[Poll] Which military holds the spammiest weapons?

Sorry about the lack of a poll last week, there were some issues with the host. However, we’re back with another drama-erupting poll, and don’t hold back on the comments!

Which military holds the spammiest weapons?

Check out the ‘Statistics’ link at the top of this page to vote for the military you think has the spammiest weapons.

Thank you all, and remember to tell others of the Journal. We are also still looking for stories, and the competition is still open to win 1000L$ worth of prizes. Email your stories, long or short, to metallicoegears@googlemail.com for the chance of winning this Christmas.

Alliance Navy excelling in R&D.

I was contacted today by one AN officer luca Vasilopita, who asked if i would be interested in seeing and reporting on some new AN equipment. Of course, being a gadgets and technology fanatic, i couldn’t decline his offer.

I was teleported into the AN research and development area, which many called the Motor Pool. On first glance, i could see various builds surrounding me, each very interesting and highly detailed. Here is a snippet of my chat with Officer Vasilopita;

Dezno: So Officer Vasilopita, what has the AN got in store for their members?

Vasilopita: Right, well there’s quite a big forward surge recently in recruitment. For all of the problems in the world(s) (Digital and Real), we seem to be seeing alot of advancements here in the Alliance Navy.

Dezno: Is that an AN mech?

The Alliance Navy mech being developed.

Vasilopita: Yes, the re-designing of the Alliance Navy’s armored projects is one of the new ‘advancements’ we’re working on to bring the AN back up to scratch with the demand for high tech gash and fluff. Things that are already in service, such as the new fatigues are available for viewing all around us. The mech is still in the development stage, however there is a working model that the creation team are fiddling with animation wise.

Dezno: What will the features of the mech be, what firepower will it have?

Vasilopita: Mostly direct fire type things such as twin linked machineguns, grenade launchers, and the odd dumbfire rocket. We’re trying to keep the ’smart’ capabilities to a minimum on this thing for the moment. Excuse the pun with it, but we don’t want to run before we can walk.

Dezno: Will this mech create a new mechanical division for AN? Or will it be issued to the existing heavy weapons team?

Vasilopita: As a testbed, we will be creating a sub-division within the Marines. If the Section is successful, then we could see a more populated ‘Division’ for things like mech’s in the future.

Dezo: What else have you been working on?

Vasilopita: Mr. McKinley here is currently wearing the new issue Air Division uniform, complete with high detail skin suit underneath.

The new AD armour for AN.

Dezno: Oh right, that looks great! Are those weapons on the floor to be issued to all enlisted personnel?

A modern Browning M2 machinegun, and the R-22 Railgun.

Vasilopita: When they’re eventually rolled out, they will be for heavy weapons teams within Fleet Division and Marine Division. What you see is a ‘post modernised’ version of the Browning M2 machine gun, and a little something we call the R-22 Railgun, they’re designed to be used as stationary gun emplacements for defensive situations.

Dezno: So that gun will be rezzed then take control from an avatar?

Vasilopita: It’ll be attachment based, but only able to fire when deployed, forcing the avatar to be stationary when it needs to be fired. It’s a simple way of employing arms limitations in a group, making the immersion of a combat experience all the deeper – that’s what we hope at least!

Dezno: Oh, that’s fair. Will there be any specifically new advancements in technologies included within any new equipment by the AN?

Vasilopita: At the technical level, we hope so. Scripts for things such as the new landspeeder you can see on the rampart in front of us will bring about a new way to have physical vehicles in SL without breaching too many combat ‘regulations’.

The AN physics-enabled craft being built.

Dezno: And to close, are there any more projects in development, not shown here, for perhaps other divisions?

Vasilopita: Absolutely, a prime example that would be hard to show you is the full Fleet refit currently being put underway. The full intention is to both roll out NEW ships, and upgrade the existing ones with more advanced scripts and technologies. It’s one of those pipe dreams that’s finally coming to life. There’s always been a bit of a stagnation problem with the Alliance Navy and equipment projects. This seems to be changing now that a few people have proven all it takes is a bit of elbow grease to get a project totally finished.

Dezno: May i ask, how many developers do you have in AN currently developing equipment and/or technologies to the advantage of AN and its combatants?

Vasilopita: I could only hazard a guess, but the more serious developers would probably ring in at about a dozen or so.

Dezno: And taking recruitment surges into consideration, how strong is the AN now statistics-wise?

Vasilopita: We’re just starting to see the first graduates, but at the moment we’re looking at about 26 recruits, which is steadily increasing by about half a dozen a week. I can only hope that we can match the numbers of the other groups, but with the benefit of the AN’s intense training and flair for being a bit ‘jammy’ with combat.

So, it seems like AN have some pretty exciting and effective equipment(s) coming to AN personnel. Before i went, i seized the opportunity to ask luca about the new flight debates arising (story coming soon).

Dezno: Will AN be adopting any Air Assault/Defense changes to the upcoming debates over realistic flight patterns in aircraft?

Vasilopita: As of yet, the discussions on it have been very short lived. Although the prospect is one that the group as a whole is interested in, it’d be much more appealing than the current mouse assisted flight system. We’ve seen the dark side of that system in the past with groups such as the Vanguard zipping about in very annoying lines. Damned effective, but not very fun to fend off. Hopefully more ‘realistic’ systems would mean that Air Divisions across groups could benefit when it comes to dogfighting and so on. One can only hope at this point, but I do expect a bit more from this renaissance period within the military groups and community on the subject of aircraft.

Dezno: Thank you very much Officer Vasilopita, for showing me the new developments coming to AN soon.

So, it seems like AN are preparing to respond to the recent debates about flight patters/control too, along with other major militaries. If you would like to use some of the equipment mentioned here, or see it in action, you should visit Elshout with a gun and feel the wrath of AN!

The Commonwealth Special Combat Service – A New SL Military

Hearing a tip from Caine Constantine, I decided to check out the Commonwealth S.C.S., a new military on the grid.

Teleporting into their region, Paradise Land, I saw what one would see in any budding military base.  The various cash initiatives (vendors, advertisements, tip jars), the rules being given on billboards and notecards. This is the Special Combat Services H.Q. – home to a military group extremely new to Second Life.

The sign welcoming visitors to Paradise Land.

I was glad to see this group had it together, and so I set about looking for my arranged contact – Lt. General Stephen Holder, who I found in the bunker adjacent to the spawn point. He directed his other troops to begin training while he talked to me.

Vegna Fouroux: Good Evening. I am a reporter for the Jessie War Journal,
Stephen Holder: very good
Stephen Holder: recruits back to base

Stephen Holder, S.C.S.

Vegna Fouroux: Where are we?
Stephen Holder: this is spawn area
Stephen Holder: in there as u see is the bunker
Stephen Holder: 2 points the attacker can attack
Stephen Holder: up and above
Stephen Holder: or down the hole into the river

The S.C.S. base of operations.

Vegna Fouroux: So how long has this group been around?
Stephen Holder: 2 weeks

Vegna Fouroux: Have you yourself had any prior military experience?
Stephen Holder: oh yes…
Vegna Fouroux: Such as?
Stephen Holder: myself a captain for the 27th slc

Vegna Fouroux: Ah, so where does your group stand at the moment? Who are your allies and who are your enemies?

