Arena of Honor - First step back to Knight Rank

Time was running late when Mirwen arrived at her castle. The whole day she spent outside training her soldiers, spending time with her friends, just enjoying life on these late summer days. Winter was coming and it was just a question of time before everyone would be locked up in their castles again due to snow storms and other bad weather conditions. But being outside totally made her forget the time and now only a few minutes were left before Round 5 of the 2nd season of Arena of Honor will start. Not enough time to form a group, but she knew her personal strength was high enough to make a difference in most groups, so she just prepared herself and registered for the round. 

In another kingdom a group of warriors of TgL also prepared for battle. The mood was tense and in silence the Lords and Ladies put on their armors and went to their horses. They urgently needed points and Jul and Tongafco spent the day looking for friends to help out. And they found them in mfa, a long term friendship over many years, since they have shared a kingdom. 

So in the early evening the group met at the battlefield. They got allocated to Stark faction all in the North of the battlefield. With autumn arriving, the wind was already icy and the sun almost set when they arrived. I quick overlook over the other faction made clear that this was not a walk through. Especially Baratheon to their left put crinkles on Jul’s face. Not the GUS group that has gathered there, but the two added warriors:

But there was no time to think about it deeply as already the horn was blown as a starting signal. The warriors rushed towards the strongholds, snow and mud flanking the ways. Neither horses nor riders, nor commanders were ready for this weather yet. They had to keep moving to not get stiff from the cold and so they all put some extra effort into the battle. The strongholds were transformed into trading posts into minutes to instantly have troops free for the Altars. First the own, later stealing buffs and points from others. 

Soon it was clear that Tyrell might be the strongest faction, but the points were really close. All first three factions took every possibility to get points from each other, sending their armies all over the battlefield. Concentration marked Jul’s face. She has been here on the battlefield many times and she has made many bad calls. Still her warriors followed her, but Tonga was right, they needed to change something. Doing the same over and over again expecting another result was insane. And so her focus today was more on all the buildings around and not on the altars. She picked only those with extra points and some basic attack buff, but for the rest, she called her allies to focus on buildings giving more points. 

In Baratheon Mirwen and Boom had taken the lead. As the strongest warriors of that faction, they appointed the targets. And their main target was Stark faction right next to them. Looking at the scoreboard there were 2 ways to get up in the rank:

The 4th rank was most unpleasant one, so close to get points for the ranks and still going without anything. But they needed to keep their minds clear and not let emotions take control. No battle can be won, without picking the right fights. And so Mirwen and Boom decided to push against the buildings from Stark, knowing that barely any of them can kick them out. 

Jul and her team kept rushing over the field, taking everything back, that was about to get stolen. Only minutes were left until the Glory City in the middle will open. Surrounded by ice the white walls of the city were glittering in the faint light of the torches. Stark was in advantage here, their soldiers already used to the icy cold and slippery ground. Within seconds they have assembled the rally and were marching towards the wide spread wings of the towering dragon. The first take was easy with all the soldiers they brought with them. Like a wave they moved through the gates swarming into the halls taking out every defending soldier. But that was just the first step, now they had to prepare their defense. They called for help from their teammates that had not participated in the rally to fill the castle up with as many soldiers as possible. Barricading the doors, manning the walls, setting traps, Stark faction was waiting for the first attacks to come. The view of the soldiers was straight in all directions. Snow started to fall and made it hard to figure out anything more away than 5 feet behind the wall. But they did not need to see anything, when they heard the thundering march coming from the south. Like a drumbeat, the steps of millions of soldiers came closer and closer. Swords pounding on shields, voices echoing a war call.  Tyrell was coming for the city. Jul knew, if they cannot defend it, there was no way to hold their second rank and Barathoen was just waiting to sneak away whatever else they were holding. They needed to withstand, hold this city and so she swore her warriors in: “Hold the line, fight with all your power, defend as if your family was behind you in this castle!” A loud crack announced the gate was broken, millions of soldiers poured into the city, directly aiming for the defending soldiers. But to their horror, it was not the well shielded infantry they expected from the noises they heard at the wall, but a large number of spear soldiers in the first line, taking on their horses as easy as a hot knife through butter. Blood splattered with the falling snow turning the ground into ruby red. Steel on steel clashed so loud not even the icy wind could carry that noise away. The screams of the horses when pierced by the spears echoed all over the field. Behind the spears the expected force of infantry arrived, but the riders were already killed and the few remaining had no chance to break the first line of the battle. On the wall fighting Jul heard Tonga shouting to her: “Jul, we need to retreat! Let us reorganize!” He was right, she knew it. This was not the end of the battle, this was just a lost fight. They had time to reorganize, pick another strategy and still make their goal to become at least 3rd on the ranking.

From the north-east of the Castle, Mirwen was watching the massacre at the Glory City. She paid Jul respect for taking it that quick and defending it like a lioness. But she could not let emotion lead her. Now Stark was weakened, they lost many soldiers, concentrated only on the city, this was the moment they had to strike. Taking everything from Stark that was unprotected, before they could recover from that defeat and decided for another strategy. With just a look at Boom they send their marches out again, running towards the altars, taking the dragon pit and not leaving a single moment for Stark to take a breath. But you best watch yourself:

When the Horn was blown again, Jul and Tonga let their weapons sink, watching each other. None of them had watched the scoreboard in the last minutes, too busy to send every Baratheon soldier running that they could find. Slowly they turned and a big smile appeared on their faces. Light hearted Jul gave Tonga a high five, proud that her team had fought until the last second to make this 3rd rank possible. From the side, Mirwen walked towards them, face covered in sweat, armor already partly opened. No smile on her face, but also no grief. “Thank you for the great fight! I do not like the outcome, but you have fought as a team and deserve that 3rd rank for you and your whole team. I will take my revenge in the next round of Ultimate Tournament!” And with that her lips curled up to a half smile and she turned around to leave the battlefield. Jul and Tonga also mounted their horses, leaving the field to a warmer place. Now they finally got some points, the next goal was clear: Back to Knight rank and with todays new test of strategies, both were positive, that they can make it.