Not for the Faint of Heart: A CCS Novel

CCS was not very kind to me this month because of the timing. The slots my kingdom got were just awful. Weekend random slots are always a gamble and most of the times, they don't seem to work out. But on the other hand, I'm running out of Battle and Bravery Tokens so I need to offer some more troops as tribute to the CCS Gods in exchange for their "blessings"...

As luck would have it though, this latest CCS slot is on the reset slot. Now reset... I don't have any plans, other than... you know... sleeping? I didn't want to be online at that time, but I kind of had to, just to keep the tokens train going. I sure hope the next slot will be better, because I can't keep prioritizing CCS over other real life events, like... sleep.😜

On the bright side, we didn't have to spend time looking for a team. The reset map had BDR's main kingdom on it with some absolutely massive accounts like Rock and Tholking, alongside a few other familiar faces like Grom and Makima. So at least I would be sure to get some Tokens.

After I ported onto the map and randomly chose a spot next to my friends only to find myself surrounded by other alliance members.

Some could say I was a trendsetter, but I'm just happy I can reinforce fast as the CCS shell was building up around our spot.

Looking over both teams, we were clearly the favorites, but during my quick scouting I had spotted a few contenders on the other side, including Barbarossa and other NBe players, so I was still expecting a good fight with lots of Tokens on the table.

Rock takes center as soon as it opens and how lovely it is for me to see he's Spear. What a lovely coincidence, so am I and Spear is the troop type I have the most of. At least waiting for this slot was not a waste of time.

At first I wasn't too worried because NBe still hadn't shown up. Apparently they have a reputation for arriving fashionably late, so I figured the real game simply hadn't started yet.

But then 5 minutes pass. And 5 minutes turn into 10. Still nobody to contest us. Are we getting ghosted?!?

At that point I was kind of starting to accept that I might have stayed up late for nothing. This wasn't going to be the bloodbath I had imagined. Tokens would not be pouring down on us, like the rains in Africa.

So here I am with a full march of T4s waiting in Center for some action that wasn't coming.

But around the 20 minute mark some reports started coming in. Some players had probably already reached their targets and were pulling out.

The first proper rally I reinforced ended exactly how you'd expect against Rock. A full cavalry rally disappeared into the void. I'm honestly not even sure they were trying to win. It almost looked like they just wanted Bravery Tokens.

That didn't mean every rally failed though.

Hank quickly established himself as the biggest threat on the enemy side and suddenly I had to pay attention. Losing tons of troops into Rock is one thing. Losing them into a rally that actually has a chance of winning is a completely different story.

Fortunately, everyone else kept bouncing one after another and my Tokens were flowing in.

Even several strong infantry leads couldn't make a dent, but their courage was appreciated and their Battle Tokens even more.

At this point I see other players pulling out just when a hard was coming in. Looking back on the match, I could have probably learned something from them, but I was desperate for Battle AND Bravery tokens, so I was happy to let my troops die. Now that I think about it a bit more... I could have probably recalled myself and only reinforced for hits where we were in a dominant position. This would have optimized my results with minimal losses and far more Battle Tokens, at the expense of some Bravery Tokens. A lesson to be learned for next time.

Moving into the 2nd part of the match, I have to say it wasn't the most exciting CCS I've ever played, and it was also rather inefficient as I lost a lot more troops than I was comfortable losing just to stock up on Tokens. This is not like me. But the midnight slot timing is probably taking it's toll on my brainpower.

About halfway through the match I had already earned enough Bravery Tokens to buy all 4 Blue Badges (2 for Bravery Tokens and 2 for Battle Tokens) and that was the minimum I wanted, so I started taking it easier and just enjoyed watching the reports.

Eventually Rock secured first place and it was time for the planned swap. But... planned might be a strong word.

The swap wasn't exactly clean, but Tholking still got into center. And Tholking is also running Spear, so yeey, more troops I can donate to the war effort. At this point I wouldn't have minded a Cav or Inf player. My Spears are already crying.

On the bright side, by then I had already farmed everything I needed anyway, so I could chill on the reinforcements a bit. Not because I didn't want more Tokens, but because I started running low on troops. I'm leaving with the Altar full and no energy left. And the hospital bills have already depleted all my banked resources. So I can safely say, my account has suffered enough this day.

Second place was secured shortly after and then Makima wend in for third.

Finally! An Infantry holder. Maybe I'd actually get to reinforce something other than Spearmen!

A few hits later... the sweet dream comes to an end. The moment a big Cav lead launched their rally... we disbanded on them before they could hit. Rock was already waiting, sniped center straight back and that was the end of our Inf team defending. Thanks for raising my hopes.

Needless to say, I couldn't even be mad. The whole thing worked exactly as intended. Not in my favor, obviously, but I'm just a spectator there. I don't make the rules, I just get the scraps. And I'm used to this by now.

By the end of the match we'd comfortably locked all three podium positions and, despite the map being much easier than expected, we still walked away with our Battle Diamonds and Tokens. A bit expensive this time, but all real death events are.

Turns out we got a relaxed match, on par with my lack of energy at the late hour, watched rally after rally bounce off Rock and walked away with everything I wanted.

Now all I need is a slightly more chaotic map next time... because as fun as watching whales tank rallies is, eventually you also want to see somebody actually break through.