AAO UC (S23 M1) – The Road to the Top Begins

So my alt alliance has officially qualified to UC in the A Leagues! Yeey!😀

The little alt alliance has grown up quite a bit lately and now it's stepping onto the big leagues. Good for them! AAO has a good core of players and enough discipline around it to build something great over time.

And I'm glad to still be part of the project, even if lately I've been more of an honorary official than an actual shot caller or event lead. But missing half the season tends to do that to you, so no hard feelings😅

Still... now that we're entering UC, I can't help but wonder how far this alliance can actually go.

And honestly? I think we might have a real shot at becoming the A League UC champions.

So let's begin the first chapter of AAO's Ultimate Conquest journey and see how far this little alt alliance can climb in Season 23.

Our opening match is against KFr and if that name sounds familiar, it's because we already played them twice during the normal season, in Match 3 and Match 6. And since we won both of those games... confidence is pretty high going into this one.

Since this is UC, I immediately pop a juicy 75% Army Size buff because if there was ever a moment to stop hoarding buffs "for later"... this is it.

I also notice I'm getting very close to a clean 1.4 million march size. With a few small optimizations I could probably round it up nicely and satisfy my inner OCD. Something to review later.

As the match starts, I check my assignments and... Nothing? No race?? No hold?!? Wait... really?

I guess after being somewhat unreliable during the normal season, leadership probably didn't fully count on me attending today😅

But compared to my main alliance where every second is stress, pressure from either races or ten other things happening all at the same time... this could be relaxing, right? I can just sit back and watch the game unfold, like spectator mode.

https://youtu.be/QFFGXRbOvLc

Phase 1 starts and AAO secures a respectable 3 out of the 4 opening buildings. Decent opening. Still... part of me instantly thinks: "Yeah but we could've gone 4/4!"😊

I think the Outpost they have is Inf and my Cavs are itching for a run. And without any hesitation and no second thoughts, I instantly launch a solo attack. I don't even open up a rally like a normal AC player, I just YOLO SOLO it!

And the moment my troops leave the castle... I get called out: "STOP ATTACKING."

Wait... what? The game literally just started and we're already pulling the handbrake?

I let the attack hit anyway because at that point it would've been too disappointing not to, and then I calm down like the obedient LittleCav player, non-shot caller, non-event lead that I currently am😶

The report was actually beautiful though. I won a solo against four defenders. Not enough to flip the building and get myself in any real trouble, but enough for a satisfying report. So I'll take it.

With Phase 1 mostly done and nothing really contested, I patiently wait for Phase 2 where... once again... I'm not needed for races or holds, or anything. I should have brought a pillow to this game, not a 75% army size buff.

We secure one of the two Ports and I simply reinforce where appropriate.😀

Honestly, my energy level in this match is way higher than what's actually required on the battlefield. I genuinely need to calm down before I accidentally create problems for myself with leadership. I feel I'm already on thin ice.

After even more patience training, Phase 3 begins and Casterly Rock opens. Normally this is where my blood pressure spikes. It's a "big building" with an important race so overall a key moment in any AC game.

But not today!😂Today I sit calmly, watch the assigned racers do their thing, and only reinforce afterward.

It's almost a weird reverse tension. Usually AC stress comes from needing to race and pay attention to five things simultaneously. This time the challenge is... doing absolutely nothing unnecessary and playing a disciplined, clean game.

Then finally, in Phase 4... my name appears: Far Stronghold assignment! At last! My entire game has been leading up to this moment, lol.

Get ready! Set!! GO!!!🙂

I race! I win!! I hold!!!😊

Beautiful. Finally some action for me!

https://youtu.be/S8c6q3-HCVI

I immediately want more of this and less of the "sit quietly and reinforce" gameplay.

AAO also wins the other Stronghold race and at this point we've basically allowed KFr to keep only the buildings they originally raced into.

Then a new problem appears. Our Fortress hits are actually too strong for their holders.😜Yes, apparently that's a real issue now.

Leadership decides we should stop hitting the Outpost because we're risking accidentally kicking them and instead redirect the hits to the Port where their Spear holder is much stronger.

Makes sense. Except... I'm apparently the only Fortress that updates target priorities as per the new instructions.

So while the other Stronghold keeps slamming the weaker Outpost holder, I'm over here obediently hitting the Port alone😳

Phase 5 opens and suddenly the hives explode. Including my castle. At first I debate whether I should hide my troops or tank hits, but before I even decide, someone launches a weak attack and catches me completely unprepared "stealing" my points.

Meh, I probably could've tanked it too if I had prepared properly and I wasn't holding a building.

But it goes both ways, you know? We absolutely clean up their hives as well. But the math is hilarious.

They're only 17 players, while we're 65. Their points disappear instantly while our hive still has enough points spread around to survive for a while, especially since some of our castles are actually trying to defend.

Eventually, the nonstop pressure from just one of our Strongholds finally kicks them out of the Outpost they had been holding all game. Kind of embarrassing, lol.

And shortly afterward they even abandon the Port. We weren't even attacking it. So we take that too. And now the maps looks like it should have from the start, with all buildings under our control.

Now we move into the final phase and this is where things become genuinely interesting to me. Because unlike the normal season, UC isn't about total points. It's just about wins. And we've already been pretty generous by letting KFr keep every building they originally won the races for.

So what happens with the mines? Do we let them have one? Do we race both and let whoever wins the race sit in the mines?

Do we even care about the rewards? Because personally, I absolutely care!

Sure, technically we only need the win... but unless we're already capped on rewards, there is no universe where I comfortably watch another alliance casually mine free points off us.

Unfortunately, I'm locked inside a building and can't race myself, so all I can do is watch.

And surprisingly... KFr actually wins the race to the mine closest to their hive. Now the real question appears: Do we let them keep it?

Thankfully the answer arrives instantly. And it's an "Absolutely not!" moment.

Solo attacks immediately start flying across the map toward their mine and that makes me happy!😏

Even if we didn't technically "need" the points, I would've hated watching them freely drain that mine in a game that we controlled so far. Dominating the game means dominating the map, including the mines phase.

https://youtu.be/Aez7UC7ryZI

And thankfully leadership thinks the same way. We secure both mines, fully deplete them, and push ourselves over the 80k mark for max rewards.

Only then, with around seven minutes left in the game, do we finally start disbanding buildings and letting KFr collect a few consolation points of their own. Free points once all our rewards are done.

The match ends with a clean AAO victory and maximum rewards secured to start our UC journey. This was exactly the kind of professional opening game we needed.

Now the big question becomes: How far can AAO actually go?

And my prediction remains unchanged: All the way to the top.