Highlighting the August 3338 Holmes Havoc
Some Commanders might have yawned and said something akin to "Oh, another 35 ton event"
Well, it was. At least for those on the lower tops.
For those on the ten highest tops it was a different matter.
Whether you had used Zadoc, Novum, Trooper or just an Ant formation in the 35 Alive, now you vere only allowed to use two non-Holmes Mechs.
I had a string of them from back when 35 ton was a specialist formation, and by adding in a couple Novums I was ready to hit the opposition.
I arrived at the tournament area about 90 minutes before the scramble was about to start. More than half of the opposition had brought their main formations to the event, and the rest had formations lighter than mine.
The top was held by my former clan-mate, Caitlyn Mainer, now a member of Avengers of Bunny. Her formation was good, after all she held the top.
She was not the only one who would be a challenge to overcome.
Going purely by tonnage is not an exact science, but here I assumed those who seemed in formation had no more than two non-Holmes. If they had more, so much better for me.
Joey Goldez from Phoenix and Stroker Spot from Omegas Legacy both spotted me about 160 tons, so I probably had 4 or even 5 Mechs more than them.
Colin Toenjes from Heroes actually had 10 tons more than me, and I really wished I had more supers.
So, at least four of the opposition were those who could beat me.
I stepped lightly on the shoulders of giants to reach the top.
They resented it, but that is the problem when you are out of formation in a low tonnage challenge.
Sure, their mains could blow me to bits without me getting even one shot off in return outside, but within the arena they were unable to touch me.
Caitlyns formation was as I had expected tough. She had brought two Novums as well, but I had eight Holmes more than her and two of them were still standing when her last mech fell.
Then it was just to sit back and wait for the inevitable counterattack.
It never arose.
Seemingly the opponents was jockeying for a position to take out whoever managed to exhaust me.
Since none were willing to be the first I was still at the top when the light flashed.
The full list of winners was:
- Div 1 272+ (16 Commanders): Jeff Haas, Warlock (1m,26s)
- Div 2 -271 (15 Commanders): Don Lindley, Spirit of Bunny (2h,45m)
- Div 3 -189 (17 Commanders): Sten Hugo Hiller, Star League (1h,38m)
- Div 4 -140 (19 Commanders): Darren Jackson, M&L Blood Wolves (13h,55m)
- Div 5 -111 (16 Commanders): Duncan Cecil Goetz, Death`s Disturbed Asylum (3h,52m)
- Div 6 -83 (15 Commanders): BobGoetz, Black Star Bandits (14h,45m)
- Div 7 -67 (9 Commanders): Patrick T Kennon, Sabattical (10h,37m)
- Div 8 -52 (20 Commanders): Stug Hill, Behemoth (2h,21m)
- Div 9 -37 (8 Commanders): Rick Sask, Borg (10h,57m)
- Div 10 -25 (12 Commanders): Donald_Trump_45, MAGA (3h,31m)
- Div 11 -16 (10 Commanders): Batata Noire, MAGA (12h,57m)
- Div 12 -13 (16 Commanders): Dacotah Keeler (15h,1m)
6+8(1S)+8(1S)+3+6+8+1+2+3(1S)+4(1S)+0+1(G)=
Total Contestants: 173, Total medals claimed: 159 (of 180 possible)
Seemingly Commanders wasn't so interested in another bout of what was perceived as the same. We had 40 fewer participants compared to the 35 Alive.
All the highest tops were fully covered, but only two of the lower tops had the participation needed to give out all the medals. from the four other a total of 21 Bronzes were sent for resmelting.
Mount Olympus was the only top where the Gold changed hands. On ten of the other tops the Gold was held for at least two hours. It was some struggle on the other tops, but not much as evidenced by the number of medals held for more than 30 minutes in this event:
.............Silvers......Bronzes
Div 1 ....0 of 4.........4 of 10
Div 2 ....4 of 4.......10 of 10
Div 3 ....4 of 4.........6 of 10
Div 4 ....4 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 5 ....2 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 6 ....2 of 4.........6 of 10
Div 7 ....4 of 4.........4 of 4
Div 8 ....4 of 4.........8 of 10
Div 9 ....4 of 4.........3 of 3
Div 10 ..4 of 4.........5 of 7
Div 11 ..4 of 4.........5 of 5
Div 12 ..4 of 4.........9 of 10
11 medals changed hands on Mount Olympus, on four tops there wasn't even a single successful attack. On the seven remaining tops a total of 21 medals got new holders.