Stephen Holder: well we just got our uniform

He then proceeded to quote from the group’s information notecard:

“The Commonwealth Special Combat Service Aka SCS was established to fight second life terrorism in two aspects – one aspect insurgents who are lone acting persons who grief the other organizations who want to spread fear and tyranny across the sl grid.

The SCS is made up of men and women trained in advanced warfare tactics and weapons handling using infiltration covert surviellance and counter intelligence along with first strike tactics to maintain superiority over the enemy on the battlefield. All members undergo testing prior to recruitment and are monitored and mentored throughout their development within the organization.

As part of the SCS all members are expected to maintain a high degree of professionalism on and off the battlefield with fellow members and civilians alike. Respect and Discipline is expected of every member during the course of their envelopment with the SCS.”

Vegna Fouroux: I see
Vegna Fouroux: So have you engaged any other military groups in battle yet?
Stephen Holder: not as of yet

They do have a fine entertainment center, though.

Vegna Fouroux: and what groups would you be hoping to fight?
Stephen Holder: were just about to go to new jessie and test my troops
Stephen Holder: well i dont like slsn

Vegna Fouroux: Ah yes :) I was just there, quite good actually. The Merczateers are there right now
Stephen Holder: or the merc brothers commandos

Vegna Fouroux: Ah, I see.
Stephen Holder: or the 10th
Stephen Holder: or cati lol
Stephen Holder: so there four targets

Vegna Fouroux: Right. So what does your training involve?
Stephen Holder: intence

Vegna Fouroux: How so?
Stephen Holder: were going for quality not quantity
Stephen Holder: first the recruits have to be n the knowledge of fireteam training
Stephen Holder: team work
Stephen Holder: know there weapons
Stephen Holder: all our guns are custom made like our uniforms

Vegna Fouroux: What is this?
Stephen Holder: this is spec ops
Stephen Holder: they have to become a veteran before passing
Stephen Holder: and theres a exam

Vegna Fouroux: Okay, so where do you see yourselves being in a month or two?
Stephen Holder: a lot larger
Stephen Holder: we dont want to run before we can walk
Stephen Holder: so we grow at a steady pace

Vegna Fouroux: I see.

Stephen Holder: now from now were going to be recruiting
Stephen Holder: hope to have a sim in 3-4 months
Stephen Holder: but with troops i want quality not quantity
Stephen Holder: id rather have 20 of the bst trained then 50 shit
Vegna Fouroux: Yes of course. now as regard to rules. Do you follow set down rules such as STABLE or do you make up your own rules of combat?
Stephen Holder: we will follow stable… for now
Stephen Holder: but our troops are well disciplined

Vegna Fouroux: Thank you very much.
Stephen Holder: no thank you

I could hear the shouts of a drill instructor training new recruits.

Dexterito Frog shouts: Ok stop
Dexterito Frog shouts: You made 27 hits with 30 bullets, awesome
Dexterito Frog shouts: ok stop.

For a group that’s only two weeks old I found them quite remarkable. There base is compact and simple. Their uniforms are decent and remind this nostalgic reporter of his days in Sparta. STABLE: always a good base of rules to work off.  I went expecting the usual bravado and superiority most new groups carry with them, but the S.C.S. were actually quite down to Earth.

However the real test comes soon once the new group starts to interact with the rest of the military community. Will this group be a rock, and break the waves facing all new militaries; finance, recruitment, equipment, updates, griefing and the banhammer? Or will it, like so many others, fall short?

A proud fighting force.

Time will tell, but things are looking promising for this new addition to the Second Life military scene.

-Vegna Fouroux

Second Life Sky Navy – Ready For Action!

A few days ago the SLSN released the news that they are open on a sim named ‘Ohana Retreat’. After seeing the sim, they have done fantastic work.

The shipyards of the SLSN.

The base always seems to be swarming with avatars, mostly SLSN personnel, which is a really encouraging start to any faction – active members prepared to wait around on base. The base itself is comprised of a large ’ship building’ skeleton, and a main administration base.

The SLSN Administration Complex.

This, along with the road running down the middle, creates a very nice combat experience for attackers. In the main building are offices for the high command and other officials in the burgeoning group.

So, go to Ohana Retreat and check it out – there are now applications in the hub and the group is ready to grow.

A lone Echelon soldier stands watch over the SLSN base from its hub.

The members, or at least the ones who have engaged me, seems very friendly and very enthusiastic about Steve’s promising new venture.  Visit their sim and give them a fight!

A shattered fighter jet bodes ill for those wanting to take on the reborn SLSN.

-Metallicoe Dezno

Iron Symphony attack Elshout.

At roughly 3:22pm today, my contact in Echelon alerted me that both EU and MC were assaulting Elshout, sim of the Alliance Navy.

As i arrived in the hub of Elshout, i was held back by the overwhelming lag that pressed against both aircraft and ground forces. As i rezzed my little plane to observe the battle from above, the distant sound of explosives could be heard. In the brief moment while i was observing, i noticed two Spartans arriving too, to help the relative force of defending and attacking.

As i landed on the middle tower, i used an abandoned EU breach to access a small office, for the purpose of observing the battle. As i alt-cammed like crazy, several Echelon’s were clearing my floor, as i shouted my position, they greeted me and defended my little room. As a very accurate AN arrived at the floor, the Echelon’s, along with myself, were instantly killed by the skillful AN member.

As i sat in the hub exploring the sim, i was alerted of many mines placed in the air, by the AN, an EU described it as a ‘cheap tactic’, although, i was assured the mines disapeard after 15 mins, and i think the tactic worked. Next, i was sent a picture of a chat spy dispatched by one AN member in the hub, although a Linden dealt with the issue and all was resolved.

Yes, both sides had some larger flaws, but i am not in any position to insult a faction. I thought it was a good fight, although i did disagree with some tactics. However, some of the larger points can be argued by commenting to this pose, so express your opinion!

Orks attack Ordo again.

Today, at roughly 10:45am i was alerted of another WAAAGH attack in Titan, home of Ordo.

Despite the tremendous amount of lag bestowed upon all involved, the battle was one of unusuality and interesting events and tactics. In the WAAAGH group charter, it says this;

Orkses is never defeated in battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fighting so it don’t count. If we runs for it we don’t die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!

All Orks is equal, but some Orks are more equal dan uvvas.

Orkz is made fer’ two fings! Fightin’, and winnin’!

In this case, it seems the patriotic orks died fighting, while still leaving their mark by the various barriers, banners, signs and emplacements around the sim.

An Ordo personnel member told me that due to the high level of lag, all ordo were instructed to use semi burst fire. Even so, blue Ordo bullets could quite clearly be seen floating around the hub area. In the height of the battle, shouts of pain could be heard from the Orks, and one Ordo member shouted one quote; “To those that flee comes neither power nor glory”. The moment was a truly great moment for both Ordo and Ork. The same member also told me that this is probably the first force to attack that matches the manpower of Ordo.

The Ordo Hub

The Ordo Defenders

New Jessie ruled by the Merczateers.

