sugarvalves [1963573] —
Original article
It has been nearly three weeks since we saw the release of Sector 1 territories, and in that time there have been some rather interesting developments which may have passed non-faction affiliated citizens by. In fact, if truth be told, these events have passed me by too, as even the most fascinating territorial battles can fail to register if you aren't directly involved.
When I returned to see how territories was unfolding I was surprised to see Milk and Cookies, JFR and JFA occupying the financial district, with other factions having been ousted not long ago according to the forums. It seems the island has been conquered multiple times by different factions in recent weeks, and there are whispers that both SA and JFK are looking to partner up with others shortly for a renewed assault on Torn's prime locations.
This information was seemingly confirmed by several of the Faction leaders I spoke to as I attempted to find out what had been happening in territories of late. Of those who replied, only Janet of Forged Through War declined to make comment, with FTW currently nursing a severely bruised ego following the devastating loss of all of their territories.
But despite their current woes Forged have much to be proud of, since they still lie eighth in the table when it comes to total respect earned from territories so far. Their score of 92,366 means Janet's troops should be feared if and when they decide to regroup, but who else has made the top ten, and which faction is surprisingly absent?
As of 3pm today Destructive Anomaly leads with 116,782 respect gained since territories began, followed by Subversive Alliance on 102,705 and JFC in third on 96,479. Fourth, fifth and six belong to JFA, Milk and Cookies and Macaroni and Cheese, who have scored 94,883, 94,756 and 92,953 respectively. Seventh are Relentless on 92,799, eighth place goes to the aforementioned FTW, and the top ten is rounded out by 39th Street Killers and 39th Street Killers X, who incredibly have almost identical scores: 90003 and 90002.
The remainder of the top 25 are as follows:
11th - One Punch - 88,323
12th - JFK 2.1 - 86,895
13th - Wolf Pack - 86,464
14th - Destructive Angels - 86,365
15th - PT-Family - 84,454
16th - MMCP - 83,963
17th - JFB - 83,117
18th - The Box - 80,825
19th - Immortal Droogs - 80,814
20th - DEHT - 80,650
21st - Helvetes in Vegas - 80,603
22nd - Calculated - 79,979
23rd - TheUntouchables - 79,422
24th - Itsi Bitsi Bikini - 79,242
25th - Unrelenting - 79,152
One name conspicuously absent from this list is JFK, whose total of 76,661 is not enough for top 25 status. At the time of writing they were embroiled in a fight with TheUntouchables over FGB, so what's the grand plan here? How will JFK make a success out of territories?
Z_Junior - JFK - 13 Blocks - 1279 Respect
"I don't have much to tell you simply because there is no plan. Our plan originally was to go for SA/FTW on our own (JFK+JFK 2.1). Once they made a large coalition and luckily for us they played out their hand too soon in the JFA war, we actually realized we face a huge obstacle comprised of more than a half a dozen factions (SA, FTW, DEHT, OP, Relentless, IBB, 39th) we had to respond."
"What followed literally took 5 mins of time in terms of few mails that said "Are you up for it?" and answer was "Yes". We moved into position, and engaged the enemy. After a week of some intense fighting, the other side decided to retreat."
"There was no talk or plans on how to divide the island or what to do after we win. We fully expected this to last for 2-3 months and that we'll be done with the island in late July or August. So now with my guys geared up for warring, we don't plan to stick around on the island but will look for some fights, help out some friends, settle some scores and that's really all there is to it."
Z_Junior's rival Midknight seems to be of a similar mind-set when it comes to balancing territories with other faction responsibilies, as when I spoke to the Subversive Alliance leader he was of the opinion that his faction's priorities may also soon shift.
Midknight - Subversive Alliance - 12 Blocks - 1312 Respect
"Every summer SA goes into training mode to give its members a stress free summer to spend with their friends and family and this summer is no exception. We will still be pursuing some gain from the system as a top faction we can't give up completely but the time and energy required to maintain the island was discussed and agreed to far outweigh its worth."
"We originally landed on the island with a few friends to have some fun and were met by a mob of HoF factions who wanted to remove us. After about 2 weeks of fighting we were out gunned and under manned so we called it quits and moved on. Was fun while it lasted and I don't expect any further action until the next update."
So what about the top dogs, Destructive Anomaly? Throughout our coverage of territories we've seen HenkiePuk's faction defend their docks properties with resilience, and their strategic choice of territory means only two factions are ahead of them in terms of current daily respect. How did they do this, and will they seek to expand in future?
