Battle Fresh vs Reiksguard

Reiksguard /rīks-gärd/:  are knights entrusted with the sacred duty protecting a king or emperor from foes within and without. Worthy foes in Clash of Clans /klaSH əv klans/ clan wars (see the clan that just beat Battle Fresh /batl freSH/).

This past war was the second epic struggle for Battle Fresh in as many wars. The war started off well as we secured a 40 point lead. We knew that it was far from over though. We rushed many of our second attacks and didn't do well with clean up from the 10 - 20 range which ultimately was are undoing. We had a couple of war hoppers, a few new folks who were just straight up bad at attacking and a few new folks that were claim jumpers. These factors made the war exceedingly difficult to manage in the late stages.

The margin inevitably shrank as did our opportunities to get stars. However, once again we learned from the war and will be stronger for suffering the loss. We must temper our enthusiasm to recruit and remember slow growth is sustainable, but quick growth is risky at best. I also have come to the conclusion that even with very strong players at our one and two, we should always leave the enemy's #1 & #2 bases as a late option and never as a first attack. Reiksguard didn't worry about attacking our 1 and 2, they used their 'big guy's' first and second attacks to get stars where they were easiest and best gained. Smart.

However, to point fingers at ourselves as to the reason why we lost would only cheapen the victory that was Reiksguard's. They earned the victory by running a very smart war. So, I would like to offer the ladies and gents at Reiksguard my sincerest congratulations on a war well fought and well won. Cynic lead his team into battle and overcame a foreboding lead. With steady fingers they deployed their troops into the field of battle and came out on top. A special shout out goes to all the kind folks I met on my trip to their clan: A Money (aka doubleOdude); jen_austria_q; MurseJB; Burfee; and even xller (please kick him :p). I found them to be high character people, thankful for the excitement of the war and happy to discuss the day we shared together trying to burn each other's town halls to the ground. I apologize if I left someone out.

Incidentally, they praised our time trap bases and spoke highly of them during my time in their clan--so we are definitely doing something right with those.

The Good

We used 75 of 80 attacks and built a strong lead early on. We did very well cleaning up from 25-40.

The Bad

Attacking out of range. Remember, if you claim a base you must get 2 stars from it. Don't claim a base you cannot get 2 stars from. There were too many folks attacking bases and not getting stars their first attacks. It's better to not claim if that's the case.

Those new to our clan, Ragess aside, were not sufficiently scrutinized before being trusted with the responsibility of going to war. They jumped claims, didn't communicate and made some really bad attacks.

In-fighting among clan members, while not terrible, was a distraction this war and that's the first time that has happened in quite some time. There were some arm chair quarterbacks that, instead of being helpful, added negative commentary to each decision. Which made the war more of a chore than something enjoyable. Those players are now no longer with us.

The MVP

It's getting harder to pick people. Alkalinex waged an extremely effective war once again getting two turkeys (Wes's name for three star attacks--similar to three strikes in bowling in a row) for us on two very difficult bases. Frankie brought us home a six pack by unleashing his seemingly indestructible dragons on some poor unsuspecting villagers. However, this war I am saddling the MVP trophy onto a guy who is crazy good at this game. Although his reasons, or shall I say motives, are never suspect his opponents were found to be lacking. All puns aside, loco motives is this war's MVP. He brought us home two turkeys and a six pack. He burned down two tough bases, helped out with donations and even though he made Wesley drive the first part of work, he helped out driving on the way home. Let this go to show you that even busy, working men on night shift get MVP's. Congratulations to loco and all those at Battle Fresh on solid war, and I look forward to ending this two game losing streak with a big win next war!

