sugarvalves [1963573] —
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Earlier this month, Torn's top ranked faction faced off against its largest and most feral alliance. Find out what went down and why in our special war report.
On the 16th of January, a post by Indubitably indicated that war between Itsi Bitsi Bikini and the combined forces of the Animal Kingdom was imminent. And war there was, with a battle involving multiple factions over several days eventually resulting in a comprehensive victory for Animal Kingdom. But how did it start? Who won? And how did d3vl emerge as the bad guy yet again?
THE FOREPLAY
Territorial disputes were at the heart of this conflict. Before the war, Itsi Bitsi Bikini was situated next to the Jail in sector 2, but they soon lost their home when Chain Reaction successfully assaulted their SRD and ZRD territories over the 11th and 12th of January. IBB co-leader MightyGoober told The Times that while his side was prepared for CR's attack, their opponent's stats and activity meant they were no match for them.
In light of their defeat, IBB needed a new place to pitch up, and soon began attacking factions on the southeastern border of Animal Kingdom's territories. In the forums, an image posted by Tenacious1 implied that IBB initially offered to join Animal Kingdom as a way of fending off Chain Reaction. IBB then seemingly chose to attack AK when their offer was rejected.
AK rejected IBB's advances for two reasons. First, it was a one-sided deal, with IBB looking to save themselves and their rackets, but bringing nothing of their own to the table. The second reason AK rejected MightyGoober's proposal is that they have good relations with Chain Reaction, and even if a deal was struck with IBB, it was by no means certain that their members would accept such an alliance.
MightyGoober offers a slightly different version of events. He claims that IBB never attempted to join AK, as he feels the changes to group fights make them vulnerable to HoF factions in the future. Furthermore, he says that IBB initially entered the map from the north-east, as their goal was to avoid AK and instead attack LONDON.
"After getting a list of every protected AK faction from 2 different sources, we found that the faction "LONDON" was not mentioned. They were located around other AK factions, in not a great spot. Our original plan was to have an easy war, take the spot, and spend the time to look for something bigger & permanent."
Unfortunately for IBB, word of their plans soon got around, and Animal Kingdom rearranged their territory to protect LONDON's territory. This surprised IBB's leadership, as LONDON and AK are not officially allied. Heasleys4hemp confirmed that no such formal arrangement is in place between the two sides, but they are on friendly terms, so AK decided to give the latter the courtesy of a few wall blocks. The result of this action was that IBB's relationship with Animal Kingdom deteriorated rapidly, as MightyGoober reveals.
"From there, Leaf and I decided that we were going to take on AK with a lower chance of winning, we should scope out a much better spot. We quickly dropped out from the top of the map and made plans to drop in on the southeast."
Pictured: The supposed territorial map of Torn City drawn by an anonymous artist. It is believed to be mostly accurate, save for the encompassing of 39th street factions in the area marked as JFK territory to the west.
THE MAIN EVENT
IBB began by attacking the GZG, IZG, and JZG territories owned by Anarquia e Morte, a faction with no allegiance to either side, but whose territories bordered those owned by Little Stompers of the Animal Kingdom. The assault on AeM served as a warning to AK that IBB had Little Stompers in their sights. When this act was combined with the aforementioned post by Indubitably, it became crystal clear that war was coming to the Animal Kingdom - no formal declaration upon AK was ever made.
Pictured: A supposed list of Animal Kingdom factions.
Heasleys4hemp, the co-leader of WarBirds, told The Times that Anarquia e Morte had always been good neighbours, and they proved so by refusing to allow IBB free passage to hit Little Stompers. In response to IBB's advances, the AK factions used fake territory assaults to delay their opponents' progress and give themselves time to switch over to war perks.
A plan was forged whereby WarBirds would sector 7 themselves to allow them to hit IBB from behind, but some within AK were hesitant, as this would leave family factions like The Nest vulnerable to a counterattack. However, according to MightyGoober's own battle plans, it appears that IBB only ever had eyes for Little Stompers.
"We knew that you couldn't claim/assault territory from the hospital. What I did was set up a ton of faction positions with generic names. In one of the positions, about 15 trusted members were able to declare territory wars. I sent out the image below as a plan. With about 3 hours left in a fake wall, they waited for me & Leaf to go offline so they could set a new one up again with different factions. They had no idea that we had countless members watching the map, and we were able to declare on the giant green one LS held."
Pictured: IBB's battle plans.
