~ TASTEIT vs Sir Franny - When the Spears Forced the Cavalry to Fight Without Momentum | Kingdom 370 ~

📘 Prologue - Two Banners on Foreign Soil

At the dawn of Kingdom 370, two alliances found themselves pitted against one another in a clash neither had truly orchestrated. RRH was living up to its reputation as an alliance that spearheaded offensives one that thrived in a climate ripe for conquest, capable of instantly exploiting an opening and transforming the site of an isolated target into a full-blown battlefield. Its presence did not necessarily trigger an all-out war, yet for any castle caught in its crosshairs, it was an immediate signal of heightened vulnerability.

Opposite stood NdT, an alliance representing a microcosm she knew intimately one where the members’ concerns resonated with the close proximity of their territories. This time, however, that familiarity with the terrain would not suffice to avert the looming confrontation.

Both factions had refined their positioning and adopted distinct approaches to the events ahead: RRH was seeking an opening, while NdT had to block their path to the breach.

And in Kingdom 370, that breach would very soon go by the names TASTEIT and Sir Franny.

TASTEIT is an RRH player whose strength lies in spearmen. It is an army built around a troop type that is particularly effective against cavalry, yet this does not guarantee a victory in every engagement; a misreading of the defense, unexpected reinforcements, or a different tactical approach could quickly turn the tide.

That was precisely what made the target interesting. TASTEIT wasn’t going to strike an opponent chosen at random, but rather a player whose specialty fit the tactical dynamic he was aiming for though he still had to pull it off on the battlefield.

Sir Franny belongs to NdT and relies primarily on his cavalry. Such a specialty can lead to extremely violent combat: once he manages to impose his terms of engagement, the opposition can crumble in the blink of an eye. However, against spearmen prepared to withstand the charge, he may find himself facing a situation far more conducive to a surprise reversal.

Sir Franny was likely not the sort of target expected to fall at the first blow. The rearguard of his castle—provided it held its ground—could well engage an enemy force that might not withstand an initial defeat. After all, as long as a force remained capable of holding the high ground, it remained a threat.

⚔️ First Attack - Momentum Shattered at the Walls

TASTEIT did not leave Sir Franny’s castle in peace for long. The target’s appeal was glaringly obvious: behind the fortifications lay an army dominated by cavalry precisely the force his spearmen hoped to pin down in combat. While the engagement was still in the theoretical stage, there is a vast difference between the calculated outcome of a force-ratio analysis and the reality of the clash itself; raw numbers reveal nothing about the actual quality of the defense.

RRH’s advance was shrewdly launched along a fairly wide corridor, yet the nature of the engagement grew complex as the battle drew near. TASTEIT had to ensure the initial shock did not devolve into a rout; the line had to remain compact, with the front ranks of spearmen forming an almost impenetrable mass, backed by sufficient depth to prevent a localized breakthrough from becoming decisive.

Then, the two sides collided. Sir Franny’s cavalry charged into the fray, carrying the full violence of the initial impact. For a moment, the defenders even seemed capable of forcing a breakthrough. Within TASTEIT’s ranks, the clash took its toll, and the cost of the assault mounted. This was no mere march through an unresponsive garrison. Sir Franny was inflicting damage and making his opponent pay for every step.

The trouble was, the spearmen weren't stepping back far enough.

That was where the battle’s first decisive break occurred. The cavalry needed to catch its breath between its charges and the open ground; they were forced to grind against a formation that seemed to close ranks with every advance. As the cavalry engagement dragged on, the struggle became a war of attrition. The horsemen still in the fray had to keep fighting even as their initial advantage evaporated.

Yet, Sir Franny’s troops held firm. He still had units felling their opponents, and for several turns, there was no sign that the battle for the castle was nearing its end. TASTEIT was losing too much momentum in a contest of strength that remained very real; if his front line destabilized before the defenders were fully exhausted, the balance between spearmen and cavalry risked becoming too complex to ensure victory by the time the clash concluded.

But it was the defenders who would be the first and only side to reach that critical state.

Some of the cavalrymen fell; then more. The gaps created by this disintegration were no longer filled by the charging horsemen but were immediately occupied by RRH’s spearmen. Conversely, Sir Franny’s line shrank steadily until it could no longer withstand the pressure. TASTEIT had succeeded in turning his opponent’s greatest weapon into a grinding slog from which they could not easily extricate themselves.

