Fourteen Seconds By Kalevi Karvinen#863817

The story starts from king of the mountain, division 10. Contest is named for Cannon balls, so I take it like any unlimited fight. And level spread was really good for me, as it put me high enough to be competitive.

Like always, I waited end fight to start down on ladders, where others had dropped me after joining kotm. That is my fate, join early, then drop down. So there is no point to even try stay up, need spend limited resources more efficiently.

But anyways, clock hit start time and up I go. Fairly easy. Lose some, then win again, until I was top. And stayed there until end. 12 minutes and 7 seconds. New Nephilax to up and weapons to put in place. Hopped between hangar and kotm, upping mechs and waiting event to start. Only hope for medal would be join early and be missed by climbers.

Ah, new one. Join and then back to check what it was. Just King of the mountain this time, so for me it was unlimited again. Level spread was not bad, but not really good either. I was closer to bottom, but at least I was where my level was meant to be, not in penalty box. So there is hope then. Log out, lets wait how low I find myself this time.

Joining lotto, using free up and checking event. Below 10 already. Above me is… With sinking feeling I read name on top spot. Cher Lee. That’s that then, abandon all hope. Four levels above me and using best that game can offer. Yeah, it was really short dream of another gold.

End fight had started some time ago, I was mainly waiting this to end and next to start. Going to get bronze this time, not bad as such, usually after gold I did not get anything.

Tick tack. Tick tack. Seems that this is one of those long ones… Three fights to hit Cher… About 50 xp… I really would liked to see what he got there, even if I know I won’t win… Silver wont be that much more xp than bronze… Tick tack… Aww, hell. Lets see if I can do anything.

So up I went. Hitting only as high as I could, no point of fighting if cant drop all. Needed some double attacks, but finally could reach first spot. Cher Lee. So what you got there, just one 500$ or many times that. Here we go…

Hah, that was as bad I was expecting. Did see only his first line before all of mine was dead. But sure enough, nothing but big mechs there. Well, another try. Come on!! At least want see second line. Again! So close, just one lucky hit and would been past first line. Again! Still no luck! Well, this kotm going to end soon anyway, same to hit all I got.

So I started do fast attacks. Just click fight and back as fast I could. Then collect super hatoraide from inventory and back making useless fights. Second super gone. Third. Fourth. WHAT!! I’M FIRST!! I WIN!!

My heart was skipping beat or two. Keep refreshing page and waiting to drop. No way that Cher would leave me there. But how I would like to see that “What the… How??” face of his, when he drop me and see that there really weren’t anything that should even make dent to his formation. Minute. Second. Third.

Started checking other divisions and ongoing battles. He must be fighting hard somewhere else, or not be online at all, if I’m still top. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth. Come on, end already. Double gold so close. Seventh. Eight. Ninth. Please. Please. End. If not Cher, then anybody else could drop me too. No movement yet. Not fair. End. Please end.

Nothing to do but wait. And refresh page every second. Or twice every second. Not sure, just kept clicking. Tenth. Eleventh. Can’t even remember when last felt tension like this. Heart was pounding all over my chest, how it could move like that. Darn. End!! Twelfth. Nick, you are sadist. End. Please. End.

Fights. Is he there? Back to ladder. Not first! NOT FIRST? What! Who? No no no… refresh, need attack fast… blank screen… game is reloading… main page… that awful sinking feeling, kotm has finally ended. I had lost. Felt enormous disappointment. Lost.

Archive. So, who did this. Jesse Charles Anderson. Who? Where he did come? Somewhere way down… aww darn. 14 seconds. If I didn’t go look fights, I would been there when he hit, and could hit back. Judging by tons and level, I bet I could even drop him back down, maybe not first hit but surely before run out of fights. But not today. Silver was just what I expected when started my mad rush, but oh that I am disappointed. Fourteen seconds. I manage drop monster and then lose some random last second “oh, kotm is still on” attack? Fourteen seconds.

Maybe this is what those winners who next hear “sorry, read wrong name” feel on those moments. Fourteen seconds.

 Submitted by Kalevi Karvinen#863817

Noob Leader By Kalevi Karvinen Player ID# 863817

Talk about getting thrown in the deep end with trying to lead clan. Faction war was announced, and like usual, it was a mix of waiting and panic. But at that moment I did not have a clue that I would need to lead anything. I just happily sit with my clan, waiting for bosses to do stuff they do, and go where ever I was told to go.

