Colony Wars (12/16/07): The last one

You all probably know that there will be a colony map rest come the v.2.4 patch, so this is technically the "last" Colony War pending the Bahia Island expansion. For starters, take a look at this week's map in Caravaggio:

Also take note of the following factions that declared war that night:

Revolution v. Azyr
SupperClub™ v. Revolution
Justice v. Revolution
SupperClub™ v. Reconquista
Reconquista v. Azyr
Justice v. Reconquista
RedstarAvengers v. Reconquista
†Legion† v. SupperClub™
EdeN v. Reconquista
Fusion v. Reconquista
Fusion v. SupperClub™
AdeptasFraternas v. Reconquista
BaRuRotBoYz v. Revolution
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
RedstarAvengers v. Revolution
Justice v. RedstarAvengers
BaRuRotBoYz v. RedstarAvengers
Azyr v. Reconquista
*‹‹€ª§tErñDrªgõñ›› v. Reconquista

*warred after the official CW time, but truced a few minutes after.

This war proves to be one of the most lackluster fights, with only so few waging war. For a while, everyone thought there wasn't going to be any war at all, as many were coincidentally offline. Nevertheless, the show went on with SupperClub™ taking down Revolution's colonies at the first half of the war. And since few Revolution members were able to defend, it was but inevitable that said faction was able to claim it.

SupperClub™ does its best in whacking Revolution colonies

Meanwhile in Rion, a mixture of factions such as the defenders Azyr, Justice and Reconquista were gathering around the said colony. For a while, I thought of an ongoing alliance with some of them, only to find the notice announcing Reconquista's war declaration on the current colony owners. Azyr put up a good fight against the aggressors, but such was the number and agility of Reconquista that soon, Rion fell into their hands.

In Rion: Awaiting before the battle starts

Speaking of alliances, a new one was borne out of RedstarAvengers and BaRuRotBoYz as they teamed up to take Reconquista's Jezebel colony, but was later on neutralized.

RedstarAvengers and BaRuRotBoYz in Jezebel Glen

At this time, EdeN faction made an appearance by conquering additional colonies in Ferruccio Junction and the contested Jezebel Glen. Revolution, who was previously wiped out from the map at the start of the war, was able to secure Tetra Hill after battling with Justice, RedstarAvengers and BaRuRotBoYz.

The previous no-war agreement between EdeN, SupperClub™, Revolution and Reconquista was not seen in this war as well. Pradera de Ceniza, which was long held by SupperClub™ fell to Reconquista after a heated battle.

Bodies litter the earth in Pradera

Towards the end of the war, AF faction leader, Welling, made an appearance and warred Reconquista, but was unable to grab any colonies with the time constraints.

Surprisingly though, Eclipse was a no-show in this war.

For a recap, here are the results this week:

Reconquista - 11
Revolution - 1
EdeN - 4
SupperClub™ - 5

And now let's hear it for the faction leaders on what they had to say for this week:

"We (EdeN & Reconquista) were allies from the start. They had too many colonies so we just took some for HP boost. Anyway, it's going to be short since reset is on Thursday. To put it short, we call it political strategy planning."
- Tsumura of EdeN (vice leader)

"We are sister factions together with AF and PasawayProphecy. It's a kind of fellowship of the 300; if we merge, the ultimate number is 100. We all stay autonomous, greatly relying on trust.

This week we started by attacking Reconquista, but we realized that they had the whole faction. LOL. Towards the last 15 minutes, we kind of decided to change battle plans by attacking Revolution, but too bad the lag killed us all."
- RedstarAvengers of RedstarAvengers

"It was fun! We teamed up with RedstarAvengers to challenge good defense of Reconquista, but unfortunately, EdeN got the last hit (in Jezebel Glen). It was cool. We had great time with RedstarAvengers. Next time prepare for trouble, and make it double."
- CityJailerz of BaRuRotBoYz

Right after the end of the war, Revolution's leader, Tine, broaded that he will be passing on the leadership torch to another member. Here are Tine's words in my short interview with him:

"It was fun. Although we have lesser colonies, it was nevertheless fun. I'm leaving GE for the better."

We wish you all the best, Tine! ^_^


This is also the last Colony Wars report I write for Caravaggio. It's been a pleasure meeting all leaders and interacting with everyone; it's been fun and a great honor as well. Congratulations to everyone and see you all in v.2.4!

