Chapter 2: Cropper shopper, siege dropper.
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The battlefield was drawn, and all clans were aware of their positions on the map, bracing for the chaos that loomed ahead. They also readied themselves for the onslaught they intended to unleash upon others. Villagers dispatched their settlers to gather control, aiming to secure a foothold in the territory they aspired to dominate. Some encountered rivals with the same ambitions, while others found solace in the tranquillity of the deep woods. Yet, there were those who sought to confront the battle directly, determined to be the last ones standing. Let’s see how events unfold, but currently, the winds blow in the favour of the strong.
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A number of things to talk about. Croppers, Aggros, Oasis villas, and more. So, let’s get into it.
And let’s not talk about auctions….
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CROPPER SHOPPER
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To start, here we have the top20 quickest settler launches for the server
Impressive numbers from the server considering no one had a free reign to the oasis in their spawn zone. Wicked Abyss was the 1st out of those to have their settler’s land.
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Next, we have a cropper breakdown for the server so far.
Compiling this data took me longer than I am happy to admit.
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Now let’s take a look at how the major players are setting up…
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STONG
STONG reigns supreme at the end of the race to Croppers, as it seems they went for both the southern quads. They had claimed Southwest (-/-) as their own, but it seems they sent some accounts to Southeast (+/-). Tbf to other alliances STONG also reigns supreme in the number of (main) accounts, with about 5 alliances to their name. STONG also seems to have a free-ish quad in SW with HC (MY). ‘Underwhelming start’ would be an understatement for them with a whopping 1 100% 15c…
From what I understand looking at the distribution. STONG and STONK are alliances present throughout the quad. The chickens are in a ring, and the plan is less obvious than the others, tbh. STANG has many in the boonies. Making them end-game accounts. Lastly, STANK is the alliance majorly present in grey and SE, preferring to hug the border towards their main quad of SW. Which, in my guess, would make them early game/fighting accounts.
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Coming back to the MY topic, they are indeed trying, but their attempts have been a mixed bag.
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Dark
Second up in cropper numbers is the mighty DARK.
Now this one is a bit harder to break down due to the number of accounts. The 3 Dark alliances seem to be set up centrally with ZUG. The 3 ANT alliances have taken up real estate in boonies closer to the border of NE. While E.S. favours the other border and isn’t relatively as deep into the quad as ANT. Possibly an alliance set up to fight the border wars vs STONG. ‘R-A’, ‘R-B’ (which possibly could be sister alliances of the ally R, I admittedly lack knowledge on this front), as well as ‘PWR’, ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘c’ find themselves deep in boonies, implying end game accounts.
Dark does face some adversaries within their quadrant, including Romanians, STARS, Noobs, R, and SC, who often find themselves battling against Dark—and occasionally against each other. From the information shared, exchanges have been relatively even.
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UPDATE: It’s a mid-edit, and it looks like some more hits have taken place.
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Dark needs to keep their eye on the ball. They are setting up well against STONG, but alliances in their own quad seem to have something to say to them.
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Now that we’re done looking at the 2 alliances with free-ish quads and setups, we take a look at the main show.
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BC vs Elite
Much to the surprise of many, the battle between the two alliances begins evenly! There’s no clear distinction in the number of croppers (100% and above), with both alliances securing 36 each.
Not much to talk about the maps here, Elite and crew are scattered throughout. For the Balkans, BC-A seems to be hugging the NE and SE border. BC_S all seem to have spawned a bit late and aren’t present very centrally. And finally, BBC (-.-) seems to be the central alliance and is most likely the fight group targeting unique artefacts.
While BC appears to have the advantage in terms of raw numbers for raiding and simming, their claim of “deleting Elite off the map by day 20” is far from reality. Elite group has in fact taken the initiative against BC.
The 1st report leads to a lack of deff in the cropper in image #2.
Hasbulla with some kind of retaliation, but not quite sure if such heavy losses were anticipated.
