X vs DS

X vs DS
The famous screenshot of "X" marching into the Wilderness.
Date	22-23 July 2006
Type	F2P Knock-Out
Location	Members Gate
Clans Involved
Wilderness Guardians Descendant Guardians Chivalry Legions Rune Raiders Rune Raiders Juniors	Dark Slayers Dark Slayers Future Applicants
Terms of War
F2P Knock-Out Members' Gate No returning No forum spying No friends or allies No mass-recruiting No inviting watchers or looters X attacks, DS defends All combat types allowed No tree-hugging
Result
DS victory X cleared

The X vs DS was a war which took place on 22-23 July 2006. The war involved the Wilderness Guardians, their junior clan Descendant Guardians, Chivalry Legions, Rune Raiders, and the Rune Raiders Juniors, all fighting against the #2 F2P clan Dark Slayers and their future applicants. Despite ending in a defeat for "X", it was one of the largest battles in RuneScape history at the time.

Background

His Lordship conceived the idea for a massive war between allied clans against one of the top F2P contenders in June 2006. WG had recently reopened their junior clan Descendant Guardians for their second iteration, and DG naturally would support the senior clan. Despite WG having past issues with Chivalry of Legends the previous year, their successor clan Chivalry Legions agreed to join the alliance. Rune Raiders were the fourth clan in the alliance, along with their juniors (though RRjr is not counted as a separate clan). The opposition was the Dark Slayers - a clan widely considered to be the #2 F2P clan behind Damage Incorporated. Despite the vast difference in power, DS were expected to be vastly outnumbered and thus allowed to bring their future applicants (players who had expressed interest in joining but were not yet full members) in order to even the odds.

War Preparation Video

A war preparation video was made by His Lordship. It was approximately 8 minutes long, and covered details of the war as well as typical F2P battle tactics. Interestingly, His Lordship advised players to bring Rune Longswords instead of the usual Rune Scimitars, believing the increased stat bonuses negated the slower attack speed. A large number of both longswords and scimitars were present at the fight. His Lordship also instructed the allying clans to use the initials "DI" (referencing the #1 F2P clan and DS's main rival), though on the day of the war the allies used "X" instead.

The Battle

The battle from a DS member's perspective, 23 July 2006.

As with other large-scale fights before, WG massed at Juliet's House in Varrock. The prep vid suggests CL would have massed at Varrock Church, and RR at the Chaos Temple near the southeastern corner of the Wilderness. A source from 2008 suggests that WG and DG had around 200 members, RR and RRjr had around 200, and CL had around 170, bringing the total number of X members to approximately 570. DS is believed to have around 200 of their own members - a click on their fall-in showed at least 110, but it is highly likely that there were more present.

WG marched from Varrock to the monastery for the prayer bonus, and to meet with CL and RR. The the several hundred members of X continued their "death march" all through the Wilderness up to the war zone, in what was considered the largest death march in RuneScape history.

The battle commenced at the Members' Gate as planned. His Lordship was one of the first piles, and was killed almost instantly, with time only to say "Go". Despite DS being outnumbered almost 3 to 1, X lost the battle mainly due to a lack of coordination and organisation. All four clans ultimately proved no match for DS's significantly higher levels and experience.

Aftermath

Despite the loss, WG considered the war to have been a largely positive event. Aside from the recognition gained from organising what was possibly the largest non-World War clan battle in history, some excellent media was also generated in the form of screenshots and videos. Footage of the battle was recorded by Jrm_04 of X and a ~5-minute video was produced of the event. It includes a clip of himself standing still while hundreds of armoured X soldiers march past - an awe-inspiring reflection of the sheer power of the alliance. The clip is one of WG's most recognisable pieces of footage, and has been re-used numerous times in other videos. A screenshot taken of the alliance marching into the Wilderness has also circulated widely around the RuneScape community, usually intended to invoke a feeling of nostalgia and symbolic of the "glory days" of the clan world.

Gallery

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  WG marches from Juliet's house to the Monastery.

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  X leaves the Monastery.

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  X heading into the Wilderness.

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  The famous screenshot of "X" marching into the Wilderness.

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  X marching through shallow Wilderness.

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  X marching through shallow Wilderness.

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  X marching past the Dark Warriors' Fortress. Note the presence of Rune Longswords.

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  X marching past the Bandit Camp.

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  X in a Death Dot at the Lava Dragon Isle gate. Note the 400 "options", which was the maximum that could be shown.

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  The battle from a DS member's perspective.