I didn't enjoy this war.
Maybe it's like Star Trek films but the other way around, where the odd numbers are good and the even numbers suck.
FW1 was new and exciting, I was a new player and I learned heaps from a great crowd in the Bouncing Blue Brigade. It was a whole heap of fun.
FW3 we teamed up with the Exiles and it was great. They were just as scatty as a barrel of monkeys as they had been in the BBB, and I hope a good time was had by all. I certainly had a blast.
FW5 was the first time we fought alongside our long time opponents the AFF. Far more businesslike, but the craic in team chat was there as well.
I don't know if other people were just busy with real life or what it was this time. Maybe it was just shell shock that set in when we found we had drawn a division 1 berth. There was no faction chat channel set up, and throughout the whole week even our local chat was just... dead.
I wouldn't care, but it started off so well. Birthday celebrations the day before and everyone seemed in a good mood. Quickfire KotMs (and that is something I don't normally go in for) gained folk some nice bonus booty, and I even managed to sneak a quick win while folk were otherwise making their last minute preparations. Nothing like a Nephilax to brighten your day.
Then it was down to business. Objectives listed out. Secure 8 wins for the D1 Notos prize pack. Secure 10 for the standard bonus pack. Use the two impossible wars against Mechalympus and Spirit to try and advance my position from 22nd in the roster to perhaps contend for a Megazome. My 6th Dreadnought from Faction Wars seemed unrealistic when you compared my team-mates and the strength of the opposition. Make damn sure that it was all business in the one fight we had a chance in.
One team mate was having doubts as to his ability in this arena. We worked together to try to ensure he got his 8. We needn't have worried.
Over 10% of Mechalympus started the fight out of formation. Even those that didn't took their sweet time on formation changes when they swapped to attack a specialist. It really seemed as if we just didn't matter to them, the result a foregone conclusion. That we weren't worth the effort of even pretending to be the top players in the game that their level indicated them to be.
There were some high points. I got to fight against a 30 ton formation and had the time to reconfigure after I bounced. 2 kills confirmed that I had improved that formation. I also learned that my 1200 is woefully wrong at this level. That is something that can be rectified later.
I also caught a very high level out of formation and had a stab. The fact that I was giving away over 100 levels and the formation he did have up was what could only be described as 'a bit tasty' meant that I did lose, but it was nice that he messaged me and acknowledged my effort in taking the shot.
Day 1 closed. I had my Notos, I had my bonus for 10, I had the second highest kill tally in the group and I had the feeling that our Division 1 opponents were not taking us seriously.
Day 2 against Spirit of Zeon. Ah, standing in the path of the legendary Colony Drop. It was an extremely educational experience, and I mean that in a good way. I'm not going to give away spoilers, but it is far more than a show of brute force as you would expect and more than a headlong all out attack that clans like the Exiles used to excel at.
There are nuances to the Colony Drop that only a true connoisseur can appreciate. If somebody actually dreamed it up, they either deserve an award or a bullet for being too bloody clever by half. Heck, split the difference and make it a posthumous award. It may simply have evolved without Zeon realising it, in which case all kudos to them for being the well oiled and close knit team we know them to be. It was a privilege to observe and I go away with more knowledge that I can use in the future.
And then once the dust settled, we find that once again over 10% of their forces are out of formation and a number of those who aren't are doing the same sloppy changes and opening themselves up to attack in the way that Mechalympus were.
I came away from that fight annoyed on two counts. First that I had not built a particular formation. I got a lucky kill with something vaguely viable on the particularly outspoken pilot who was taking his sweet time swapping out. I couldn't get the second one despite a good few attempts. I am kicking myself for not prepping better.
But the second reason was that we were being treated with contempt. We had asked for no quarter and begged no favours. It didn't even feel as if we were being thrown the odd spare change, we were beneath their notice, not worth bothering with. Heck, it took prompting for them to even realise exactly who they were fighting.
If its good enough for you to make the effort to turn up in formation when you fight for gold then do me the same damn courtesy.
And meanwhile on the message boards, my clan family were the ones being accused of general sloppiness and making mistakes! It just seemed as though everything about this war was going to be bitter and snippy.
A tally up before the last day changed my mission parameters. 1, keep it tight, make no mistakes, do my damnedest to contribute towards getting the consolation win. Not that anyone would notice apart from our final opponents because all eyes were on the big players. 2, If possible achieve X number of kills. That would make it mathematically impossible for me to not get a Dreadnought.
And so on to the last war. We had a good vanguard that paved the way. We ground out our kills. In the wee small hours when I usually hunt, I searched for targets, checked records and took my kills. Yes, I gave away a few losses, one was unexpected and the other was when a formation swap didn't happen and I hit an enemy light on my second run. I earned kills enough for my 6th green and more kills over and above that went towards us earning bronze.
And as the day drew to a close, I find that I am simply a glory hound, as such who take their shots and grind out their fights and try time and again against stupid odds are labelled by other publications.
Unless of course they are part of the Bunny clans in which case such actions of forlorn hope are written as legend.
Like others, I too have on occasion named a mech in commemoration of a particularly noteworthy event and I shall do so this time. The 6th Dreadnought I have earned in Faction Wars will stand as a reminder to me of the only time I have stood and fought and bled in Division 1, and of the way in which my efforts were viewed by most of the top level players in the game.
Submitted by David McCallum #701548