The Great War

RuneScape Clan War

The Great War
The plaque made by Vio listing all of the WG attendees
Date	31 January 2010
Type	P2P Knock-Out
Location	Members' Gate
Clans Involved
Wilderness Guardians 47 members Attacking	The British Crusaders 54 members Defending
Terms of War
P2P Knock-Out Member's Gate
Result
BC victory with ~42 members remaining WG cleared

The Great War was a RuneScape 2 clan war between the Wilderness Guardians and The British Crusaders which took place on 31 January 2010. It was of significant importance to the clan and one of only two major wars in WG history which have been given a special name, the other being The Battle of Turning Tides later the same year. Despite ending in a loss for WG, it was considered a "morale victory".

Background

After the events of 2009 where the decision was made to withdraw WG from clan politics and the highest tiers of competitive clan PvP, the clan had begun to lose their desire to progress forwards. On 23 January 2010, His Lordship addressed the issue and WG's plans for the future in a private video titled The Great Announcement. The video, which included an address from Council/Warlord Stokenut also outlined an upcoming war against Dragonwood, scheduled for 31 January.

The clan had one week to prepare, and multiple war practice events were held in the lead-up to the war. His Lordship followed up the announcement with three war preparation videos and a custom-made Flash forum banner. However, he himself would not be able to attend due to being present at the clan's third real life meeting, which was taking place at the time. The gear requirements for the battle were also significantly different than what was commonly used for fights at the time - each member had to bring over 2,000,000 coins worth of gear, which included Dragon square shields, Dragon plateskirts and god capes for the best stat bonuses as far as gear restrictions permitted. Several members also participated in a mass name change to variations of "WE GOT TEA", a reference to an event at the clan's first real life meeting. All of this was done in an attempt to give WG the best chance at winning as possible.

On 31 January just hours before the war, DW backed out from the fight. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, WG contacted the British Crusaders and requested a fight for the same time. Despite the lack of preparation, BC accepted the offer.

The Fight

WG massed at Juliet's House in Varrock, the common location for large-scale wars. 47 members attended, which at the time was an impressive turnout for a one-week prep fight, and something WG could not have achieved 6 months previously). They walked up through the Wilderness along the western edge so as to avoid aggressive Revenant NPCs, and stopped to take a few screenshots while in a box formation northeast of the Lava Maze. Finally, they proceeded to the war zone south of the Members' Gate.

Despite the comparatively short prep, BC had managed to pull 54 members, giving them a slight lead. As the attacking clan, WG led the charge into BC and the fight commenced. Despite all of the preparation and gear, BC managed to make several quick kills at the start, and maintained the gap for the remainder of the fight. The battle lasted no more than twenty minutes, though every WG member remained and fought to the death. BC won the fight with around 42 members out of their 54 remaining.

Gallery

• The Great War
• 

  WG masses for the war at Juliet's House in Varrock

• 

  A list of attendees. Note the "WE GOT TEA" name changes.

• 

  WG makes their way from Juliet's House towards the Wilderness

• 

  WG in a box formation with a "WG Right" spam for screenshots

• 

  WG spams "For Lordy", dedicating the fight to His Lordship who could not be present

• 

  Another screenshot of WG in formation, displaying their god capes and Dragon square shields

• 

  WG ready for battle

• 

  WG charges BC and the battle begins

• 

  A WG member dies with considerable food left

• 

  Another WG death with barely any opportunity to heal or tank

Aftermath

The majority of WG members who had died returned without gear to watch the end of the war. Once all of the fighting had ended, they congratulated BC on their win, and took a humourous screenshot of them in a box formation similar to before the fight, but all without gear and spamming "Sh*t we lost".

A large amount of respect was paid to both clans from the wider clan community. WG was commended on the amount of effort they had made, and the war was considered a "morale victory". However, the clan remained on a losing streak for a further six months, which would not be broken until June 2010 with The Battle of Turning Tides.

BC uploaded a video of the war from their perspective on 1 February. Vio, who commonly recorded WG events at the time, unfortunately died fairly early on and decided that his footage from WG's perspective (which was largely of the mass and the events prior to the start of the fight) was not worth releasing. The video was later lost in a hard drive crash and never made public. Vio instead designed a plaque in Photoshop which listed the names of all the WG members who attended (disregarding name changes) to commemorate the battle.

Trivia

• Despite the importance and significance of the war, His Lordship was unable to attend the fight himself - this is the only major war in WG's history for which a leader has not been present.