This is DeSanggria, signing off. ^_~v

Colony Wars (12/09/07): The return of the comeback

First up, here's an overview of the conquered colonies this week:

I was actually hoping for a similar intense fight like last week's, but I guess a few known factions were able to bask in the anxiety and excitement brought about by the war. For a recap on war declarations, here's the list (which may be incomplete as I had problems with my connection that night):

Reconquista v. Eclipse
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
AdeptasFraternas v. Reconquista
Revolution v. Fusion
Azyr v. Reconquista
Eclipse v. EdeN
RedstarAvengers v. EdeN
Azyr v. EdeN
Revolution v. AdeptasFraternas
BaRuRotBoYz v.SupperClub™
Commander v. Reconquista
BaRuRotBoYz v. Revolution
RedstarAvengers v. Revolution
Reconquista v. †RêßïrTh†
Fusion v. Reconquista
SupperClub™ v. Reconquista
BaRuRotBoYz v. Azyr

The first half of the war saw through a lot of conquests from various factions such as Reconquista (Diabolica), EdeN (Rion Praire & Bonavista), and AdeptasFraternas (King's Garden). Once again Reconquista defended against 5 factions simultaneously attacking their colonies, and even before other groups assembled for an attack, Reconquista's forces were already deployed to defend their territories.

Fusion defends Tetra colony from Revolution

As usual, I checked on Tetra colony to see if Fusion was holding up to their defenses against Revolution. At one time most of the defenders were slowly being decimated but nevertheless, Fusion put up a good fight and gave their opponents quite the time. Revolution, however, overwhelmed them and were able to claim the colony soon after.

Over at Porto Bello's Deserted Quay, a handful of SupperClub™ members were already assembling at Revolution's territory. Surprisingly, these people did not even touch the colony, until only after sometime I learned that they were standing by in defense for Revolution. I concluded thereon that alliances among faction were in the works that night.

Azyr attacks EdeN's Rion territory

The Rion Praire was also one of the contested colonies that day. As EdeN was the first to wrest it away from AF's hands Azyr likewise took a chance in getting the territory. AF was watching on that time, and so Azyr was able to grab the colony without much contest. But of course, EdeN did not go down easily and prompted several attacks on Azyr to reclaim the Rion.

Meanwhile in Pradera de Ceniza, newly-formed faction BaRuRotBoYz and a few SupperClub™ members were deeply engaged in a small skirmish.

SupperClub™ and BaRuRotBoYz skirmish in Pradera

All the while when these fights were breaking out, some colonies were already exchanging hands such as those in Bonavista, Katovic Snowfield, Rio Albi and Lago Celeste. Also at one point during the war, Eclipse was once again exchanging colony ownership with Reconquista. Eclipse was able to grab Hermanas colony, but Reconquista was quick to snatch it from them. With AF's case, Azyr was likewise whacking the colony simultaneously back in Rion once again, and so it was with the former that the colony fell ownership at the very last minute.

Other noteworthy fights that night were those of Commander and Reconquista in Jezebel Glen. Small attacks were launched at the Reconquista territory, but with such small number against the formidable defense of the colony owners, their troops were decimated easily.

In Diabolica, Eclipse members have gathered forces to launch a sneak attack on the defenseless Reconquista colony. A few seconds after they've started hitting the beacon, Reconquista members appeared by the score rendering the otherwise surprise attack futile.

Eclipse gather forces to launch attack on Diabolica

Revolution and Fusion likewise showed their mettle at the standoff in Topolo Durga. The fights were actually a few meters away from the colony as Fusion cannot get near the beacon to actually hit it. However at the latter part of the fight, Fusion was slowly gaining ground and were soon able to push forward to whack the tower. Not to be outdone, Revolution continued to defend and was successful in keeping their colony.

Commander puts up a fight against Revolution

In the middle of the rush to defend and grab more colonies, AdeptasFraternas and Eclipse bore the brunt of the combined attacks of Reconquista, Revolution, EdeN and SupperClub™. In the end, their previous colonies were seized by these factions. I've likewise noticed the absence of some faction leaders such as those of ZONE and Justice to name a few.

Anyhoo, here are this week's colony owners:

Azyr - 1
EdeN - 1
Revolution - 3
SupperClub™ 5
Reconquista - 11

And here's what some faction leaders have to say about this week's war:

"We teamed up with AF, RedstarAvengers, and Revolution to fight Reconquista and EdeN, so we attack them together and just kept going. There were lots of fighting in Rion; I think there was AF and some Eclipse people, Reconquista and EdeN too. We got overpowered when fighting Reconquista...there was just too many of them. But this week was really intense and we are happy to hold Rion."
- AzureRain of Azyr

"We had an agreement not to war Revolution, SupperClub™ and EdeN, so we concentrated on Eclipse and AF. I must say, they are strong, but we did very well this week. Allying with EdeN is the right choice for us because they keep their promises. I just want to say thanks to all my members for attending CW and EdeN for the ally."
- Century of Reconquista

"It was not as exciting as last week as Reconquista wanted peace with us. But well, the war with Fusion and AF was good too."
- Tine of Revolution

"It was challenging for us this time around because factions put up good defense. We gave King's Garden a try to fight Reconquista just a quick one to test the waters, but they defended well. Fusion had a great time in war today. Strong resistance from factions made war a nice battleground."
- Velante of Fusion

"Our plan was to wipe off AF and Eclipse from map, but in the end Reconquista benefited from this. However, this is the best CW we had in months. Eclipse and AF were clearing us this time, but unknown to them, Reconquista was already attacking them."
- Tsumura of EdeN (vice leader)

Hmm...a lot of my questions were answered by the leaders in this query, so I'd like to thank them for their time in answering my questions. Nonetheless, congratulations to one and all for putting up a good fight!