Following discussions between MightyGoober and Leaf Bikini, IBB decided they would fight Animal Kingdom head-on, despite knowing full well that they had little chance of victory. Their only chance of gaining some territory was to find some reliable allies and use the element of surprise - the latter would prove much easier to execute than the former.
Heasleys4hemp says that the hope within AK was that Little Stompers would be able to successfully defend against IBB by themselves. However, when two of Little Stompers' walls fell at IYG and JYG, AK's members realised that their opponents had become more active and innovative than usual. IBB's use of strategically placed walls combined with some of AK's poorly planned fake walls to result in Bikini's attacks being funneled down a narrow corridor, enabling them to fight AK members one at a time.
IBB also had a list of priority wall targets, in addition to a detailed secondary plan for their members to use energy. MightyGoober says he learned these tactics during his brief time in Relentless when they fought against JFx as part of the Insurgency, a war where the use of walls, priority, and splitting territory in just the right spot often proved decisive.
In response, AK was forced to move Desert Eagle and Honey Badgers behind Little Stompers and Healing Wings to prevent IBB from pushing further into their land. It looked like Animal Kingdom should be able to ride this out without complication. And then, out of nowhere, an old friend turned up to join in the fun.
THE CAVALRY ARRIVE
The best part of any action movie is when an unexpected ally arrives to help save the day. In this particular war, D3vl decided to play this role, as he led his HT- troops into battle to fight against their former allies Animal Kingdom. Or at least he tried to, briefly, in his own special way.
D3vl famously stepped down from HT-'s leadership in May of last year after the alliance between his faction and the Animal Kingdom fell apart - clearly, he couldn't bear to wrench himself away from the leadership role. AK ditched HT in 2020 due to allegations of extortion and unnecessary aggression made against D3vl, and it appears that he took this rather personally, so MightyGoober decided to exploit this ill-will for IBB's gain.
"HT has an axe to grind with AK, and I was more than happy to have another 100 soldiers beside me with the same goal."
But MightyGoober's happiness did not last for long, and nor did d3vl's loyalty. D3vl requested permission to attack Desert Eagle directly, knowing full well they would be attacked by AK's outside hitters if they did. However, if IBB hit Evolution at the same time, those outside hits would be split, giving both sides a greater chance of victory in their individual territorial battles. Heasleys4hemp describes what happened next.
"HT- sectored from wherever they were staying and joined near IBB to assault. IBB went after Evo, and HT- assaulted DE. Desert Eagle crushed HT- and I guess that made D3vl rage quit the war so he dropped their territories leaving IBB vulnerable. MightyGoober learned the hard way why D3vl is a bad ally. Just as we did before."
Indeed, in a forum post found on page 14 of Indubitably's thread, MightyGoober revealed that he woke up to the news that HT had abandoned on the war and sectored themselves. D3vl's relinquishment of four territories allowed Animal Kingdom to wrap their talons around IBB's throats, giving them the upper hand - or should that be claw - over multiple territories. IBB also lost 100 members' worth of energy to this incident. MightyGoober realised now that the war was lost.
"At this point, it was no longer a fun show put on for Torn, showing what IBB could do. It was them declaring 3 walls, and able to defend the one we were assaulting. The plan if HT would have stayed would have been to keep half of AK busy. I was confident that since IBB was taking them on completely at the start of the war, we could either have them split the effort or force them to only focus on one of us."
IBB was then forced to face WarBirds and Evolution alone, with outside hits also playing a major role in this battle. MightyGoober noticed hits from members of Little Stompers, Desert Eagle, and Wolverines during this fight, and the result of this all-out animal attack was a comprehensive victory for the forces of Animal Kingdom and a successful defense of their territories. Itsi Bitsi Bikini can now be found in Sector 4, stuck between Nub Navy, Impulse, 39th Street, and Subversive Alliance.
Pictured: IBB's current location.
It will be interesting to see if IBB manage to come to an understanding with the factions around them. Bikini has never had a major alliance in their history, and MightyGoober admits that this situation doesn't look like changing anytime soon.
"If we pick a route, we have to make sure they are as committed to us, as we are to them. I'm not counting it out, but I think we have a bit of internal growth first before we sign on a dotted line."
Meanwhile, in a recent development, Subversive Alliance is attempting to succeed where IBB failed. For several days now, SA has been seen on the walls of the same territories MightyGoober's men tried to take earlier this month. Can Animal Kingdom and their neighbours hold out for a second time? Has Subversive Alliance taken hope from IBB's successes? We shall see.