Today, in an unprecedented turning of events, the merczateers, led by the Marshalls themselves invaded the bunkers and buildings of New Jessie, killing innocent fighters and capturing flags along the way.

Approximately 12 merczateers were seen terrorising the sim, with small groups guarding each flag checkpoint; The apartment block, the NW bunker and the SW bunker.

As the notice was sent by Caine to alert the republics loyal citizens of the takeover, the hub began to fill with eager patriots willing to clear Jessie of, how one Ex-VG put it, ‘Rats’.

As the citizens began to decend unto the awaiting merczateers, some in teams, some going alone, the horrifying sound of the Mercz guns could be heard from the hub, where this reporter was standing in horror. As the citizens tried to reclaim the bunkers and town, they were mowed down by the awaiting merczateers and their terrifying technologies. A small group of VG’s were also seen clearing the sim, to as little avail as the citizens, however, as the time progressed, Jessie’s fighters were slowly pushing Mercz back to the town.

However, as the brief interval of decending patriots arrived, the Mercz directed their attention to the South East bunker, a favourable bunker for the past Mercz attacks. As they gathered in the confounds of the emplacement, yet more gun fire echoed throughout the hollow borders of New Jessie.

Lurdan Huszar, Merczateer Marshall said that the Mercz take over wasn’t officially orderd by any command, he went on to say “We have a policy that allows Merczateers to come here whenever they want in tag and uniform, so people sometimes just decide to pull together a squad and go.”

Merczateer Marshal Lurdan Huszar defending one of the bunkers in the sim.

Area 31 assaulted by four factions.

Today at roughly 2:45, the once quiet spawn point at Area 31 was swarmed within a minute with 2142 personnel and Sparta. To begin with, roughly 16 avatars were oppressing the 8 CS members defending their base.

As the numbers grew in the hub, CS took their defencive positions to awat the wrath of the two militaries best efforts. As the Sparta dropship was rezzed and started to fill, CS were getting anxious. As the ship took off with lag in tow, the sound of gunfire was instantly suppressed on the quiet sim.

As the ship progressed over the inner compound, James Benedek, 2142 commander issued to order for all to drop, and so they did. Suddenly, the CS guarding the walls were mowed down by the attackers who had already gained access to the inner courtyard. WIth this, CS abbruptly teleported to the top of their base to clear the first wave of attackers.

With this minor wave over, CS set up defences in the inner base, courtyard and walls. Next, Sparta rezzed another drop-ship and similar events unfolded.

At roughly 3pm, the attack was in full swing, now with not only 2142 and Sparta, but Guerilla Rebels and the forces of Milliant Collective. The occasional AN could also be seen in the fog of war. As air-fight was impossible due to the overwhelming lag, combat was mostly contained on the ground, with the occasional drop ship breaching the CS defence structure. At this time, there were approximately 25 attackers against the still minimal 9 CS defenders. As CS watched the hub in anticipation, the faint prims of Mechs could be seen, and the defenders faced their next challenge.

At 3:10, CS were doing a fantastic job at defending their base, with their flag only being captured twice by the same 2142 member. As TPs began to fail, attackers instantly arrived in the floor prims at the base of the compound. With this tactic, the attackers fired through the prims to the un-suspecting CS innocently looking for the intruders. Throwing STABLE out the window, the attackers continued to use failed TP’s home to their advantage, much to CS’s distress.

And still the attack continued, dropships still dopping and mechs still…mech-ing. I would really like to congratulte Chthonic Syndicate at this point. They’ve done a fantastic job defending against numbers almost twice their size. Well Done.

What developed next was a bombing of the upper base entrance, resulting in CS teleporting up there, to instantly die.

Ultimately, the attack was a great success for all involved. Dispite the lag, both sides gave their best effort and what resulted was a nice rule-abiding fight. So what was the purpose for this attack? Well, when CS are having difficulties defending, they used to call in their allies Vanguard. As i am sure you know, Vanguard disbanded. So, were the IS seeing if CS could stand up for themselves? Most probally, and i think CS have proved themselves very suitable and very strong.

The hub at the start of the battle.

[Contest] Win L$1000 worth of prizes!

The Journal is now going to be hosting contests for you, our readers.

Our first contest is an article contest. The best article submitted will win 1000L$ worth of prizes, this week including James Benedek’s rocket launcher worth 450L$!

For details on entering, visit the ‘Competitions’ page using the navigation bar at the header of this page.

All welcome!

Thanks all, get writing!

[Drama News] Vanguard still alive?

Rumours were ripe today that Christoph Naumova, leader of VG, sent a notice to the Vanguard Armed Forces group, instructing all to hide the group in their profile. Many were questioning me on this, and asking if VG were still together, and i had no idea, but after some investigation i found out all the rumours were the result of a simple misunderstanding.

Christoph did indeed publish a notice instructing all VG to hide the ‘Vanguard Armed Forces’ group, but he did not have to intention to keep VG going. Apparently, many VG veterans would like to stay in the group in case any major updates come through, and Alliance Navy were not too pleased about this, when VG came to apply. After the disbandment of VG, Jim (Alliance Navy Admiral) mentioned to me that their recruitment rates had grown greatly, with not only VG joining. Most of the VG enlisting wanted to stay in the main group, and Alliance Navy did not like this as they considered the ex-VG to be in two militaries, even though VG was officially declared disbanded.

This resulted in Christoph advising all VG to hide the main group, so joining alternate militaries could be achieved with ease. Perhaps Christoph will contact all VG again through the main group, but we can only wait and see. Please show your view on this story by commenting below.

Welcome.

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[Results] Which military has the most unfair base and sim rules for the attackers?

We’ve had our most successful poll yet churning in around 200 votes. The question was set to determine what readers thought was the most unfair base for attackers. This meant both physical and the morals behind the militaries rules. This included how fair rules were, and how fair or unfair the base is layed out. Heres the results;

The Results.

Guerillas Rebels	74 20%
Alliance Navy	54 15%
Merczateers	49 13%
Ordo	47 13%
Sparta	30 8%
2142	23 6%
Vanguard	23 6%
Raven Raiders	20 5%
Echelon Union	16 4%
Militant Collective	9 2%
TCG and Assault Cmd.	5 1%
39th Black Watch	4 1%
Commando SL (CSL)	4 1%
Dominatium	4 1%
10th Mountain	3 1%
Chthonic Syndicate	2 1%

The Conclusion.

Seemingly, the Guerillas hold the toughest base to attack. However, if i may insert my own opinion, i think their base is quite fun to attack. Admittedly, the river surrounding it does hold a minor inconvenience to the attacking force, but all the jungle foliage and temple make it rather enjoying. Anyway, coming in sharp second appears to be Alliance Navy. Since their rebuild of the two towers, yes, it has been marginally more difficult, however, once inside the compound, its serves as a thrill to hide in an office and call it your own, shooting at any that try and take it from you.  I have heard rumours that Alliance Navy will be changing their base to a spacey one soon, but i doubt that will materialise. With Mercz and Ordo coming next, that is understandable as they seem to filter the enemy through their defences to the awaiting chainguns and MP5’s. Then, Sparta, 2142 and Vanguard (Now Disbanded) Yes, 2142 filter much like the others, with their large bridge and kill prim infested river. Sparta however have a nice base in my eyes, but that may be my bias opinion.