Colony Wars (12/02/07): Tipping the scale of balance

This week's war goes to show that Caravaggio is indeed one of the highly political servers in Granado Espada. Today we'll see how factions work to tip the scale of power from the current rulers to other groups. This week also saw to a lot of war declarations, perhaps the most number of declarations so far in any CW session as well.

EdeN v. SupperClub™
RedstarAvengers v. Ethereal
Reconquista v. Ethereal
Justice v. Ethereal
Revolution v. Ethereal
AdeptasFraternas v. EdeN
Azyr v. Ethereal
†RêβïrTh† v. Ethereal
Commander v. SupperClub™
Reconquista v. Revolution
Untitled (sp?) v. Ethereal
Reconquista v. Azyr
Reconquista v. Justice
RedstarAvengers v. Justice
Reconquista v. †RêβïrTh†
Fusion v. Azyr
RedstarAvengers v. Reconquista
ZONE v. Reconquista
Reconquista v. Eclipse
Commander v. Reconquista
AdeptasFraternas v. Reconquista
EdeN v. Reconquista
†Legion† v. Commander
Revolution v. Fusion
Commander v. Fusion
†RêβïrTh† v. SupperClub™
EdeN v. Azyr
EdeN v. Reconquista
Commander v. Eclipse
Fusion v. Revolution
RedstarAvengers v. Revolution

I've already heard through the grapevine that Ethereal's faction leader is permanently indisposed, and naturally, all the other factions will eye Ethereal's 5 colonies. But before I headed off to war, I asked a few faction leaders regarding their plans. Here's what they said:

"We war Ethereal, that's all. Unless some other unexpected things happen, then we might have a change of plan."
- Tine of Revolution

"Maybe at the last minute we participate in the war, then go KS."
- HikariX of ZONE

"We're still finalizing plans, but our first target will be Tetra Hill."
- Alexania of Justice

"Basically we have now decided to face the end of Ethereal by wiping them off the map. As usual, we will always be on the offensive."
- IceFox of †RêβïrTh†

As speculated, almost all factions wanted to get a piece of Ethereal's lands. And with a character so unlike Ethereal, no one defended their colonies, thus, conquests from other factions proved to be easy.

Or maybe not.

With no defenders to ward off unfriendlies, Ethereal's colonies had 2-3 factions laying siege on the towers. And so, these factions started declaring war on each other in order to clear the way to get them close to actually whacking the towers. One such occurence I was able to notice was that in Tetra Hill where Justice made good on its initial plan to target the area. But RedstarAvengers was already there first, so it was only a question of time on which faction this colony will fall into.

RedstarAvengers arrive at Tetra Hill

Reconquista at Rion Prairie

While doing my usual rounds in checking the colonies, I noticed a new faction by the name of Reconquista, who seemed to be quite the sought-after group as the other factions were constantly declaring war on them. I learned that the said group were formed by the ex-Ethereal members who've decided to band together upon the absence of their leader.

Reconquista and Revolution battle for Quay colony

One of the earlier fights of Reconquista that I was able to witness was with Revolution in Porto Bello's Deserted Quay. I arrived just in time to see the war declaration with the two groups right at the colony itself. Both factions put up a good fight as neither refused to relent despite massive casualties. Finally, the said colony was won over by Revolution.

Meanwhile, other factions began claiming other territories as well. Eclipse, Azyr and SupperClub™ were able to land new colonies, and so they were likewise subject to defend their land during the first half of the war.

Azyr defends Ferruccio colony

In Tetra Hill once again, Justice had to contend with two enemies in the person of Reconquista and RedstarAvengers, as both factions made simulatenous attacks. Meanwhile in Quay once again, Reconquista gets back at Revolution as they try to make a bid for the colony, and this time around, they were successful.

Reconquista gets back at Revolution

Pradera de Ceniza was well defended by its current owners, SupperClub™. A few families from Commander made an attempt to grab the colony, but was thwarted by the guards manning the tower.

I noticed that the Tetra colony was one of the most contested territory by other factions as there were many attempts to wrest it from its current owners. This time when Reconquista managed to get it from Justice, they were faced with 3 factions warring them (Justice, ZONE & RedstarAvengers). Soon, the colony changed hands from Reconquista to Fusion, then to Revolution, until Fusion made the final claim in the end.

