Highlighting the February 3333 Fourty
I had been demoted, and was back on K3. And this time the contest was one where I felt the odds weren't stacked against me.
40 ton used to be my forte back in the days when my Snooze Company was active. It was disbanded for the moment, but I could probably get most of the pilots back in the Mechs.
After getting the pilots assembled, and the Mechs ready we walked over to the mountain and registered. None else were yet in formation, and it didn't take many pushes before the top belonged to us. The crew were told to hold and take notes while I returned to the compound and the never ending paperwork.
I got a few calls from the team, the opposition was hounding them and they wondered if I could do something about it, like perhaps getting some Heavy Guard drones? After searching out some friends and swapping some, I returned to the mountain and employed them. Then it was a couple hard battles and a few easier ones, before the top was ours again.
At t-5 minutes the situation was dicey. My team was on the slopes, and the top was held by Colin Toenjes of the Heroes. There were about a dozen other contenders who had a heavier formation than me, but my piloting licence were higher so it was a tossup whether they would beat me. Of the other Commanders I assumed Robert C Goetz Sr of the Death`s Collectors would be the hardest to beat.
As the scramble started it was a wild flurry. At one point, the 8 highest positions had been held for a TOTAL of 46 seconds. But after the initial blast, the mountain calmed a bit. I managed to take the top a couple times, from Toenjes and Goetz, and it seemed it was a done deal.
But I kept a careful watch, there are quite a few certain Golds (and other Medals) that have been lost to some eager beaver who wins a lucky battle after dozens of losses (I have done it, and had it happen to me quite a few times).
My vigilance was needed. Goetz dethroned me, and it took a couple tries to get back to the top. The light flashed a few minutes later while my team was still there. The full list of winners were:
- Div 1 211+ (29 Commanders): Terry Cole, Without Undepants (21m,56s)
- Div 2 -210 (11 Commanders): Christine Mainer, Spirit of Bunny (23h,16m)
- Div 3 -157 (27 Commanders): Sten Hugo Hiller, Star League (2m,28s)
- Div 4 -117 (33 Commanders): Jelloshots Succeddown, T.B. BlackWatch (2m,58s)
- Div 5 -91 (28 Commanders): Sebastien Roussel-Konan, S. Dragons (9m,8s)
- Div 6 -75 (16 Commanders): Fred Smith, Black Star Bandits (4m)
- Div 7 -60 (32 Commanders): Ann Kristin Hiller, today and tomorrow (2h,2m)
- Div 8 -42 (8 Commanders): Stug Hill, Behemoth (1h,52m)
- Div 9 -32 (12 Commanders): Sa Alice, UNDERWORLD (16h,23m)
- Div 10 -23 (22 Commanders): StepinDogPoo (1m,53s)
- Div 11 -14 (7 Commanders): Maria Johnson, S.G.C.B.B_T.S.R. (2h,36m)
- Div 12 -11 (12 Commanders): Solo (13h,23m)
Total Contestants: 237, Total medals claimed: 155 (of 180 possible)
Compared to the previous (unlimited) event, the participation dropped by 44 Commanders. There were a total of 25 Bronzes sent for resmelting from five different mountains after the medal ceremony was finished,
It could be that the narrow gap to enter K11 had some impact on at least that mountain.
According to my timepiece the scramble lasted for about 16 minutes, enough time to get some fighting done. During the last half-hour, half of the Golds changed owner at least once, while five were held for more than two hours.
The number of lesser medals held for more than 30 minutes in this event was:
.............Silvers......Bronzes
Div 1 ....1 of 4.........5 of 10
Div 2 ....4 of 4.........4 of 6
Div 3 ....0 of 4.........1 of 10
Div 4 ....3 of 4.........6 of 10
Div 5 ....2 of 4.........9 of 10
Div 6 ....3 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 7 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 8 ....4 of 4.........3 of 3
Div 9 ....3 of 4.........6 of 7
Div 10 ..1 of 4.........7 of 10
Div 11 ..3 of 4.........1 of 2
Div 12 ..4 of 4.........3 of 7
K3 was the busiest mountain, only one Commander held his position for more than a half-hour there. Mount Olympus was also pretty active, nine medals changed hands at least once. On the other end of the scale was K7 and K8 where no successful attacks were launched.
No single clan brought home more than one Gold after this event, and none of the last events winners managed to get a follow up Gold.
But we had two unaligned winners; StepinDogPoo on K10 and Solo on K12.
Both of these is worth a closer look from Clan Leaders wanting to bolster their forces.
For Solo it was his first KotM Gold, but he did get a CW Gold in div 20 as a member of the Zombie Hunters back in `10.
For StepinDogPoo it was his sixt KotM Gold, but the first in the 40 ton format.
Upcoming event: King Chrono.
Here we have what is for most purposes an unlimited event. Whatever Mechs you can fit into the formation is allowed to bring. (Caution is advised if you don't have the heavy skill to master them yet).
But it is also a Chrono, so joining up early and grabbing points by being high up on the mountains is necessary to get Medals in the end.
Equipment and weapons work as normal.
Event ends March 12 between 1400 and 1430 New York Time.
Any fresh winners can try to get in touch to tell their story, the first to grab hold of me before the report is finished might get a few Niodes for sharing their thoughts.
(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184)
