AoH Season 2 Round 6 - Tales of Lord Boness

Another battle in the Arena of Honor (AoH) was approaching, and Lord Boness was eager for another challenge. Absent in the last few matches, he would have to fight in this round both because he would lose points in the event of another absence, but mainly because he only needed 12 points to achieve the title of Lord.

Unlike to the knight tournaments of Westeros, the AoH was a bloody and dynamic challenge. Perhaps inspired by the fights in the ancient Free Cities, where slaves and freedmen tried to achieve glory in the ancient Arenas. The dynamics of the battles in AoH were already known to all warriors, yet there is no single strategy to guarantee victory. In his experience, he had already won 1st place even without dominating the City of Glory. A more aggressive strategy from the beginning of the battle, instead of moderate attitudes that guarantee a continuous flow of points, could take the team from a possible victory to a crushing defeat. Usually, he would prefer to act conservatively to at least guarantee the podium.

Thus, Lord Boness already had a certain modus operandi in mind. Of course, it would also depend on the other members of the Clan. This was another point that Lord Boness was still evaluating, because until then the best pairings occurred when entering the battlefield individually, as the teams he usually participated in had high power, and obviously faced equally powerful enemies. Upon entering, Lord Boness sought to quickly assess the place. He would defend House Lannister. He sent a greeting to the members of the Clan in search of aligning a strategy. In the other clans, he found many accounts with greater power, but thank the Old Gods, he would not face any player with 1BI! He felt a little more confident!

Lord Boness rode in front of the army, encouraging each soldier. He noticed that many had already bled for him in previous battles, and now they showed serious expressions, roaring at his call for another fight. The recently enlisted soldiers also showed themselves willing to show their worth, and eager to achieve glory, and perhaps be awarded a knighthood.

After a quick conversation before starting the match, Lord Dermeros volunteered to take over the defense of the clan's castle. Quickly, Lord Boness went to the fortifications, and sent reinforcements to the others to speed up the completion of such constructions. The same procedure was followed in the second line of fortifications while a companion took over the 1st altar. In this moment of calm, he sought to observe the actions of the enemies.

Lord Boness saw that the Tyrel and Baratheon clans had built camps of different types of troops. An unusual strategy, and Lord Boness hoped that such inconsistency would be to his advantage. The imminent opening of the other altars recaptured your attention.

So far, the scores of all the clans were similar. Boldly, Lord Boness sent the 1st march towards the enemy altar without even sending any scouts first. Holding his breath as his infantry roamed the battlefield, Lord Boness awaited the result! And yes, he managed to take over the place. The reverse also occurred, but at this first moment Lord Boness's defenses held out bravely.

As he headed to take over new altars, Lord Boness received his first shock. Lord Phenatull's cavalry wave had decimated his infantry! He watched the battle report, and even though the enemy had not reached his main line of commanders, Lord Boness felt apprehensive. A second shock from the enemy made him curse to the heavens.

Lord Boness noted that the amount of attacks coming from both neighboring houses was leaving him behind. Still, he managed to hold the altar using his main line up. Both Adryo's archers and Akaroa's spearmen, the latter probably without a scout before sending the attack, were decimated upon reaching the walls defended by the line up led by Sinara.

To compensate for the lost altars, he also headed towards the enemy's skirmishers. The match was fierce. But at a certain point, he became apprehensive when he was once again hit by strong cavalry! New attacks came from nearby enemies: Phenatull and Akaroan. This last attack was a hard blow, as it hit his main line up.

Apprehension took over Lord Boness. Perhaps he realized at this moment that it would be difficult to reach 1st place. He would adopt a strategy to guarantee at least 2nd or 3rd place. But the situation remained dramatic due to the various attacks coming from House Tyrel, which had assumed the leadership.

Lord Boness would direct his efforts to secure new sources of points. Thus, he remained alert for the opening of the mines, and later for the Well of Mines. Due to the importance of the latter, and being susceptible to enemy attacks, he quickly requested reinforcements from the few members of the Clan who were active.

Some companions tried to take over other wells, but without success. Meanwhile, he noticed that he was parked in fourth place. The tension reached its peak when another enemy march headed towards the Mine defended by Lord Boness. Given the few reinforcements in the Mine, the worst happened. Slaugter007 sent a legion of archers led by Kravas, but containing both Theon and Melisandre fully awake. Lord Boness's infantry was decimated. He watched the bodies litter the battlefield. His morale faltered, and alarmed at this moment, he feared the worst. The cost of healing countless troops to remain active in the battle would perhaps be fruitless.

He noticed that the City of Glory reigned alone in the center of the map; one alternative would be to try to dominate it. But deep down, Lord Boness knew that it would be a foolish attempt. It would be difficult to cause much damage now that the forces were almost exhausted, and it would be even harder to keep it under enemy attacks until the protection bubble. He warned his companions that it would be a better idea now to aim for 3rd place, or at least not to finish fourth or last and be penalized with the loss of points.

The loss of a second mine under the control of an ally completely destroyed Lord Boness's hopes of reaching the podium.

He limited himself to assaulting a few empty altars and securing an extra score. The match ended and, as expected, he reached 4th place. Lord Boness was at least satisfied with having earned enough personal points to purchase valuable items, especially battle diamonds to upgrade his Sunspear Blade. He returned to his castle then ready to rebuild his forces, and await the next fight!