NBe vs Everyone: A Now All-Out War Tradition

AoW showed up right in the middle of summer - that lovely time when half the player base vanishes to “touch grass” while the rest of us are stuck staring at the Vanguard map, also known as The Map Where Whales Roam Free. Naturally, NBe (that’s us) is here because where else would we be? The problem is, this event has less “all-out war” and more “backroom politics”. Alliances love to form coalitions before the event starts. They split territories like it’s the War of the Five Kings -  everyone swears alliances they might break by next week.

We, however, are not the type to ask for a seat at someone’s table. A few alliances tried recruiting us into the Big Two Coalitions™. One led by BDR (with HOH, N0X, WAO) and the other led by RoD (with WxC, RRH, FFS, BTa), but we politely said “No thanks, we’ll play our own game”. My personal opinion? These coalitions ruin the fun. It’s called All-Out War for a reason.

Still, it’s not like we’re going in completely solo. We’ve got a good friendship with KAC, home of MUSAdra999, who joins NBe for other events. So, we teamed up with KAC for this AoW. And just before the event kicked off, HD! came knocking on our door. They had a falling-out with RoD’s coalition, so they decided to side with us. Perfect - our little “un-coalition” now has three members: NBe, KAC, and HD!

Technically, the goal in All-Out War is to win. Or at least rank high enough to grab some of those shiny rewards everyone pretends not to care about while secretly calculating exactly how many points they need. But while most alliances were busy trying to recruit more allies into their coalitions, we had a different plan: have fun. You know, actually play the event the way it was meant to be played.

Of course, some shiny rewards on the side don’t hurt. Personally, I’ve had my eye on those Song of Ice and Fire castle skin fragments since forever. I only have 13 out of 100, and yes, I know the stats aren’t everything, but just look at it. Best skin in the game, hands down! Doesn’t it look like it could solo the entire map just by showing up?

Don’t jump to conclusions, that’s just my fancy Pioneer whaley account.

Now, just when we thought things couldn’t be more stacked, matchmaking decided to throw in a little chaos. The map placement was a bit of a mess - one that will be fixed “next time”. Until then, we’re stuck with this map:

Of course, the map placements didn’t exactly do us any favors. The allocation phase was… generous with the chaos. KAC and OBV landed in Ages, right next to BDR in Lordsbane. We got Longreach - just below them - and got paired with an alliance we didn’t know much about, HHH. An Asian alliance, different timezone, no shared history, and definitely not much activity on Discord. Let’s just say coordination was going to be fun.

Our supposed allies, HD! and FHD, got into Scarlet. That meant they were wedged right in the middle of FFS and LEG in Tempest, and RoD and WxC in Frost. So yeah, their placement looked like a “best enjoyed within 48h” expiration date. I didn’t even have time to finish memorizing the map before HD! walked out of our “un-coalition” and went straight back to RoD’s coalition. Apparently, they didn’t like their placement and wanted to, you know, play the event for longer than two days. I get it. I really do. But it still gave off the kind of vibe that makes you think twice about future deals.

And that was the starting point. The map was broken. The alliances were shaky. And we, once again, were the stubborn ones - refusing to bend the knee, refusing to play the politics game, and just hoping there were still some proper fights left on the board.

There wasn’t much left for us to do after the neutral building phase. We’d taken everything we planned, Justice didn’t declare on any of our buildings, so, naturally, we declared on one of their buildings instead. Justice had an M.Industrial that looked a little too lonely, and we thought, why not?

We posted an announcement in Discord, opened up rallies for those who couldn’t bring solo marches, and set our timers. The battle was scheduled for 18:45 GMT, which translates to 20:45 my time. Not ideal for a Friday night, but let’s be honest - I wasn’t going to miss it. I even opened 2 rallies, one for myself and one for Gabzs - 8 rallies total. It was supposed to be our little warm-up fight for the event.

Except... the fight never happened.

We showed up with our rallies ready to go, but only a few bothered defending the building. We took it with solo marches. Not even a pushback. So there we were, 8 fully prepared rallies, zero resistance, and absolutely nothing to use them on. We stood there for a minute, wondering what now, gather? Really?

Then we saw it.

