From Greed to Chaos to Troop Starvation & a Double Rally that almost Ended Us

After a weak-ish GB and an uneventful KvK weekend, I was genuinely looking forward to Arena of Honor.

I had to ask myself why AoH is my favorite event. My account is not amazing. In most events I'm assigned to the boring jobs, gathering or covering secondary objectives, mostly filling gaps the heavy hitters do not have time for. But AoH is no different.😅

So that is exactly that makes me enjoy it?

Because it's not just about power. It is about the team! Our smaller roster, the relaxed Discord mood combining laughter with strategy. It feels less like pressure and more like coordinated fun with friends.😊

So let’s meet today’s lineup from our broader roster.

Our team rating keeps increasing, and recent matches have been harder and harder. But we've survived on knowledge and adaptation rather than brute strength. Not enough to take first every time, but enough to avoid last.😜And that what matters more these days.

I take my position on the map next to my in-game-significant-other, once again wishing he would equip the fancy skin so I can look... fancy too. But he insists on playing "incognito". It's still "our skin" tho, he just doesn't show it.

Tholking just asked for LC in world chat so we were hoping it wasn't for AoH, lol. Quick look on the map and we're safe? I don't recognize any names, but I only know a handful of people so that doesn't mean much anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCrwGn3mgC4

Game starts. We overlap a couple of Strongholds as usual. Nothing dramatic. Standard warm-up chaos.

Second row opens and we feel oddly... slow. Like slower than usual. Then the new meta mandatory progression starts.

We build Troop Camps and, as per the new meta, we secure the house counterclockwise from us before ten minutes pass. But taking it is easy, now we also need to defend it.

Given how limited my impact has felt lately, I specifically asked to defend a house this match. If I cannot win battles, maybe I can still do something important.

So there I am in House Tyrell, asking for reinforcements because the hits I'm taking from NPCs are no joke.😫

Before we can stabilize, our original house decides to grab yet another house. Since we already own the counterclockwise house, the system targets the clockwise one next. And guess what? Now we need a holder in House Greyjoy too.

Quick math time. Each of our marches is roughly 900k troops. We can bring about 3 million total. Three houses means we are already stretched thin, and we are mid transition between our original house and a new one captured. With almost all out troops blocked. No flexibility for anything else. That translates into: We're vulnerable everywhere else.

Despite holding two houses… we're sitting in last place.🙄

The score board is not an easy sight, but we're hoping that this short term dip will turn into a long term advantage. At least that is what we tell ourselves to justify doing nothing but almost twenty minutes other than taking Strongholds and reinforcing Houses...

During this transition, reinforcements are pulled from House Tyrell. One solid NPC hit later, I am out on the streets. Back in chat asking for help. We retake it. I go back in.

But I don't last long before I'm kicked again because I lack proper reinforcements. And we do the entire dance again... And again... Four times total...

At some point, it becomes clear that holding a house requires either proper reinforcements or one of our monster accounts parked inside. Their dragon and commanders can carry more weight than raw troops under my march.

Meanwhile, three of us are racing for an altar in our backyard, yet no one had troops free when my Tyrell House needed help? #Priorities!

This is pretty much my reaction to this sight...

Having my Lord march free means I can at least grab the Sept when it opens. And I learn something new: I do not need to keep my Lord march trapped inside for three minutes. Kill defenders, recall, send a small follow up march to claim.😊 Two new mechanics learned in one match.

Mid game slows down a bit. Dragonpits open. With our Troop Camp strategy, those buffs matter. We push for two out of three.

Slowly, the score climbs and the extra houses start paying off as we move into first place.

Now comes the real decision point. Center and small mines remain. We are already spread thin with heavy accounts tied up in houses.

Before center even opens, we briefly drop to second place. Nothing is secure this game.

Center opens. We rally. We take it.

Initial defenses hold. We pull back to heal and reinforce before the next wave lands. Timed pressure from both houses begins.

But we hit the same math problem as before... Two houses plus center equals three full marches blocked again. That is nearly everything we have with us. Which means everything else we gold is... well... exposed.

And the other teams know it. Because we start losing buildings left and right. We cannot contest everything. We can only protect what we think really matters.

The late game becomes super hard. Guerrilla attacks across all our buildings continue. Add some NPC houses trying to reclaim what we took and you get constant pressure that's exhausting for everyone in our team.

Still, we hold center, and we're certain that's the golden ticket for us this match.

Small mines open. With almost every troop stationed somewhere important, we sprint with whatever scraps we have left.

At least we win some races and we're able to chip away at a few points. Not nearly enough to swing the game, but we hope it's enough to hold our position.

As Illidan Stormrage would say: We were not prepared! But we were prepared enough.

We barely scraped points from the mines, and we all know how decisive those can be. Still, we held every other front. Our discipline and stubborn defense might just be our saving grace. Maybe we were not ready for the mine race. But we were ready to protect what we already had.

And as Dominic Toretto would say we held fast as a family! 😅

With the mines out of the way, in a semi failed, but best effort outcome, the final tension spike is coming our way: synchronized double rallies incoming on center. First one landing is Inf, followed by Spear. We are holding with spears. Not great for us.

Questions flood Discord: Can we even survive two coordinated hits? If we lose center, do we lose first? If we're kicked out, can we heal fast enough to retake?

First rally lands. We are all instantly sent home.

For a split second, it feels over. Disappointment washes over us, well, at least me, because our leads keep composure and orders come in instantly: Speed back > Heal > Rally it back! Speed! Speed! Speed! I feel like an AC déjà vu😂

On the bright side, the second enemy rally lands into our temporary holder but Spear vs Inf... does not break them.

But our counter rally is up and running. After the Spear rally, some catapults soften them up a bit before we hit.

Clean take! It's back ours! We are holding center again! Four minutes left on the clock.

The final countdown ticks away with our banners holding center. Game over. First place!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnqwLtxa7dE

We end with a double crown: Supreme Conqueror (for holding City of Glory) and Peerless Dominator (for holding three houses).

Greedy expansion off the bat? Definetely!

But we knew when to stop pushing and start defending. That discipline won us the match.😏

As I leave the map, I am greeted with a personal rank upgrade to King.

First place finish & double badge & glory rank up? I'll take that for a Sunday afternoon, thank you very much!

And that's only half the reason AoH remains my favorite event. The other half is this amazing team I'm part of.

GG boys. See you in two weeks.