RefugiaBoard

On Saturday the 24th of September, 2022, nuclear war broke out across the various timespans and universes that make up NationStates. It had been predicted, with commentary released in the preceding days by various world leaders, including a statement from this very office. And, like Cassandra before us, our prophesies of grim fire and war proved accurate.

But do not fret dear readers, for Refugia- brave Refugia- stood tall and proud against the oncoming missiles. Though our history of toil and sacrifice during the historical wars is not long, it is storied. Some of you may remember our invaluable contributions to the unbroken walls of Ba Sing Se two years ago. That experience began to crystallise the legend of Refugi on N-Day as unshakeable bulwarks against the oncoming dark, full of merry cooperation and positivity while shielding others against the innumerable incoming. It was this merry bastion that joined the like-minded Potato Alliance.

Our war story, unlike Ba Sing Se, is not without injury or strife. The field was set from the start with five major factions, dozens of smaller forces around the periphery. We, the Potato Alliance, included not only Refugia, but friends Spiritus and 10000 Islands, as well as others like The League, The Union of Democratic States, Texas, Big Farma, The Rejected Realms, and The South Pacific. Other major factions were the perennial Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the gameside equivalent of the weeds that keep showing up in your garden, Anime Nations against Liberals, who utilised political manoeuvring in an attempt to hide, CARD, our major ally throughout the event, and The Communist Bloc, who was not only the region The Communist Bloc but also a lot of other regions who apparently agreed they were not notable enough to change the name of the faction to something other than just The Communist Bloc.

Noble leadership included Tim-Opolis, Refuge Isle, The Salaxalans, Quebecshire (known locally as Lac Champlain), and HumanSanity. Early into the day, it was decided that we would mount an attack on Horsemen of the Apocalypse (henceforth HotA, precursor to the hit Valve game HotA 2) in hopes that we could destroy them before they became powerful enough to do the thing they do almost every year, dominate the game with their bombs and their bombs and their guns and their bombs. We (Potato and CARD) chose to stockpile missiles and fire them altogether in a concentrated burst, hoping to pierce through the already-numerous shields. And we were successful- HotA quickly dropped into the negative, several of their active nations irradiated and therefore hobbled for future production. Then, led by our Arch-Administrator, unbreakable Refugia assisted in fully blocking the response volley. Potato and CARD hit HotA again, doing even more damage, but it was at this point that HotA began dirtying their hands with ANAL. ANAL, heir to Ba Sing Se and The Catgirl Hivemind, worked with HotA and The Communist Bloc (TCB) in an attempt to fry Potatoes and shred CARDs.

And thus were the battle-lines finally drawn. Though other factions experienced their own stories throughout the 24 hours until a cease-fire was called, our focus was constantly two-fold: #Shield Gang (with the vast majority of Refugia) protecting ourselves and CARD from the HotA/ANAL/TCB hordes, with the offence-focused nations rotating between stockpiling nuclear weaponry and firing everything saved in bursts. HotA and ANAL were highly successful at utilising our same strategy, loosing massive payloads upon us in short bursts, of which some inevitably got through. Potato Alliance and CARD both dropped repeatedly into negative scores, but we constantly fought our way back to the leaderboards, even taking a short detour to wipe TCB from the map entirely and scoring the first radiation damage against ANAL. Throughout it all, Refugi voices continued being a tireless positive force in the communications channels, providing encouragement and hope to those who grew discouraged.

In the final hours of the event, battered and weary, we began focusing on farming more broadly, raising Potato to third place (where we remained) and CARD to fourth, but the latter was heavily targeted in the final barrage of the event, sinking tragically into the negative and away from glory.

What did we accomplish in this event? Reader, you may look upon the final score and think we did not accomplish much- after all, our goal of preventing a dominant Horsemen victory was thwarted by deviant ANAL, and mostly untainted ANAL fulfilled their destiny, firmly occupying the number two spot. But our accomplishments were instead well within the Refugi wheelhouse of defence. There were a total of 2,226,205 interceptions (successful shield deployments) during the event, spread among 883 total factions. Potato Alliance alone made up a quarter of that score with 710,140 interceptions, far eclipsing anyone else. And Refugi made up a majority of #Shield Gang, meaning we had a massively notable impact upon the game.

And while they didn't single-handedly carry the event, I would be remiss not to note the amazing stats of our defence puppetmasters. Refuge Isle (Luca) led the way, scoring 190,000 total interceptions on their own, an incredible 8.53% of N-Day's total interceptions. Tim-Opolis (Tim) is also notable in this regard, scoring 120,000 interceptions to make up 5.39% of N-Day's total interceptions. Between them, they supplied 40% of Potato's overall interceptions, meaning they were necessary for our overall score, but still needed the overwhelming support of everyone else, who made up the remaining 60%. Likewise, HumanSanity made up 19.4% of Potato's nuclear strikes and hometown favourite Minskievian Refugees fired 6.14% of our successful missiles.

Below is a list of all self-reported Refugi nations that were in the Potato Alliance discord server. There may have been more gameside that I did not notice, if that is you, please let me know and I will edit and add you to this list. I think it's important to note that Amiyoka and Araine were personally recognised at the end of the event for their hard work and relentless positive attitudes in the chat, gaining them Spiritus's Green Heart award, and entry to the Grand Order of the Potato, allowing them to place SPH at the end of their name. Congratulations!

Thank you so much to everyone in the table above, and those of you who participated without record, you've made this N-Day the best (and tied for most successful) Refugia has participated in. Your hard work, relentless positivity, and community lifted Potato Alliance and made everyone have a much more fun time than they would have otherwise. As the Operations Councillor who oversaw this N-Day, I am overjoyed and can't imagine being more proud of you all than I am. I'm so happy, thank you thank you thank you.

Sincerely,
Sylh Alanor
Refugia