What I remember from earlier faction wars, is it took few days before anything started to happen. This time though, first announcements about who goes where came on same day with the faction war announcement. Even first time guests joined our clan before that day was over. I think the boss wanted to make sure that this time there would be enough time to move players between factions. Nothing to do with me, just idly wondering if I would stay on Smurf War Patrol or move.

Sure enough, I didn’t stay there. Soon came an invite from a total stranger to a clan I had never heard of. Hidden Smurfs. Well, the name has smurf in it, so there I went. Not many players there yet, but still plenty of days left to improve things. All good. At least got my trusty 420 ton specialist again.

More and more players showed up. It started to seem that I would be middle strength player this time. Kinda of a long time for last experience of that spot. And the clan page started to give us warning about too many small player among us.The leader was way too small. But no worries, the bosses will fix that soon, when we get enough members.

- Hi, what you think, could you be leader after I get this faction ready? There would not be much to do after that, just lock clan and after fights done need start raid and manage limits few times.


- What? Me?


- Yep. You. As you would not do raid anyway, I think you would be fair enough… and managing raid is not that hard- Just set limit 1x when it start and set it free last day. Depending how many actually do raid, you could rise limit middle of raid, just not too much that most get enough time to get their share. Or let it stay 1x until last day, I trust there will be enough active ones to end the raid on the last day anyway.


- You sure that there would not be any need to find extra players? I’m really not that good with people…


- I’m sure. Won’t set you as leader until all is done, and if you lock clan after that, nobody has time to escape… just keep it locked until the war starts, all should go well then.


- ...Not really sure about this, but I can try… But would not mind if you find another leader…


- Sure thing. Thanks.


Leader? Did not expect that. Been happy as regular player, without worries about anything but myself. Well, maybe I can do this, it can’t be that bad…


- You on? Faction is ready, transferring leader to you if you there…

- I’m here.

- You are leader. Lock it up and good luck.


So, I did not escape this experience after all. But it wasn't that bad so far, I just needed set few specialists and wait until the final lock. And trust that others know what they are about to do.


First round: Today and tomorrow [IPG]

Our players were hungry for points. They started fast, took clear lead and kept that growing. At that moment i forfeited any hope to get top 15 group… Not that i couldn’t, but how expensive it would be. A Megazome would be good add-on, but not that good.


So I kept my usual role of defender and last minute hitter on desperate situations. Not that there was anything like that on sight since our opponent was so badly outclassed. Still, I did my usual checks every few hours, including the last hour, but there really was nothing to do. Didn’t even bother to find out if all had hit already, score was so overwhelming. Others had done all that was needed already.


End result was that we lost 61 attacks, they lost 55, so our aggression was showing but not that badly. Final score was: Today and Tomorrow [IPG] 424, Hidden Smurfs 755.



Second round: Battle Group BlackStar

This went almost like first round. Except for that little detail that we were ones who got beaten. Badly. Counted theoretical points, trying to figure how this would end. Did not look good, but it did feel like there could be a chance if we fight smart and have little luck… okay, lots of luck, but it could be done.



Anyway, I emptied the fight bar, taking every sure target away. Not my usual tactic that early in the round, but I wanted more points on score table. That done, I stepped back to normal bystander role, waiting how events would proceed.



Not good. Not good at all. Soon the score was as overwhelming as first round, just in the opposite direction. Little complaining on clan page, as expected, but there wasn't much anybody could do other than just wait for the round to end.



End results were surprisingly similar than on first round. We lost 62 attacks, they lost 47. Taking the situation into account, we did really good. Final score was: Battle Group BlackStar 687, Hidden Smurfs 432.



Third round:The messed up name clan

(sorry about name, no clue how to make those symbols). I think our clan was more than little pissed about last round. They started round even more efficiently than first round. Message was loud and clear. “Lost gold, but silver is ours to take. So, be nice, roll over and die”.



Not sure how excited they were, but die they did. Fast. Soon we were so far ahead on points, that there really was no need to participate any more… unless there was miraculous recovery from the opponent near the end. Strangers things has happened, so I did a regular check, even if did not believe that it was actually necessary.