Up north, just under an hour away, declarations lit up the map. Lordsbane had gone after one of Tempest’s L.Industrials. BDR and N0X were making a play on FFS and LEG’s territory. Finally, a proper coalition clash. A fight that mattered. We could have stayed put. Watched from afar. But did we want to? Hell no.

So we made a decision. We were going to crash the party.

The timing lined up perfectly. Our battle had just ended, and theirs was about to begin. We gathered our rallies and started moving. The path was long - way too long, honestly. From the eastern edge of the map to the northwestern corner, cutting through Justice and Frost territory like we were on some ridiculous sightseeing tour. We didn’t want to deploy the rallies early and risk making the journey with solo marches, so we crawled across the map, marking paths and keeping a sharp eye out.

We weren’t alone out there. Skirmishes sparked here and there - RoD chasing BDR and HOH forces through the path - but no one focused on us. We moved quietly, carefully. It felt like sneaking backstage at a Red Wedding, except we were bringing 8 armies and absolutely no invitation.

We parked just outside one of the L.Industrial gates. The timer was ticking down. The battle was seconds away. And there we were, uninvited guests, waiting just out of sight.

Let the chaos begin!

As soon as Lordsbane broke down the gate, the party officially started, and it was a free-for-all. Factions poured in from all sides, and within seconds the Municipal Center looked like a rainbow exploded. Pinks, greens, oranges, reds… the whole color palette was there. It was a proper brawl, the kind you don’t see very often. Everyone was hitting everyone, and it didn’t take long to figure out that diplomacy had left the building.

We deployed our rallies the moment the gate dropped. No hesitation. Judging by the sheer number of marches on the field, we were likely the biggest army there. We tried to avoid hitting our allies in Ages (purple), but in that kind of chaos, it was basically impossible. Lines were crossing, targets were stacking, and if you stopped to ask who was who, you’d be zeroed before you finished the sentence.

Still, it was obvious Lordsbane had the upper hand early on. They were pushing hard for control of the building, and we knew if they managed to cap it, everyone else would get ported home, including us. After dragging 8 rallies across half the map, that just wasn’t acceptable. So we started focusing on the oranges (Lordsbane troops), while the greens (Tempest) suddenly found themselves with fewer headaches.

And here’s the twist: if the game allowed any faction to take a declared building, I genuinely think we could have walked away with it. We had the numbers, the rallies, and the timing. But the game doesn’t work like that. Only Lordsbane could take it, since they were the ones who made the declaration. Tempest could only defend. And the rest of us? We were just there for the fireworks.

Still, for a brief moment, that building felt like it belonged to no one. Just a battleground where every hit counted and every march burned. And for once, it felt like actual All-Out War.

That battle felt glorious. For once, it wasn’t about alliances and backdoor diplomacy - it was chaos. Pure, colorful, unpredictable Westeros chaos. The kind of fight I’ve been waiting for since the event began. The kind that reminds you why you’re still playing this game, even when the politics make you want to just not show up and take a month-long vacation from the game.

However, once all our rallies were dead and with a too-long trek back, Lordsbane just replenished troops and took the L.Industrial.

Afterward, I found out some factions thought we came to help the attackers. Not entirely surprising, considering we showed up as the offensive side. But once the dust settled and they realized we were just crashing the party for the fun of it, the complaints faded. Maybe some of them even enjoyed it. Maybe.

It’s funny how one battle can shift your entire feeling about an event. All the politics, all the side deals, all the quiet trades, they melt away when everyone’s scrambling over a Municipal Center like it's the Iron Throne. And while the war isn’t over - far from it - I doubt anything else this season will top that fight. We didn’t win a ranking. We didn’t take the building. But we showed up, stirred the pot, and walked away knowing we made that moment what it was.

If there’s a lesson in all of this, it’s that sometimes the best part of All-Out War isn’t the territory you take. It’s the fight you pick. The one no one saw coming. The one that doesn’t show up on the leaderboard but ends up being the story you’ll tell next season.

And me? I’ll keep collecting fragments, keep avoiding coalition invites, and keep hoping that next time, we will have more parties to crash. Because let’s face it, being the troublemaker has its perks.