Leave your opinion in the form of a comment below.

The Journal Awards.

Sometime in late 2009, the Jessie Journal hopes to host an award event. This event will congratulate and commemorate all those who have been successful and productive towards the military community. These will include scripters, builders, commanders, individual militaries, alliances and even individual fighters.

Although this could cause some friction, we will award every military with at lease one event. The event will have an optional ticket fee with a reccomended price of around 100L$, all of which will go to a Real Life charity.

If you would consider attending this charity event please vote below.

Vanguard Disbanded.

Today, to everybodies shock, Christoph has disbanded VG. He left this message with all the members;

I’m sure anyone who is reading this is shocked and will be unable to understand any reasonings behind it, and I’m sure there will be people who say “it’s because of this” or “it’s because of that”. The truth of the matter is, I’m doing this because a loved one has personally requested that I do it, and based on my track record I decided it’s finally time I listen to someone I care about and do what they need me to, without fretting or complaining, moaning or bitching.

To everyone who will definitely be hurt with this at the current moment, I apologize and let you know it’s not personal. I have no reason to leave, I love this group and what it is, and I love how strong it is in the current moment. I just have to do this for someone I care about and nothing more.

For the alts in this group that will undoubtedly get this message, no, it’s not because a few people left, I’ve replaced people before and could have again, however I’m sure you will claim responsibility so have fun with that, it means nothing to me.

I’ve worked this group into something amazing and I could not have done it without the people involved and the dedication of others, and in light of the things that I’ve been asked to do by this loved one I have no choice but to listen and take calm advice for one time in my life. I am disbanning the Vanguard Armed Forces until further notice.

Understand everything that has been here and done will not be forgotten, and I am encouraging you, all of you with utmost knowing that the best choice for those who wish to continue your military career is to join the Alliance Navy.

This has come about with the understanding that they are good people – they do not have personal vendettas and they follow the same beliefs that combat should be fair, exactly as I do. They are a good group that could definitely use people as skilled as you are, and individuals who care about a group and are as dedicated as I myself was.

For those of you that will hate me, I’m sure you will be hurt that the group is gone, and I hope you will understand that this is just a game, and there are more important things for me to do then sit here and be selfish about what I want, while hurting those I care about. You must understand that this isn’t personal, this isn’t about anything that has happened, it’s about a request of someone I hold dear to me on so many levels.

So as of this moment, Vanguard itself is being disbanned. I will be mass ejecting everyone from the groups within a 30 minute time period after the notice, and I will be putting notices with this notecard in every group I have ownership in.

Ontop of things however, I do come to the understanding that regardless what happens, this will eventually cause a M.A.D effect in Second Life military. The AN is the group that I am instructing you all to go to, and I’m instructing you all to join. The application is posted below.

Sim: Elshout
App: 􀀀

Understand that I quite possibly will be opening Vanguard again in the future, with ar edone look, redone gear and everything else.

I love you all for the effort you put into this, and I care a great amount about what we stand for and what we’ve come to be, but I have to do this for reasons I cannot control.

Ontop of that I state that everything in VG is still sole copyrighted in my name and that I will not allow anyone to do anything with it as of current, I will however be opening a commercial store with the auth removed and selling everything without logos, but with customization features.

It was awesome while it lasted, and this is just a temporary disbanning until at which point the individual I speak of is alright and satisfied with things in general.

For those of you that wish to contact me, the only way I will allow will be on MSN, which is edouackirovi@yahoo.com as far as contact goes.

Join the AN, make them strong again, and do not let the people we hate so very much win out in the end, as you understand without me to hate they will have to hate on others… Or simply collapse.

Herrschaft Durch Kraft – Domination Through Power
Christoph Naumova – Fuhrer of Vanguard.

Looks like AN will be growing in numbers. I am surprised he did not advise everybody to go to an allied force. But hey, thats the way the cookie crumbles.

Task Force Marines to return to the military scene.

Yes, you heard it here first; Task Force Marines, the long-debated military run by bennyboy is returning back, better than ever.

TFM disbanded into CS and IB a few months ago. Mayra disbanded and formed CS, and benny started a new military with the intention to create a new image; Imperium Battalion. Recently, benny sold IB to Vardis, who mysteriously disappeared leaving the members, and the sim, to slowly enter a meltdown.

So what will be different about the newly reformed TFM? Well, benny wants TFM to be as original as ever, consistant with a void sim, custom weapons and custom sculpted armour.

Expect a follow up report soon when the building for there start-up 1/4 sim is finished. After everything is sorted, they will move to a void, then after that, if recruitment flow is high, benny hopes to go full sim.

Now go comment crazy!!!

[Comedy News] 2142 killed santa!

Today, at 10:30am in the sim of ‘2142′, santa payed a visit to those lucky 2142 members. After abbruptly leaving the hub, to the horror of bystanding 2142 innocently guarding their humble base, the santa rezzed not only naked, but with what seemed to be a thong, and a rather large *CENSORED* [Love Stick].

After trotting around a bit, he approached the first checkpoint. He was reported to have sprayed his *CENSORED* [Love Juice] all over one 2142 pilot, crash ashdene. After witnessing this horrid act of abuse, crash proceeded and attatched his baseball bat ready to oppose the oncoming wrath of a hungover santa.

The events after this were obsured. Santa, with drink in hand and beggin for money, ran into the compound and ran around a little, all the time being chased by crash, and various recruits. After this, the humble PG sim was filled with the sound of explosions, from the once peaceful 2142 members who were now raging Grinches, out to destory the Christmas spirit.

[10:36]  Metallicoe Dezno: Were you firing *Love Juice*?
[10:36]  Hogarth Pfalz: Only if you want me to, bby ;)

As Santa was ready to leave, James Benedek, respected military legend bid him farewell with a passing question;

Is this what santa does during his day off?

The hung-over santa egging on the 2142 personnel.

The two avatars showing and telling their sticks.

[Sim Update] Ordo changing their base.

Recently, i was informed that Ordo were in the process of re-designing their sim. To follow this, i swiftly bid my farewells and fled to titan for a glance, and to my surprise the sim was open and already populated with a trench system and minor underground incur. An Ordo member said this in response to my questioning of why Ordo were changing;

“The previous sim design ran it’s course, actually. We had a little in-ordo contest for a new sim design and we’re currently switching over. This is just a temporary build.”

So, it appears theres more to come from Ordo. We will ensure a following report after their rebuild.

The cool sim. (xD)

[Drama News] AN Hub killing conclusion.

After exploring into the matter further, i think we should lay off AN. They were merely trying to protect thier sim’s security. Two guys arrive in the hub, sim crashes – what do you expect them to think?! And, if Arvid was a sim-crasher he would have crashed the sim by the time the AN personnel IMed him, so it seems this was the only option. From the poll, i can see that 58% of readers thought they were too extreme to hub kill, however, as 2142’s sim went down at the same time, there could have been some major SL issues, as this has been a very bad week for SL’s servers anyway with all the teleporting issues and other sim crashed. If investigation continues on this subject and more points are raised, i will publish another update.