HenkiePuk - Destructive Anomaly - 17 Blocks - 2329 Respect
"I would say we're pretty well off so far, we saw the big fight in sector 1 coming from miles away and so we decided our best approach would be to settle for the 'next best'. We accepted slightly less respect gains from our blocks, while not using as many resources and energy to constantly defend and maintain them. It just didn't seem worthwhile for a small bit of extra respect a day, especially so early on while we still have to see how everything plays out."
"We did have to chase away some mid-sized factions in order to expand our territory, but our biggest goal was to stay out of any major battles as long as this is not absolutely necessary. However, we're very happy with our current spot and are ready to defend it when that day comes."
Rekker's Little Stompers have been sat to the west of DA's territory for some time now, but despite not making the top 25 these guys have no intention of challenging their neighbours for high-value territory.
Rekker - Little Stompers - 12 Blocks - 1263 Respect
"Territories so far for us has been a bit of a doddle with no one giving us a real challenge, not that I mind as that meant we could concentrate more on war and move stuff around in territories whilst we are in training mode."
"It is just good sense to be next to DA as we are good friends with them. This happened purely by chance ending up next to each other but we are both happy with how it worked out. Whilst the daily gains could be better we don't mind what we are getting right now. Possibly we will expand what we got in the near future but who knows right?!"
As we never intended to go for the AOW island it's been pretty easy I think those guy's fighting it out to take the island have had the hardest job. Looks like territory wars are pretty much over know though with JFx and MnC in place."
To the north of Little Stompers are PT-Bravehearts, with affiliates PT-Ironhearts and PT-Family just slightly further north with the three forming a strong if dangerously unconnected block. PT-Family leader thestud told me that he felt territorial warring to be more about egos than benefits, and he also thinks that with friendships often proving majorly important to Torn success, territories has merely brought out these alliances into the open. This is something JFC's MeanMike agreed with, as you'll see from the comments below:
Thestud - PT-Family - 12 Blocks - 1613 Respect
"Currently we (I speak for PT Group & our 3 factions) have no aspirations to move inside the isle towards the financial district. I'm an old man & closed spaces make me claustrophobic... We'd rather stay out in the open. It feels nice & homely to have our group factions huddled together so we try to stay as close as possible."
"PT functions differently than most other factions. Decisions/plans are normally discussed within a core group before implemented, but in urgent times I have been given the authority to take steps as warranted.... it's another thing that if my decision goes wrong, the usual punishment is hanging me by my balls for an entire month."
MeanMike - JFC - 13 Blocks - 1387 Respect
"That's actually news to us. We knew we were doing pretty good with what we had, but I didn't know we were 3rd. In the beginning, we of course were aiming for high respect territories, but we also just wanted to stay out of trouble and be close by our allies to provide and get support if needed. JFCs Warlord Handsomepants uses his mutant strategic brain to chart out our course and has done a great job finding us a good spot on the map. Our plans for the future include sticking close to our homies while continuing to carve out our own little place in the sun"
To the rear of PT-Family in Sector 2 are Macaroni and Cheese, with their own partner faction Milk and Cookies having long since departed for a premium spot in the Financial District. MnC leader Myhedin referred me to Blexi for further details on the faction's progress so far, and he had this to say;
Blexi - Milk and Cookies - 15 Blocks - 2553 Respect
"We were on friendly terms with a few factions like JFA and PT, and helped each other get through in each sector. Sector 1 came, made a plan where to go with JFA, but IBB got there first. JFA declared on them, and then world war 3 broke out. Long story short, we (+ others) helped JFA's side, but lost to IBB's side (+SA/FTW/DEHT/Relentless)."
"Learning our lessons from that war, we then made plans with JFA, JFK and JFK 2.1 to jointly attack IBB and move them out, which worked out very well. Relentless began an assault into our territory during that time (while we were stacking for our upcoming termed war with DA), but got beaten pretty badly, and they seemed out of the SA/FTW alliance, at least in terms of territories."
"With these successes, we then decided to go for the island (which we weren't planning on taking initially). SA/FTW tried to delay by having fake wars, but we manage to get through just fine (partly due to their poor execution, though we prepared well for it as well). Seeing that our alliance outstatted the SA/FTW by miles, they gave up fairly quickly, without a real fight, packed their bags and left."
"Not planning moving anywhere soon, we'll defend the island whatever it'll take. If there are territory perks, that might change. Mac seem happy where they are."