A few of EdeN members take a whack out of Eclipse colony in Diabolica

AdeptasFraternas in Reconquista's Hermanas colony

It's EdeN v. Azyr in Ferruccio colony

Quay colony owned by Revolution

While other factions were busy getting and defending colonies, I noticed the persistent exchange of territories between Reconquista and Eclipse, specifically those of the Ustiur colonies. It came to a point when Eclipse colonies were constantly under threat from Reconquista, but the former incessantly got back their colonies and vice versa. Time became the juror of these battles as Reconquista was successful in claiming both Ustiur colonies at the very last minutes of the war.

The end of the two-hour war saw through the following results:

EdeN - 4
Reconquista - 2
AdeptasFraternas - 5
Eclipse - 3
Revolution - 2
Fusion - 1
†RêβïrTh† - 1
SupperClub™ - 3

Some of the faction leaders were gracious enough to provide their thoughts on this week's Colony Wars turnout. Let's find out their insights below:

"Well, it's fun. GG. Although we are new, almost all war us, I love them all. I think we did a good job with 50 people online. Peace! ^_^
- Century of Reconquista

"I had a lot of fun this week. Lots of action with Ethereal, etc. and I really enjoyed the entire two hours of this Colony Wars."
- Tine of Revolution

"Well, you see, small factions can't really stand up against huge factions so we need help. We sure lost to Reconquista, but if a lot of factions come together, we have chance. We need more people to play GE, otherwise, not enough people."
- HikariX of ZONE

"Lots of colony changing hands today. Suprised that Fusion got Tetra twice. I suppose Reconquista's the new Ethereal and it's gonna be something as expected. They hit us and took our colony (Ferruccio) away on last few minutes."
- AzureRain of Azyr

"We attacked Tetra because it's our aim but unfortunately, we failed due to lagginess and too many players attacking. This is only fun mode because we're not going to take colony, just ally with ZONE and other factions."
- alanyuchenglun of Commander

"Of course, it's very exciting; was fighting Reconquista the whole night. Just too bad we weren't lucky enough to score last hit. We were attacking almost all Reconquista colonies except those in Ustiur. Reconquista is still a strong team and can't be taken lightly, but we'll try again next week."
- RedstarAvengers of RedstarAvengers

"Based on absence of IsDope (Ethereal leader), the fall of Ethereal is imminent, thus the creation of Reconquista is something that happened too fast. We dunno about their existence, thus we forgot about whacking it but at least it's a slightly balanced situation now."
- Tsumura of EdeN (vice leader)

"It's a tiring war for Eclipse. We fought EdeN then changed target to Reconquista because they hit us. I would like to thank all factions that helped us; they kept Reconquista busy while we fought them. Nevertheless, they were able to get our colonies at the last minute. With that said, I made 3 points: one is quantity over quality, second is the help of our friend to boost quantity, and lastly, you have to exchange colony with the time in mind."
- Wooot of Eclipse

Congratulations to all factions who participated in this week's war! Let's make history happen once again next week. ^_~

Colony Wars (11/26/07): The longest two hours

Something was a bit amiss in this Sunday's war. But for starters, here's the perfunctory list of factions that declared war that night:

Revolution v. Symphony
AdeptasFraternas v. Symphony
Azyr v. AdeptasFraternas
Justice v. AdeptasFraternas
LiberatiFatali v. AdeptasFraternas
RedstarAvengers v. Justice
SupperClub™ v. EdeN
SupperClub™ v. RedstarAvengers
RedstarAvengers v. Ethereal
Revolution v. Ethereal
AdeptasFraternas v. Ethereal
BloodPact v. Justice
Eclipse v. AdeptasFraternas
EdeN v. Eclipse
†RêβïrTh† v. Eclipse
SupperClub™ v. Azyr

As I've said, this week's war was a lacked luster than the last. At the official start of CW, only AdeptasFraternas made a first conquest in Tetra Hill in the first few minutes, while the succeeding ones were met by a rather stunned silence in the world of Caravaggio as war declarations grew scarce.

The AF x Justice skirmish in Tetra Hill

Justice led by faction leader, Alexania, made an aggressive move to challenge the current owners that time of Tetra as they launched an attack on the said colony. However, this brave attempt failed at the arrival of the colony's defenders.

After the said skirmish I was able to witness, the silence throughout the whole server was uncanny: no faction was declaring war against another and colonies stayed virtually safe from unfriendlies. Such phenomenon carried out for almost an hour, prompting people to broad about the seemingly lackadaisical war.

Somewhere back in Tetra, however, other factions were currently settling their disputes. SupperClub™ and EdeN as well as Justice and RedstarAvengers were busy whacking each other while paying scant attention to the colony right before them.

