State of the Rebel Squadrons

July 2016

I. Foreword
II. Platforms and Taskforce News
III. Squadron and Academy Updates
IV. Awards and Recognition
V. Mission Briefing
VI. Conclusion

I. Foreword

From: The desk of the Fleet Commander
To: Task Force Republic Shield

Hello RS!

We’ve just finished a remarkably active session thanks in no small part to now properly recognizing ITOD participation on the main leaderboard. Flight Sims and running missions was a core component of the RS for many years and I’m happy to see new faces joining our ranks that are getting to experience the incredible legacy we have to offer. The renewed appreciation of these classic games has even got some of our veteran members coming out of the woodworks to sit in a cockpit again. Watch out for Stark, folks. If we ever get him to blow the cobwebs out of his flight helmet, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

Speaking of Admiral Benoit-Stark, with him taking over the Platform Coordinator position the Immersive Gaming platform continues its exemplary levels of activity. The d6 RPG taskforce has continued its regular weekly sims with SGM Michael Raven, upgrade session oversight with HGM Rhruyc, a few sessions from GM Koah, and GM Eric Skrevski knocking the ball out of the park with over thirty-five hours of active storytelling. Our forums have been ablaze as well now with the return of Rear Admiral Kirghy Lommax and the revelation of the Titan’s mole within operations: Nicolai Ginofev, now on the run. Get in touch with Logistics Officer Michael Raven or Fiction Writing Task Force Leader Eric Skrevski if you want in on the action!

In our Modern Gaming Platform, Koah has stepped out from the shadows to take on the coordinator role. In addition, Teu Veld has stepped up to become the new TOR Taskforce Leader and has been leading regular guild flashpoint runs on the weekends. She has expressed hopes of getting a raid group together, and I for one would love to see the RS tackling end-game content at some point. Koah is always on the lookout for new activities for the RS to try out, so if you are actively playing a game we’re not yet supporting, get in touch with him. It might be our next task force!

Fictionally, the RS has experienced its first major victory of the war against the encroaching Titan Fleet, surprising our enemies with the ferocity with which we defended the Aurora System. We’ve knocked them on their collective butts, and hope to take advantage of the surprise and launch our own offensive on their foothold in the sector. Participate this session to bring the fight to the Imperials, and take back what is rightfully ours.

Fight on, troops.
For the Republic!

“:)
ADM Cyrel Vandroth
Rebel Squadrons Fleet Commander


On the Front Lines with the Executive Officer

Hey everyone! Let me start by saying that it’s great to be back. After a much needed vacation, I’ve returned better than ever. Besides getting back into the swing of things as far as participation goes, I’ve stepped back into the role of RS Executive Officer as well as taking command of the Academy and, with Raven’s resignation from the post, filling the position of Arbitrator. I’m looking forward to serving Fleet Commander Vandroth and the membership of the RS as we reach for bigger and better things.

On the squadron front, I want to thank our COs for being willing to do this vital job. Nico, Yaihi’l, and Naesa, thank you for taking time out of your lives to serve the RS. I’m very proud of what you and those under your command have done this past session. Keep up the great work!

The Academy has also been busy. With several graduates to be recognized later in this SotRS and several others still working on their requirements, the future looks bright.

Again, I’m glad to be back, and I’m ready to show this Titan Fleet just who they’re messing with.

Saddle up!
Lock and Load!

“:)
RA Kirghy Lommax
Rebel Squadrons Executive Officer


From the Operations Office (AKA: Markus’s Bunker)

As you all know, we’ve undergone some changes this session. Squadrons were consolidated and shuffled, and new command staff members were brought on. I want to take a moment to thank both Ironman and Koah for stepping up to fill slots as platform coordinators - something I’ll touch on more a little later. Additionally, I’d like to thank Eric Skrevski for stepping in to help out as the RS Personnel Officer- He will be assisting us in handling medals and promotions. Eric is an old hat, and has been around for a long time. Many of you all know him, and know him to be a solid player and steadfast friend.

While I was out for most of the back half of the session, judging from the leader board, things are heating up! I’m glad to see everyone stepping up, and playing more. Resurrection is getting some competition from Diamond Squadron. Red Dagger, I’m gonna need y’all to pick up the pace this next session, or Jellybean’s coming back, even if I have to beat the CO and XO over the head with a tire iron to make it happen.


