Sigurd
Banned
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2003
- Messages
- 911
With the advent of NF, RvR is set to change quite significantly... however, a battle last night got me thinking about the whole "against the odds" thing which DAoC does a lot better than some games - heroes defending against overwhelming numbers, or a couple of people killing many times their numbers in an open battle.
The battle I was fortunate enough to participate in the other night was in Caer Beno. I logged on to be told that there was a relic raid underway, but by the time I'd got to Albion, the force and been mostly defeated, and the ragged Hibernian army was postioned in Beno. Me and a few others got there eventually, despite a stealther group camping various points along the road, and once inside we heard "90 on Surs" in the chatgroup channel... we knew this was going to be a good night. Our army was about 40 strong at that point - and the leader had a plan. We were to hold at Beno, but not to defend it as such... and once he'd outlined his idea, Firbolgs started carrying trebuchet parts up to the topmost pointed tower, where we would make our stand. The other keeps the relic raid force had captured earlier fell quickly, and when the count on Eras was 75, we thought we might be lucky.
We were wrong. As my realm mates gazed out impatiently through the murder holes, I felt the game start to slow... a cry of "ALBS INC!" was echoed across the chatgroup, and I had the delight to see the huge host pouring up the hill through my murder hole.
Everyone was told to immediately climb to the tower. The room above the Lord room, next to the arch through the topmost tower, would be where we would make our stand. Power fonts and heal fonts were placed, and our one animist (the leader, resplendent in his crocodile form) placed a few mushrooms along the stairs. The chatgroup was told "104 ALBS!" and people started to mutter "this is going to be short" but we held our ground. Our dear Alb cousins must have been surprised when they met with no resistance at the first door, or even the second. As they rushed the lord, a few ventured up to the top looking for defenders - they were our first victims. Hit by a pbae storm they fell quickly. I didn't even see the Lord go down - the first I knew of it was when a man at arms started shooting at me with his crossbow - but suddenly the Albs realized their mistake. They charged up the steps... headlong into the pbae storm. Regrouped, charged again, and were rebuked. As a Blademaster I kept guards/cabalists off the casters and slammed my hammers into the occasional Alb who made it up the stairs... we were granted a brief respite (although me and my realm mates were constantly under fire from scouts) and I was shocked to see a pile of bodies at the foot of the stairs. I've never seen so many corpses piled in one place, and I've played this game from the start.
The Albs came again though. They gradually got smarter and one or two defenders fell, but any Albs who popped above the stairs were met by my hammers and another few Heroes and Blademasters holding the top. I'd judge we had 30 defenders left by that point. Now, there weren't many Albs left by now, we'd wiped out perhaps half their zerg - but the keep was theirs. They rezzed a few and sent them up as a screen whilst the elite RvR guilds tried their hardest to destroy us... and so, a group rushed up, AE mezzed whilst an ice wizard rushed in to pbae us. This plan failed because 1) we were pretty spread out over the tower and 2) I purged and dropped the wizard in 3 hits. We licked our wounds but we'd lost a few, and no time to rez - the Albs pressed on. Every Alb in the keep was now attacking our small defending force, and we were gradually beaten away from the room and onto the tip of the tower. With one trebuchet left we made the Albs pay dearly for every inch of ground they made, but it wasn't enough... they surged through, and used Mastery of Concentration to wipe us at last. As the dust settled, I could have laughed. Amidst our bodies stood the victors... the survivors of the attacking force. Six Albs... out of 104.
Apologies for the lengthly description... not had so much fun in RvR for a very long time
your turn now... your most memorable last stand moment
The battle I was fortunate enough to participate in the other night was in Caer Beno. I logged on to be told that there was a relic raid underway, but by the time I'd got to Albion, the force and been mostly defeated, and the ragged Hibernian army was postioned in Beno. Me and a few others got there eventually, despite a stealther group camping various points along the road, and once inside we heard "90 on Surs" in the chatgroup channel... we knew this was going to be a good night. Our army was about 40 strong at that point - and the leader had a plan. We were to hold at Beno, but not to defend it as such... and once he'd outlined his idea, Firbolgs started carrying trebuchet parts up to the topmost pointed tower, where we would make our stand. The other keeps the relic raid force had captured earlier fell quickly, and when the count on Eras was 75, we thought we might be lucky.
We were wrong. As my realm mates gazed out impatiently through the murder holes, I felt the game start to slow... a cry of "ALBS INC!" was echoed across the chatgroup, and I had the delight to see the huge host pouring up the hill through my murder hole.
Everyone was told to immediately climb to the tower. The room above the Lord room, next to the arch through the topmost tower, would be where we would make our stand. Power fonts and heal fonts were placed, and our one animist (the leader, resplendent in his crocodile form) placed a few mushrooms along the stairs. The chatgroup was told "104 ALBS!" and people started to mutter "this is going to be short" but we held our ground. Our dear Alb cousins must have been surprised when they met with no resistance at the first door, or even the second. As they rushed the lord, a few ventured up to the top looking for defenders - they were our first victims. Hit by a pbae storm they fell quickly. I didn't even see the Lord go down - the first I knew of it was when a man at arms started shooting at me with his crossbow - but suddenly the Albs realized their mistake. They charged up the steps... headlong into the pbae storm. Regrouped, charged again, and were rebuked. As a Blademaster I kept guards/cabalists off the casters and slammed my hammers into the occasional Alb who made it up the stairs... we were granted a brief respite (although me and my realm mates were constantly under fire from scouts) and I was shocked to see a pile of bodies at the foot of the stairs. I've never seen so many corpses piled in one place, and I've played this game from the start.
The Albs came again though. They gradually got smarter and one or two defenders fell, but any Albs who popped above the stairs were met by my hammers and another few Heroes and Blademasters holding the top. I'd judge we had 30 defenders left by that point. Now, there weren't many Albs left by now, we'd wiped out perhaps half their zerg - but the keep was theirs. They rezzed a few and sent them up as a screen whilst the elite RvR guilds tried their hardest to destroy us... and so, a group rushed up, AE mezzed whilst an ice wizard rushed in to pbae us. This plan failed because 1) we were pretty spread out over the tower and 2) I purged and dropped the wizard in 3 hits. We licked our wounds but we'd lost a few, and no time to rez - the Albs pressed on. Every Alb in the keep was now attacking our small defending force, and we were gradually beaten away from the room and onto the tip of the tower. With one trebuchet left we made the Albs pay dearly for every inch of ground they made, but it wasn't enough... they surged through, and used Mastery of Concentration to wipe us at last. As the dust settled, I could have laughed. Amidst our bodies stood the victors... the survivors of the attacking force. Six Albs... out of 104.
Apologies for the lengthly description... not had so much fun in RvR for a very long time
your turn now... your most memorable last stand moment 