TASTEIT’s victory: 17M vs. 188M for Sir Franny

The gap clearly illustrated the magnitude of the clash. TASTEIT had traded 17M in power during the offensive phase proof that Sir Franny had truly taken the bait. Yet, the 188M lost by Sir Franny completely altered the state of the castle, which was now in an even more precarious condition following the attack.

And yet, something prevented this victory from marking the end.

Sir Franny was still standing.

The initial attack had shattered a significant portion of his combat potential without extinguishing his resolve to fight on. TASTEIT could have walked away, given the highly favorable exchange, but doing so would mean abandoning a defeated enemy leaving a battle unfinished that, in a second pass, could simply replicate the first.

It was time to finish what remained unresolved.

⚔️ Second Attack - What Lay Behind the Gates

Sir Franny’s castle no longer looked quite the same. The first attack had stripped away a massive amount of power, and the cavalry which had put up such a fierce resistance against TASTEIT was no longer capable of holding the same defensive line. Nevertheless, the target remained active; it was still enough of a threat to warrant another engagement.

TASTEIT launched a fresh assault on the walls, but the context had shifted. The question was no longer how solid the defense was; that information had been bought in blood during the previous attack. The situation had changed: to what extent could the remaining forces spring another nasty surprise and, above all, deny Sir Franny the prize that had so far eluded him: the capitulation of the very order he had in his sights?

The second offensive had begun more rapidly. The RRH Lancers had encountered a weaker defense, yet it did not immediately break. Despite commanding a detachment already depleted by recent losses, Sir Franny held the upper hand; this forced TASTEIT to maintain a disciplined formation, as the difficulty of the situation meant he could no longer view this advance as a mere formality.

That was where things took a different turn.

Instead of a massive shock assault led by a cavalry charge, the advance was slowed by scattered pockets of resistance; some defensive elements held firm while others crumbled rapidly. This unevenness lent a certain nobility to the clash reminiscent of a duel yet offered no guarantee of safety. A disorganized attack could easily turn a mop-up operation into a wasteful expenditure of strength.

Sir Franny continued to inflict losses, though no longer on the scale of the initial clash; still, his resistance proved there was something worth defending. Casualties on the TASTEIT side steadily mounted, representing a loss of several million in power. For the attacker, the figure was telling: the castle had been battered, but not depopulated.

Eventually, however, the pressure from the spearmen became overwhelming. Each defensive group neutralized opened a path for the next wave. Sir Franny no longer had the depth of forces to mount a counter-attack, while TASTEIT retained enough troops to keep pushing forward.

Then came the moment that had been missing from the first assault.

The final forces needed to shatter the remaining defenses had surged through. Gone was the uncertainty that had plagued the initial engagement that moment when a massed cavalry charge could still have swung the tide of battle. The second wave drove deep into the heart of the castle, as the defenders proved unable to reform a line before them.

TASTEIT won the exchange, losing 7M power against Sir Franny’s 221M.

This time, the disparity was even more stark. TASTEIT sacrificed another 7M in power, while Sir Franny lost 221M. What might have been just a routine follow-up strike proved even more devastating than the initial one.

Above all, there remained the final piece of the puzzle the situation that has now been decisively resolved.

This effectively marks the true conclusion of the clash. It is not merely that the second attack succeeded; the threat that had lingered behind the walls after the initial breach has been eliminated. TASTEIT chose to re-engage despite already holding a highly favorable exchange ratio. That decision is turning an honorable victory into total domination.

📜 Conclusion - Two victories, but only one decisive outcome

TASTEIT’s two offensives left an aggressive mark on Kingdom 370. The first had thrown Sir Franny into disarray and battered him, yet it hadn't settled the score. His Lord remained out of reach reason enough for the RRH player to return.

The second assault challenged his position head-on. Sir Franny still possessed a defense capable of inflicting casualties, but he lacked the depth to halt the spearmen. TASTEIT seized the opportunity and, this time, captured the opposing Lord.

Beyond the casualties inflicted, this confrontation illustrated the importance of pursuing an objective when a battle remains unfinished. TASTEIT could have stopped after the initial success; instead, he returned to claim what had previously eluded him.

For Sir Franny, the walls remained standing, though his army had been severely tested. For TASTEIT, Kingdom 370 had delivered another victory for RRH a triumph built in two stages, the second of which transformed military dominance into total success.

END