MnC are joined on the island by JFA, who are just 127 points behind Myhedin's clan in the territories table as it stands. Another thing these two have in common is that neither of them planned to take the island at the outset, as Penicillin explains:
Penicillin - JFA - 15 Blocks - 2346 Respect
"Honestly, when territories started, we never intended to go to the island. Our original plan was to occupy the docks area, but DA beat us to it. Then we had a couple of other plans of places to settle into, but one thing or another led us forward. Most everyone we talked to in other factions said they didn't want to be on the island."
"The most common thoughts we heard regarding the island were that it would be a place of constant conflict or that you would be isolated and grow bored, and that there were other places on the map that might provide just as much respect and a better gaming experience. Besides, respect is only going to make so much of a difference. The upgrades get really expensive and the difference between two factions respect might only mean, for example, +7% speed versus +9% speed."
"We wound up on the island through a large scale conflict. It seems both JFA and IBB had planned to occupy the same place on the map. So when sector 1 opened, both factions found themselves on top of each other. We asked them to find a different spot, and at that moment when sector 1 had just opened, they could have moved somewhere else, but they were determined to stay, and so were we, so the only thing left to do was to fight it out."
"The details of what happened next depend on who you talk to, but a large multi-faction war erupted and ultimately JFK/2.1/JFA/MNC/PT prevailed. Not everyone in the alliance wanted to occupy the island at this moment, but JFA and MNC did, so here we are."
The way various factions have allied and betrayed each other for control of the island is fascinating, and the insight given by both Penicillin and Blexi should prove useful on reflection should the island change hands in future. Not that any of this of interests JFR's Cappucino, who it seems is quite content to let others do as they please while the old fogies take a load off.
Cappucino - JFR - 15 Blocks - 1713 Respect
"We are just a bunch of retired citizens that decided that some fresh ocean air would do our aching joints some good, so we opted for moving to an island. I don't really know what happened here before; I don't pay much attention to what the youngsters are up to. We are too old to move around all the time so I guess we'll stay where we're at for the foreseeable future. Not sure who if anyone would care enough to threaten us. What's the fun in making threats to old has beens?"
With regards to the remainder of the Sector 1 territory, there is an interesting battle going on between six factions for the area between the Visitor Center and the Jail. I saw Relentless in the midst of a scrap with JFK 2.1 over XEF as I was writing this piece, but since both of those factions were too shy to speak let's instead hear from 39th Street Killers leader TheoZ, whose faction lies to the north of both
TheoZ - 39th Street Killers - 15 Blocks - 1807 Respect
"It was a very interesting experience for us! Some thrilling territory war with JUX HQ, some negotiations here and there. So far we have secured a pretty decent area of the map and there is potential to improve our daily respect gained in future. I remember it was a very exciting time each release of new sector till the first, some kind of "race". Glad this time is over now."
"We are close indeed with sister faction X and next door to 39th Haka. We are in close contact with all, and could unite at some point with X, given that it works for both our factions interest concerning respect gained per day. Each faction has their leaders who make their choices but we all come under the same 39th family roof and discuss various topics and work together in various fields, one lately being for instance the hopping of members from faction to faction which provide different specials and suit everyone's needs. As a faction family we are independent and don't forget to write pretty nice and sexy people."
"I only wish that there would be more balanced the 2 superpowers so it could be more exciting for all participants; or ideally have a 3rd superpower emerge as a balance factor."
"Tactic wise we saw some tactics that can be used, logistic wise it's almost same with normal warring (you need e, revivers ready, some bounties maybe? ) but what also matters is activity and the initial "impact". When an attack is launched it has to be fearful to gain an upper hand and decrease willingness to fight back. I don't know if it's more or less fun yet but I know factions must adapt to the new environment and make the best out of it."
To the west of this battle are Calculated and JUX HQ, with the latter led by TCT Reporter Harley. I asked him how territories had unfolded for the men and women of JUX HQ, and I also probed him on how territories differed from regular warring in terms of tactics and logistics.
Harley - JUX HQ - 12 Blocks - 1330 Respect
"In terms of JUX's efforts, I personally think it could have been better but it has been fun nonetheless. Our plans I'll obviously not reveal to the world ;) How territories has worked out so far however, is another story."
"We waited for quite some time to settle initially (sector 7) to avoid the big guns as long as possible (SA, JFK, MnC, DA and many others), which I think was quite successful, as the only brawl worth noting, before sector 1) was one with 39th Street Killers, in which we successfully defended one of our territories."
"However sector 1, despite our extremely good starting position around the city hall was less of a party for us. Just after finishing a two week warring session we were first assaulted by JFK 2.1, a conflict which was resolved through diplomacy. Shortly after we were, again, assaulted by 39th. This time however most of our members (including our leader bogie) had gone for a break after the stressful weeks past, so we ended up resolving the conflict through diplomacy again, sadly having to move away from the city hall to where we are now."