II. Platforms and Task Force News

As I mentioned above, Ironman has taken over the platform coordinator duties for the Immersive side of the house (previously called RPG), and Koah has taken over as our Modern Gaming Platform Coordinator. I’d encourage you all to take some time to get to know them both, if you haven’t already done so- IM is nothing short of a legend here, and while many of you may not know Koah, he’s been traipsing around the ABG for a decade now. He’s good people, and has a solid grasp on the realm of Modern Gaming. I look forward to seeing big things from these two. I’d also like to take a moment to give Michael Raven a special shout out for the hard work and dedication he’s given the RS in his capacity as the Fiction Platform Coordinator. Raven has stepped down from this position, and from the D6 RPG TFL slot, colloquially known as the High Game Master. Raven has done an outstanding job as the HGM for well over a decade, and his replacement, Rhuryc will have big shoes to fill.

Speaking of Rhuryc, he, too, has been around for over a decade, and while you might not see much of him outside of IRC, the simming crowd knows him well. I look forward to seeing big things out of him, also.

X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter is currently in need of a Task Force Leader. If you are interested, please contact me or CrazyCarl via email, Discord, or IRC.

MGN Markus Jarnhann
Operations Office

III. Squadron and Academy Updates

Academy Updates: The Academy was busy this past session. Numerous new cadets have joined the RS. However, only 3 have completed the requirements for graduation this session. Congratulations to Cadets Alec_McCast, BittyMERC, and coolcolt57! Cadets McCast and coolcolt57 have been assigned to Diamond Squadron while Cadet BittyMERC has been assigned to Red Dagger.

In other Academy news, all RS members placed in the Academy for being AWOL at the start of the last session have been dropped from the roster due to inactivity. CMDR Farlance has been assigned to the Academy due to inactivity, and Cadet X-Wing_Phantom is marked as being AWOL.

Squadron Updates: I am very happy with the performance of our squadrons this session. Among all active personnel assigned to a squadron, we had an 89% participation rate with no squadron being below 80%. Top Squadron and the new MVP awards will be announced below.

Diamond Squadron has lost CMDR Jaran Farlance due to inactivity. However, Cadet Alec_McCast has been assigned to the Diamond 9 spot while Cadet coolcolt57 has been assigned to Diamond 11.

Red Dagger has been assigned Cadet BittyMERC to fill the Red Dagger 11 spot.

Resurrection gains the services of FA Kaz Falcion in the Resurrection 8 spot.

IV. Awards and Recognition

So just want to say well done to everyone this session, seems like it has been one of our most active in a while. As the new Medals officer I am happy to give out the following awards and hope you all keep up an amazing job!

Merit Commendation for ADM Tyrell "Spokes" Borran, Nominated by LCL Jay Forerunner


Iridium Spire for BGN Hermus Dogan: For excellent service as Wildcard Squadron CO. During his tenure as squadron CO Hermus has driven ITOD activity, led fiction writing and encouraged general communication within the group.

Iridium Spire for LGN Eric Skrevski


RS Top Squadron:


RS Activity Top Gun for LGN Eric Skrevski


RS Top Gun ITOD for RA Kirghy Lommax


Most Valuable Player










Sentinel Squadron, please step forward!


10-Year Service Medal for LCL Koah - It's been ten years, Koah. Way to stick around!

Other Medals that went out earlier this session:

June 5, 2016, Excellency of Service awarded to FA Michael Raven


June 16th, 2016 - 14 Year Service Medal to LGN Eric Skrevski.

June 16th, 2016 - 9 Year Service Medal to BGN Swifty Chapple.

June 16th, 2016 - 7 Year Service Medal to MGN Kimiao Quinal.

June 19th, 2016 - 8 Year Service Medal to CMDR Jaran “Gunsmoke” Farlance.

June 25th, 2016 - 2 Year Service Medal to MAJ Yaihi’l Beskar

Cadets Alec_McCast, BittyMERC, and coolcolt57, please step forward! For completing all Academy requirements, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade . Congratulations, and we look forward to seeing what you can do in the years to come!

LCM CrazyCarl, Front and Center. For ongoing exemplary performance as a Platform Coordinator and de facto Task Force Leader for all of your platforms, as well as continued consistently solid quality mission production, I hereby promote you to the Rank indicated: Commander. Congratulations, CrazyCarl. Keep up the good work.