Best clan yet again was MAGA, they took top prices on K10 and K11. Unaligned Dacotah Keeler claimed K12.
Rick Sask of Borg took his second Gold in a row, while Donald_Trump_45 of MAGA got his third Gold in a row (also third medal ever).
Most of the other winners were pretty busy, and didn't have much more time than what was needed to get the keys to their New Nephilaxes. One of them however grinned wryly at me and muttered "where should I place this one…"
A quick scan of the records showed that was in fact a serious question, he already had more Nephilaxes than could fit into even the largest formations available. And this was a Commander that hadn't gotten to level 50 yet.
I got out my pen and notepad and approached Stug Hill (966734)
Sten Hugo Hiller
Congrats on your latest win. Is that really your 49th Nephilax?
Stug Hill
Yes, I decided early in my career that I would try to get one for each level, and this is the first time I have managed to reach that goal. However, I am not sure what to do now, the last few aren't out of their crates yet.
Sten Hugo Hiller
This was the second Gold you have taken in Holmes events. Is the Holmes events a particular favorite of yours?
Stug Hill
No, not really. There are other events I have a better track record in. But any event where you win gives a pleasant feeling, so right now it is clearly high up on my list.
Sten Hugo Hiller
So what are your favorite events?
Stug Hill
I don't really have any, but most of my wins come from the lower end of the scale. Mech specific and low tonnage. I have tried to maintain full formations of most of the Mechs up to 50 tons, and that seem to give me an edge over those who cant put full formations in the field.
If I try in unlimited, the bigger Mechs some of the competition have tend to trample me to the ground.
Sten Hugo Hiller
Happens to most of us. I seem to remember your name from the Multiverse, how did it turn out for you?
Stug Hill
Did fairly well, secured three Redeemers and four other Mechs. But the pressure there was pretty intense, in just a few weeks I gained more levels there than I have here.
Sten Hugo Hiller
So now that you are back here in the mainverse, do you find anything to do?
Like the Birthday events and the Wave Challenges.
Stug Hill
Hmm. Well, I got some medals in the Birthday Circuits, and been trying the wave Challenges. I generally find them to hard for me.
Can understand they don't want to give out freebie prizes, but the last Challenge was a ball buster for me.
Five different Heralds, no other Mechs. Crush 7 Waves of one type to get a prize, crush 41 total (4x8 and 1x9) to get another.
I could clear 4-5, and the division I was in reached up to about twice my level, so ending at a leader board was impossible as well. Don't know if I am gonna bother trying them again, at least not if they seem to be impossible like the last one.
Sten Hugo Hiller
That is a problem we all face, unless we are near the top. If you could make a KotM event, what would you chose?
Stug Hill
Like different from what we have now… ehm. Although my odds would be low, how about top row? Only the Mechs in the top row fight, like in the frontline, but as Point Mechs, so there is always one vs one.
Sten Hugo Hiller
From your lips to the Developers ears. How did the latest raid end up for you?
Stug Hill
It was a really hard raid. I mean… we were a Bronze clan, I have no idea what others faced but for us it was almost impossible.
Sten Hugo Hiller
I was thinking more about what you got out of it, provided you finished it.
Stug Hill
For me personally, pretty good. For the clan as a whole, not good. Think we will take a close look at raids in the future and discuss whether we will leave them undone or try them. Depends on probable prizes and hardness. Of course, some have to do some fighting to find how hard it is, but the last one was really hard.
Sten Hugo Hiller
As a Commander who have won a lot of Golds, what is the advice you would give to those who want to copy your exploits?
Stug Hill
Get into a clan, ask questions, get advice. Join the Kotms, even Bronze prizes give decent weapons. Then make sure you are ready before you try for a top.
Have correct Mechs, make sure they have all the Equipment they can hold and are fully armed. Have a HG as close to full as you can get it, and bring some supers along as well. Much better to have them and not need them, than needing them and being without.
And wait until a few minutes before the end time to make the move, let others exhaust themselves against each other. Most importantly. Be there.
Sten Hugo Hiller
Well, thank you for that advice and good luck in the future.
Stug Hill
Same to you.
We broke off the conversation and returned to the problem of where to put the newest price.
Upcoming event: Quadruple Rainbow
In a rainbow event a Commander can bring whatever Mechs he desires, as long as he doesn't bring more of each than the event allow. Here the limit is four of each.
It is of course up to said Commander if he want to follow these restrictions, but if he doesn't those Mechmodels where he have an excess will be subject to culling before any battles on the mountain takes place.
Event ends August 27 between 1400 and 1430 New York time.
(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184)