Current Qualifications for Battle Fresh

If you are trying to ride the roller coaster that is Battle Fresh, you need to be at least this tall. Here are the musts:

You Must Be This Tall To Ride the Roller Coaster

Town Hall: Level 8
Army Camp: 200 Space
Defenses: Maxed out TH8 Level at least
War Stars: 150 Minimum or a solid track record at Battle Fresh Jr

Things we do not accept from here on out:

Rushed Town Hall 8's
Rushed Town Hall 9's
Rushed Town Hall 10's
People who do not speak English
Players who do not communicate
Players who join but do not read our web rules

To be considered rushed, these town halls would have defenses either one or two town halls below their level and other inconsistencies. Army camps are a good indicator that the base is rushed. A town hall 9 with 180 army camp space makes me sad inside for instance--borderline nauseated.

If a new recruit doesn't speak up within the first minute of being recruited, kick them to Farm Fresh--no exceptions.

If a recruit has communication issues but a great base, move them to Farm Fresh to see how they do there.

A Note About Slow Growth and Kicking Cats:

After each war we shouldn't be looking to bring on more than 2-3 people. Don't worry so much about having 25, 30, 35 or whatever that number maybe. Be more concerned about having solid, well informed, new recruits. We have lost wars by growing too fast. Fast growth leads to war hoppers, or players that simply don't communicate during wars and have terrible war bases and aren't available to fix their bases.

Don't Kick Cats

We need to carefully consider, initiate (make sure they are fully aware of the all the clan rules--expectations), and qualify (base and profile stats) each Battle Fresh candidate. If we fail to do so, we will assuredly lose wars. When we lose wars we get frustrated. When we are frustrated we have in-fighting. In-fighting leads to having bad days. Having bad days leads to feeling gloomy. Being gloomy leads to emo music and wearing skinny jeans. Listening to emo music and wearing skinny jeans leads to be ostracized. Being ostracized leads to anti-social and unbecoming behavior. Unbecoming behavior leads to kicking cats. Don't kick a cat--lets grow slowly.

Battle Fresh vs Pandemic Fury

Joe DiMaggio didn't hit in 57 consecutive games. Cal Ripken stopped his consecutive game streak at 2,632 games played in a row. Mighty Rocky Marciano only won 49 bouts in a row. Like all these other magnificent streaks, Battle Fresh's streak of nine consecutive clan war wins in a row has ended. In what many are calling, "The Best Clan War Ever", Battle Fresh lost a closely contested, neck and neck, barn-burner to the worthy folks at Pandemic Fury.

K.C. Gator, King Ravi, tylerA2326, mokka 18, ragnar, Kevin, sklorno and the boys all starred out and ensured that the buck would stop with them. They expertly and relentlessly attacked us. They burned our bases to the ground. However, they were more than just destroyers--they were connoisseurs of a-well-fought-battle.  After the battle had concluded, K.C. came to our clan, bearing ice-packs and olive branches to congratulate us on one heck-of-a-war. After spending some time in their clan to offer them our sincerest congrats, I quickly saw that Pandemic Fury was Battle Fresh--just a few months more grown up in our bases.

The war was truly epic. We came out swinging. They absorbed our first shot and landed a few body blows. Doubled over, we landed a round house. Staggering back, Pandemic carefully measured a few jabs and a right cross. Eventually, there were just two heavy weights in the middle of the ring laboring to raise their fists at one another. At that moment, as we looked each other in the eye--waiting to see who would blink first, was when Pandemic had just a bit more in their reserves and finished us off.

The Good

Honestly, in my opinion, this was perhaps our best effort yet as a clan. We rallied and gave a very strong clan a run for their money. We knew we had our work cut out for us and we did our best to be a pain-in-the-butt. We scrapped and clawed to get every star we could. We communicated, worked together and ultimately, we came out on the other side stronger for the experience. We know that it will take someone's very best to beat us--unfortunately, that's what happened.

The Bad

We had a war hopper. We had a claim stealer/poor attacker. Most of all though, we got a bit carried away in the moment of the war when things were at their tightest. We need to put things into perspective sometimes and just relax and have fun. Enjoy the moment for what it is. Those tight battles are such a gift, let's not spoil them by letting the end result dictate who we are as a clan. Win or lose, feel blessed for the opportunity.