BALLS TO THE WALLS
A common question posted throughout Indubitably's megathread asked if IBB had managed to take any of AK's territories during this war. We can confirm that they did so on three occasions, hence why Subversive Alliance may have decided to chance their arm too. As we've already mentioned, IBB successfully took IYG and JYG from Little Stompers on the 19th and 20th of January, with a successful assault of Healing Wings Medical's VZG territory sandwiched in between.
The only other territories IBB took during the war belonged to DP Warriors (KSE on the 16th), Anarquia e Morte (GZG, IZG, JZG on the 16th, 17th, 18th), and S&S Rising (XZG on the 18th). It appears that IBB could have taken a hell of a lot more if their allies hadn't abandoned them so quickly - an event which Nihar was keen to remark upon publicly. Heasleys4hemp agreed with this sentiment and added that his own side learned a lot from this fight.
"It did allow AK to interact with each other more, understand our weak points, and practice war. Kind of like a training drill. I would say IBB gained some respect in the eyes of the community. They showed they are willing to war and can pull their weight in a war. It was very surprising to see how active they were on the walls. Major props to them!"
MightyGoober appears to be proud of his side's efforts and feels that IBB is in the process of shedding the "farmer" tag they gained due to their exploits under previous game mechanics. He believes that their rivals should not hate them for benefitting from the old Torn landscape, and warns that if IBB can retain their members, and recruit and grow into the top 10 area of stats, they will be ready to make a name for themselves when the time comes.
"I always knew IBB could compete, but I had REALLY wanted to save that surprise for ranked warring. We may not have won the AK war, but I don't consider it a loss. We turned countless heads, and I think IBB put on quite a show. We are here to stay and war. We look forward to what the future holds for us. Keep an eye on us Torn!"
ADDENDUM - D3VL
Shortly before this article was published, we received a number of messages alerting us to a rather fishy incident involving HT's leader, D3vl. At the time of writing, a quick look at his personal bounty page reveals he has been slapped with numerous contract hits, all of which make reference to trout.
Pictured: What's this all atrout then?
An anonymous source gave us the lowdown on this story earlier this morning. It appears that HT bit off more than they could chew when they attacked The Hood, who were already stacked and on war perks after a recent conflict with JFK and MnC.
It appears that two of Torn's largest factions combined to try and take The Hood's rackets, some of which were held by Bodybagger's Guerilla Warfare faction. HT turned up like vultures to feast on The Hood's carcass, only to discover that this faction was alive, well, and thirsty for revenge. We would like to invite any and all participants to contact Sugarvalves with your story, as we intend on covering this event in a forthcoming article.
THE FOREPLAY
Territorial disputes were at the heart of this conflict. Before the war, Itsi Bitsi Bikini was situated next to the Jail in sector 2, but they soon lost their home when Chain Reaction successfully assaulted their SRD and ZRD territories over the 11th and 12th of January. IBB co-leader MightyGoober told The Times that while his side was prepared for CR's attack, their opponent's stats and activity meant they were no match for them.
In light of their defeat, IBB needed a new place to pitch up, and soon began attacking factions on the southeastern border of Animal Kingdom's territories. In the forums, an image posted by Tenacious1 implied that IBB initially offered to join Animal Kingdom as a way of fending off Chain Reaction. IBB then seemingly chose to attack AK when their offer was rejected.
AK rejected IBB's advances for two reasons. First, it was a one-sided deal, with IBB looking to save themselves and their rackets, but bringing nothing of their own to the table. The second reason AK rejected MightyGoober's proposal is that they have good relations with Chain Reaction, and even if a deal was struck with IBB, it was by no means certain that their members would accept such an alliance.
MightyGoober offers a slightly different version of events. He claims that IBB never attempted to join AK, as he feels the changes to group fights make them vulnerable to HoF factions in the future. Furthermore, he says that IBB initially entered the map from the north-east, as their goal was to avoid AK and instead attack LONDON.
"After getting a list of every protected AK faction from 2 different sources, we found that the faction "LONDON" was not mentioned. They were located around other AK factions, in not a great spot. Our original plan was to have an easy war, take the spot, and spend the time to look for something bigger & permanent."
Unfortunately for IBB, word of their plans soon got around, and Animal Kingdom rearranged their territory to protect LONDON's territory. This surprised IBB's leadership, as LONDON and AK are not officially allied. Heasleys4hemp confirmed that no such formal arrangement is in place between the two sides, but they are on friendly terms, so AK decided to give the latter the courtesy of a few wall blocks. The result of this action was that IBB's relationship with Animal Kingdom deteriorated rapidly, as MightyGoober reveals.