Factions had a PvP of sorts while paying little attention to the colony ahead

I surmised that factions will start the ball rolling at the final minutes of the war. My speculation did not fail me because as soon as the 30 minute notice flashed before the UI, a deluge of war declarations were soon simultaneously announced.

Ethereal was yet again the target of most factions as they attempted to wrest colonies from Caravaggio's leading faction (based on their consistent hold of territories every week). Most of the people knew of Ethereal faction leader's absence this week, and so they've taken this as a golden opportunity to get some colonies for their own.

Ethereal's formidable defense in Rion Prairie

Seizing these colonies was no walk in the park though. Despite the absence of their leader, Ethereal put up a good stand against hostilities and even managed to grab a few more.

Revolution clashes with Ethereal in Topolo Durga

Meanwhile, these factions started getting into action by ending the long drought of takeovers during the timespan:

• Scorching Plateau by EdeN
• El Tejado Verde by Eclipse (but was seized by EdeN in the end)
• Tetra Hill by Ethereal
• El Canon Diabolica by EdeN (and later on by Eclipse)
• Lago Celeste by Azyr (but was claimed by AF at the last minute)
• Ferruccio Junction by Ethereal (in which Justice likewise took a shot of, but failed)

Saved by the bell: Revolution gets to keep Hermanas colony

Factions such as Revolution was saved by the bell as Ethereal made an attempt of their Hermanas colony. AF, meanwhile, was able to get a colony at the last minute as well.

Although Ethereal made a formidable defense of their territories, EdeN certainly made a mark as they claimed the most colonies that day.

Results:
Eclipse - 3
AdeptasFraternas - 1
Ethereal - 5
SupperClub™ - 3
Revolution - 1
EdeN - 8

Congratulations to all factions who have successfully claimed and defended their colonies! Stay tuned for next week's war report!

Colony Wars (11/18/07): Win some, lose some

Taking a close look at this week's world map in Caravaggio and comparing it to the last, one can observe the fluctuating control of various factions of the colonies. Yet, despite this, it is encouraging to see the return of a few familiar groups as well as noting the growing strength of some.

This week, however, Ethereal was on the spotlight as almost all factions declared war on them. For a brief rundown, here's an incomplete list of factions who declared war:

Ethereal v. EdeN
Ethereal v. BloodPact
Ethereal v. Eclipse
Revolution v. SupperClub™
Symphony v. SupperClub™
RedstarAvengers v. Ethereal
AdeptasFraternas v. Ethereal
EdeN v. †Legion†
Justice v. RedstarAvengers
Symphony v. RedstarAvengers
AdeptasFraternas v. Symphony
Justice v. Symphony
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
Revolution v. Justice
ZONE v. Justice
*Justice v. Ethereal (as added by GraveBorn)

*Said list is incomplete because I had problems with my internet connection. Please feel free to let me know the declarations I've missed.

Revolution v. Ethereal in Pradera de Ceniza

Despite the predicament Ethereal faced, they nevertheless made the first conquest at Tetra Hill in less than 5 minutes. It did not take them long to claim their second colony in El Canon de Diabolica. At 45 minutes after the start of the war, Ethereal put on a good fight against the majority of factions going against them. They still continued to take a few territories, and one significant skirmish (which I gleaned from the forums), was their notable defense of Via Fluvial against SupperClub™ and Revolution. The said colony was also conquered by †RêβïrTh† for a certain time, though it was SupperClub™ who claimed the colony in the end, and such fight was deemed by many as a good one.

Other factions such as RedstarAvengers likewise engaged Ethereal to claim the Tetra colony, while Eclipse was able to wrest El Canon de Diabolica and Scorching Plateau. Ethereal was still on a roll as they managed to get Porto Bello's Deserted Quay, Pradera de Ceniza (from Revolution) and Diabolica (from Eclipse).

In most fights, one or two factions battled it out with Ethereal for domination. One such area that I was able to observe was in Pradera, wherein SupperClub™ and Azyr fought against its current owner, with the former finally claiming the territory.

The fight for Pradera: Ethereal v. Azyr and SupperClub™

Factions who were able to snatch Ethereal's colonies were likewise engaged in a constant battle to defend it. Ustiur Zona Dos in particular changed hands from Eclipse to Ethereal during the war. Other notable conquests were those of Azyr's (Deserted Quay), but they eventually yielded to Ethereal thereafter. Revolution as well as SupperClub™ made a bid to get the Old Port of Coimbra colony, with the intense fight later on yielding to SupperClub™ as its owner. It was quite noticeable to see 2 factions contending for a colony, and so each group's forces rained a lot of skills, valkyries and turrets to make the last hit on the beacon possible. Such scenarios were seen in Pradera and Ferruccio Junction to name a few.