V. Mission Briefing - Hammerfall: Operation Royal Condor
-=Primary Conference Room of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Titan, 50:05:24, Two Days After The Failed Invasion of Aurora=-

Grand Admiral Khoda was furious.

For the past six hours, his commanders had gone through hundreds of battle reports from his assault forces which had limped away from the Aurora system without accomplishing their objective of taking the planet from RS forces. Dozens of capital ships under his command had been destroyed by the defending forces, and hundreds more crippled or damaged in some way, including his prized command ship; the Titan herself. Even with his plan executed to perfection, the intervention of the combined Republic Shield fleet, along with various allies had stopped his fleet in its tracks. In space, varied forces defended the planet with a ferocity he had not expected, tearing into his fleet even as their superior numbers and firepower tried to brute force them into submission. On the ground, a rag-tag group of commandos had thwarted his special forces' attempt to break the planet's primary planetary shields protecting their planetary turbolasers and ion cannons. It seemed the galaxy had conspired against him to fail in his mission.

"...All in all, sir," Admiral Zeltrin was just finishing his casualty report. "We lost ten percent of our operational strength in the Battle of Aurora, Lithran shipyards are being brought to full strength to replenish the fleet, and repair those vessels we believe we can salvage, but we suspect it will be three months before we can produce enough ships to fill the gap in our lines."

Grand Admiral Khoda reached up with his right hand, rubbing his temples with his index and forefinger, before speaking deliberately.

"And our opponents?"

"Forty Five percent casualties among their fleet elements, and the orbital defenses were all but crushed in the battle. However the ground defenses of the planet are completely intact. We are also aware that their shipyard capabilities match ours, so while the percentage of their losses was significantly higher, they will be able to replenish their fleets completely in about a month. The battle was a tactical and strategic defe-" Admiral Zeltrin was abruptly cut off by Grand Admiral Khoda, as the latter slammed his fist into the conference table.

"And their shipyards above Aurora?"

Admiral Zeltrin paused before continuing. "The shipyards have been moved to the Greeop sector, since their orbital defenses have been obliterated, they are worried about a secondary attack."

"As they should be," the Grand Admiral said, reaching out and pressing a button on the conference table in front of him. "Helm. Set a course for Aurora. Every ship in the fleet with working shield grids is to accompany us. Get us there NOW." He released the button, and looked across the conference table at his Admirals.

"We will take Aurora regardless." he said simply. "I don't care if it's a pyrrhic victory, I want that world, then we can focus on more important things. Intelligence," he turned toward a black uniformed female sitting near the end of the table. "Where did they move the shipyards? I want a strike team dispatched to sabotage them. Our operative should know this information, yes?"

"Sir." The female officer spoke up, brushing a lock of silver hair out of her eyes. "Starburst has been compromised. RSI outed him a few days ago."

"Perfect." Grand Admiral Khoda yelled, losing his composure for a moment, and sarcastically continued; "Any more good news, General?"

"Republic Shield is beginning preparations for an invasion of Lithra. We're estimating they're going to commit a tremendous amount of assets to the invasion, and attempt to capture the world. We are preparing counter-attack plans, and my recommendations will be on your desk within the hour."

Grand Admiral Khoda deliberately took a full minute to speak, locking eyes with each officer seated around the conference table, one by one.

"We will not allow them to take Lithra without bleeding them for every single step they take on the planet's surface." He locked eyes with one commander in particular, Vice Admiral T'Phai Sana, the leader of the Lithran Defense Fleet, and the commander of the Desolator, a smaller Star Dreadnought which spearheaded Battle Group Singularity.

The Vice Admiral, normally quiet, looked directly back at the Grand Admiral, her right eye; a cybernetic, zoomed in on the Grand Admiral's face before resetting. "Don't worry, Grand Admiral. We have a plan to deal with the interlopers. With the Rebel Squadrons main fleet in temporary disarray, we'll be focusing our efforts on damaging their allies and keeping them in check while our primary fleet," she nodded in deference to the Grand Admiral, "continues the offensive in Aurora."

"I expect results, Vice Admiral," Grand Admiral Khoda breathed in slowly as he felt the lurch of the Titan entering hyperspace.

"I will not tolerate another failure..."


