One Fight Was All I Needed - Not a Win, But Not a Humiliation Either

Alright, so after recently dipping my pinkie toe into this Glorious Battle season on my alt, I figured I would give it one proper try on my main.

Using the alt first was intentional. Expectations were set low, so disappointment was acceptable. That account can barely stand up straight, let alone fight. It couldn't hit the floor if it fell on it😅

But with the season ending in two days, I decided this was as low risk attempt to gain some real experience for when it matters later. If I am ever going to play these big account events properly, I have to start somewhere. Even bad attempts are still useful lessons.

Alliance-wise, things look great. We are set for first place, one step closer to that Golden Chicken skin. That alone already makes the season a success.

Eliminations: zero. No surprise there. I never expected to rank.

In terms of Contributions: not even top 100, despite nonstop trade, transport or construction. A bit disappointing, but realistically the Honor Token alone was never going to carry me. The GB pass would have helped. Lesson learned.

Healing: also zero, since I had not fought at all. And that is where the idea forms.

Wounded troops means Bravery Tokens. Healing also means rankings I can realistically touch. Suddenly, this starts to look like an angle worth playing, and quite likely, my only angle.

Fighting is about to break out across several fronts, and the gravy train is already rolling. Time to see where I fit into this!

Not immediately, though... I am still gathering... They don't call me FarmerCom for nothing...

I wait out the last few minutes, which feels like an eternity when you are actually trying at work, trying to work and people keep walking past your desk no stop. Eventually, gathering finishes. War pants on. Almost there...

Since I am already in war gear and just missing PvP refinement, I quickly knock out an Adventure Camp. I will come back to this later. It matters more than it should.

Gathering troops return. PvP refinement set. Time to send. But where? Those NPC buildings look good, but what about my main march?

I check my "assignment", swap to the correct military position and admin tree, and load up a march.

T5s armed, padded safely with T4s, T3s and T1s. The main goal is simple: no T5 deaths. Everything else is on the table. Lord march out! Vaya Con Dios! Now back to work!

When I check back, I see a victory. For a brief moment, I am genuinely happy. Then I realize it was the Adventure Camp.😒

Right. Moving on. The actual GB report is less encouraging, obviously. An infantry player found me. Jon and Daeron, no Vorian, no Jaqen. Cheap setup😜. That is probably the only reason I managed to scrape a few kills at all.

Still, the gravy train is moving, and that small success is enough to send me back in. Another march out!

I also pop the Winterfell Flower Festival buff for 20% healing speed. Given my circumstances, that healing boost hits just right.

By the time I reach the building again, it is frozen. It's closer to Tempest territory, meaning they reinforce faster an guess who's "frozen" in the queue waiting for the fight to start? MatJenin!

Ten times my strength? Night King, 4* NK weapon? Grey Worm? Level 80 Sapphire? I already know how this ends if I fight it.

I go back to work hoping I don't get "lucky" to face this account.

When I return, the report confirms it. Clean defeat with zero kills. My troops left in body bags. At least my T5s survive.

Alright. One more. I send another march and return to work again. Judging by how things started, I'm guess my next report will be Black bear, or someone similar.😂

Black bear it is. I called it! But wait? I actually killed a few Cavs? Probably because I'm Spear vs Cav and they lack Brienne, and their Sapphire is only level 70. Clearly not a win for me, but not flawless defeat either.

And that feels… different. At least compared to MatJenin.

At this point, "game time" is running out. I can send one last march before I have to get back to work for good.

One more march. YOLO solo. How bad can it be, right?

I check the report hours later and this one landed literally in the final seconds of the fight. Quite possibly the last 10 seconds. A massive fight was raging over Fortress 3, with accounts flying out on both sides, and that chaos eventually worked in my favor?

When it was my turn this time, I run into Cav. Good start! Cassana and Cersei. Stronger than me, not so good! But not a whale!!!

And for the first time tonight, I land a solid hit.

I lose the fight, obviously, but it is not a humiliation. I actually kill a decent number of troops. Real numbers for once. Enough to matter. Enough to finally break my weak-almost-flawless losing streak.

That report makes my day.

After several bad defeats, I finally get a loss that does not feel pointless. I even appear on the Elimination Rush ladder, which I genuinely did not expect.

I even get in the top 200 healing ranks after these fights. I doubt it will last until the end of the season, but who knows.

Coming out of this run, I have to say it did exactly what I hoped it would.

Low expectations. Realistic goals. Small wins. Happy outcomes!

Glorious Battle is still not built for accounts like mine, but this showed me that persistence matters. If you play the event the way it is meant to be played, even a smaller account can occasionally have an impact.

Or as philosopher me would say: sometimes, even the smallest mouse can startle an elephant.