"From there, Leaf and I decided that we were going to take on AK with a lower chance of winning, we should scope out a much better spot. We quickly dropped out from the top of the map and made plans to drop in on the southeast."
Pictured: The supposed territorial map of Torn City drawn by an anonymous artist. It is believed to be mostly accurate, save for the encompassing of 39th street factions in the area marked as JFK territory to the west.
THE MAIN EVENT
IBB began by attacking the GZG, IZG, and JZG territories owned by Anarquia e Morte, a faction with no allegiance to either side, but whose territories bordered those owned by Little Stompers of the Animal Kingdom. The assault on AeM served as a warning to AK that IBB had Little Stompers in their sights. When this act was combined with the aforementioned post by Indubitably, it became crystal clear that war was coming to the Animal Kingdom - no formal declaration upon AK was ever made.
Pictured: A supposed list of Animal Kingdom factions.
Heasleys4hemp, the co-leader of WarBirds, told The Times that Anarquia e Morte had always been good neighbours, and they proved so by refusing to allow IBB free passage to hit Little Stompers. In response to IBB's advances, the AK factions used fake territory assaults to delay their opponents' progress and give themselves time to switch over to war perks.
A plan was forged whereby WarBirds would sector 7 themselves to allow them to hit IBB from behind, but some within AK were hesitant, as this would leave family factions like The Nest vulnerable to a counterattack. However, according to MightyGoober's own battle plans, it appears that IBB only ever had eyes for Little Stompers.
"We knew that you couldn't claim/assault territory from the hospital. What I did was set up a ton of faction positions with generic names. In one of the positions, about 15 trusted members were able to declare territory wars. I sent out the image below as a plan. With about 3 hours left in a fake wall, they waited for me & Leaf to go offline so they could set a new one up again with different factions. They had no idea that we had countless members watching the map, and we were able to declare on the giant green one LS held."
Pictured: IBB's battle plans.
Following discussions between MightyGoober and Leaf Bikini, IBB decided they would fight Animal Kingdom head-on, despite knowing full well that they had little chance of victory. Their only chance of gaining some territory was to find some reliable allies and use the element of surprise - the latter would prove much easier to execute than the former.
Heasleys4hemp says that the hope within AK was that Little Stompers would be able to successfully defend against IBB by themselves. However, when two of Little Stompers' walls fell at IYG and JYG, AK's members realised that their opponents had become more active and innovative than usual. IBB's use of strategically placed walls combined with some of AK's poorly planned fake walls to result in Bikini's attacks being funneled down a narrow corridor, enabling them to fight AK members one at a time.
IBB also had a list of priority wall targets, in addition to a detailed secondary plan for their members to use energy. MightyGoober says he learned these tactics during his brief time in Relentless when they fought against JFx as part of the Insurgency, a war where the use of walls, priority, and splitting territory in just the right spot often proved decisive.
In response, AK was forced to move Desert Eagle and Honey Badgers behind Little Stompers and Healing Wings to prevent IBB from pushing further into their land. It looked like Animal Kingdom should be able to ride this out without complication. And then, out of nowhere, an old friend turned up to join in the fun.
THE CAVALRY ARRIVE
The best part of any action movie is when an unexpected ally arrives to help save the day. In this particular war, D3vl decided to play this role, as he led his HT- troops into battle to fight against their former allies Animal Kingdom. Or at least he tried to, briefly, in his own special way.
D3vl famously stepped down from HT-'s leadership in May of last year after the alliance between his faction and the Animal Kingdom fell apart - clearly, he couldn't bear to wrench himself away from the leadership role. AK ditched HT in 2020 due to allegations of extortion and unnecessary aggression made against D3vl, and it appears that he took this rather personally, so MightyGoober decided to exploit this ill-will for IBB's gain.
"HT has an axe to grind with AK, and I was more than happy to have another 100 soldiers beside me with the same goal."
But MightyGoober's happiness did not last for long, and nor did d3vl's loyalty. D3vl requested permission to attack Desert Eagle directly, knowing full well they would be attacked by AK's outside hitters if they did. However, if IBB hit Evolution at the same time, those outside hits would be split, giving both sides a greater chance of victory in their individual territorial battles. Heasleys4hemp describes what happened next.
"HT- sectored from wherever they were staying and joined near IBB to assault. IBB went after Evo, and HT- assaulted DE. Desert Eagle crushed HT- and I guess that made D3vl rage quit the war so he dropped their territories leaving IBB vulnerable. MightyGoober learned the hard way why D3vl is a bad ally. Just as we did before."