"In terms of how different it is, I think it's very hard to compare the two to each other. Whilst chaining against a faction you are also assaulting is a tremendous help, as the opposing faction would not be able to join the wall due to being hospitalised constantly, it isn't the end of the world. A good example for this would be when SA chained JFK, taking their rank, but they still ended up losing their territory. Preparing I'd say doesn't differ much from the usual warring though, it is still advisable to stack for these territory wars and you'll still need a huge amount of revives stocked up."
Of course, there are many more factions outside the top 25 fighting it out on a daily basis for just a few more precious respect points. Impulse are currently enjoying a peaceful stay out west on the border of Sectors 5 and 6, and while the faction led by Eagle may move inwards eventually, for the time being they're happy where they are.
Eagle - Impulse - 10 Blocks - 752 Respect
"We have had it pretty peaceful at this point, much different from the earlier days, when territories were opening. IMPULSE has had 5 territory wars. We missed having the First Territory war by 5 minutes. The highest score obtained on us was 112,353. We 'allowed" that after determining there was no mathematical way for them to win."
"As the central portions opened up, more seemed to want to divest in the central portions. We had quite a run of battles, having the 2nd battle since territories opened. That battle was with Unrelenting. They did not expect us to fight as hard as we did. I'm going to look for the war reports to the territory wars we fought."
"With regards to achievements and/or goals... For now, we are going to set where we are. I have not as yet formalized any plans to move more central, but that does not mean I have not been studying. I pick and choose very carefully, taking note of who is in the general vicinity."
"Overall, we do look to the future, and as our faction gets stronger, we will make moves into more pertinent Sectors. We are not HOF yet, just one of the quiet ones that lay back and take a look at the bigger picture."
"There are 3 main tactics used in Territorial War. (That we use, anyway) 1. We bash them off the wall. 2. We get friends to knock them off the wall. 3. The ever present Front Page Bounty system. Our goal is to force the opponent to use up Energy, which I am sure is the main goal of anyone fighting a wall. The tactic of putting "juniors" on the wall, or at least a heavy or 2, force them to use E to knock said member off."
Impulse's local rivals are Malaysia led by Abe, and while they've started out by slowly acquiring territory from smaller, weaker factions, they've set their sights on bigger prizes in future.
Abe - Malaysia - 10 Blocks - 73 Respect
"In a couple of days, we will get enough respect points to acquire one more teritory. IMPULSE already conquered the lower areas of previously vacanted sector 5 (68 points area), so I'm thinking of warring THE MONKEY JUNKIE to get our first sector 4 teritory.
Regarding sector 1 & 2, I did'nt even dream of it, for me it is hard and impossible to acquire any areas on those sectors. We will probably try to remain on sector 4 or 5 for the time being. And will take advantage of any vacanted nearby areas as our main plan."
Another faction content to sit out on the periphery is Tascon's Memento Mori, who are one of the six top 25 factions ranked in the HoF for respect who do not feature in the top 25 for territorial respect points gained. MM have taken a decent patch of land by the junction stretching over sectors 3 and 4, and Tascon is quite happy with what his boys have achieved so far.
Tascon - Memento Mori - 15 Blocks - 1573 Respect
"MM is not fighting too much on the territories, we found a good spot which will give us a fair amount of daily respect. We did not want to war big time for good areas, as it will require lots of E to defend it and lot of time to keep watching how all the other factions reach around you. So we basically sits on less daily respect but without wasting too much Energy too, so hopefully our stats will grow faster than the full warring factions."
The other top 25 respect factions not featured in the top 25 for territorial respect aside from MM and JFK are Evolution, The Equalizer 3 United, Hold Your Fire and Vulpes Vulpes, and you have to wonder why these guys haven't made more of an impression. Do their priorities lie elsewhere as they seemingly do for JFK, or have they merely botched their tactics like some other factions we are too kind to mention?
Or perhaps leading the table in territorial respect isn't such a big deal after all, as Harley explained to me just before this piece was published:
"It might be worth adding that the highest respect count gained from territories overall isn't necessarily a good thing. Many of the factions in the top 25 have just mindlessly spam unlocked as many territories as they could, without actually holding into account the return on investment.
"For example, using a faction with a 12th territory unlocked (with let's say 110 respect per territory as average), will have approximately 340 days before they actually gain respect, as the upgrade cost was 37,341 respect. That, in my opinion, would still be okay. But then if you have a faction which unlocked a 15th territory, with a cost of 62,625 respect that would already be a 570 days before you get a return on investment, using the same average per territory."