Revolution makes a bid for the Old Port of Coimbra colony

Another brawl I was able to witness was that in Tetra Hill, which was currently under Justice faction that time. A few Symphony members made an attempt to get through their defenses but was neutralized. The victory was not yet celebrated as Justice's leader commanded his troops to stand by for defense as news of factions Commander and Revolution's impending attack became immiment. In the end, it was Symphony who eventually won the spot despite their earlier defeat.

Justice defends Tetra from Symphony

At the annoncement of the 5-minute notice before the end of the war, factions started trucing each other, showing a great deal of sportsmanship after a heated competition.

Results:
Ethereal - 3
EdeN - 7
Eclipse - 4
SupperClub™ - 3
AdeptasFraternas - 2
Revolution - 1
Symphony - 1

Congratulations to all for a battle well fought. Until next week!

Colony Wars (11/11/07): The spy in our midst

This week's colony wars proved to be a lot more challenging, especially to the AdeptasFraternas Faction. The group's tenacity was put to the test as they had to contend with several circumstances that inevitably rocked the scale of balance in the world map of Caravaggio.

But before that, here's a semi-incomplete list of the factions that declared war on each other. I had difficulties logging in the game after the first hour of the war.

Ethereal v. Eclipse
SupperClub™ v. Eclipse
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
Onslaught v. Eclipse
EdeN v. RedstarAvengers
Azyr v. Eclipse
SupperClub™ v. AdeptasFraternas
Ethereal v. Azyr
SupperClub™ v. †Reβírth†
Azyr v. SupperClub™
†Reβírth† v. Azyr
iRreSistibLe v. Etherea;
EdeN v. Azyr
Azyr v. Ethereal
EdeN v. Eclipse
†Reβírth† v. SupperClub™
SupperClub™ v. Ethereal
Ethereal v. †Reβírth†

With only 28-33 people online that night, AF already had an impending dilemma on their hands, which was the defense of their 5 colonies. It was pretty much evident that AF was going to have a difficult CW up ahead as tension filled the air.

Some factions who do not have colonies banded together to make their line more solid in the attempt to break through the defense of those defending their territories. EdeN was the first to launch an attack on the AF colony in Katovic Snowfield. Revolution followed suit as it lay siege on Topolo Durga. Both of these factions were able to claim these colonies for their own as AF was unable to put up a stand to the overwhelming deluge of adversaries.

AdeptasFraternas & †Reβírth† battle it out for the Tetra colony

Meanwhile in Pradera de Ceniza, SupperClub™ was quite aggressive in attacking the said AF territory, thereby causing alarm from the members. Faction leader Welling was keen in ordering a full force attack on EdeN's Hermanas colony and to just retake their lost territories once they've succeeded in claiming this particular target. Things worked out well in the beginning, as AF was slowly able to fend off the defenders from their attempt, but were inevitably pushed back by EdeN at the latter part of the assault. They were thus forced to abandon their seige in Hermanas.

By the middle of the war, AF had lost all of its colonies as they were deluged by simulataneous attacks. The guys made an effort to reclaim their colonies by attacking Tetra Hill and El Lago de Tres Hermanas. However on both these attempts, they were always thwarted by the defending factions holding these territories. It was at this moment when people speculated the presence of a spy within the faction.

AF gets a clear shot of the colony

With the clock ticking to the last minute, Welling advised everyone to move to their last stand in Katovic Snowfield in an effort to reclaim their "true" colony. The spy theory was further confirmed when a team of EdeN faction members awaited AF within the colony pillars to engage them in a heated battle.

Azyr makes an attempt to conquer Tetra Hill

And so on that Colony War night, AF was colony-less for the second time. Yet I'm pretty much sure these guys are coming back next week with much, much vengeance.

Congratulations to all factions! Great war indeed!

Colony Wars (11/04/07): Slowly, but surely

The days prior to the Sunday war in Caravaggio was steeped with drama as AF's leader, Welling, expressed his desire to step down from his position due to a lot of reasons. Thankfully, he has decided to stay on to lead this formidable group. Having said that, let me now proceed with this week's event recap, starting off with the factions that declared war:

Onslaught v. EdeN
Onslaught v. SupperClub™
Onslaught v. AdeptasFraternas
Onslaught v. Revolution
Ethereal v. Eclipse
Ethereal v. Revolution
Azyr v. Ethereal
SupperClub™ v. Ethereal
EdeN v. Ethereal
RedstarAvengers v. Eclipse
VietnamIdols v. SupperClub™
SupperClub™ v. RedstarAvengers
Eclipse v. Azyr
AdeptasFraternas v. SupperClub™
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
Ethereal v. RedstarAvengers
Revolution v. AdeptasFraternas
Symphony v. SupperClub™
Justice v. SupperClub™
LiberatiFatali v. EdeN
VietnamIdols v. Revolution
Symphony v. AdeptasFraternas
ReBirth v. AdeptasFraternas

That's quite a number of war declarations compared to the previous wars. And from what I've heard, there were plans of various factions to gang up on Ethereal in order to decimate its hold on majority of the colonies.