Indeed, in a forum post found on page 14 of Indubitably's thread, MightyGoober revealed that he woke up to the news that HT had abandoned on the war and sectored themselves. D3vl's relinquishment of four territories allowed Animal Kingdom to wrap their talons around IBB's throats, giving them the upper hand - or should that be claw - over multiple territories. IBB also lost 100 members' worth of energy to this incident. MightyGoober realised now that the war was lost.
"At this point, it was no longer a fun show put on for Torn, showing what IBB could do. It was them declaring 3 walls, and able to defend the one we were assaulting. The plan if HT would have stayed would have been to keep half of AK busy. I was confident that since IBB was taking them on completely at the start of the war, we could either have them split the effort or force them to only focus on one of us."
IBB was then forced to face WarBirds and Evolution alone, with outside hits also playing a major role in this battle. MightyGoober noticed hits from members of Little Stompers, Desert Eagle, and Wolverines during this fight, and the result of this all-out animal attack was a comprehensive victory for the forces of Animal Kingdom and a successful defense of their territories. Itsi Bitsi Bikini can now be found in Sector 4, stuck between Nub Navy, Impulse, 39th Street, and Subversive Alliance.
Pictured: IBB's current location.
It will be interesting to see if IBB manage to come to an understanding with the factions around them. Bikini has never had a major alliance in their history, and MightyGoober admits that this situation doesn't look like changing anytime soon.
"If we pick a route, we have to make sure they are as committed to us, as we are to them. I'm not counting it out, but I think we have a bit of internal growth first before we sign on a dotted line."
Meanwhile, in a recent development, Subversive Alliance is attempting to succeed where IBB failed. For several days now, SA has been seen on the walls of the same territories MightyGoober's men tried to take earlier this month. Can Animal Kingdom and their neighbours hold out for a second time? Has Subversive Alliance taken hope from IBB's successes? We shall see.
BALLS TO THE WALLS
A common question posted throughout Indubitably's megathread asked if IBB had managed to take any of AK's territories during this war. We can confirm that they did so on three occasions, hence why Subversive Alliance may have decided to chance their arm too. As we've already mentioned, IBB successfully took IYG and JYG from Little Stompers on the 19th and 20th of January, with a successful assault of Healing Wings Medical's VZG territory sandwiched in between.
The only other territories IBB took during the war belonged to DP Warriors (KSE on the 16th), Anarquia e Morte (GZG, IZG, JZG on the 16th, 17th, 18th), and S&S Rising (XZG on the 18th). It appears that IBB could have taken a hell of a lot more if their allies hadn't abandoned them so quickly - an event which Nihar was keen to remark upon publicly. Heasleys4hemp agreed with this sentiment and added that his own side learned a lot from this fight.
"It did allow AK to interact with each other more, understand our weak points, and practice war. Kind of like a training drill. I would say IBB gained some respect in the eyes of the community. They showed they are willing to war and can pull their weight in a war. It was very surprising to see how active they were on the walls. Major props to them!"
MightyGoober appears to be proud of his side's efforts and feels that IBB is in the process of shedding the "farmer" tag they gained due to their exploits under previous game mechanics. He believes that their rivals should not hate them for benefitting from the old Torn landscape, and warns that if IBB can retain their members, and recruit and grow into the top 10 area of stats, they will be ready to make a name for themselves when the time comes.
"I always knew IBB could compete, but I had REALLY wanted to save that surprise for ranked warring. We may not have won the AK war, but I don't consider it a loss. We turned countless heads, and I think IBB put on quite a show. We are here to stay and war. We look forward to what the future holds for us. Keep an eye on us Torn!"
ADDENDUM - D3VL
Shortly before this article was published, we received a number of messages alerting us to a rather fishy incident involving HT's leader, D3vl. At the time of writing, a quick look at his personal bounty page reveals he has been slapped with numerous contract hits, all of which make reference to trout.
Pictured: What's this all atrout then?
An anonymous source gave us the lowdown on this story earlier this morning. It appears that HT bit off more than they could chew when they attacked The Hood, who were already stacked and on war perks after a recent conflict with JFK and MnC.
It appears that two of Torn's largest factions combined to try and take The Hood's rackets, some of which were held by Bodybagger's Guerilla Warfare faction. HT turned up like vultures to feast on The Hood's carcass, only to discover that this faction was alive, well, and thirsty for revenge. We would like to invite any and all participants to contact Sugarvalves with your story, as we intend on covering this event in a forthcoming article.
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