Inside the Great War Machine *no spoilers*

Some of the players in Illyriad are shrouded in mist, only coming out after dark, when it's time to war! Most of these individuals, have found each other after playing the game in different ways and in the end, meeting each other on the battlefields from different sides of wars or conflicts. After their respective fights were over, many of them banded together to form a powerful team.

I have now had the privilege of being part of this magnificent team of players, whom take pride in planning cunning sieges and reading the current meta-game objectives, to form a strategy in their favor.



Language
One of the first things I noticed, is how the general tone is when around these players. There is 60% cursing and name-calling, 30% fun and laughs and 10% seriousness. On a casual day, you show up on slack after being at work or uni, you find there is 200+ messages unread... After you've read the first 100, you can sort through who is trolling and who is talking about something useful, so it becomes more of a 'skimming the trolling and reading the good bits' kind of thing.
I find this sort of chat relieving. It doesn't make you think too much about being overly perceptive and uptight. You can be more laid back and enjoy things, at least as a member of the team - maybe it's different for the leaders. My point is, that these players are really good at the game, the planning and finding the opportunities - but at the same time they joke and don't give a sh*t. That's what makes it extra entertaining for me at least.

Rules
There are rules in every Alliance. Some are thorough and deep, others used as an outline for normal morale and ethics. This team doesn't have many rules, except when it comes to the talking about our objectives rule, so I'm trying to find a balance here :)

Finding something to do
It can be a challenge for teams like this, to find an opponent that match their greatness. After you have planned things for months ahead of your game-plan, I suppose that is part of the reason for the challenge to be less equal. In a game like Illyriad, you DO have to plan ahead to be successful at something. Spinning the roulette and hoping for the best just doesn't work out very well. There are lots of examples of this *cough, Pico, cough* and they generally don't work out.
No, you gotta be smart, so finding something to do is something you do months in advance, and then you prepare, gather, craft, build.

Why didn't anyone see this coming?
Since The Broken Lands opened, things have changed a lot in Illyriad. The Land Claiming movement made it possible for this to happen, after it won it's war and since then there has been a general consensus by a core group of players to make TBL a "war continent" meaning, it will attempt to be separate from it's continent to the North, Elgea, which is not really a war continent. There are just too many good friends there, confeds and trade deals also going on - and it would cause too much destruction for a big war there now. Maybe one day. To have a place, where the military minded players could wage war on each other without interference from tournament alliances and people who do not like conflicts seemed like a good idea.
Since... They do tend to stir the pot because they are bored up in Elgea, this seemed like a good approach to keep them at bay.

Anyways. I'm sure a lot of the Elgean Factions/alliances chose to go to BL to have a presence. What they didn't realize is that it would cost them, because this core group of players had already decided what they were doing and have been planning and prepping every step of the way.

What I'm trying to get at is; why have there not been anti-movements going on? To me it's obvious who is dominating the server and have been for a while now. Maybe not in terms of land claimed or members in the alliance, but instead with the power of military excellence and the tool of fear.

Time and Time again, the alliances targeted have called out for help, knowing who would be next, warning the others for what was going to happen to them. Most recently, the war with The Hashashin confed vs Dark Shade/Unbowed/VIC confed. I'm sure there has been some reaching out this time too... But all the sheep are scared of the big bad wolf. 









*illustrations found on google*
*article written by Josh, it is his rant, his remarks and his point of view*

Bonemash's growing hamlet destroyed by Ulharad

Bonemash appears to have used "prestige demolition" to quickly lower the population before the siege landed

Pure prevails against Ten_Kulch and relocates Purr

Mooaka [vCrow] survives the siege

Siege army arrives on May 26, at 11pm 

Vans intercepted on May 28, at around 4am

Okalee village after the siege

Approximately one million casualties were reported during the siege, with dittobite's and Stukahh's  armies clashing several times against each other, making it the bloodiest encounter since the beginning of the war. 

Pellinell Razed

On the 20th, at 8:30 sever time, Pellinell's town of 12. was razed by Goldy1. When asked about the siege, Goldy1 gave the following comment:
'Yea, wanted to shut Pellis big mouth up, that's why we went after him. I can't tell you who or what reins were involved and no, STORM didn't even attempt to attack, even tho they had a dozen cities within a 100 square radius'

The lack of resistance from Storm and Pellinell's flat-lined growth charts seem to indicate that he has either gone inactive or is a sat account.

Once again, Storm refused to comment. If this continues then I will stop asking them as it is a waste of my time.

Author: Eowan The Short

When did it become OK to attack new players?

When I joined Illyriad, and for over a year after that, new players were protected from from attacks, even from small players. Whilst many would argue that it does not make sense to protect new players from other new players, it is almost never a good thing for a large player to attack a small player as they learn nothing and likely end up leaving the game.

However, in the past few weeks, a couple of incidents have come to my attention where a new player gets attacked by a large player.
The first of these was the catalyst for the Storm/WRATH war. After an incident occurred with one of Loki's Jarls of Trouble, a Storm player decided to attack small players in Loki. Small players who did nothing except join Loki.
The second and latest incident is the one which prompted me to write this article. A player called Laird Richard- a two town player with no alliance- was threatened in GC by SoLazy- a player from The End with 29 cities.
A chat log of the threat can be found here

This is not just a threat to attack or siege one of Laird Richard's cites; SoLazy has declared that his intention is to completely noob ring Richard. The total annihilation of a new player for no other reason than they are near a spot SoLazy wants.

One of the best things Illyriad has is the community- that is the thing that has kept me and many others playing. It would be a real shame if the community were to lose the values which made it so friendly and welcoming.

Author: Eowan The Short

WRATH vs Storm

WRATH is a newly created alliances formed mostly of players from SIN and Loki. They were created in response to alleged attacks by Storm players on new players. I have IGMed people on both Storm and WRATH but have had no response from either side. The following are the questions I sent to them. If any player would like to supply information to the Telegraph, could they please send an IGM either to Dakota or Eowan The Short. Your identity can remain anonymous on request.

1) My understanding is that this incident started when Astragoth sieged a Storm player called Dugbar who she believed to be inactive due to flatlined growth and repeated diploing/attacking. Someone in Storm (possibly piling) then diploed/blighted players in Loki including a new player. Tensions then increased until WRATH was created and it declared war on Storm. Is this correct and if it is could you fill me in with what I do not know such as the names of the Loki players targeted and the Storm players involved?

2)Is WRATH just a way of Loki declaring war without breaking the exact terms of the 'Loki will never declare war' on Loki's profile?

3)How long do you expect this to last?

4)Are there any other sieges, other than the one on dugbar?

5) Is there anything else you would like to add?

Author: Eowan The Short