True enough, several groups declared war on Caravaggio's leading faction. Onslaught, for one, started declaring war to four factions simultaneously, and within minutes before the actual start of war. Meanwhile, AF has decided on an attack at SupperClub™'s Pradera and Tetra Hill colonies at the last hour of the war, all while standing by to defend their 2 colonies in the Desolate Cliff and Katovic Snowfield.

At the first hour of the war, Caravaggio was surprised with the first conquest that night: Ferruccio Junction colony by the ReBirth Faction. The said group has been active in the previous wars, having occupied at least one territory, but only to lose it in the end to another faction. In this particular skirmish, ReBirth was unable to defend their lone colony and, yes, they did lose it eventually to Ethereal.

Meanwhile, the plan to attack Ethereal was slowly taking place. In the Deserted Quay, Revolution took up the challenge to attack one of Ethereal's territories with the use of rotating blades and a barrage of skills. Surprisingly, there was little or no resistance from Ethereal, and Revolution was able to claim the colony for their own.

Revolution attacks Ethereal's Quay colony

Other interesting skirmishes I was able to witness was the one in Tetra Hill, where VietnamIdols tried to attack the SupperClub™ colony, only to be overwlemed by the impenetrable defense of its owner. And similar to ReBirth, RedstarAvengers was only able to claim the Diabolica colony for a short time, only to be defeated by Eclipse.

AdeptasFraternas takes a whack out of SupperClub™'s Pradera colony

AF made true its plans to attack SupperClub™'s two colonies, as well as an additional one. There were also outsider attacks on their colonies, such as its previous owners wanting to take back what was previously theirs, only to be backtracked by AF's concerted and well-organized defensive strategies.

SupperClub™ goes head to head with AdeptasFraternas

The war took its toll on Ethereal as it succeedingly lost majority of its colonies during the first hour and a half from various factions. This struck a blow on the morale of the group members, after being regarded as one of the factions to reckon with. However, Ethereal managed to get back on its feet as it was able to reclaim half of what was lost to them.

After the two-hour war, most of Caravaggio's players agreed that this was one of those action-packed colony wars that deserved an appreciative nod. Hopefully, next week will be just as much exciting...or even better.

Congratulations to Ethereal, Eclipse, AdeptasFraternas, EdeN and Revolution for acquiring/defending colonies!

Colony Wars (10/28/07): A shaken alliance

Last week's war saw to the formation of the triumvirate of Ethereal, Eclipse and AdeptasFraternas as their names populated the entire map of Caravaggio. This week, however, tested this alliance's mettle as it faced several factions who wanted a piece of the pie as well.

But before we get to the nitty gritties of it all, here's the list of the factions that declared war that night*:

EdeN v. Eclipse
Azyr v. Ethereal
Symphony v. AdeptasFraternas
AdeptasFraternas v. EdeN
SupperClub™ v. AdeptasFraternas
Revolution v. AdeptasFraternas
BloodPact v. AdeptasFraternas
Ethereal v. EdeN
SupperClub™ v. Ethereal
Eclipse v. Ethereal
VietnamIdols v. Ethereal
RedstarAvengers v. SupperClub™
ThousandNeedles v. Adeptas Fraternas

*My apologies if the list seems to be incomplete as I may have missed a few notices in the height of the exciting battles that ensued.


With 15 minutes left on the clock before the official start of the war, several factions have started declaring war in efforts to lay claim on some colonies once the war commences. News had it that the Trinity alliance will be warred by most factions, and the first to have made known the challenge was EdeN and Eclipse.

Once the war started, everyone in AF awaited for any news about an upcoming seige. They didn't wait long though as their colony in Lago Celeste received the first brunt of attacks from Revolution, the new faction founded by ex-ReBorn members.

Revolution comes back with a vengeance in Lago Celeste.

AF was under quite a fix that time, as only 28 families were online to defend 7 colonies from unfriendlies. Revolution was quite aggressive as it sent a formidable team to bring down the colony. Those from AF who went in defense of the said territory were only able to do so little, thus, it was inevitable that the colony fell to enemy hands.

Following this swift attack, SupperClub™ likewise went to Rio Albi to claim the said territory towing a number of their best members to efficiently knock down the small contingent of AF troops.

SupperClub™ siege at Rio Albi

With AF still under heavy attack from the aforementioned factions, Symphony seized the opportunity to go after the Deserted Cliff colony with only a small contingent in tow. Yet despite their number, they were quite able to fend off AF as they quickly put to use the valkyries and turrets on the undefended colony.