The end result was better than previous rounds. We lost only 27 attacks, they lost 50. Final score was: Them 27, Hidden Smurfs 700.

Raid:

The raid button emerged faster than expected. The difficulty was I felt a little excitement when I used  the button (first time I got to do that). And more than little panic when raid did not start. Nothing on main page. Nothing on clan page. Last hope was battles and there bosses tab, and felt enormous relief when the raid was there at last. I opened it to check numbers. 31896 kills, 1x for mechs 724 but actual 1x 750 kills. Setting cap to 750 and started waiting for kills to happen. I also checked the clan and main pages again, finally the raid was showing there to.



As the day went by, some killed more than others. Many did not kill nearly as much as I was hoping. This is the biggest reason why I avoid the leader's seat almost more than xp. How long can I make others wait before it’s safe to increase limit, and how much can I increase it. Maybe a hundred or two at first, it should be safe enough…



The first suggestions to go to x2 (and higher) came soon after that. From active ones, they wanted more kills, not wanting to wait if slow ones would actually start making kills. And I understand their point of view, the worst thing that could happen would be that the raid would fail if we run out of time when end monsters show up. But I really wanted give more time for all to catch up, two days should be enough to end this. I hope.



Mechs left count is steadily shrinking. I felt less and less sure if I should set it free, instead x2 started to feel to be the more suitable option. There were so many who hit limit as soon as it increased, so with x2 there should be more players with increased odds for mechs. Even if I know that some would be disappointed, as with free kills they would get even more chances for themselves.



So to compromise, I set the limit to x2 for now, planning make raid free around the twenty hour mark, figuring that if the little kill group haven’t continued by then, there wouldn’t be enough time for them to catch up anyway. Time to wait again.



Timer was close for 22 hours left, and there were hard walls, but also multiple players hitting, so I was kinda relieved. The raid would be done soon, and multiple players would have hit x2 limit. Sure enough, before two hours were gone, it was done. From 32 players who participated raid, 11 got x2 and 11 just x1. 6 were way over x1, but not enough for x2. Sadly 4 killed just a few, but in the end, not a bad allotment of shares. I don’t know what everybody got, if anything, but I hope that at least some are happy for their loot.

Alts And How They Effect Business By Kenneth Hicks ID# 846092

Alts, alts, alts. Everywhere there’s alts. Alts are handy as a way of supplying yourself with crystal, providing added coverage in thin Clans, and for building obscure Specialists to help stymie the competition.


But how many alts is too many? People have filled entire clans with Alts. In one case, a whole Division, then it was speculated they were able to throw a match for the purpose of betting. But these are shenanigans that typically only affect the in house economics, or at most the pocketbooks of users. And to his benefit, Nick is able to deal with these moments fairly effectively on a case by case basis.


But how can the number of alts in the game effect it on a business level? To show this, I’m going to use the example of Facebook itself.


In February of 2012, Facebook became a publicly traded company. Stocks rose to over $38 a share over the next quarter, the Heavens opened up and proclaimed Facebook a great success with comparisons to such companies as Google and Viacom (which had actually offered Mark Zuckerberg  $75 million back in 2006) as far as share valuation was concerned.


The preliminary prospectus of the company announced that it had 845 million active monthly users who initiated 2.7 Billion likes and comments. Investors were ecstatic over this potential market of which they had access to and the money poured in.


What this was though, was an overvaluing of stock, in part because an estimated 28-32% of active accounts were in fact alternate accounts held by the same active users.


The IPO fiasco tanked Facebook stock down to the low $20s in only a couple weeks and Facebook found itself not only a first quarter flop, but also facing several lawsuits over promised figures. Things had to change.


Now while there are several other reasons for the low IPO other than active users (a glitch mobile platform for example) Facebook took several steps to guarantee a solid value rate to it’s stocks and finally became the traded company of everyone’s dreams reaching $68 a share by 2014. One of these steps was the cracking down on alt accounts to get and maintain a solid number of active users to base its IPO off of.


