Highlighting the January 3333 King of the Mountain
It was my fourth and last special invitation to K2 in this cycle. I hoped I could do better than in the last three events, but fate or the Craftsmen were seemingly conspiring against me.
Firstly it was an unlimited event. Not exactly my forte as my formation is on the smallish side and a big percentage of my Mechs are non-BFMs.
But my crew can sometimes handle bigger formations, so there was a faint glimmer of hope.
But that glimmer was almost extinguished by the fact that none of the regular entrees had licences less than 30 higher than me, and many almost 100 higher.
That meant the opposing formations not only had 600 to 1500 tons on me, the Mechs there would have from 10 to 30 more weapons than my similar Mechs would have.
The last slim hope was that there would be fewer Commanders signing up than there were Medals available, but when I finally managed to register the only room left was out on the plains.
But as the scramble neared I returned to the mountain and went through the notes of my crew. There was no realistic chance to displace any in reach, but I had gotten some Supers that would expire within the following hour, so I might just as well swallow them and do some tries.
After three dozens unsuccessful tries I swallowed my pride and told my crew to stand down from offensive formation and be ready to wave the white flag if any below us wanted the part of the plains we were standing on. I then tried to get a feel for the action on the other tops, but it seemed it was mostly over at all the tops. The light flashed a few minutes later, and the winners this time were:
- Div 1 245+ (28 Commanders): Jaime Beltram, Leviathan (15m,42s)
- Div 2 -244 (20 Commanders): Bing Paculan, The Isle of Misfit Toys (23h,40m)
- Div 3 -176 (22 Commanders): Michael Beagle; Death`s Brethren (1d,7h)
- Div 4 -130 (37 Commanders): Joshua Eifort, Northwind Dragons (10m,52s)
- Div 5 -107 (33 Commanders): Scott Abbott, Northwind Dragons (1d,4h)
- Div 6 -88 (36 Commanders): Sean McGan (14h,1m)
- Div 7 -70 (31 Commanders): Craig Robb, mad pork bbq2 (2h,18m)
- Div 8 -50 (24 Commanders): Estrella Starfire, Inactive Dragons (10h,16m)
- Div 9 -39 (13 Commanders): Jerry Jones, JP`s Rowdy Bunch (1d,1h)
- Div 10 -28 (18 Commanders): Sandie Elgie, clown clan (1d,7h)
- Div 11 -19 (8 Commanders): Restlessmech, Politically Incorrect (9m,59s)
- Div 12 -14 (11 Commanders): Enigma, Seal Drivers (20h,32m)
Total Contestants: 281, Total medals claimed: 167 (of 180 possible)
Compared to the Triple Rainbow we recently had, the participation rose by 73 Commanders. The spread was still not even, the narrowness of especially K11 might have contributed to the total of 13 Bronzes from K9, K11 and K12 who were sent for resmelting. Those three tops had a combined participation less than each of K4, K5 and K6.
According to my timepiece the event ended in the 16th minute. During that period three Golds changed hands. The remaining nine were held for more than two hours, four of them for more than a day.
Fighting seemed very subdued all over. Could be the strength of the medal holders were such that few if none managed to rise, or it could be the end time was inconvenient for most Commanders.
The number of lesser medals held for more than 30 minutes in this event was:
.............Silvers......Bronzes
Div 1 ....3 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 2 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 3 ....4 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 4 ....3 of 4.........7 of 10
Div 5 ....3 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 6 ....4 of 4.........6 of 10
Div 7 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 8 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 9 ....4 of 4.........8 of 8
Div 10 ..4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 11 ..2 of 4.........3 of 3
Div 12 ..4 of 4.........4 of 6
The only top where no more than half of the medals were held for more than a half-hour was K11. On five of the tops there was no successful attacks, and on the six last only a total of 18 medals (of 86) got new holders.
The only clan to bring home multiple Golds this time was Northwind Dragons. They held both K4 and K5 at the end.
The sole repeat winner this time was Restlessmech from Politically Incorrect who secured his newest Nephilax on K11.
Unaligned Sean McGan took home the Gold from K6. That was his 12th KotM Gold so far, and his third in the unlimited format. Clan Leaders looking for reinforcements for the upcoming Clan War could do worse than signing him up.
Upcoming event: Fourty
This is another weight limit event. All Mechs should be 40 ton or less. It is of course up to the Commanders to follow this rule or not, but all Mechs having a tonnage of 45 tons or more will only exist as empty holes in the formation when it comes to fighting. Recommended Mechs: Novum, Buccaneer, Nephilax, Keradon and Zadoc in addition to the Nifthel. But any legal Mech is better than none (or an overweight one).
Event ends March 10 between 0000 and 0030 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)
