War of Kingdoms - Can’t have your cake and eat it!

【High Risk, High Reward!!】

Dear Lords, it is time for this week’s update. Apart from the All Out War, which is drawing to a close, the most eagerly anticipated event this week is undoubtedly this Sunday’s War of the Kingdoms.

Each stage of the War of the Kingdoms is blessed with a different Lord of Light’s protection effect. This time, the effect is ‘Lord of Light’s Glory’, which means that Lords participating in the battle will receive 15 percent more merit, Battle Tokens and Bravery Tokens than usual. In this mode, soldiers lost in battle will not return the day after the war the Kingdoms; consequently, we can expect that the lords participating in this event are formidable opponents who should not be taken lightly. Anyone willing to take this risk and enter the fray is undoubtedly a seasoned veteran.

【You Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It 】

In Kingdom Battles, capturing castles is the best way to score points, particularly at the Red Keep in King’s Landing, where a force packed with high-tier soldiers can rapidly widen the points gap; trying to close this gap through resource gathering is a completely impossible task. If you’re aiming to turn the score around by eliminating enemy troops, you’ll need the strength to overwhelm your opponents, as well as a stroke of luck at just the right moment. So what chance do we have of pulling off a surprise victory in the Kingdom Siege? Next, we’ll analyse an interesting tactic using two battle reports from this Kingdom Siege—one I personally refer to as the ‘can’t have your cake and eat it’ dilemma!

【The Red keep Massacre】

Amai recently paid a visit to K479 to check whether those players who’d accidentally forgotten to set up their bubbles were capable of fending off an attack. Judging by the ‘gifts’ they left me, I must not be particularly welcome here. Apart from me, only my loyal companion Ge0muni was present in K479. Clearly, in this battle, I’ll have to find other ways to have some fun—I certainly can’t go down the conventional route of capturing castles or organising rally attacks by only two of us. In fact, we don’t need to feel all that loyal to this temporary haven, do we?

Shortly after Amai visited K479, Capt Black also arrived, I wasn’t initially sure what this formidable player from HD! was up to; I even suspected he might be here for a bit of fun just like me. However, it seems he is on good terms with LMS, the King’s Alliance of K479, and has even joined them in the War of Kingdom event. In any case, in this ever-changing event, anyone who isn’t on my team must be regarded as an enemy.

Capt Black deployed a force in King’s Landing—his spearmen formation—but he did not station his Lord in the centre of the Red Keep. The reason was simple: he did not wish to leave the gates of his home castle wide open. This presented me with a golden opportunity, as spearmen are precisely the unit my main infantry force is best at countering! What’s more, with no Lord in residence, my only concern was to push myself to the limit, pumping the Race Boost all the way, to ensure that I did not slip between cup and lip. Capt Black is a player whose Lord is the Awakened Sararer; if he were to station his Lord and main line-up in the Red Keep, I’d have no choice but to watch from the sidelines in despair.

So, it seems that to secure victory in the War of Kingdom and score points by deploying troops in the centre of the Great City, you’ll inevitably have to commit your main forces there, won’t you? Let’s now take a look at another thrilling battle on K236!

【Knock, Knock, Trick or Treat?】

The HHH Alliance from K236 clashed with the AAO Alliance from K385. At the start of the Kingdom Battle, players from the HHH Alliance, as is customary, lay in wait in the kingdom’s hidden corners, biding their time, whilst AAO’s strongest player, nataS, took up position in K236’s King's Landing right from the outset. Like Capt Black, nataS is also a player who possesses the Awakened Night King and Sararer. However, to avoid running the same risk as Capt Black, nataS chose to station his main frontline forces in the Red Keep. I can tell you with certainty that this was by no means a good idea; a main city lacking a Lord’s defence is utterly defenceless against an army led by commanders of the calibre of Sararer or Vorian. Savages had no intention of bothering with nataS’s troops in King’s Landing; they were nothing more than a decorative dessert. By comparison, nataS’s troops at his home castle were the main course. In just two attacks, Savages—true to his name—ferociously wiped out over 25 million of nataS’s troops, causing nataS’s combat strength to plummet by 800 million in only 12 seconds! In just two sorties, the outcome of this battle for the kingdom had already been decided—it was nothing short of terrifying!

Do you now understand why I told you that, in Kingdom Battles, you’ll find yourself caught in a ‘can’t have your cake and eat it’ dilemma? Gone are the days when you could send your main commander to great city to score points, trading troop numbers for reaction time. When facing players of Savages’ calibre or even higher, if they discover your lord is not in your home castle, you’ll face a devastating blow. Think about it: what methods could you use to avoid this risk? Hiding out in the wilderness? Adopt a ‘zero-castle’ strategy? Or have allies garrison themselves there to help defend? What risks do these tactics entail? Let’s have a chat about it!