Now fast forward to today in Mecha Galaxy. Mecha Galaxy has worked hard to not be typical of the “cash vacuum wrapped in a game” model that so many other games on Facebook have used. There are at least three different platforms (Facebook, Kongregate, and Mechagalaxy.com), in-game currency in the form of niodes, some boosts, and that’s about it. Nick tries to garner as much of his operating costs as possible through the use of rent parties, betting events on Clan Wars, and sales on both the Facebook platform and on the website platform. Even the messages to friends are kept to a minimum. Leveling up and of course Honor Guard postings are about as intrusive as it gets which by and large pleases the whole community.


Now we get to the trickier parts, and that would be advertising by Facebook investors. You might see this in a couple forms. One and the most obvious is the videos. Investors have direct access to MG users who use the videos as a way to gain niodes. Here they can bombard you as much as you can take for as long as you can take it. Direct correlation between active users and marketing analysis is achieved

.

Then you would have the more subtle marketing ties, and that’s through algorithms. As a user of Mecha Galaxy, there are certain sites, articles, forums, pages, groups, chats, and clickable thingies that you use. From all of these different places, algorithms are created every time you click or post, allowing investment data miners to categorize your political affiliation, your buying habits, your interests, and what might fascinate you enough to be sidetracked. These things make the number of active users a very serious business matter for Facebook, its investors, and any advertisers that pay Nick directly for access to his users.


Recently the community saw a number of accounts receive nerfing at the end of Faction wars. In this case, accounts were picked as being low level accounts that were over powered and earning more than their fair share of KotMs, causing disgruntled new players who might not stay long enough to appreciate what Mecha Galaxy actually is. Valid reasoning. Without new players the game stagnates and stagnation leads to ruin.


However, I do see a future when either Facebook or investors are going to possibly pressure Nick into having a more strict policy over alt accounts as a way of being able to reconcile actual user accounts and original clicks and posts. And when that day comes, do not be surprised when you find yourself short a few accounts.

Crossfire The Fext By Pat Willis#224534

The Fext is a one hundred ton monster as we all know, capable of handing out up to X9 damage in one hit. This is more of a in progress build as I am still tweaking it and dialing it in. But I will tell you what all is on it for now.

I have 7 Cockpit slots I filled with 5 Predictive Analysis, 1 Oculus Drift, and 1 Retro Controls. The 5 P.A.'s provide Precision, Trample, Crit-Kill, and X3Damage potential. They also pack a Laser Vulnerability at 4% a piece. The 1 O.D. provides further precision, more Trample, as well as Laser and Projectile Damage bonuses. Last we add in the Retro Controls for added Precision, Crit-Kill, X2 Damage, a Dodge bonus, and a Speed boost.


The Chassis is 6 slots all filled with Lateral Stabilizers for the Dodge, X3 Damage, and Speed bump. The trade off there is even more Laser vulnerabilities, and now a Fire Vulnerability. The six engine slots are all filled with Orcus Wheels for the Speed, Projectile Damage, X2 Damage potentials. But again we have even more Laser Vulnerabilities, and now we have Ice added in as well. It should be noted that this mecha has built in Ice shielding as a build bonus and at my current level of 115 it sits at 70% with a Trample Shield likewise at 70%.

The four shield slots are equipped as follows. 1 Lightning shield which gives Projectile shielding, Fire shielding and further Trample shielding, as well as a basic "shield" rating, but has an Ice vulnerability. Then I have a Crabworth Epsilon for Missile shielding but again we run into Ice Vulnerability. I then installed 2 Viridel Epsilon Laser shields seeing as my Laser vulnerabilities were getting a bit out of hand. Those in turn left me with Missile vulnerabilities. But as there are only 4 shield slots you kind of have to hope for the best.

So when everything gets installed and he fires up his engines his total build stats plus equipment turns his total stats into the following......


Level: 115 / 115
Armor: 1521
Proj. Damage + 34%
Laser Damage + 51%
Speed + 55
1.5X Damage 65%
2X Damage 57%
Trample 33%
3X Damage 82%
Fork 9%
Crit-Kill 16%
Dodge (79)
Precision (74)
Shield (151)
Trample Shield 79%
Proj. Shield (30)
Laser Shield 10%
Ice Shield 40%
Proj. Shield 38%
Fire Vulnerable 15%
Missile Vulnerable 8%
Class: Fext
Weapons: 49

Now as to the weapons, they cost a pretty penny to accumulate but hell it's a niode mecha with full on niode gear may as well give it niode guns and round it out. So it has 7 Blue Dragons, 1 Kanabo, 1 Jurassic Storm, 2 Blossoming Beams,5 Harmonic Disruptors, 7 Galaxy Eyes, 5 Ursa Strikes, 11 Big Berthas, 2 Death's Rage, 2 Nutcrackers, 4 Kaos beams, and 2 Rage Pulsars.