Thanks to Harley and IIIlusionist for checking this article for errors, and also to the faction leaders who provided content for this piece.
When I returned to see how territories was unfolding I was surprised to see Milk and Cookies, JFR and JFA occupying the financial district, with other factions having been ousted not long ago according to the forums. It seems the island has been conquered multiple times by different factions in recent weeks, and there are whispers that both SA and JFK are looking to partner up with others shortly for a renewed assault on Torn's prime locations.
This information was seemingly confirmed by several of the Faction leaders I spoke to as I attempted to find out what had been happening in territories of late. Of those who replied, only Janet of Forged Through War declined to make comment, with FTW currently nursing a severely bruised ego following the devastating loss of all of their territories.
But despite their current woes Forged have much to be proud of, since they still lie eighth in the table when it comes to total respect earned from territories so far. Their score of 92,366 means Janet's troops should be feared if and when they decide to regroup, but who else has made the top ten, and which faction is surprisingly absent?
As of 3pm today Destructive Anomaly leads with 116,782 respect gained since territories began, followed by Subversive Alliance on 102,705 and JFC in third on 96,479. Fourth, fifth and six belong to JFA, Milk and Cookies and Macaroni and Cheese, who have scored 94,883, 94,756 and 92,953 respectively. Seventh are Relentless on 92,799, eighth place goes to the aforementioned FTW, and the top ten is rounded out by 39th Street Killers and 39th Street Killers X, who incredibly have almost identical scores: 90003 and 90002.
The remainder of the top 25 are as follows:
11th - One Punch - 88,323
12th - JFK 2.1 - 86,895
13th - Wolf Pack - 86,464
14th - Destructive Angels - 86,365
15th - PT-Family - 84,454
16th - MMCP - 83,963
17th - JFB - 83,117
18th - The Box - 80,825
19th - Immortal Droogs - 80,814
20th - DEHT - 80,650
21st - Helvetes in Vegas - 80,603
22nd - Calculated - 79,979
23rd - TheUntouchables - 79,422
24th - Itsi Bitsi Bikini - 79,242
25th - Unrelenting - 79,152
One name conspicuously absent from this list is JFK, whose total of 76,661 is not enough for top 25 status. At the time of writing they were embroiled in a fight with TheUntouchables over FGB, so what's the grand plan here? How will JFK make a success out of territories?
Z_Junior - JFK - 13 Blocks - 1279 Respect
"I don't have much to tell you simply because there is no plan. Our plan originally was to go for SA/FTW on our own (JFK+JFK 2.1). Once they made a large coalition and luckily for us they played out their hand too soon in the JFA war, we actually realized we face a huge obstacle comprised of more than a half a dozen factions (SA, FTW, DEHT, OP, Relentless, IBB, 39th) we had to respond."
"What followed literally took 5 mins of time in terms of few mails that said "Are you up for it?" and answer was "Yes". We moved into position, and engaged the enemy. After a week of some intense fighting, the other side decided to retreat."
"There was no talk or plans on how to divide the island or what to do after we win. We fully expected this to last for 2-3 months and that we'll be done with the island in late July or August. So now with my guys geared up for warring, we don't plan to stick around on the island but will look for some fights, help out some friends, settle some scores and that's really all there is to it."
Z_Junior's rival Midknight seems to be of a similar mind-set when it comes to balancing territories with other faction responsibilies, as when I spoke to the Subversive Alliance leader he was of the opinion that his faction's priorities may also soon shift.
Midknight - Subversive Alliance - 12 Blocks - 1312 Respect
"Every summer SA goes into training mode to give its members a stress free summer to spend with their friends and family and this summer is no exception. We will still be pursuing some gain from the system as a top faction we can't give up completely but the time and energy required to maintain the island was discussed and agreed to far outweigh its worth."
"We originally landed on the island with a few friends to have some fun and were met by a mob of HoF factions who wanted to remove us. After about 2 weeks of fighting we were out gunned and under manned so we called it quits and moved on. Was fun while it lasted and I don't expect any further action until the next update."
So what about the top dogs, Destructive Anomaly? Throughout our coverage of territories we've seen HenkiePuk's faction defend their docks properties with resilience, and their strategic choice of territory means only two factions are ahead of them in terms of current daily respect. How did they do this, and will they seek to expand in future?
HenkiePuk - Destructive Anomaly - 17 Blocks - 2329 Respect
"I would say we're pretty well off so far, we saw the big fight in sector 1 coming from miles away and so we decided our best approach would be to settle for the 'next best'. We accepted slightly less respect gains from our blocks, while not using as many resources and energy to constantly defend and maintain them. It just didn't seem worthwhile for a small bit of extra respect a day, especially so early on while we still have to see how everything plays out."
