Pilots, attend.

Aboard the ASF Flag Ship, the ISD Grey Wolf

Admiral Priyum Patel walked into the Command Deck of the Grey Wolf.  Although he had every right and every encouragement to be there, he rarely visited this location.  Something must be up.

Commander Khadgar called the room to attention.  The Commodore, Vice Admiral Cyric, hurried to greet him.  "Sir! This is an unexpected honor!  What can we do for you today?"

"You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commodore.  Is your Star Destroyer fully operational?"

VA Cyric replied, "You know it is, Admiral.  Is there an enemy we can dispose of for you?  Let me know and I will ...."

"You will make your Destroyer ready for a visit by the Flight Officer.  You may expect his visit within the hour."

"I need to coordinate with my Wing Commander...  Why is Admiral Theodore coming here?"

"Your questions will be answered in time.  58 minutes, Commodore."

The hour passed quickly.  Not much work needed to be done since the Grey Wolf defined "ship-shape".  At 45 minutes, the entire crew of the Grey Wolf was assembled on the hangar floor in rigid formation.  Right on schedule, the Flight Officer Admiral Theodore's shuttle arrived.  Admiral Patel strode forward to the shuttle and stopped some 25 paces in front of it.  Vice Admiral Cyric marched behind him.   Both bowed.

Admiral Theodore strode directly to Patel and Cyric.  "Rise, my friends."  Turning to Cyric, he said, "You have done well.  Your ship appears to be in order.  Your ship's performance is renown throughout the galaxy."  Then he looked directly at Patel and put his hand on Patel's shoulder.  "Where is he?"

Patel replied, "He's standing at the left side of the Grey Wolf honor guard."

Admiral Theodore leads Patel and Cyric to Colonel Ichthys.  "Ichthys, I hold you responsible for the condition of the Grey Wolf.  I have a special assignment for you.  Do well, Vice Admiral Ichthys, and you will be treated well.  Do poorly, and... the Grand Admiral is not as forgiving as I!"

ASF News

• Round 2 of LC Badland's XWA League III is about to begin!  The file is F-XWA 17.  The Deadline is 3 February.  Send your pilot files to your WC.  He will get your information to LC Badlands on the deadline date. I'd like to see as much participation as possible.
• AD StarLion is announced as the new TAC.  Hopefully this means that our high scores will soon be processed.  This morning, he set his teams to work on fresh battle/mission assignments.  Maybe we'll see more new battles and missions out soon?
• CA:TAC1 position now open.  Watch TC.NEWS for details.
• TCC:TIE and TCC:XWA sought
• The FO is updating the Flight Office site.
• Former WC XIII COL Chrusos Ichthys appointed ASF BGCOM.  OK.  Maybe this is too obvious.  But I expect to see great things ahead for ASF, if you but work with me.

BGCOM Introduction

    For those of you who don't know me, I am "VitCarp", the Vitriolic Carp who idles incessantly on IRC.  You can find me in IRC channels #TieCorps, #Emperor's_Hammer, #WingXIII and most importantly #EH_ASF.  Soon you will find me in #VanGuard as well.

    Chrusos Ichthys is Greek for "Gold Fish"  Since Goldfish are a variety of Carp and knowing my propensity for letting my tongue get me in trouble, I find the nick "VitCarp" a good nick to go with my name Chrusos Ichthys.  Those of you who know something of my RL may find even more appropriateness to the nick.

    I joined TC a year ago, 11 February 2000.  I was first assigned to a squad on the Sov, but since I saw and heard nothing from my squadmates (I also didn't have TIE at the time), I transferred to Tartarus/WingXIII.  Soon I was promoted to LT and then to FL in Vortex.  Fortune smiled and the CMDR of Vortex became CA:RO and left Vortex CMDR vacant.

    I was promoted to Vortex CMDR on March 25, quickly filled Vortex and led Vortex to a nice victory in the first ASF:SC.  We also accumulated 31 citations in three platforms with our 12 pilots - a high for WingXIII and a second highest squadron in TC at the time.  A month after ASF:SC-I, I was promoted to WC XIII.