So there you have it my build for my first ever Fext named Crossfire. Are there flaws here? Of course there are, but as I said it is a build in progress. This is just what I have in it so far. Take from it what you will.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Mech Review The Harrell By Pat Willis#224534

Welcome one and all to the Galaxy Gathering mech review of the Harrell. I’m your host Pat Willis and today we will be talking about the Cadillac of Mechas the Harrell. This is not an impulse buy coming in at  15,800 Ferrite, 10,300 Bioptics and a whopping 350 Crystals this is a mecha intended for serious buyers and more serious fighters.

Pilots love this thing no doubt; I myself have one and think it is excellent. It is all about pilot comfort and safety with its spacious cockpit holding basic hygiene facilities, a stocked rations pantry, and probably the most sophisticated and comfortable pilot neural relay imaginable to date. The Harrell also contains inner shielding around the cockpit to protect the pilot from any lethal damage the mech takes. Which then will serve as your own personal shield as it cocoons you in case of ejection, it is simply one of the safest mechs out there.

The Harrell is a slug thrower coming equipped with a Hex Cannon, Wrecker shots, Smooth Bores, Rail Guns, and a couple of Maulers. It is easily customizable with many options for cockpit equipment and chassis equipment, as well as plenty of room for whatever shielding combination you desire, but it is a slow mecha in comparison to the other bigger mecha.  It of course stacks on the damage to slug throwing weapons but it can be customized to suit any pilot’s needs. This mecha can and does hold its own nicely, it is just capable of so much more further down the road as it levels and adds more abilities and slots to its already impressive arsenal..

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Hip Shocks Equipment Review By Pat Willis#224534

This is a piece of Niode chassis gear for mechas 35-55 tons. It'll cost you 620 Ferrite, 465 Bioptics, and 23 Niodes to buy one. It has the abilities of Dodge [8], Speed +4, Precision [2], and Ice Shield at 8%. Not bad actually given the price, very generous piece of equipment.

Dodge is pretty standard, a speed boost with dodge however is not par for the course, but this piece has it. Precision is nice but barely there with its rating, the Ice shielding is sweet especially since a lot of mean ice throwers have been released lately. If more pieces of equipment could be made like this for the higher tonnage mechas this would be a very dangerous galaxy to be in. Back to the point at hand though, these are just a sweet deal, get em, love em, stack em if you can.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Apocalyptor Of The Jadoon Mecha Spotlight

This mech is special to me, while not sentient in the traditional sense like your Skraig, Gigus, or Nakshi it is aware. It is crystalline based as opposed to niode and is imbued with an insectoid intelligence yet no biological systems or organic material are to be found anywhere on or within the mech. Somehow it retains a consciousness and is most definitely self aware. One day soon I hope to crack this mystery and reveal it to the Galaxy at large, for now we'll all just have to settle on the basic modifications I have made to the mech for its current battle prowess.

To start with the brains of this mech are very simple as it already comes with a highly complex system for detecting energy fluctuation, I further modified that ability by giving it all Sensor Arrays. Nothing fancy here really just bonuses to its precision and added damage bonuses to the already deadly laser weapons the mech employs as is. Chassis is likewise simple utilizing Muon Junctions across the board for dodge, a fork ability and a freeze potential. Engines are likewise pretty simple with all Heat Cyclers, doesn't make it the fastest mech granted but it does allow for it to move at a good clip for so heavy a mech.

Weapon systems in keeping with the design of the mech set to maximize laser damage I went a little niode happy with its guns. His main back cannons were taken apart and I installed two Rage Pulsars, then the minor laser banks received my fave bank of five Black Widows (stripped from my other mechs to go to better use on a laser based machine), a Flavian Spear for fun, three Heat Lasers, four Kaos Beams taken from my Dilophos mech, a King Cobra laser system I picked up somewhere along the line, two Cat's Eye Mega beams I got, a couple of  Hack Lasers, a Duboce, and the rest filled in with Galaxy Eyes.