[Update] Echelon Union.

Echelon Union has resided in Vadoo Reef since last summer. At the time, their recruitment rates were dwindling and of an unconsistant rate, but recently, the word has spread about this individual and fair military force. Since then, they have not only grown in attack strength but in technology, equipment, image and morality.

Recently, Roo Tenk (Echelon Archlord) told me about some minor updates that have come and are coming to the Echelon Union. First of which is some rather major weapon scripting updates with some exciting potential in the technologies. Firstly, they have just added custom third person animation aim, which in effect could add to the experience of a battle, and offer an equal enjoyment factor as if it were a dedicated third person ’shoot ‘em up’, from the view of an onlooker to the animation. Secondly, Echelon have added aim-jumping, a new feature to the weaponry’s animation over-ride and allows the user to simulate the effect of their avatar steadying the aim while they jump. As well as this, many new animations are to be added, as well as some new extensive updates that will come in the near future.

The jump-aim animation over-ride in action.

The first gun that features this is the EU MP5-N, a basic gun with fantastic potential and accuracy. As well as arsenal updates, Echelon have ’spruced up’ their amour/uniforms, revamping the old protection garments. Currently, only the enlisted rank will receive new armour, however, one ribena Homewood will be organising a professional sculpter to create the Air Defence division armour.

The new MP5-N and armour, held by Roo.

In other news, Echelon has also opened a new infantry division.  The other ground force, currently ‘troopers’, will be divided into the normal troopers and the Heavy Troopers, the difference being weaponry and armour. (i.e Heavier machine guns, RPG’s)

As far as assaults go, Echelon are keeping very active and have a very high success rate with their determined and devoted troops. Roo had this to say;

“We have been attacking Guerilla Rebels on a regular basis, and every time it has been very successful. Getting deep into their compound several times and over again. Usually with even numbers on both the opposing force and defencive force.“

To combat this, Roo told me that the Guerilla’s have been assaulting their compound when there has been only one member of Echelon on base. Once they got into the underground, they were said to have been spamming the base and bunkers with flags to show there shear accomplishment of defeating one Echelon.

NOTE: Not the opinion of this reporter or the Journal.

Anamur under major assault.

Today, the Guerilla Rebels were under massive lag and pressure from Vanguard armed forces apposing the sim. I counted over 25 avatars in the sim, which come January will be a thing of the past.

The major fight began with a VG endeavor for themselves to gain control of Anamur. With this succeeded, the attack grew. Slowly, members from Vanguard progressed into the deep confides of the base.

However, despite the unbearable lag, the rebels kept strong, and kept the infrastructure clear for most of the battle.

Not long after VG started their attack, they called in the rest of AI for assistance. The 2142, fighting straight from the hub were also forcefully opposed by Vanguard, but eventually the deaths evened out, and 2142 gained control, along with Alliance Navy.

A fair fight by both sides, with a very fair outcome. Great fighting guys!

A VG soldier fights both the lag and the decending Rebel.

A 2142 soldier at the hub.

Some spartans were also seen at the hub.

James Benedek, a respected military figure, helping out Guerillas Rebels along with 2142.

[Drama News] Alliance Navy Hub-Killing?

This morning at roughly 9:10am, Chthonic Syndicate Vice Admiral Arvid Sittingbull and Senor Enlistee Neil Nieuport arrived at the Alliance Navy hub, in Elshout. To their surprise, they were promptly shot by ‘AN Damage Bullets’, and returned to their spawn point back at Area 31. First assumptions surfaced into suggestions of an auto kill, as other members of CS tried to teleport to the hub to, at no avail. It was not a failed teleport, as the Elshout-goers rezzed at the hub, and where then black-screened.

After a CS member alerted me of this issue, i did not hesitate to teleport to Elshout. As a arrived, i was not shot, but greeted by three Alliance personnel, armed with weaponry that had its cross-heirs directed at the hub point. Here’s the conversation that ensued;

Metallicoe Dezno: This is so wrong.
Chip Millhouse: Agreed
Bob McKinley: How can I help you Mr. Denzo?
Zack Teichmann: was simply acting on orders.
Metallicoe Dezno: Could you not have IMed one of the CS officers and told them not to attack kindly?
Chip Millhouse: Again, I agree.
Metallicoe Dezno: Hmm.
Metallicoe Dezno: I understand your assumptions, but i strongly disagree with your solution.
Bob McKinley: We could have, but we didn’t we acted as we saw fit. If we supsect someone is crashing our sim then we are going to kill them. Plain and Simple.
Metallicoe Dezno: But in the hub…
Metallicoe Dezno: Its just not cricket.
Bob McKinley: You can crash a sim from the HUB.
Zack Teichmann: it was crashed from the hub before
Metallicoe Dezno: So Arvid was here when your sim crashed?
Chip Millhouse: Alright, they sat in the HUB for about a minute, standing there. And then the HUB crashed.
Chip Millhouse: or the sim rather
Bob McKinley: Yes.
Chip Millhouse: Arvid was also griefing us yesterday, so we put two and two together.
Metallicoe Dezno: How was he greifing you?
Bob McKinley: You will need to ask one of our senior officers. Which non are online.
Chip Millhouse: Or we could just tell you, I would but I dont know exactly what went down.
Molen Oppewall: Where, any people online -there- at the time?
Molen Oppewall: Did any people online at the time approach Arvid with conversation…
Molen Oppewall: approach*
Molen Oppewall: Or did we just make assumptions?
Bob McKinley: Molen stand down.
Molen Oppewall: Very well.
Metallicoe Dezno: Arvid is a very respectable man.
Metallicoe Dezno: I highly doubt he had any play in this.
Bob McKinley: Metallicoe you need to remove that holster.
Metallicoe Dezno: Very well, you think i would shoot you over this argument? :I As a respected military figure, i assure you arvid is not that kind of a man.
Bob McKinley: Everyone go ahead and move up.
Bob McKinley: That is your believe and opinion.
Metallicoe Dezno: It is, although i have known Arvid for a very long time, and as such know that he would not go as low as that.

Bob McKinley: Zack and Chip ^
Metallicoe Dezno: He doesn’t even know how to crash a sim.
Bob McKinley: I do think that everyone in the military community of SL knows how to crash a sim very easily.

Note: That section of chat is bias on my behalf, but AN did bring to my attention some very important points. At the time, I was very frustrated with the moralities of the situation.

So, according to members of AN, as soon as Arvid and Neil teleported into the hub, the sim crashed. This was expressed by one nytewynd Tuqiri.