We can, however, start expecting ops from BC to start rolling within the week. So it might start looking more grim for Elite sooner than later.
Some other reports from this quad
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TEM + PvP
Despite having some Stong players in their quad beat them to croppers, TEM and PvP managed a decent number of croppers on their end. With BC and Elite busy with each other North of them, and Stong inviting themselves into their quad. I think it is fairly certain Stong vs TEM/PvP is high on the cards.
Once again, not much to discuss here. PvP seems to be hugging the NE and SE border. While the main alliance for TEM seems to be set to take on the center (but also present in boonies, so not very exclusive to the center)
Since I last wrote this, it seems TEM and PvP have decided to part ways, and it doesn’t seem to have been a healthy breakup. With words already being exchanged, would like to see some armies exchanged too.
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Siege Dropper
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Having covered the major points of the 4 quads. We now move on to skirmishes throughout the map and areas to keep an eye on.
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- Vercinget0rix [−178|37] – STONG
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“Here we have our fastest settler launcher, launching into enemy Narnia territory. Stong once again invites themselves where they are not welcome. This time met with immediate retaliation from Dark. Will be an incredibly hard area to hold with no friendly faces and strongholds close by. GG go next.”
That was written nearly a week ago, last night this obvious prediction came true.
Vercinget0rix it seems had seen the same fate coming as well, and had settled for a 75% in the quad they probably should’ve gone to in the first place. But the story doesn’t end there. STANK settles the 15c quicker than the Arabs and deletes that accounts spawn. Now that village stands there at 0 pop named ‘Immovable object’.
Orange: STANG, Red : Dark
To be candid, it is kind of a scummy thing to do, but it successfully blocks that 15c 150% nonetheless and is within the rules. Poor to not keep settlers ready, but still, scummy. Got to feel a little bad for Dark. A similar result to BK vs BC, where there’s another 0’d cropper. Another 150% blocked.
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- The Cook [21|-4] – BC.
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“We cover what we think will turn out to be the toughest battle of the grey. It’s a 1v1v1 and the possibility of such things happening is what makes this server so great. STONG vs BC vs TEM”
Note, Orange: STANG, Purple: BC, Blue: TEM
This was also written nearly a week ago. It seems the STANK account in this fight ‘Disappointed Fan’ much like Vercinget0rix decided to get a capital elsewhere. We will see if this is fought for harder than the vercinge cropper as Stong does seem to be taking the passive route in these fights. This is edge of grey, prime radius for unique spawns. One would think that every alliance had a bigger dog in this fight considering that. A couple shuffles of the oasis is all we have to show so far from this area.
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- Darth Vader [90|39] – BC
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Note, Purple: BC, Green: STD
There seem to be many villages popping up from both parties in this area. Being originally a 150% for Darth Vader, one of its oases is currently being blocked by STD. This isn’t going to be a quick fight given how many accounts are around (spawn ring did go to frickin 0|150) and one can assume this will be a key area for BC to target in their future ops.
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- Peepo Angry [-82|5] – STONG
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Note, Orange: STONG, Dark Green: SC, Red : Dark
We have up to 5 different alliances present here on this NW SW border. SC, Noobs, STONG, Dark, and R all have a foot in this cluster of villages. I don’t think there are any oases that are currently being stolen from a cropper but we do have 1 of the most contested areas on the map here. ‘Peepo Angry’ ’s (Stong) biggest enemy nearby seems to be the account ‘HAWK TUAH’ (Dark). However, STONG does seem to be taking the initiative here for once. And have 2 of their top accounts, ‘Myrmidons’ and ‘Wicked Baboon’ both settle in one of their latest villages here.
These close-quarter fights seem to extend even further, moving a little southeast of the map we have another top account ‘BlameUs’ (Dark) with a village here among many Stong and Dark villages.
In fact, keep moving east on that border and you’ll see accounts lining up on both sides till the center of the map. From an initial glance, it seems like Dark has more real estate here and is looking to make its mark against the alliance they despise the most.