The MVP

First, I need to give a huge shout out to everyone from Pandemic Fury. Huzzah! They have made us a stronger clan and for that we are indebted to you. As for a proper MVP, it's so hard to not pick the man with the natural six. Although RoxeeFamof4 and loco motives had starred out attacks, and Wesley and brnwrng both had super impressive wars--I need to give this war's MVP to one of our new guys--Sir Sparda. Sir Sparda was easily up to task in the war. He wrecked two very difficult bases with style. I don't know what Sparda does at the mill where he works, but I can only imagine he is awesome at that too. Help me congratulate Sir Sparda and congratulate yourselves for a truly epic war.

Battle Fresh vs Surge

This past war was quite the roller coaster. We were up big--very big. Then Surge made a run at us and showed us that we need to be at our very best every time and never take a clan for granted. Surge was down by over thirty stars at one point and we all stuck our collective forks in them and started putting napkins in our lap preparing for our war loot dinners. This was only four or five hours into the war. However, unlike many of our recent opponents, Surge didn't go gently into that good night--they surged against the dying of the light...and of course died 74-59.

Ultimately, it was too much Battle Fresh. We executed 58 attacks and won 53 of them. We used every attack except for two. One of the players claim hopped and was kicked, the other left after a bad attack. Outstanding stuff.

The Good

Use of attacks. We used our attacks--all of them essentially. We left nothing on the battle field. We talked about our attacks before using them and did well with our chosen claims for the most part. I can't remember a time we were that close to 100% attacks used!

The Bad

We left seven very attainable stars out on the battlefield. The bases between 10-19 continue to plague us. Sir Sparda, newcomer to Battle Fresh, was the only base from Surge that we didn't two star (which speeks to his inherent Battle Freshness). Overreaching once again hurt us. We had a few of us bite off more than we could chew, but that's part of learning and we will iron that out.

The MVP

So, a lot of great performances once again! It's really difficult to pick one MVP of a war when everyone is out there communicating, donating, attacking and winning. However, I would like to recognize one player in particular. It could have easily been frankie or Dark_Bill who both 3-starred each of their attacks. I could have easily put myself in the conversation with impressive attacks netting us four stars against some tough bases, but no--this war's MVP goes Wesley.

Wesley changed the entire dynamic of clan with his presence. He pulled in four stars against the top two bases of the opposing clan. We typically don't even entertain the idea of attacking the top two bases of the enemy--then in walked Wesley. Wesley pulled out some amazing attacks against their top two in a ho-hum fashion that makes us believe that we will be seeing a lot more of that. Join me in congratulating Wesley for his MVP performance as well as congratulating yourselves for another outstanding performance!

Battle Fresh vs 小香贵生

So, confession time--every time I see an Asian clan as the opponent I get this sinking feeling of doom. I guess it all goes back to my days of playing Starcraft II where the Koreans in particular just dominated the game. I was kind of thinking along those lines when we were matched up against this opponent. They seemingly had decent bases. They had 45 clan war wins. Their clan name and description were in some exotic Asian language. All the ingredients were there. Like all opponents, we prepared for the worst and gave them our best.

We opened the war and attacked with our typical blitzkrieg style. Many of our players used their first attack within the first few hours of the war and before the other clan knew what had happened they were losing by 30. All of us kept waiting for them to make a series of attacks, but nothing ever happened. They wound up only using 14 attacks and only winning 10 of those. Compare that to our usage of 56 attacks! We did lose 10 of those battles, but besides one inactive we only missed two attacks--that is braggable.

The Good

Usage of attacks and communication. We're becoming a well oiled machine. We haven't faced a test in sometime, but I think that when we do--we will be ready. We only missed 4 attacks and, while we lost 10 attacks, much of that was due to overreaching when no solid attacks opportunities remained because most everything was three starred. We talked about our attacks (for the most part) before using them, and worked as a team to finish up most of the remaining stars.