To give everyone a bit more information on how the RS is fairing fictionally:

The last session was a tactical and strategic victory for the RS, as the primary Titan fleet, led by the SSD Titan herself was repelled from the Aurora system, but at great cost. The RS Command ship, the Redemption, was nearly destroyed in the conflict, but the efforts of our valiant pilots (XWA, and other flight sims) were able to save her from destruction. Meanwhile, the defense of the planet went incredibly well, with the Simming and Fiction Writing platforms really coming through in the RS's favor. Meanwhile, Titan's assault in the Subterrel sector (Mobile Games + Modern Gaming) continues to stall as their participation numbers and success rates continue to be good. Unfortunately, low activity numbers in certain platforms means that the RS will lose the planet of Aurora in the coming session, but won't lose any major material or shipyards because of it.

The coming session involves the Invasion of Lithra, a massive Titan shipyard world, with five orbital repair yards and over thirty shipyards in orbit. Losing this planet would deprive the Titan fleet of over a third of their remaining ship building capability, and nearly half of their repair capabilities. Success will mean that more and more Titan losses will become permanent, and the RS will be able to whittle down the juggernaut in preparation for attacking the Titan herself.

Let the Invasion of Lithra begin!

Fleet Admiral Michael Raven
Logistics Office

Activities:

X-Wing Alliance:

Although we were able to get the Titan force pushed back out of Aurora, it cost us most of the ground that we'd gained on the Lithran offensive, so while the Imperials are on their heels we need push the advantage and thrust as far back towards Lithra as we can. Fly fast and harry the Titan's rear guard as much as possible to keep them on the move!

1 point for flying, 1 point for getting back home alive, 1 point for completing the mission objectives. Mission is available here:
http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/itod/mission.php?id=1170

Instructions for playing: Download the 1B1M1G.tie file and place inside your Xwing Alliance/MISSIONS folder (backing up the original, of course). From the Combat Simulator, launch Battle 1 Mission 1 and the program will load/launch this mission.

Star Wars: Empire at War:

Even though the main Titan force has been driven back out of the system, there are still a few pockets of static Imperial defenses operational in the system. We need to finish mopping up all of these in order to fully secure the system.

1 point for winning on Easy, 2 for Medium, and 3 for Hard.

Mission is here:
http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/itod/mission.php?id=1171

Instructions: Download the mission file and paste into your Empire At War\GameData\Data\CustomMaps folder. Play a Skirmish mission, select custom, select this mission, and set the desired difficulty.

Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes

1) Take a screenshot of yourself having achieved 600 guild points
2) Take a screenshot of your team participating in a guild raid
3) On the RS message boards, write at least 300 words detailing your favorite combination of characters that you use in the game (Whether all Rebel, Imperial, or Mixed). As a second option to replace this one, you could write at least 300 words detailing a team of RS characters and what in-game powers and effects they might have.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Briefing: As the war rages, it has been determined by Command Staff that extra training is needed for all small commando groups. As such they have selected several simulations that they feel are appropriate.

SWTOR can be downloaded and played for free from http://www.swtor.com/ . The Rebel Squadrons has a guild on the server Jedi Covenant, Republic Shield.

1.Heroics on Ord Mantell, Coruscant, or Taris. Pick one planet and run all heroics 2+. These are aimed at 2+ people but can be soloed. This should roughly be 4-6 missions. Take a screenshot of each objective complete screen. There are consoles in several locations to pick up these heroics, on the planet themselves or on fleet are the big two. (Earns 1 objective point)

2.Run through 1 flashpoint of your choice. Post a screenshot of the objective complete screen. These can be solo flashpoints, group finder flashpoints or hard mode flashpoints (1 Objective point)

3. Run Space mission ‘Fondor Escort’ and post a screenshot of mission objective. This is a low level space mission run so is doable by everyone. These missions can be found on your ship 'space missions' console. (This is worth 1 objective point)

World of Tanks:

We got lucky during the battle for Aurora that so few ground forces were able to land on the planet, but we might not be so fortunate next time. Begin extensive drills in preparation for a ground assault! We might even get to do a little invading of our own, soon...

Instructions: Submit a screenshot of an instance where you completed a battle with another RS member. Repeat up to three times for three ITOD points! These screenshots cannot be submitted for general activity credit.

3 points: participate in three separate battles with another RS player.

Minecraft:

None as of yet, stay tuned.

Star Citizen:

Since this is one of the main points of the game, play some Star Citizen with a buddy! 2 points for linking up with a friend and a 3rd point for playing something (Arena Commander, etc.) with a friend!

