The Norse-Punic War

Northmathr(the Norse), a faction established back in 3.0, was thriving throughout numerous iterations and gruesomely dominated most of them. The Norse not only many times proved their superiority on the battlefield(thanks to plenty of experienced soldiers in their ranks), but also managed to build some of the most remarkable and outstanding cities in /int/craft’s history, like Beijing or Osheim in the iteration X. After a split in 11.0 and weak presence in generally boycotted 12.0,  they returned, united and determined to monopolize PvP in 14.0 aswell.

Carthage, on the other hand, was except for some affiliated with nervyzombie former ISIS and Italy members, was a quite fresh faction – it relied mostly on a very intensive recruitement. Shortly after the end of grace Qart Hadasht was the largest city on the server and the nation of Carthage, after accession of Lillybaeum, Jerusalem, Sinope, Caesarea and Morondava became the most populous. Despite the great numbers though, the true power of Carthage was uncertain as most of it’s members were quite inexperienced and unorganized.

Before the end of grace both nations agreed on their spheres of influences – Carthage would be allowed to freely expand in the Mediterranean and the Norse would claim the areas north of it. Not being endangered by the Norse anymore, Carthage abandoned it’s early attempts to form a large coalition against them. However, it quickly became clear that the pact means nothing to the Norse(or more likely – they never needed any pacts) as they assaulted and sweeped Carthaginians troops who were besieging Apullum. Loss of most of gear was catastrophic for Carthage and left the capital itself vulnerable to potential raids, but the Norse didn’t intend to attack it immediately.

Day after the grace has ended though, Northmathr mobilized small expeditionary squad in order to harass Carthage and to attempt to laid a siege. Despite the initial success, the Norse were repelled. After fending off another attack Carthage decided to respond and to besiege the Norse capital – Osheim. Just as the Norse weren’t able to seize Carthage, Punic armies were unsuccesful in capturing Osheim. This part of the war involved mat19215 abusing creative, that he had remained after the loss of staff position, to spawn potions for Carthage. After engaging in few more skirmishes, Carthaginians got an upper hand again and set out to attempt decisively defeat the Norse in Osheim. It appeared to be a grave mistake though – as Carthage couldn’t assemble the necessary numbers to siege Osheim, and after brief advance towards the Norse’s capital walls and a short standoff it took only one major counter-offensive of the Norse to utterly crash the invaders.

Left with almost no gear and no chances to defend against a well supplied enemy, nervyzombie sued for peace. Brigand, the leader of the Norse, who at first was strongly against any negotiations agreed to not attack the city. A day later, both leaders agreed on the details of the peace – Carthaginians weren’t allowed to wear enchanted gear in proximity of the Norse possessions or their allies and committed to pay some reparations.

However, Northmathr didn’t respect this treaty either. Just one day after the agreement, the Norse leaped at the opportunity to take down a threat for their uncontested domination on the server. First, one Norse joined XDA1 – the leader of Odrysian Kingdom who attempted to laid siege to Lillybaeum, their forces were defeated by succesful Carthaginian counterattack. Then, Odrysian Kingdom asked Northmathr for an official alliance to combine their efforts against Carthage. The Norse agreed and swiftly deployed a sizeable squad to Carthage.

Practically outnumbered, outgeared and dispersed Carthaginians were unable to mount an effective defence. Shortly after the Norse broke through the walls, Lillybaeum left the nation, declaring independence and neutrality as all it’s members preferred to focus on building rather than on constant wars. Although Carthage lost virtually all gear it’s leadership still managed to move some valuables to a newly founded town – New Carthage.

Once again Northmathr definitely succeeds in a series of campaigns, bringing down another nation and only cementing their almost uncontested reign on /int/craft. However, while this war severely damaged the nation of Carthage, broke it’s integrity and deprived it of it’s military power it’s not necessarily a final blow as the establishement of New Carthage indicates that he Carthaginian leadership is willing to continue their struggle and potentially rebuild the empire.