With the advent of regal realms I figure I might as well try to put them to good use. By that I mean transforming mine into a battle arena! So here's how it goes:

Find two players online, transport them into my castle via various means, and get them to duke it out in my arena. Each player will start with just an explorer, and whoever manages to wipe out the other player wins. There will be prizes (hopefully large quantities of iron).

Variations will also be available to the desire of the contestants:
2v2, 3v3, 2v1 etc.
Various mazes will built by yours truly (which may or may not include towers and/or stone traps) prior to the beginning of the match
Land only battles, Sea only battles, Land and sea battles
Fixed number/type of units (eg. 100 soldiers each, or starting with a carpenter instead of an explorer)
Size variations (eg. take up the whole map, or take up a designated area which I've walled off)
Resource limitations (eg. 10k food, knowledge, iron allowance)
Capture the princess (Each player brings in a princess. The aim is to kill the other player's princess whilst protecting your own)
Keep Assault/Pizza Run (3 attackers, 1 defender. Defender has 10 minutes head-start to set up defences to protect their princess. After that time the 3 attackers are allowed to begin, with the aim of killing the princess. The attackers have 20 minutes within which to complete this task.)

I might also include a winner's board and/or make a list of the outcomes of each battle. Will probably post up summaries of each battle (unless I can get someone to record =p).

The battle arena has been made! Here's the actual castle: http://www.ironfell.com/play/15946/45/48. It is located in the first sea, above Sturmkrahe's island of SC's which link to each sea so hopefully everyone can easily access the castle: http://www.ironfell.com/play/478/144/422.

I'd like to know people's thoughts on this idea. Any suggestions? Anyone interested in participating? Let me know below.

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I'd be willing to sponsor a 100k prize for a contest in this manner, and would love to participate in its execution.

Hooray! So today we had our first battle!

Battle 0 (test): Dami vs Sam vs Beer
It was a three way free-for-all battle between Dami, Sam and Beer with a limit of 10k for each resource.

Sam started off on the offensive, building some barracks and soldiers. Meanwhile Dami tried to set up an outpost in the middle of the arena. Naturally Sam attacked, however Dami had time to set up a few towers, halting Sam's progress. Sam had none of that and attacked with an onslaught of warrior princes. All the while Beer was playing the waiting game, hanging back behind a wall of stone traps. This proved to be a smart move as Sam wasted all his iron building warrior princes and taking out Dami. Beer's stone traps managed to snipe off a few of Sam's more careless princes, allowing Beer to take the advantage and win!

Congratulations Beer! Beer was awarded 100k iron by Dami who kindly sponsored the match. Much thanks to Dami, as well as Sam and Beer for participating. Also thanks for everyone who came to watch!

This is AWESOME! I have fraps and can record if im on during a batlle!

That is pretty damn cool

Update:

The battle arena has been made! Here's the actual castle: http://www.ironfell.com/play/15946/45/48. It is located in the first sea, above Sturmkrahe's island of SC's which link to each sea so hopefully everyone can easily access the castle: http://www.ironfell.com/play/478/144/422.

So today the battle arena had its maiden battle! Hooray!

Battle 1: Zathor vs Dami
Obviously the maiden battle of the battle arena is really important and will go down in the history books of ironfell. We, the battle arena team (ie. me), want you to know we take these events with the utmost professionalism and seriousness. Which is why we decided to make the first battle a woodcutter's only battle! Both players started off with 1 hexagon full of woodcutters (exactly 328 of them!) with the sole aim of demolishing their opponent. This battle needless to say was extremely fast-paced and hectic. Those woodcutters pack quite a punch! Zathor went on the offensive immediately charging with his army of lumberjacks whilst Dami took a more conservative approach, attacking with only a few hapless woodcutters. Several hours of intense battle later (=o) led to Zathor vanquishing his formidable foe. For his efforts he earned 5k iron and 50k wood!



Battle 2: Gimley & Beer vs Dami & Zathor
This battle was even more serious! But seriously... It was a 2v2 'kill the princess' battle. Each player started off with 1 princess, 3 catapults, 20 swordsmen, and 20 archers. Did I use that Oxford comma correctly? Anyway on to less important things. The aim was to protect your princess whilst terminating the existence of your enemies'.

Each player had set up an offensive team and a defensive team with their units. Once the battle had begun each team sent forward their offensive team. In the confusion Zathor's archer wandered into the range of one of Dami's catapults, spelling death for Dami's catapult. I'm still not sure whether Zathor understands the concept of a team battle. He's a lone wolf, riding through the night, searching for his prey: beautiful, young gi... Where was I? Ermm... Umm... Oh yeah, Dami decided that he didn't like having an offensive and defensive team and so left his princess all alone to assault Beer. Thank God Zathor didn't find out! Also drinking in such a high stakes match is not a good idea, and it is not condoned by our company. Don't drink kids! It'll only get you into fights! Oh wait... Anyway, this allowed Dami to easily advance against Beer.

Meanwhile, Gimley had left his princess only defended by 3 catapults. Zathor, who has a keen eye for such situations, pounced on this situation, eager to capture his prey. Whilst engaging the majority of Gimley's forces in battle, he sent a few lone soldiers to assault the princess, sweeping aside the catapult's like nobody's business and transforming the princess into a pool of blood. Maybe it was just that time of the month... Zathor doesn't care! That's how he rolls!

With Gimley out of the competition, both Dami and Zathor were able to double team Beer's defensive team. Realising all was lost, and that Zathor was closing in on his princess, Beer ordered her to run away. Like a little girl. A sissy little girl. the princess that is, not Beer. Ok maybe a little. Dami, eager to get his share, chased after her capturing her before she could vacate the premises.

As the victors, Dami and Zathor were each awarded 500k food and 50k iron. They will be feasting in their castles tonight!

If anyone wants to pre-schedule a battle with someone in specific or something else like that, feel free to post here

Battle 3: Whitcode vs Lothar100
A small battle, just to get things started today. Each player filled one hexagon (328 hexes) with a mix of soldiers and archers (the number of each was left up to them). It seemed that Lothar favoured swordsmen quite a bit, whereas Whitcode went for a more even mix. The battle begun and Whit went on the offensive managing to flank Lothar's soldiers. However Lothar's defensive tactics and his ability to micromanage ultimately won him the battle. For his efforts, he was awarded 5k iron and 20k knowledge.