"We did have to chase away some mid-sized factions in order to expand our territory, but our biggest goal was to stay out of any major battles as long as this is not absolutely necessary. However, we're very happy with our current spot and are ready to defend it when that day comes."
Rekker's Little Stompers have been sat to the west of DA's territory for some time now, but despite not making the top 25 these guys have no intention of challenging their neighbours for high-value territory.
Rekker - Little Stompers - 12 Blocks - 1263 Respect
"Territories so far for us has been a bit of a doddle with no one giving us a real challenge, not that I mind as that meant we could concentrate more on war and move stuff around in territories whilst we are in training mode."
"It is just good sense to be next to DA as we are good friends with them. This happened purely by chance ending up next to each other but we are both happy with how it worked out. Whilst the daily gains could be better we don't mind what we are getting right now. Possibly we will expand what we got in the near future but who knows right?!"
As we never intended to go for the AOW island it's been pretty easy I think those guy's fighting it out to take the island have had the hardest job. Looks like territory wars are pretty much over know though with JFx and MnC in place."
To the north of Little Stompers are PT-Bravehearts, with affiliates PT-Ironhearts and PT-Family just slightly further north with the three forming a strong if dangerously unconnected block. PT-Family leader thestud told me that he felt territorial warring to be more about egos than benefits, and he also thinks that with friendships often proving majorly important to Torn success, territories has merely brought out these alliances into the open. This is something JFC's MeanMike agreed with, as you'll see from the comments below:
Thestud - PT-Family - 12 Blocks - 1613 Respect
"Currently we (I speak for PT Group & our 3 factions) have no aspirations to move inside the isle towards the financial district. I'm an old man & closed spaces make me claustrophobic... We'd rather stay out in the open. It feels nice & homely to have our group factions huddled together so we try to stay as close as possible."
"PT functions differently than most other factions. Decisions/plans are normally discussed within a core group before implemented, but in urgent times I have been given the authority to take steps as warranted.... it's another thing that if my decision goes wrong, the usual punishment is hanging me by my balls for an entire month."
MeanMike - JFC - 13 Blocks - 1387 Respect
"That's actually news to us. We knew we were doing pretty good with what we had, but I didn't know we were 3rd. In the beginning, we of course were aiming for high respect territories, but we also just wanted to stay out of trouble and be close by our allies to provide and get support if needed. JFCs Warlord Handsomepants uses his mutant strategic brain to chart out our course and has done a great job finding us a good spot on the map. Our plans for the future include sticking close to our homies while continuing to carve out our own little place in the sun"
To the rear of PT-Family in Sector 2 are Macaroni and Cheese, with their own partner faction Milk and Cookies having long since departed for a premium spot in the Financial District. MnC leader Myhedin referred me to Blexi for further details on the faction's progress so far, and he had this to say;
Blexi - Milk and Cookies - 15 Blocks - 2553 Respect
"We were on friendly terms with a few factions like JFA and PT, and helped each other get through in each sector. Sector 1 came, made a plan where to go with JFA, but IBB got there first. JFA declared on them, and then world war 3 broke out. Long story short, we (+ others) helped JFA's side, but lost to IBB's side (+SA/FTW/DEHT/Relentless)."
"Learning our lessons from that war, we then made plans with JFA, JFK and JFK 2.1 to jointly attack IBB and move them out, which worked out very well. Relentless began an assault into our territory during that time (while we were stacking for our upcoming termed war with DA), but got beaten pretty badly, and they seemed out of the SA/FTW alliance, at least in terms of territories."
"With these successes, we then decided to go for the island (which we weren't planning on taking initially). SA/FTW tried to delay by having fake wars, but we manage to get through just fine (partly due to their poor execution, though we prepared well for it as well). Seeing that our alliance outstatted the SA/FTW by miles, they gave up fairly quickly, without a real fight, packed their bags and left."
"Not planning moving anywhere soon, we'll defend the island whatever it'll take. If there are territory perks, that might change. Mac seem happy where they are."
MnC are joined on the island by JFA, who are just 127 points behind Myhedin's clan in the territories table as it stands. Another thing these two have in common is that neither of them planned to take the island at the outset, as Penicillin explains:
Penicillin - JFA - 15 Blocks - 2346 Respect
"Honestly, when territories started, we never intended to go to the island. Our original plan was to occupy the docks area, but DA beat us to it. Then we had a couple of other plans of places to settle into, but one thing or another led us forward. Most everyone we talked to in other factions said they didn't want to be on the island."
