The early onset of the war, which was marked by Dsasa’s founding of DRIFT and subsequent war declarations, showed promise of blossoming into a true Broken Lands war, assuming that he would have been able to garner support for his cause and flush his ranks with war-ready accounts. Other murmurings mused that perhaps rising BL warlord Agalloch might lend support to DRIFT’s efforts either with TUF or Tuna, all in an effort to use this war as a proxy for challenging YARR!’s accelerated rise as a powerbroker in the Broken Lands.

None of this has come to pass, however, with the DRIFT/YARR!-RE conflict quickly playing itself into a predictable endgame.

The anti-climatic rise and fall of DRIFT is yet another example of the server’s failed use of temporary, place-holder alliances to conduct proxy wars in place of using the alliance brands that players typically support. Over the past 9 months, STOMP, Tuna, Unbow, and now DRIFT have all been established in varying attempts to both bring volunteers together under one banner and keep the stigma of war from affecting parent alliances. To this point, however, the use of these alliances has been largely unsuccessful, with none of these alliances having proven effective in winning a war.

Based on the arc of this current conflict, DRIFT appears to be on its way towards the same oblivion as similar alliances before it.

War in Pirate Isles As Dsasa Gets Aggressive With YARR!

An ex SIN and TUF member has purportedly launched an assault on YARR! and RE members, sparking a new war in the Pirate Isles. Dsasa, who has been in several Broken Lands military alliances, appears to have taken an aggressive stance against the upstart YARR! alliance, now finds himself along with several allies engaged in war with two formidable alliance.

In notes to the Times, YARR! members presented evidence of Dsasa’s aggression. “Dsasa launched attacks both on our allies in RE, as well as our own member Princess Botchface,” said YARR! member Solanar, who is understood to be the alliance leader Ranalos’ alt. “We are retaliating.”

Solanar provided this snippet from what appears to be global chat:

[01:43]<Dsasa> lol not really been wanting to exo but thanks for your consideration Dwarf male big grin, 😀
[01:43]<Dsasa> I’ll be taking down half of your alliance as compensation
[01:47]<Stukahh> Dsasa putting his big boy pants on?
[01:47]<Dsasa> I plan on it, but let daddy finish his planning first ‘
[01:47]<Dsasa> lol I got bored of sitting around

In addition, YARR! member Curmudgeon also sent the Times a screen shot of “dsasa attacking Princess Botchface before declaring war on Yarr!”

In order to carry out these attacks, Dsasa has left TUF and instead formed a new small alliance called The Drifters [DRIFT] — a now-common occurrence in Illyriad, used for players to assemble small groups of volunteers for a war without implicating their entire parent alliance. DRIFT’s current line-up includes the following other members: Attila the Hun, Fediglio, Kefka Palazzo, Lady Rowenna, silvanus, trina, and Bullock.

There is still little information about the conflicts that have taken place between DRIFT and RE, however, DRIFT’s diplomacy page indicates that war exists between they and RE.

This new war already has a siege as well. The Herald is reporting a fresh siege against Dsasa in the Pirate Isles:

Dsasa [Drift]

Falorna

[198|-2404] in The Pirate Isles

Ranalos [YARR!]

Mon 07 Mar 08:04

The siege is set up on a large hill to the southeast of the city, and an occupying army on the eastern square suggests that a blockade could be en route as well.

A neutral observer sent in this video of YARR! attacks on the city:

Stay tuned to the Times for more breaking developments on this war.