The Bad

Once again, we left some stars out there. An argument could be made that we left two easy stars out there, and perhaps two harder stars. Those four stars could be the razor thin margin between defeat and victory when we face a real tester of a clan. So, stay frosty and let's try to get all those stars next time.

There were also some folks who didn't talk about an attack before using it and executing poorly conceived attacks to boot. Remember, you have a clan of folks ready to help you. All of us have experience that you can use to help with your attack strategy. There are no excuses for not luring a clan castle and for launching a bad attack. Go strong or get out.

The MVP

There were some real outstanding performances this past war. Frankie, Donovan and Andy all posted stellar six-star performances. These guys just mowed down the competition. However, there was one performance that was even more exceptional in my opinion and that belongs to this war's MVP--Alkalinex. Alkalinex three starred a very tough base with his first attack (#12) and followed that up by a perfect attack on an even more difficult base (#9). What was so impressive to me was how technical his attack on #9 was. He methodically dismantled the opponent like he was dissembling an engine. Like many in the clan now, I look at Alkalinex as one of our core players that knows how to win and does his part each war to ensure that Battle Fresh keeps winning. Great work Alkalinex and congrats to all on another war well won!

Battle Fresh vs dark fighters

First, I need to begin by saying that we were out attacked. The opposing clan, regardless of the quality of their attempts, did record more attacks than we did. This is something that we should not allow to happen again. Granted we were involved in a 30 vs 30 and had some new folks that didn't use their attacks, but there were still some of us that didn't get in any attacks--some of us that only got in a single attack. Once again, this could come back to hurt us.

As per our tradition, after each war we purge those in-actives and those who do not understand how to work as a team, I am happy to report that some of the new folks we brought on are looking very solid. I am liking the teamwork and abilities of rdp216, Bigstan2369, Kracken and Rump (rdp's alter ego). I foresee big things from them in the future.

For the war, while dark fighters made a late surge, they were not able to close the gap by-in-large due to the fact that our bases are tough to three star. Granted, many of their attacks were nothing more than troops being deployed without any regard for strategy, timeliness, cohesion and forward thinking--still, I am also going to say that our clan castles and base designs had something to do with their overall lack of success.

Our Positives:

Communication! Yay for chatting it up! Folks, talking about attacks before making them goes a long way to succeeding in those attacks. Leverage the asset that is the combined knowledge of your clan-mates to your advantage and good things happen. I saw questions being asked and answer regarding war strategies. I witnessed people actively discussing attacks after they were completed with helpful bits of advice to pass along when needed. Of course, there were many congratulations as we had 24 three star attacks! That means only 6 of their bases were not 3 starred!! Wow!

Our Negatives:

Overreaching. Boo to overreaching. A few of us attacked bases that were just too hard and out of their personal reach. A few us attacked bases that were too difficult for anyone in the clan. These mistakes, no matter how many they are, cost us stars. In my estimation, we could have had 80 stars this past war if we got rid of those mistakes. This is a slight margin, and if that is truly how good we have becomes--that is very good, but it will not win against the clans out their that do not make mistakes.

Taking our time. Please be patient. Wait to use your second attack. See how we can get the most stars and win as a team. Get advice on where to attack and how to do it.

Most Valuable Player:

This is a really tough one. I could ramble off a few here that deserve the honor. Cruella.devil three starred her claim and clean up a very difficult base in her range. Dark_Bill did very much the same as well as loco motives, Jonathan704 and Randy Jevette. However, I am going to be picking a different MVP for this war. I made a request with clan mail on bases to attack and who should attack them. One of the suggestions went to our youngest clan-mate--RoxeeFamof4. While it might not seem like a tremendous accomplishment to casual observer, what makes Roxee's 3 star on his claim and subsequent clean up of a difficult base as requested by the clan worthy of the MVP is that there was no questioning or doubt. Our youngest was given a task and calmly walked up to the plate and hit a home run. That's what I hope we all can do when we are faced with similar challenges. Congrats to Roxee and congrats to all of us on another stellar performance and clan war win!