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- BM vs ANT [-14|148]
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Note, Green: BM, Red: Ant
BM is one of the alliances that hasn’t been mentioned much until now. Their top account, ‘MAMBA NEGRA,’ is situated deep within the border of the Northwest and Northeast. As noted earlier, ANT is also present in this area. This situation differs from the other close-quarter battles previously discussed; it represents a potential threat to Dark on the opposite border, where they haven’t significantly reinforced their accounts. However, it will require their attention sooner or later—it’s bound to happen.
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Some macro points for the server:
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Croppers vs Oasis villas
“Croppers aren’t everything. And that’s proven by the top 10 pages. There were 2 strategies at play.
Either A) you go for a cropper or B) you go for an oasis villa.
On a server, this competitive, oasis villa spots were bound to run out quickly, which we are already seeing. So, to get the BEST spots, you have to be early. And with every oasis in the spawn zone drier than nuns… An area to raid on your own and nature raiding being this good, oasis villas were money.
It will be interesting to see what their plan for capital would be. Oasis spots are all but over and soon they will have to focus their attention on finding a decent enough cap. Those who went for croppers suffer short term in terms of income, but in the longer run, their croppers will give them a steady economy and stronghold, which the Oasis accounts won’t have.
Some alliances have their caps secured via techs, which are being leveled up as of right now and will be chiefed by the main accounts. But those against tech play, what do they do. Just to give an idea of what I mean, these are all the 75% and above croppers left on the map.”
There were only 4 a few days ago, btw.
This was written a few days ago. It seems even the assumed ‘cleanest alliance’ has taken part in this. Not to the highest degree as the others, but a foot over the line or a mile over the line, the same difference. It’s over the line.
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Techers
We already see some private farming happening on the server. Other techs should be reaching 18s/19s soon, if not already. In a couple days, we can expect such accounts to be rolling GB GS 20 in multiple villas and building accounts that look to steamroll their enemies. As talked about in the previous post, the only answer to this is to deal with it early. Left alone to sim and it’ll be all ogre.
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WWs
It is a bit early to talk about WWs possibly. But everything is connected, and a good setup around the WW you want to build is an important step of the process for the endgame. HC (MY) didn’t seem to make an impact in the race to get a cropper, but they have focused their attention on the SouthWest WW (-50|-50). STD also has a decent hold of the North East WW (50|50). It will be interesting to see which WW alliances decide to take up. Grey ones are, of course, cheaper, but with so many enemies close by, it is also more vulnerable.
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Border Wars
Open up any border on the map. Chances are there are alliances lining up on both sides. Can expect these areas to be the most engaging and talked about ones in the weeks to come.
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Here are also some other reports I couldn’t fit in the structure of the analysis, to finish off the post.
One of the earlier 0’ings seen.
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The server is turning out to be just as battle-heavy as expected. And it’ll get only more bloody from here. We’ve only seen individual areas and accounts battle it out so far. We can expect ops to start rolling very soon. Each alliance will take heavy losses, it is inevitable. Their only aim will be to gain a stronger foothold on the server. And gain some stability in their clusters. As the bells of artifacts will be around the corner by the time they do.
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Writers thoughts:
There are honestly too many things happening on this server. One could write a blog detailed for each individual alliance/quad. So, I apologize if I’ve missed any areas. If I try marking each alliance a different colour on the map, I run out of colours… so probably have missed about 10-20 other good skirmish areas.
I also was very clearly ambitious with the ‘1 post a week’ thing. Work, Travian, real life, and other games. Hard to juggle them all, and adding this to the list is kinda tough. I don’t want to release half-assed articles, and would like it to be the best version possible. So I’m going to take out the deadline I set for myself. Once again, I hope you enjoyed the read, and if you have any feedback, feel free to share.
Once again, credit to Thomas and Ameno for their efforts in releasing fun content.
In case you missed last week’s intro blog, you can find it here
Check out the Travian insights for this round here
