Windy has only had Castle O once, as well. Or maybe it was twice... now I don't remember. I did the BC twice. First time we won (even though I was dead almost the whole fight >.>), and I made 200k+, since we split the money from selling the belt. Second time (with a different group) we lost horribly, though.
Sandy has taken Beaucedine several times so far. But this is the first time we've had anyone take Xarcabard. A big part of the reason they aren't taken so often is that nations only send NPCs there if they control all their 'normal' areas, if I'm not mistaken. That is to say, if Sandy has Ronfaure, Jugner, Vunkerl, Batallia, and Eldieme (La Vaule isn't needed), then they'll send NPCs to the Northlands (both Beaucedine and Xarcabard). Not really sure why it's always Sandy that gets Beaucedine though, even when other nations have all their areas. It seems kinda like it just defaults to them (because they are physically closest to the areas?). As for Zvahl, I didn't see any battles going on there when they first added it, but this week there are, so maybe Xarcabard has to be non-beastmen controlled? I could've just missed them, though.
The Ops, I'm pretty sure, are all new from the update. Hazardous Materials looks not so bad in Xarcabard, but crappy in Beaucedine (the Gate Sentry is near the zone to Xarcabard, so you'd hafta get past a bunch of Gargouilles, which are sight and sound). Ones I also saw are Bailey Borer (break a Zvahl Fortalice in Zvahl Baileys or Keep; they are like Archaic Mirrors in ToAU beastmen strongholds, but without NMs guarding them), and Frozen Flame. Not sure what you're supposed to do for Frozen Flame, but the description sounds awesome: For this operation you'll have to infiltrate the enemy's northern stronghold, commandeer their prototype weapon, and use it to raze the place to the ground.