"The most common thoughts we heard regarding the island were that it would be a place of constant conflict or that you would be isolated and grow bored, and that there were other places on the map that might provide just as much respect and a better gaming experience. Besides, respect is only going to make so much of a difference. The upgrades get really expensive and the difference between two factions respect might only mean, for example, +7% speed versus +9% speed."
"We wound up on the island through a large scale conflict. It seems both JFA and IBB had planned to occupy the same place on the map. So when sector 1 opened, both factions found themselves on top of each other. We asked them to find a different spot, and at that moment when sector 1 had just opened, they could have moved somewhere else, but they were determined to stay, and so were we, so the only thing left to do was to fight it out."
"The details of what happened next depend on who you talk to, but a large multi-faction war erupted and ultimately JFK/2.1/JFA/MNC/PT prevailed. Not everyone in the alliance wanted to occupy the island at this moment, but JFA and MNC did, so here we are."
The way various factions have allied and betrayed each other for control of the island is fascinating, and the insight given by both Penicillin and Blexi should prove useful on reflection should the island change hands in future. Not that any of this of interests JFR's Cappucino, who it seems is quite content to let others do as they please while the old fogies take a load off.
Cappucino - JFR - 15 Blocks - 1713 Respect
"We are just a bunch of retired citizens that decided that some fresh ocean air would do our aching joints some good, so we opted for moving to an island. I don't really know what happened here before; I don't pay much attention to what the youngsters are up to. We are too old to move around all the time so I guess we'll stay where we're at for the foreseeable future. Not sure who if anyone would care enough to threaten us. What's the fun in making threats to old has beens?"
With regards to the remainder of the Sector 1 territory, there is an interesting battle going on between six factions for the area between the Visitor Center and the Jail. I saw Relentless in the midst of a scrap with JFK 2.1 over XEF as I was writing this piece, but since both of those factions were too shy to speak let's instead hear from 39th Street Killers leader TheoZ, whose faction lies to the north of both
TheoZ - 39th Street Killers - 15 Blocks - 1807 Respect
"It was a very interesting experience for us! Some thrilling territory war with JUX HQ, some negotiations here and there. So far we have secured a pretty decent area of the map and there is potential to improve our daily respect gained in future. I remember it was a very exciting time each release of new sector till the first, some kind of "race". Glad this time is over now."
"We are close indeed with sister faction X and next door to 39th Haka. We are in close contact with all, and could unite at some point with X, given that it works for both our factions interest concerning respect gained per day. Each faction has their leaders who make their choices but we all come under the same 39th family roof and discuss various topics and work together in various fields, one lately being for instance the hopping of members from faction to faction which provide different specials and suit everyone's needs. As a faction family we are independent and don't forget to write pretty nice and sexy people."
"I only wish that there would be more balanced the 2 superpowers so it could be more exciting for all participants; or ideally have a 3rd superpower emerge as a balance factor."
"Tactic wise we saw some tactics that can be used, logistic wise it's almost same with normal warring (you need e, revivers ready, some bounties maybe? ) but what also matters is activity and the initial "impact". When an attack is launched it has to be fearful to gain an upper hand and decrease willingness to fight back. I don't know if it's more or less fun yet but I know factions must adapt to the new environment and make the best out of it."
To the west of this battle are Calculated and JUX HQ, with the latter led by TCT Reporter Harley. I asked him how territories had unfolded for the men and women of JUX HQ, and I also probed him on how territories differed from regular warring in terms of tactics and logistics.
Harley - JUX HQ - 12 Blocks - 1330 Respect
"In terms of JUX's efforts, I personally think it could have been better but it has been fun nonetheless. Our plans I'll obviously not reveal to the world ;) How territories has worked out so far however, is another story."
"We waited for quite some time to settle initially (sector 7) to avoid the big guns as long as possible (SA, JFK, MnC, DA and many others), which I think was quite successful, as the only brawl worth noting, before sector 1) was one with 39th Street Killers, in which we successfully defended one of our territories."
"However sector 1, despite our extremely good starting position around the city hall was less of a party for us. Just after finishing a two week warring session we were first assaulted by JFK 2.1, a conflict which was resolved through diplomacy. Shortly after we were, again, assaulted by 39th. This time however most of our members (including our leader bogie) had gone for a break after the stressful weeks past, so we ended up resolving the conflict through diplomacy again, sadly having to move away from the city hall to where we are now."
