**PLEASE NOTE: Please keep sending @Talron or @Katzu_HSM feedback on the state of the Day of War and your experiences with it 'from the trenches.' Other people seeing these reports are getting motivated, and that's a GOOD THING!**

A number of guilds across all factions are putting together a 'mini-campaign,' of sorts today, trying to spike the server population across the day. We know the problems with the content, and the maps, and all of that other stuff, but we also know that when you fold in with a bunch of guys having a fun time, then YOU have a fun time, and that's what we are aiming for. We're reaching out across all of Arkhona here, and we are asking for you to come back, log in, put bullets in bodies, and maybe execute an enemy or three. If you still don't like it then no harm done and you're back on your way.

WE think the game's fun and worth playing, and we'd like to help rekindle that gleam in your eyes, too, if at all possible. There isn't a set time for this, but each guild we've reached out to is planning to get out there and bring the war throughout the day. Some guilds may have specific windows they're planning to run during, so check in with them and please post those windows in the comments below. If you individually or your guild in general want in on this, post below and get heard!

Maybe @KatieFleming and @DJPenguin will help pimp this some... Like in general and also around 2pmish as well. Lol.

* * * War Progress Updates * * *

* 1815 UTC - Tidus Pulonius of WFA here with your Eternal Crusade status report! Arkhona is ablaze with combat today, as guilds and loners from all factions battle it out across the world. Currently there are battles on 5 out of 6 continents, and I don't expect the 6th will stay quiet for long. As you'd expect, LSM is leading the push with all 3 continents lit up like christmas trees, but the forces of Chaos and the Eldar are pushing back, against each other. As of 12:00pm servers showed 418 players currently on, but we hope to increase that number as the day goes on. Guilds like WCA, WFA, FIST, XIII, and ToC will be running war parties all day, so if you have some time, jump in and do some killing! I'll check back with you as the day drives on. See you out there! FOR THE EMPEROR!!

* 2125 UTC - Steamcharts.com shows we hit a peak of 500 at about 2000 UTC, but that's also with several hours left to go before many businesses in the US close for the weekend. Reports are coming in via Discord, Forums, and private texts about multiple 5-man kill-team clusters in motion across every continent and the Nids are facing many brothers taking their queue-induced rage out on them. Many of the evening teams haven't fired up their assaults yet, so numbers over the back half of our war could look even better. We will update again in a few more hours.

* 0208 UTC - We're tapering back, but still had more people on at 0100 than we've had at the same time all week, and the drop has been less extreme. Objectively the numbers look similar, but its the attitude that has seen the most radical uptick. We've heard things like "most of our fighting however was concentrated on the Eldar pushing into Chaos lands with a sudden spike of player activity," "This event has been amazing. Numbers are still kinda low but moral is way higher," and "I was surprised there was as many new Eldar players as there were. Probably just people's Alts, but it felt like a lot were new." (surprise; chances are most WERE new. The Summer sale brought in a bunch of newer players who have been leaving because of lower populations.)

* 0600 UTC - The Last Update for today's "Day of War." @Talron and I are calling the ball at 500 players at peak (higher side of average) and 230 at 0400, which is about 50 more players than the same time for each of the days in the last week. Also, until the 0400-0500 window (when the 230 dropped back to the 'normal' 170-ish,) the number of players in the game tapered off at a VASTLY decreased rate. I don't have any more detailed drill-down on new/returning players, war parties, etc, but I for one would LOVE to see if today had any different trending than a normal day/Friday/etc. BRING ON THE MATHHAMMER! The biggest victories we're hearing about involve increased numbers of Xenos matches, a generally more friendly atmosphere, and guilds roaming Arkhona in 5-man Kill-Teams ON BOTH SIDES of the fights, so you'd often see small stacks on each side. Talron and I will crank out a post-mortem over the weekend.


* * * War Tactica Update * * *

* Larger groups have been finding that breaking into fire teams gets them in matches faster. Maybe not all together, but they've been keeping the war going!

* Look at the World Map between each match. If you see the maps are full, divert your warparty to PvE or hop factions. I promise you; if your issue is you haven't fought Eldar in hours, chances are they are getting sucked into matches faster than they can blink. Maybe use this time to build your Eldar toon in preparation for the Eldar Campaign. WoP has a great set of tutorial videos on how to play them HERE.


* * * War Activity Update * * *

* Deathwatch Fortress Arkhona (WFA) will have open war parties throughout the day, and will be running a 4-8 stack sometime after 8pm Central US. We will be on Voice Comms through our Guild Discord, and will maintain that voice comm even if we switch factions during play.

* Watch Company Absolution (WCA) will be starting their attack runs tonight around 5pm Eastern time and will remain throughout the day across all factions.

* Bro (Brotherhood of BolterJustice) will have their regular game night tonight at 8pm EST time. We usually get 10-15 heretics out. We are looking forward to meeting you all on the field. GLHF!

* GAT is trying to put together a CSM war party.

* 20 ToC brothers entered the game around 11am Central US but low Xenos populations means they are waiting for WAR!

* @Kulminax wants to shoot you all with stalker bolters.

* MYST and several other Eldar guilds will on all day starting at about 12:30pm Central US. MYST also has an event tomorrow at 2pm CT so there's your second wind if you're interested in an all nighter.

* From @Talron : "LASH, WoP, DLB, and a few others will be running their war parties throughout the day at no set time."

* Kheltalus Grey-Wolf: GRAY will be putting together a war party around 3:30pm Central to participate in the ongoing war. Anyone interested, Private message Kheltalus

8PM central? That's what, 2am BST? If I can remember to update after work, I'll be there for PvE.

Korgas have you tried Verifying the Integrity of your Files?

Stuck at work for the duration of this but tried getting the few numbers in my guild to show some support. I'll log in after work and check all the factions to see which needs numbers. Make the sector clash with the sound if gunfire and melee based shennanigans!

Bro (Brotherhood of BolterJustice) have our regular game night tonight at 8pm EST time. We usually get 10-15 heretics out. We are looking forward to meeting you all on the field. GLHF!

Not likely to convince my boys enough, but I'll see if I can scrounge up some of the GAT crew.

But think of all the bolter pr0n!