GoTWIC: TRAP... TRAP? TRAP!!! Aventio capping a lord on a garrison! - K249

K249 was not my first choice.

Several kingdoms had already been visited, scouted. At some point, the servers start to feel like you have several groups watching all the low port cost kingdoms. Well, it's actually pretty much like that. So so annoying, that moment after nearly falling asleep, I turned my eye toward K249, a place where some strong BDR and HD! castles are on the King's Landing treeline. I had to do something, I was so bored, so I thought, why not go there with an alt and try trap someone. I did know these players from before; it’s always more fun to chase players with whom you had a little beef earlier.

Placing the bait

I travelled in with my main account and brought an alt along for company. The alt was not there to shine. Its job was simple: look weak, act annoying, and collect attention and bait that player.

I parked my lord and a serious stack of T5 inside the alt as a garrison. Then the alt started doing what alts do best. I started hitting some small castles, hit some gather nodes, and moved around just enough to appear in a few member logs. From the outside, it looked like another greedy farmer who did not know when to stay quiet.

Behind that cheap skin sat my strongest formation in a garrison, fully buffed and ready to punish anyone who decided to teach the “node farmer” a lesson, hehe.

K249 had some scary accounts that I needed to watch out for. Member logs were checked again to determine who was online and offline. I watched which names and marches were sent out to rebel camps or recalled marches from nodes with the use of race boots. The goal was clear: create the illusion of a free kill.

From Nii to Dau

My first hope was that someone from Nii would bite the bait. Their names moved on the map, scouts marched towards rebel camps, yet the one I wanted most, AndriTork, kept refusing to touch the bait. The alt went in and out of their sight, presented empty-looking marches, and even stood a little too close to their hive at times.

Nothing, no reaction.

At some point, patience turns into wasted time. I shifted my attention to another alliance that had been catching my eye on the map. Alliance name: Dau. Location: Riverrun.

One name in particular started to stand out. Nick. His castle showed signs of activity; troops marched, scouts were sent to camps, gather nodes pulled back, which seemed to have been sped up with race boots. Everything about his activity said one thing. This player is present and proud enough to react if someone scratches his nodes :D.

Emotions are the hunter's tools; they can make you vulnerable, or they can make you stronger.

As he got quite nervous from the many alliance attack reports and node attacks, brave Nick decided to stand up, unsheathed his sword, and went for it!

The alt kept playing bait while my main account was lying dormant in the grass. I checked Nick’s gear, who had changed to war gear, and the moment was there, his first march headed towards my bait.

Cap lord, or not?

The raven returned from the citadel with an unsettling score on Nick’s end, a clean victory for me. His front line took heavy damage. The most important part was not the numbers. The important part was psychological satisfaction; my efforts finally paid off.

Nick paid the bill for bravery 

The best traps do not feel like traps. They feel like opportunities.

Not long after Nick hit on my alt/garrison, I decided to finish him off, without showing mercy. I pulled back my garrison from my alt. At the same time, he likely tried to random port, but he seemed not to know that a part of his troops were removed by my reroute skill, so it was clear to me that panic started to kick in on Nick’s side as he did not speed up his returning march. An open chance for me to finish the target.

I launched my solo attack towards his castle, and without any kind of Lord buffs, as that was still in my dungeon, the result was devastating.

Heavy losses occurred on Nick’s side, no synergy on his wall, lord in prison, ofc obviously. Yet I was merit hunting, so I struck again.

Emotional reflection

On paper, this looks like a small series of fights in the middle of a big game. One invader, one target, a few victories, some merits gained. The numbers tell only half the story.

The part that matters to me is how it happened.

K249 was not a random playground. Strong BDR and HD! castles sat close enough that a reckless move would have turned my invasion into a disaster within seconds. I went in with an alt, prepared a garrison, tracked member logs, and shifted targets when my first idea did not work. Everything stayed controlled until the other side allowed emotions to take control.

Nick could have rallied a camp, hidden troops in a shelter, sent out troops to bubbled castles, using 15min march to play safe. He could have waited, watched, and brought friends to deal with the “farmer. Instead, he chose to chase the alt all alone. First my bait, then his city, porting too close, reckless, slow attack. Every step pulled him deeper into the trap that started long before his march moved.

That lesson is the real reward of this invasion. Troops will come and go. Merits will rise and fall. A player who learns to keep calm under pressure will survive many hunts. A player who follows anger will eventually meet someone who prepared for it. However, Nick made the wrong choices here. I deeply respect him for stepping up to defend his kingdom and friends.

-Aventio