    Since then I helped supervised active commanders, helped find and direct pilots to Wing squadrons that needed pilots and in general lead a Wing of fledgling pilots to become the most actively flying MP and SP Wing in the fleet.  Even with all the new pilots, WingXIII had over 6,000 more FCHG points than WingX.  I estimate WingXIII had an average net gain of 2,400 FCHG points per month between July and December.  We also did remarkably well in MP -- in the UPA/EH war, the LSF/EH war as well as September, October and November WoWs.

BGCOM's Personal Motto in regards to Tie Corps and ASF

    I strive to make TC fun and interesting for the FM, without asking FMs to do more than they are willing to try.  This includes listening to and talking to those assigned to me and arranging for them to play in comps they will enjoy.  I also strive to set a good example for those under me by visibly participating in comps, inviting others to participate with me, and demonstrating a good sportsmanship.  I ask those in positions of authority under me to do likewise and hold them accountable to a reasonable standard.

ASF Goals

    Service and accountability are two ideals I would like to hold up for us all.

• I ask that all ASF Flag Officers communicate regularly with the pilots under their care
• Thorough, prompt thorough reports
• Through good online communication via IRC, ICQ or what ever works for you and your pilots.
• I don't like hearing pilots ask to leave their squadrons or wings because they found their CMDRs or WC wouldn't talk to them.
• I ask that CMDRs and higher turn their pilots' BSFs around promptly.  I encourage each ship to set standards for this.  With an internet-based community, we expect to see instant results.  While I am not asking any of you to do BSFs as soon as you receive them, making your pilots wait 5-8 days before you submit their BSFs pushing things a bit far.
• I'd like to see ASF Flag Officers fly - MultiPlayer as possible and SinglePlayer as appropriate.
• I believe it is a myth of the SinglePlayer community that Flag Officers don't need to fly or participate in comps.  Where the Flag Officers find their joy in TC, so will most of their pilots.
• Multi-Player - I see multiplayer as important because Multi-Player matches are hard work.
• Most new pilots and many experienced pilots quickly become disenchanted with lag and unfamiliar opponent skills and tactics.  When the pilot sees that his CMDR or WC earned his position without participating in Multi-Player comps, they give up flying MP and seek activity in other arenas.
• The point of Flag Officers flying in MP comps is not to enhance the Flag Officers ID-line; rather, it enables the Flag Officer to be present at comps, helping his pilots set up MP matches, answering their questions with the knowledge of experience and even allowing the Flag Officer to fly with or against his pilots.  (If the Flag Officer's lag is always super-horrible, the Flag Officer should consider himself like the mayor at the dunking booth at the county fair - a target of fun in order to enhance civic pride and sense of community.  Skill will improve with time and experience.)
• While asking both WC and COM on a ship to both fly MP each week may be a bit much to ask now, I'd really like to see one or the other participate in at least one comp each week.
• Single-Player - I also see Single Player as important.
• Flying missions will enhance MP skill by increasing the pilot's familiarity with a variety of fighter craft.
• Flying missions with mines will enhance MP by increasing targeting ability and pilot agility.
• Flag Officers should fly SP so that they be familiar with the quirks of EH custom mission installation and so that they can be able to share some rudimentary tactical information about the battles upon the request of their pilots.
• Flag Officers should fly SP so they can evaluate the works of their pilots, upon request.  While getting a mission approved through TAC may be meaningful, nothing is as endearing as the WC who is able to say to his FM about a battle the FM made, "Well Done!" or "Very good! But these are items that could be improved!"
• I'd like to see Flag Officers complete at least 75% of the battles and free missions on their primary platform.  I am not setting a timeframe for when I'd like to see his achieved, though.
• A specific MP quest for ASF:
• Can EH place in the top 10 in either the XvT or the XWA WoW this month?  How about next month?

Closing Comments

    All these items I throw out as food for thought.  I realize this is a different paradigm than many of you are familiar with.  However, I am willing to discuss this in forum, either on message boards or as an e-mail chain.  I would like to see an ASF where we do fly MP well as our primary medium of fun. The crafting of websites, the writing of fiction and the creation of graphics should supplement - but not overshadow - this MP activity.

"My door is always open" and I look forward to hearing from you.

BGCOM/VA Chrusos Ichthys/ASF SSx3/BSx3/PCx6/ISMx10/MoI-BC/MoT-1rh1gh/LoC-PSx146/DFCx2/CoS/CoL/CoB [EXCR] {IWATS-SM/2-M/1/2-IIC/1/2/3-XTT-XTM-GFX}