War 112 - Ironhides Ride

To the Marines who fought in War 112, it is a war that would be difficult to forget. This war, more than any before or after, brought the Marines to their breaking point. This war was characterized by a single key change from all others... components. Attempting to make some changes with their recent update, the developers at Siege Camp had decided to make components more available and prevent hording on the part of larger regiments. In turn, their knee-jerk reaction to the component availability would create what is known as the "World of Tanks" war. The excessive number of tanks, large and small, made the warzones unbearable to fight in. Attrition of enemy armor was impossible due to how cheap they had become. Battles fought entirely by tank lines formed of super-heavy tanks. Before then, such tank lines were rarely (if ever) seen, simply due to their cost. Things have changed since then, but for the Marines in War 112, they meant that the Colonial advance North was swift and aggressive. Pushing the Marines, who had been conducting Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) operations, had positioned themselves in Callum's Descent, Morgen's Crossing sector. Colonial troops had taken Port of Rime in Stlican Shelf, and the back and forth at the Bastard Channel bridge had left everything between Callum's Descent and Briar a wasteland of shell-craters, mines, barbed wire, trenches, tank traps, and everything between. It was, in the purest form, a no-mans-land. It was, under this situation, that the Marines decided to pull out their primary battle tanks - the simple Devitt Ironhide. With some of these tanks being double-vetted (once again, costs for this were no longer prohibitive), the Marines formed a counter-attack. Launching from the Quietus Seaport, crossing the border in the South and attacking in-force with a Noble Firebrand, the Marines surged into the Colonial line. Quickly overwhelming the unsuspecting defenders at Briar, the Noble Firebrand quickly burned their unfinished defenses and relic to the ground. Behind this, a push began of infantry and armor, steadily pushing towards Cavilltown. However, cresting the ridgeline, the armor began to face serious opposition as the Colonial forces had regrouped and began a counter-attack. Brutal infantry fighting around the defenses surrounding Cavilltown began, much of it in close quarters. Unfortunately, with the large surge of people joining the operation, came the breakdown in communication. While the Marines had remained on-mission with pushing towards Cavilltown, many of the other random players had decided to press the attack towards Port of Rime in yet another vain attempt to retake the city. This would be the downfall of the entire push. With the push towards Cavilltown stalled, and the random Wardens stuck at the defenses outside Port of Rime, Colonial armor - their doctrine and in-game lore backing mass-production and fielding of tanks - formed and quickly pushed those attack Port of Rime back. With our assault stalled due to lack of manpower, flank collapsing and posing potential of encirclement, the order was given to withdraw back to Callum's and regroup for defensive action. While withdrawing, enemy armor forces nipped at our heels, however, our Ironhides held strong as the heavier assets withdrew. With friendly armor having left and several burning Bardiches and Talos' in our wake, we withdrew and regrouped at our defensive line. The rear-guard actions having blunted their offensive might, the Colonial counterattack was quickly repelled by funneling them into kill zones and concentrating our cannon-fire, killing almost a dozen armored vehicles. This proved, without a doubt, that while the humble Devitt Mk IV Ironhide may be a light tank, when used properly, it can still cause significant destruction and hold its own against heavier opponents. The usage of Ironhides would be continued for the duration of the war, to continually great effect. However, with such an over-abundance of components and overwhelming numbers of enemy armor, it was only a matter of time before the we needed to up-gun to heavier armor assets. But on this night, the Devitt's had their moment of glory, and a great one indeed.