Modern Team Gaming:

With the battle of Aurora claiming a large amount of lives the RS training and recruitment have stepped up, trying to refill the ranks before the next attack.

Training will commence immediately with team drills, armored training exercises, piloting drills and other exercises.

For any multiplayer game played with a fellow RS member that is not listed. Including League of Legends. World of Warships, Overwatch etc.

Objective 1 : Play a multiplayer game with another member of the RS. Participate in at least one game with another member of the RS. This can either be a win or a loss and your personal score does not matter.

Objective 2 : Win a multiplayer game with another member of the RS. Participate in a game with another member of the RS. Your team must be victorious, but your personal score does not matter.

Objective 3 : Lead a team to victory in a multiplayer game. Participate in a game with another member of the RS. Your team must be victorious and on the shoulders of you. This means you must have the highest KDA, Highest kills, most objectives taken, or having the highest of any other quantifiable score ( that is a good thing ).

d6 RPG (Simming)

: None yet, stay tuned.

Fiction Writing

: The RS has taken heavy losses in the Battle of Aurora, however we are far from out of the fight. Small raids are being launched against Titan, to keep them off balance as well as to assist the ABG in their mission to try and take out the shipyards on the planet of Lithra.

Objective Instructions: Write up a situation where you are leading or are a part of a raid going in against Titan! Post your submission to the forums at http://rebelsquadrons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=3655

Point Distribution:

• 1 Point for a submission of 500 Words that illustrates a raid on Titan in support of the ABG efforts
  
• 1 Point for a submission that exceeds 1000 Words
  
• 1 Point for a joint submission with another RS member

X-Wing Miniatures:

Briefing: Losses in the Subterrel Sector have been staggering. We need to double our efforts, and we need to change things up. The RS has acquired some Imperial Fighters and pirate starfighters from retreating forces in other sectors. We're going to put them into play here in an attempt to sow some confusion into our enemies.

Objective Instructions: Play Minis! Instructions on how to set up Vassal, the software we use to emulate the game, can be found here: (http://wiki.rebelsquadrons.org/index.php?title=X-Wing_Miniatures#Setting_up ). Once you’re up and running, stop by our Discord channel #rs_bar_and_grill at:

https://discordapp.com/invite/0vPv7dJ1NL2hPr8mand

We'll very likely be in the #minis room if already playing, but ask for a match in the main #RS_BAR_AND_GRILL. Ask if anyone wants to play a game or post on the forums to arrange a match with someone. Follow the instructions in the wiki article to load up Vassal and join a game.

Play matches and submit them as activity via the Generic Reporter (http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/multiplayer/report_mp.php ). Matches involving at least 50 points matches (though 100 is the rough norm) are valid for completing this objective.

Once you have accumulated three matches (or however many you can for the operation), use the mission reporter link (http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/activities/objective?id=10 , select ‘report on this actvity’) to create a mission report for this objective. Include in the comments section links to each of your activity reports (found here via clicking ‘Leaderboards’, ‘Multiplayer Hub’, then under ‘Full Match Listings’ select ‘X-wing Minatures’ and find your report. Or just go here: http://www.rebelsquadrons.org/multiplayer/mp_nc_reports?activity=mini ).

Point Distribution: 1 point for a mission flown as a Rebel, 1 point for a mission flown as either an Imperial or Neutral faction, 1 point for a fictional writeup of a match (~500 words)



VI. Conclusion

In all, well done this session folks. We as a command team are happy to see the increased activity and competition between the squadrons. We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who has stepped up to fill new roles this session, and we are proud of those who have gone before them. As always, if you have anything you’d like to see the RS looking into, please shoot us an e-mail, a message on Discord, or a message on IRC. We’re here for you guys, and we want to keep this place the best damned gaming club out there.


Regards,

The Command Team

Eric Skrevski
Rebel Squadrons Personnel Officer
Contact the Medals Officer

MGN Markus Jarnhann
Rebel Squadrons Operations Officer
Contact the Operations Officer

FA Michael Raven
Rebel Squadrons Logistics Officer
Contact the Logistics Officer

RA Kirghy Lommax
Rebel Squadrons Executive Officer
Contact the XO

ADM Cyrel Vandroth
Rebel Squadrons Fleet Commander
Contact the FC