As more of AF's colonies fell under heavy attack, faction leader Welling announced the reclaim of their territories in Lago Celeste and Rio Albi. In the latter location, AF showed promise of getting back on their feet as they slowly diminished SupperClub™'s forces, although reinforcements soon arrived to thwart the group's efforts of regaining their territory.

Meeting at Auch

Tension was definitely in the air. In the City of Auch, the group converged to plan an all out attack at the Desolate Cliff. The plan worked out really well, as reinforcements from the alliance came in time to help.

A full force attack to reclaim the Desolate Cliff

The next efforts to reclaim Rio Albi and Lago Celeste proved to be a Herculean task. Despite the full force of AF warring Revolution and SupperClub™, opponents made use of faction-less families who did the medic's job of reviving the fallen.

The end of the war saw AF's loss of 5 colonies, though they were still able to successfully hold on to two territories. On the other side of the alliance, Eclipse was down to a single colony, while Ethereal managed to add another conquest up their list, thus raising their total number of colonies to 10.

[I've noticed Ethereal's unbreakable streak when it comes to attacking and defending. Post-CW comments at the forums remark at their swift response at threats to their colonies. With such a reputation, Ethereal is definitely one faction to reckon with.]

[Meanwhile, I learned that the Rebirth faction managed to get a colony but subsequently lost it to another group. RedstarAvengers and Azyr likewise put up a good fight and I'm pretty much sure these factions will most likely rise up to challenge the big guns in the long run.]

Congratulations to the alliance of Ethereal, Eclipse and AdeptasFraternas for holding their ground, as well as to the victorious challengers, SupperClub™, Revolution and EdeN!

Colony Wars (10/21/07): Three's a crowd

Red - AdeptasFraternas colonies

Purple - Ethereal colonies
Green - Eclipse colonies

Here's the GE map in Caravaggio this weekend. Note that there are only 3 factions populating the colonies, which are Ethereal with 9, AdeptasFraternas with 7 and Eclipse with 5. How these three groups managed to dominate the map was nothing short of a mean feat. Let me give you an overview of what happened in this week's war. But first, here's a list of the various Caravaggio factions who waged war against each other:

Ethereal v. SupperClub™
Azyr v. Ethereal
AdeptasFraternas v. Ethereal
ReBirth v. Ethereal
SupperClub™ v. HeavyMachines
AdeptasFraternas v. Supperclub™
HeavyMachines v. Ethereal
EdeN v. Eclipse
RedstarAvengers v. Ethereal
Justice v. Ethereal
AdeptasFraternas v. EdeN
AdeptasFraternas v. HeavyMachines
AdeptasFraternas v. Symphony
Ethereal v. Exiled
Drow v. Ethereal
Decepticons v. Eclipse
AdeptasFraternas v. Decepticons

The El Lago de Tres Hermanas colony, which was previously occupied by the now-disbanded ReBorn faction, was the first target of most factions, including AdeptasFraternas, Eclipse, RedstarAvengers and EdeN. At five minutes before the start of the war, valkyries, rotating blades, turrets and golden spiders were unleashed on the colony by these factions, hoping to get first dibs on this free-for-all territory.

With so many of these beacon breakers getting a hack out of the colony, it came to no surprise that the said colony gave in under only 2 minutes of hack and slash...and Eclipse was the faction to claim Hermanas, making them the first to own a territory under such a span of time.

Factions trying to get first dibs on Hermanas colony

Meanwhile, Ethereal and AdeptasFraternas likewise claimed additional colonies in Via Fluvial and Pradera de Ceniza respectively. Ethereal was able to wrest Via Fluvial from its previous owner, Supperclub™, while AF warred Ethereal to claim Pradera, but immediately truced the said faction after owning it..

AF's conquest of Pradera colony

The first hour of the war was actually a silent one over the entire server. Notices on any colony conquest were nil, as well as war declarations. And then until after several minutes did those notices started popping out the server, announcing factions at war with each other.

The AF peeps, meanwhile, had EdeN's Tetra Hill colony up next on their sight. They made an initial assault on the colony, which was surprisingly left undefended. One of AF's squads apparently diverted EdeN's attention in Bonavista River in order to get a clear shot at the colony and to help out Eclipse as well. And true enough, they were able to claim the said territory without much resistance.

Towards the final minutes of the war, these three factions fended off attacks from other groups, which resulted to less takeovers and more of defense and assistance with regards to troop deployment. One such instance was the assistance AF gave to Eclipse in defending the former's colony in King's Garden from EdeN.

The battle at King's Garden

Basically, this week's CW in Caravaggio lacked a bit of action so to say when it comes to more challenges against factions. Although it's also interesting to note the dynamics of these 3 dominating factions on the map and how such power house groups will perform in next week and the wars thereafter.