I have moved Player, Tribe and Family of the Year nominations to the end which, as the most prestigious of the awards, is only right!
Best Offensive Player
This is a toughy. Zain would be the obvious choice but I am inclined to recognise TheMudge for being for more offensive than most ;-) TheMudge by a whisker.
Best Offensive Tribe
Looking at the map I think this category has three contenders for the top spot: INF, Apoc-C and Apoc-D. MM misses out due to the fact that, until the merger with INF, it failed to make any real impression on the map (other than through sheer mass).
I have discounted INF for one reason: It no longer exists. That leaves Apoc-C and Apoc-D...
Pound for pound Apoc-C is probably one of the most aggressive PvP oriented tribes on the map but, if asked who would I least like to see on the other side of the battlefield, I'm afraid there can be only one answer: Apoc-D.
Best Defensive Player
This is less tough than the previous category. Having fought AA I can tell you that he was no-where near the cut. He made a lot of ODD for sure but I don't think ODD is, by any means, the perfect measure of defensive capability. It doesn't recognise anything other than the ability to stack a village effectively. Dodging and sniping are artforms that AA didn't even try, let alone master.
I am not sure when Zurtle's heroics took place (in which he combined stacks, dodging & sniping and very efficient troop management) but I think it was last year. That leaves Cadara who survived pretty much the full force of MM for a looong time during the MM v *A* war. However, for me, the best defender this year must go to Sechul Lath who has not only amassed a collosal ODD but has also done so while employing all of the techniques described above AND gaining villages!
Best DefensiveTribe
Toughy. If I am allowed to pick tribes that no longer exist then I would probably pick *A* for their efforts in fending off by far the biggest (at that time) tribe in the game, i.e. MM.
Most Innovative Player
Innovative? I haven't seen anything particularly "new" in W18... except maybe the UA, which was last year!
Most Innovative Tribe
As above.
Most Promising Player
As we are in the end game I can't really see that this is relevant.
Most Promising Tribe
As above
Best Conflict
Define best?
I enjoyed RKN/TWA v Legion but it was a bit of a turkey shoot. In fact the same could be said for many of the conflicts in the west. If best equals most competitive then I would have to say MM v *A*. Of course I would also vote for this for a selfish reason: It kept two of the main powerhouses of W18 out of the way while Apoc formed and cleaned up most of the rest of the world. Badly done ;-)
Best Forum Propagandist
I suspect the best propagandist is the player who no one thinks of as being a propagandist! For that reason I have to say Zain (although he flirted with being partisan just before his exams!)
Most Entertaining Forum contributor
Clickpanic!
Best Leader
I could easily propose the Apoc leadership team at this point. Or even Msbella & Joann however, personally I think Peter is the real deal.
Best Relocation (Player)
Look at the map. I think this could be shared by the top 5 players (plus Aga, Rashelle and Wolfhunt1 of course!)
Best Relocation (Tribe)
No contest: Apoc-C. Everyone said they couldn't do it but they did. They leapfrogged half of the UA to become one of the most aggressive PvP tribes on the map.
Comeback of The Year (Player)
Someone came back?
Comeback of The Year (Tribe)
I see dead tribes...
Most Resilient Player
Sechul Lath again. The guy has been averaging 2M ODD forever!
Most Resilient Tribe
I guess the award demands that the tribe is still with us! I will have to abandon my elimination of tribes that not existed for the year because I don't think that Apoc-F, Apoc-N or BA have come under a lot of pressure from a decent attacking enemy (although Apoc-F did weather an early, well planned, onslaught by PAIN).
I'm sorry but, on balance, I can't really think of a tribe that deserves this. MI deserves a mention in dispatches if only because it has amassed the most ODD but I'm not sure I can give it to a tribe that has appears to be losing as many villages as the stats suggest (even in the face of Apoc-D). Put this award back in the cabinet.
And the main awards....
Player of the Year
I simply can't argue with Zurtle
Davide has come from relative obscurity and is about to clinch is second first on the player milestones. Of course no one should take the player milestones too seriously. Davide is also a key member of one of the most effective PvP units on W18 and is well represented in the top ODA tables.
No brainer really!
Tribe of the Year
This one is difficult 'cos there are only a couple of major tribes that have actually been around for anywhere near a full year in their current forms. The obvious contenders (Apoc-D and MI) are both the products of mergers, as is Apoc-C, ~S~ and IM. That leaves only the BA tribes, Apoc-N and Apoc-F that are essentially unchanged over the year.
As the #3 tribe Apoc-F is probably the most deserving and their demolition of PAIN (and FEAR) reinforces their credentials as a well organised and effective tribe. Their next challenge is MIM to the south...
Family of The Year
I was tempted to go for BA for similar reasons to the category above but I don't think there can be much debate that the pre-emminent family is Apoc, bar none.