"In terms of how different it is, I think it's very hard to compare the two to each other. Whilst chaining against a faction you are also assaulting is a tremendous help, as the opposing faction would not be able to join the wall due to being hospitalised constantly, it isn't the end of the world. A good example for this would be when SA chained JFK, taking their rank, but they still ended up losing their territory. Preparing I'd say doesn't differ much from the usual warring though, it is still advisable to stack for these territory wars and you'll still need a huge amount of revives stocked up."
Of course, there are many more factions outside the top 25 fighting it out on a daily basis for just a few more precious respect points. Impulse are currently enjoying a peaceful stay out west on the border of Sectors 5 and 6, and while the faction led by Eagle may move inwards eventually, for the time being they're happy where they are.
Eagle - Impulse - 10 Blocks - 752 Respect
"We have had it pretty peaceful at this point, much different from the earlier days, when territories were opening. IMPULSE has had 5 territory wars. We missed having the First Territory war by 5 minutes. The highest score obtained on us was 112,353. We 'allowed" that after determining there was no mathematical way for them to win."
"As the central portions opened up, more seemed to want to divest in the central portions. We had quite a run of battles, having the 2nd battle since territories opened. That battle was with Unrelenting. They did not expect us to fight as hard as we did. I'm going to look for the war reports to the territory wars we fought."
"With regards to achievements and/or goals... For now, we are going to set where we are. I have not as yet formalized any plans to move more central, but that does not mean I have not been studying. I pick and choose very carefully, taking note of who is in the general vicinity."
"Overall, we do look to the future, and as our faction gets stronger, we will make moves into more pertinent Sectors. We are not HOF yet, just one of the quiet ones that lay back and take a look at the bigger picture."
"There are 3 main tactics used in Territorial War. (That we use, anyway) 1. We bash them off the wall. 2. We get friends to knock them off the wall. 3. The ever present Front Page Bounty system. Our goal is to force the opponent to use up Energy, which I am sure is the main goal of anyone fighting a wall. The tactic of putting "juniors" on the wall, or at least a heavy or 2, force them to use E to knock said member off."
Impulse's local rivals are Malaysia led by Abe, and while they've started out by slowly acquiring territory from smaller, weaker factions, they've set their sights on bigger prizes in future.
Abe - Malaysia - 10 Blocks - 73 Respect
"In a couple of days, we will get enough respect points to acquire one more teritory. IMPULSE already conquered the lower areas of previously vacanted sector 5 (68 points area), so I'm thinking of warring THE MONKEY JUNKIE to get our first sector 4 teritory.
Regarding sector 1 & 2, I did'nt even dream of it, for me it is hard and impossible to acquire any areas on those sectors. We will probably try to remain on sector 4 or 5 for the time being. And will take advantage of any vacanted nearby areas as our main plan."
Another faction content to sit out on the periphery is Tascon's Memento Mori, who are one of the six top 25 factions ranked in the HoF for respect who do not feature in the top 25 for territorial respect points gained. MM have taken a decent patch of land by the junction stretching over sectors 3 and 4, and Tascon is quite happy with what his boys have achieved so far.
Tascon - Memento Mori - 15 Blocks - 1573 Respect
"MM is not fighting too much on the territories, we found a good spot which will give us a fair amount of daily respect. We did not want to war big time for good areas, as it will require lots of E to defend it and lot of time to keep watching how all the other factions reach around you. So we basically sits on less daily respect but without wasting too much Energy too, so hopefully our stats will grow faster than the full warring factions."
The other top 25 respect factions not featured in the top 25 for territorial respect aside from MM and JFK are Evolution, The Equalizer 3 United, Hold Your Fire and Vulpes Vulpes, and you have to wonder why these guys haven't made more of an impression. Do their priorities lie elsewhere as they seemingly do for JFK, or have they merely botched their tactics like some other factions we are too kind to mention?
Or perhaps leading the table in territorial respect isn't such a big deal after all, as Harley explained to me just before this piece was published:
"It might be worth adding that the highest respect count gained from territories overall isn't necessarily a good thing. Many of the factions in the top 25 have just mindlessly spam unlocked as many territories as they could, without actually holding into account the return on investment.
"For example, using a faction with a 12th territory unlocked (with let's say 110 respect per territory as average), will have approximately 340 days before they actually gain respect, as the upgrade cost was 37,341 respect. That, in my opinion, would still be okay. But then if you have a faction which unlocked a 15th territory, with a cost of 62,625 respect that would already be a 570 days before you get a return on investment, using the same average per territory."
Thanks to Harley and IIIlusionist for checking this article for errors, and also to the faction leaders who provided content for this piece.
Original article
Comments
Post a Comment