Metallicoe Dezno: Hello nytewynd, may i ask why AN are hub-killing?
nytewynd Tuqiri: The group you are associated with crashed out sim. Chthonic Syndicate is not welcome back until an Officer of the AN comes on for me to discuss it with. I will not have Elshout messed with. Thank you and have a great day!
So you shoot against your own rules..
Metallicoe Dezno: What rank are you? Officer?
nytewynd Tuqiri: I keep the sim up. I am the ranking person on base/online at this time. I am E-9 Sgt. Major Tuqiri.
nytewynd Tuqiri: IF you wish your group to do something like a formal attack then you shall have to chat with an officer of the AN when they come online.
nytewynd Tuqiri: Otherwise, I am doing what I can to keep your group out and our sim up.
Metallicoe Dezno: So its your call to hub-kill?
nytewynd Tuqiri: Yeppers.
Metallicoe Dezno: May i ask what CS done to deserve this?
nytewynd Tuqiri: And I am notecarding it to my superiors in the Fleet Division.
nytewynd Tuqiri: It is believed at this time that either Neil Nieuport or Arvid Sittingbull crashed our sim.
nytewynd Tuqiri: Now, do keep this all in perspective, okay?
nytewynd Tuqiri: I have no ban right, all I can do is ensure that Elshout stays up until an officer gets online =)
nytewynd Tuqiri: And, well … yanno, in the grand scheme of life, this is NOT Real Life. If the officers of the AN do not like my way of keeping Elshout up they will let me know =)
Metallicoe Dezno: Did you think about IMing a senior command in CS and asking them not to come to elshout?
Metallicoe Dezno: Would that not have been a better idea?
nytewynd Tuqiri: Nope, since Arvid was right here it is my belief he is involved. Now, I will be passing along my suspicions and I am sure this will all be clearned up and settled and your group can attack later on.

I have a side comment to make on all of this. I understand why AN hub-killed, to save their sim. Surely its right to protect the security of a sim that costs a large amount of money from a potential crash and potential loss of objects held within the sim? Perhaps AN did have the right to avail to this level. However, just before the time of the crash, i was in 2142’s sim talking to some officers. A few seconds later, i was logged out of Second Life due to the sim ‘going down.’ As you could imagine, i was not too pleased with this. Upon returning, i was informed of the dispute between AN and CS. So perhaps there were some issues with a few sims in the grid, but was it down to only combat sims? I highly doubt it, but then again, i doubt that the whole grid went down.

A few hours after the incident, I IMed Jim Herbst, who made this statement:

The Alliance Navy takes the issue of telehub safety very seriously, and the personnel of our Organization were following instructions provided to them by Alliance Navy High Command, while the rules preventing OPFOR from being killed in the hub are there for the betterment of combat for both parties, if they feel they pose a threat to the simulator, these rules may be bypassed so as to ensure that the simulator does not come under harm (I.E. Greifing). If a member of the attacking party feels that they have been shot in the telehub wrongly, they may file a complaint with Alliance Navy JAG Commander Hades Juran. If the complaint is deemed valid, an investigation will be conducted and an appropriate punishment will be issued if they are deemed guilty of breaching protocol.

In defense of the Alliance Navy, Officer Jason Backer had this to say; “They pop in, a group associated with Benny… And the sim crashes, so they’re removed while we look into it. It was only for an hour anyway”.  Perhaps it was just a simple misunderstanding.  This is the case in all likelihood.  Officer Backer also revealed that Bennyboy Ball’s groups have previously caused trouble in the sim, and the people in Elshout at the time could not ban, so were forced to hubkill for everyone’s sake and for the sim’s security.

So did AN have the right to hub-kill, even if it was against STABLE, because of the circumstances in the sim? It would be very interesting to see the results of the attached poll. The results and conclusion will be published in a follow-up story to this incident.

[Poll Results] Which military on the grid is the most laggiest to fight?

Another successful poll. We had a total of 105 voters. And some interesting results;

The results

Guerilla Rebels	29 28%
Vanguard	21 21%
Alliance Navy	11 11%
Merczateers	11 11%
Ordo	10 10%
Sparta	5 5%
39th Black Watch	4 4%
2142	3 3%
Dominatium	3 3%
Other (see below)	3 3%
Chthonic Syndicate	1 1%
Commando SL (CSL)	1 1%

The Conclusion

So, the Guerilla Rebels are deemed the most laggiest to fight. I was told that they use too many rezzers in there guns, and i suppose this is remotly proven to be the case! Please comment to express your opinion.

Sparta unleashes new equipment.

Sparta, in the sim of ‘Second Chance’ are beginning to release new equipment to their military. So what are they adding? Well, i had a discussion with Bruno, and he told me that he would be releasing a variety of weaponry to the spartans. Firstly, some stationary artillery installments on their sim. The small mortars use co-ordinates set in an internal notecard and respons to wind as the shells are physical. The heavy artillery installments asks how far you want it to fire, and then adds in wind factors and such.

The stationary installments situated in the NW of the sim.

Also, the Spartans are developing a new tank. After Havok 4, many militaries threw away their tanks, but now thanks to some new scripting, Bruno and his team have scripted a work around to the issue of no protection in conventional tanks. Bruno commented;

” Roudy’s come up with a new system that uses a single person light assault tank that can still protect the driver with a special vehicle shield.”

He also mentioned that they have previously battle tested the tanks in Salamis, against the mercz, and the vehicle proved to be very useful.

Furthermore, the Spartans are developing a new piece of battle technology to add to the Spartan’s arsenal. The Gun Drone is a remote controlled floating drone that allows a soldier to scout ahead, and it will eventually have a fire feature. Basically, the soldier follows the drone with a simple alt cam, and can shoot. However, there is no direct aim, so the user must judge appropiatly. Above this, the drone can be destroyed with 5 shots, or set to self destruct by the controller.

The Gun Drone prototype

Next, Bruno told me about the new movement enhancer that will be available to NCO Phalanx only. Bruno said this;

“it will act like the VG Jump Pack, as it will be able to boost forwards.
HOWEVER.
Unlike VGs, ours will be fueled boosts, and will only be able to go about a quarter of a sim.“

As well as all these releases, Sparta will also be issuing new drop-ships equipted with new drop pods. These pods, unlike Sparta’s previous pods, will have the ability for the inhabitant to control where they fall, in a smooth manor.

Ultimately, Sparta have some really well scripted equipment, and i am sure that they will use it all appropriately and to their advantage. Expect a Sparta dropping into a base near you soon!

[Results] Which military is the most ‘ban-happy’?

Once again, we’ve had another very successful poll, with a fantastic feedback of over 100 readers. Here’s what the results were;

The results

Sparta          – 33% (34)

39th            – 13% (14)

Dominatium – 11% (11)

Guerillas      – 11% (11)

CSL              – 10% (10)

Vanguard     – 9% (9)

Mercz           – 4% (4)

MC                – 4% (4)

Ordo            – 4% (4)

AN               – 1% (1)

Echelon        – 1% (1)

The Conclusion

So, Sparta are deemed the most ban-happy by our readers. Bruno has posted comments on this so you should check those out on the page. I was quite surprised that Dominatium got so many votes, as they are no way as near active as other major militaries in SL. Personally, i was surprised at the count for CSL, but they may have changed since i last visited. Thank again to all who voted, and remember to vote on our next poll; Which military is the most laggiest to fight?

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Chthonic Syndicate Open

Chthonic Syndicate have now finished their rebuild, and Area 31 is open for a visit, with damage enabled.

CS’s new base follows a very loose ‘Halo’ style theme (For those who have played the game), while still maintaining their futuristic theme.

