Spear of Reason. For answers as to what happened them, I think checking their alliance topic here on the forums and Grepostats should give the answers there. For those not terribly bothered checking, it was a simple case of a war they couldn't win. Specifically, but not limited to, AL and Enthroned.
Enthroned's General. We don't keep inactives, we conquer them. Ramses isn't inactive, he's in VM. "Stateside" as the yanks put it. At this point, I am wondering if he will be back (he's been gone for a couple of weeks now) but while he's in VM, there's no harm keeping him around and even if he comes out after the 6 weeks, that doesn't mean he'd come back to being on the rim. For obvious reasons I won't say more than that. Bright side is that our acting General is another very experienced Delta player who's plenty of experience in doing the job. Not as much funny to me, but that's because I know its no joke
Seductress' views of Enthroned. Yep, #7 for BP. #5 for ABP and #5 for DBP. Played a key role in pulling down The Elite Wolves, The Dark Wolves, Spear of Reason and Veni Vidi Vici (sp?) - all top12 alliances for a time. We are based in O55/56/65 (as our fancy new map can show you
) so outside of the southeast we haven't done much for our reputation nor are we al that interested in doing so. The people who know us already are the people who count, at least for us.
I'd post an update of my own opinions on the top12, but I can't really see the point. A lot of typing, but what can I add to what has already been said? The top eight alliances are worth mentioning, while the rest are, as Mosie said, "a poorly organized collection of conquers and farms convieniently placed under one flag." Its possible, perhaps even likely, that there are a couple of alliances out there that don't have the points to be listed here but are easily better than a third of the alliances in the top12. I'd check, but they need more points to get an honourable mention here (",)
I should probably mention AC. They're the one alliance that has really changed since I last posted, and the one alliance where views largely vary. What were they? Too big. Point spread doesn't make them a worse alliance necessarily (for reasons I shouldn't need to explain on this world) than any other here, but I think they were the only alliance to ever beat 100 members. There might have been another MRA or two out there that I didn't bother noting, but eh. Rich coming from the man in the now largest alliance, I know, but that's presuming I don't see us as having the same problem. A problem that will be looked after, as may be noted in this topic over the next few days. Point spread may not be important, but the fact that their city spread wasn't ideal either didn't help them. So, two problems. They've dealt with the first, for the most part, and I suspect the second problem has been dealt with in a manner by getting rid of players outside their "core" that can't survive on their own, or with limited support. I stand by what I've always said, that they have some great members and the first name on that list would be Keltiax. That he's a neighbour of mine may have me biased, but arn't we all? Their future? Some would be tempted to ask "what future?" since the EC and others won't stop simply because changes were made, but I'm not convinced they're out of the picture quite yet. It doesn't really depend on who's attacking them, but how they cope internally. If they rally, ensure they have no weak links and force themselves not to stagnate (a possibility, with their unfortunate story so far), they may not be written off yet.
Might as well mention TEE, since I've already typed a mad amount anyway. Good alliance, good leadership. If we didn't have the merges and the "war recruits", we'd probably look a lot like them. In my mind at least, that's a compliment
Originated in O46, to our west, they did fight TEW at the same time as ourselves and they've been steadily growing since then. Lots of variables in play for them, but whatever happens, I suspect they'll be a well known alliance one way or the other in the next month or so.
I could mention ETD, AL, MG and Incubi, but everyone here knows that those four alliances are top class, so I hardly need to go into details why I think that, or what I expect.
Blood Brothers. Despite being a Diplomat, I know next to nothing about them really. Similar composition to ourselves these days. No big wars that I know of, so how they'll turn out is anyone's guess. They could crumble if any of the others went after them, or they could devastate if they know what they're doing beyond simple conquers. Despite the fact that they're the alliance I have least interest in as a Diplomat (out of the seven worth mentioning), they're the alliance I'm most interested in seeing how they go. Their first proper war will be enlightening and a sign as to how they'll do in future.
So, despite what I said about not rehashing my views of the top12, it seems I've gone and done just that. A post I'd describe as a "rant" more than anything, so apologies for the long and often painful read. In conclusion, there's really only one important thing to remember:
ro:
Finton.