Mayra Roffo, the Admiral of Chthonic Syndicate had this to say;

“We have rebuilt our base bigger, better and stronger than ever. While we have been building our base, we have been keeping busy too, with an excessive amount of training in New Jessie, and the occasional war game at Area 31. Now, we encourage all who feel the need to come to Area 31 and try our base out for size!”

Arvid Sittingbull, the Vice-Admiral had this to say’

“CS base has re opened and our men are still standing strong, if not stronger than before”

The base, in this reporter opinion, looks really good, and so does Chthonic Syndicates numbers. They are growing rapidly, and are growing respect too, gaining no votes for being ‘ban-happy’ and only one or two for being ‘cheaters’.

Area 31

The main hall with the capture the flag

The upper courtyard above the compund

[Poll Results] Which military faction do you hold a stero-typical view to as being ‘Cheaters’?

We would like to thank everybody that participated in our poll on the statistics page. In total, 153 people voted, giving us a fantastic range and median of answers. (Well, not really, look at the results!)

The Results.

Vanguard – 56% (83)

Guerilla Rebels  – 8% (12)

Sparta                – 5% (8)

Alliance Navy     – 5% (7)

CSL                     – 5% (7)

Ordo                   – 5% (7)

2142                   – 3% (5)

Mercz                  – 3% (5)

39th                    – 3% (4)

CS                       – 1% (2)

EU                        – 1% (2)

MC                       – 1% (1)

The Conclusion.

So, over 50% of all who voted thought that VG was the military that cheated the most, with the Rebels coming in second place with a measly 8%. I was quite amazed to find out that Vanguard received 83 votes, not to be bias as being in a military that is allied with Vanguard, i have never witnessed any of them cheating. So, you can express your further opinion on the votes by leaving us a comment below. Thanks to all, and our new poll is posted; Which military is the most ‘ban-happy’?

[Dominatium]

This report was submitted by Minerva, one of our reporters;

Everybody knows the Merczateers, Vanguard or the Alliance Navy but who has heard of the Dominatium ? If one scrolls down the description of the IS group he will notice that the Dominatium is listed  next to Echelon Union. If the Dominatium is one of the major militaries, why have we never (or nearly) heard of them ? Firstly we should look at the Dominatium’s history. As it seems everything started in 2007 when Herbert Alderson the founder of the drama group “Second Life Military News” created an army called “Reborn”. Reborn regrouped the remains of the Republic of Germany military which had stayed behind without its leader when Tristan Mineff’s account was suspended by Linden Lab and Alderson’s own attempt to make an army. The group was fast growing and obtained a sim called Punta Cana. However, when Mineff came back he disagreed with certain views that Herbert Alderson had over Second Life Warfare and what “fairness” was. He left the group and Second Life behind him until he returned one year later with a new account : Herbert Feldmann. Feldmann’s cousin, Amory Gears was about to create a new futuristic military called “The Dominatium”, this is when we first heard the name of this group. Gathering a little community of five or six members around them, they were looking forward to create a “fair” and “strong” military. The slogan “Your skill, our strength” followed the Dominatium application to the Iron Symphony and after the group relocated itself in Lonsdale, they became the Merczateers, Ordo’s and MC’s new allies. The Dominatium however nearly died as i was told when the two cousins left for Afghanistan. The leadership over the group had been given to a fool who simply left the group die. Most of their members left and their base was vandalized. Today  the Dominatium is back according to their Representative’s word.  With a completely new base in Bunker style which should be finished by next week, new weapons and sculpty uniforms, there is only one problem left faced by the Dominatium. A problem which is quite unusual in the military community as even the smallest noob armies reach to unite at least 30 members around them and which is also the main reason why the Dominatium is nearly unknown from the community : They have the lowest recruitment rate in the community. With only 26 members including 6 active members their power is only political. Is this going to change ? I am sure it will. Their base looks great and so their uniforms and weapons. The Dominatium is a small and friendly army with a great potential. Future will tell.

New Jessie Honors Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day, where we remember the sacrifices that have been made in the name of our freedom and our way of life.

To honor this, we held a “21-gun-salute” in which everyone will fire three times. This added up to more than 21 but it was better than telling everyone after the first 7 people who showed up to go home.

As we first began, Second Life’s asset server decided to take a dive on us, and attaching guns became a real challenge.  So we relocated to Jessie and prepared to fire eastward into the sky.

Caine Constantine: Okay, everyone ready? Aim eastward.
Caine Constantine: And on my mark
Caine Constantine: take aim
Caine Constantine: and
Caine Constantine: FIRE

And with that call, three volleys were fired in honor of the veterans of America and the free nations of the world.  We then held a moment of silence in honor of these veterans before ending the ceremony.

Zack Teichmann, a soldier in the Alliance Navy, was the person who first had the idea that we should celebrate this holiday.  Many militaries celebrate Rememberance Day, a holiday popular throughout the British Commonwealth, but Veterans day (two days afterward, and celebrated in America) is another important day sometimes overlooked.

Upon participating in the ceremony, Zack and others were enthralled by the timely, unison firing of the New Jessie issue M-16s all were provided.

Zack Teichmann: the sound of the guns firing in unison was epic =O

All flags in Jessie and New Jessie, under the authority of the Government of New Jessie will remain at half staff for the duration of this November 11th, 2008.

Small yet strong

The 10th Mountain Division has been around for about nine months now, and they don’t seem to get much attention from the larger part of the Second Life military scene. Because of this, we will soon be preparing a full report on the group.

The 10th Mountain Division is a small army of about 50 members, and reside in the sim of ‘Baie Lazare’. There base is mostly made out of combined prefabs with the occasional custom prim set in to complete the look of a US Army Mountain Base.

The 'Capture the flag' at the centre of their base.

Their armour is pretty well made, but not resembling conventional US military style uniform at all, more like L.O.E armour. 10ths’ main attackers are the TCG, although Raven Raiders are a growing threat, who have long hated the 10th for their ‘noobish attitude’. (Not the opinion of this reporter or the journal)

We look forward to bringing you more information soon.

The 2142 base is open.

While still under construction, the 2142 sim is now open to public access, and damage is turned on.

Have fun!

Once again, the sim is ‘2142′, although nearing January they may be looking into a full sim as mentioned in a previous report.

Cladis Expectatis now home to the Assault Commanders.

Cladis Expectatis used to be the sim of the debatable ‘2064 Blackwatch’. Now, however, it is the new base of operations for the Assault Commanders.

The base

The base (shown in the above picture) is essentially a network of tubes. On the outside, this may look very inappropriate and peculiar, but running through the tubes creates an amazing effect. It would be compared to UNIT’s old base of a train line. When under fire, the assault commanders must have a real challenge defending their main assets, as there are not many alcoves to slip into in a tunnel. However, the tunnels do cross each other meaning there are alternate routes. If a large military were to assault this base, i would assume that with a simple chaingun at one end and 50 soldiers running through the other (Pending to LL avatar limits), they would be mowed down very easily.

Inside a tunnel

A soldier wearing the armour of the Assault Commanders

The Commanders armour looks very professional, and the mech-like spider legs work very well with the theme of the base.

Ultimately, beside the tunnels causing slight nausea and dizziness, the Assault Commanders *appear* to be a very professional military, but the morals of the group can only be examined under the conditions of a battle.

Smaller militaries to fall to their knees under LL?

As you would expect, militaries in SL will be affected by Linden Labs sim price increase, much the same as any other residential/commercial sim will be. Notably, the smaller, lesser-known militaries on the grid could collapse under the tier increases, resulting in a smaller community, and larger individual armies.

However, i found out today from a Comrade in the Merczateers, that the AI militaries may be able to survive LL’s blow by upgrading their sims. It should be said that most smaller militaries will most probably fizzle out apart from CSL, as they have a new sim, and are loaded with cash from their many business ventures.

Firstly, Jordi Doobi, the commander of Guerilla Rebels, is said to be looking into a full sim. Thats 15000 prims for those lesser accurate with SL land details. Furthermore, LordBob Boa, the lead commander of 2142 is said to be looking for a full prim sim for his military, even after they finish their brand new base rebuild.

Overall, we can only see what impacts the changes will bring to SL combat in January 2009, but until then, we can take observe how the commanders of these smaller armies will cope, if at all.

2142 base to be opened.

After talking to James regarding the 2142 base, the Journal has learnt that it is planned to be open on Monday (Tomorrow) with new armour, new equiptment and obviously, a new base.

James Benedek is back!

After the initial drama of James Benedck leaving SL, hes back again with new ideas and new ventures to embark on.

James Benedek, the legendary purveyor of top notch weaponry, redefining the meaning of ‘freebie’ , and effective and fair commander of 2142 is back. James, who claimed to have left SL a few months back has even gathered an appreciation group in his absence, and his free items have served as hours of fun and entertainment to all who had the 0 L$ to spare.

What are James’s ambitions for this time round in SL? Well, he plans to create a business so he can make some profit to pay for 2142’s OS sim price raises, and plans to develop new technologies for the military itself

Me and James transverse in conversation at the 2142 base.

Merczateers to remember those who lost their lives.

Today, the 9th Novemeber 2008, the Merczateers, perhaps one of the most reputable militaries on the grid, have turned of damage in their sims of Badnarik and Salamis, to remember those who lost their lives in the world wars. This act of remembrance was enhanced by seeing the two commanders of the mercz standing at the bridge.

A single poppy on the crates in Salamis.

Linden Labs to ruin SL combat with yet more sim issues.

The Journal has just been told that Linden Labs has announced yet another burden to openspace combat sims that could result in large SL militaries at a loss.

Linden Labs have been reported today as announcing the new rule that void sims will not be able to harness more than 20 avatars. Furthermore, there are to be limitations on the amount of scripts running, which could impact avatars harnessing weapons, and doors etc.. The full LL report can be seen here.

The chart posted on the second life website.

These changes (effective January 2009) will come along with the new sim prices too.

Also shown on the webpage is the new name for Void Sims – Homestead.

Please let us know what your view is on the new announcments by leaving a comment.

Dorien Team Combat Arena

Dorien was once the sim of alliance navy, and since they moved to elshout, the 15000 prim sim was left in Nanao’s name, for his group, the D:TCA. So what are Nanao’s plans for the sim? Well, he plans to create an intelligent battle sim, much more than just Linden damaged enabled combat. With an expert team of scripters, most originating from Alliance Navy, the developers are planning to construct a truly wonderful concept. The ideas for the battle sim consist of three teams, each in corners of the sim. As a combatant, an avatar must select which team they are on (Red, Green or Yellow), after this, the combatant must strive to capture and control the map. The intelligent scripting comes in with the web-enabled HUD. The plans are for the HUD to count kills and points, to then upload to the D:TCA website, resulting in a league table. Moreover than conventional combat, Dorien will have a truly amazing feature. This feature will be a series of complicated scripts resulting in a combatant or team to have to ability to upgrade their defences, as time passes. Basically, a player can reach an emplacement, for example, and for the longer they hold it, the more the emplacement upgrades. An example of this process could be;

Sandbag Emplacement > With machine gun > concrete emplacement > with chaingun > with missile turret.

(Note: That upgrade sequence is an example, and not yet confirmed true.)

D:TCA has the potential to be a really good activity for all devotees of the military community, and sets apart a change from conventional LL damage combat, however it is certain that the appeal for sims such as New Jessie will not die out at all. D:TCA sets out a completely different style of fighting, and it will be very interesting to see how SL combat veterans respond to this style of combat when Dorien is officially opened.

While some would criticise this ‘combat system’ as a way for D:TCA to make money by selling weapons compatible with the HUD, Nanao agrees with that view of combat systems. He hopes to make conventional weapons compatible with the system, meaning that although some would still be at a disadvantage, all can use their existing fire power. Obviously, rules would have to be put in place, and these are to be backed up by a support option within the HUD that may allow a percentage of players to kick another player from the sim for 24hrs, much like a certain Xbox live games.

This is the NE corner of the sim, the Red Teams corner.

Raven Raiders base rebuild

Raven Raiders told me today that their parcel of land within the Watershed region was having a few exterior structural changes as shown in the pictures; (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Watershade/205/240/39)

The model of their future base

THis part of the base was already complete.

2142 rebuilding their base.

The sim view

The Main Base Structure

The Road leading to the main military compound.

I learnt today that 2142, one of the many respected militaries on the grid, is entirly rebuilding their sim. The once cold, depressing and snowy sim (2142) is now under construction as a cold and depressing ‘war-torn’ town sim, with a river of presumibly damage enabled nuclear waste. <See the pictures above> The sim is currntly set to group access only, however high command expects the base to be complete within the next few days.

U.N.I.T to return.

UNIT disbanded, as many of you should remember, a few months ago due to financial issues, and now, according to Steve (The former general of UNIT) they’re returning to the military scene come January the 5th 2009, reincarnated to the Second Life Sky Navy (SLSN), a once strong army that steve started before UNIT, that later fell to its knees under pressure of various issues. During UNITs break, Steve and other formed a business appropiatly named ‘Crysis Industries’ to raise funds for the new sim, and its all paid off. UNIT (SLSN) will return with new technology, a new sim and a revving ambition to get their mark back onto the military community.

Imperium Battalion now officialy disbanded.

Vardis Varga mysteriously disapeared last week, and now that Cannes Villes is up for sale, IB is officially declared disbanded. The primary cause for the split was financial issues – Vardis told me a few weeks ago that he needed a partner to provide half of the sim tier, and my guess is that he didnt find the partner. After buying IB from benny, Vardis was very dissapointed with what he purchased, and events unfolded including various negative reports by military groups, so the overall presumption is that Vardis quit the military because it wasnt up to his expectations.

The Jessie War Journal is Online

Thanks to all the support we have been getting, the Jessie War Journal is now back online, with a new domain and a new blog style. We will give our writers the permissions to post entries, so the whole operation of the Journal will be much smoother. If you would like to become a reporter, please IM Metallicoe Dezno or Caine Constantine in-world.

Thanks to all!

-Metallicoe