All in all the modifications allow for a 36% fork ability, dodge and precision both coming in the 60's, and laser damage at +87%. This is a work in progress of course as I learn more about the strange critter that is the Jadoon of course I will modify it further to increase and capitalize on its unique abilities. As stands now it is no slouch in the damage department, the  on board insect intelligence seems pleased with hard work and effort that have gone into it thus far. With his guidance and teaching I hope to make Apocalyptor one of the baddest little crystal mechs out there. Time will tell if I succeed.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

The Retirement of a Legend by David McCallum #701548

It is with no small amount of sorrow that I must announce the retirement of a player who is literally one of our legends.

Don Fugate of Zeon is stepping away from the game.


The word legend is correct, for you will find him listed in the Hall of Legends under the entry for the Torrent, a machine that he rightly became known as an extremely dangerous opponent with. For those who have been around a while, he is an integral part of the Zeon machine that has been a force to be reckoned with at the higher levels of the game.


However if you look down towards the bottom of his accolades, you will find record of the time that I know Don from, a time before Zeon when he joined the first clan I was a member of, Heroes II.


He was a part of the team that brought the first gold to that family and along with others we and I were promptly promoted to the Heroes main regiment, jumped 3 divisions and against the odds brought home a second gold in the Rise of the Specialists.


From my time as his clan mate, I have two lasting impressions. The first is that he is straight as a die... no shades of grey, all black and white. You certainly know exactly where you are with him.


The second is his opinion on specialists. It is perhaps fitting that the final time we met, and the first time on opposing sides it was in a specialist fight.


My clan mate, my opponent, the target of my potato armed ants, my drinking buddy through long nights. I have no Torrent to name in your honour, but in the war when we last met, I earned another that is perhaps more fitting.


I name my mechs alphabetically, and the last was a 'C'. It is fortuitous that the pattern is not broken. Your name at least shall continue to fight, even though you have hung up your helmet.

Know that in the ranks of my chosen specialist formation you shall have a place, for no other reason than I get to play my final joke on you.


Submitted by David McCallum #701548

Ignis mecha Review By Pat Willis#224534

Alright lets just get the basics out of the way real fast... Ignis is for pilots with a heavy skill of 45 or higher, any less and you're looking at kick back. You can buy one for 16,000 Ferrite, 13,500 Bioptics, and 145 Niodes. They come equipped with 2 Jurassic Blasts, 1 Hephaistos, 1 Heatray, and 8 Square Flame fire weapons.

Before installation of equipment they have of course Fire Damage bonuses, a built in dodge, Fork ability, X2 Damage capability, Fire, Laser, and Projectile Shields to various extents, Crit-Kill, and finally Auto repair. That's what is in em once you level them minus your equipment which admittedly is a strong selling point. Seeing as these mechas are in the 90 ton range they are safe from the rather abysmal equipment on hand that the higher tonnages have to deal with. Use this to your advantage and load them up with good non wonky equipment and it'll treat you very well on the battle field.

As you can see this is a fire specialist mecha, even though you can tool yours out for whatever weapons you choose its main focus is fire weapons. I own a couple of these and honestly they bring some serious fire power to a fight (no pun intended). There are plenty of Fire weapons on hand to choose from or outfit them to give them a secondary weapon bonus. Both of mine pack a secondary ability of excess Laser Damage. Granted it is nowhere near as high as the Flame damage bonuses from the mecha and levels. It is however nice to know there is a fall back should you get in a pinch and need different weapons or a new approach.

For their size and tonnage they are fairly mobile which is surprising. Their expansion slots make it so you can really modify one out to your personal preferences without much of a problem (both mine have 5 slots across the board for everything Cockpit, Chassis, Engine, and Shield at level 110) So this machine is built with customization in mind. Really once you load one up with the right fire weapons, get it going with good equipment, and hit the battles it will pay for itself many times over with victories and rewards from fights. Do I even need to say how perfect these are for Fire and Ice tourneys? So if you can afford it or if you manage to win one keep it, deck it out and burn the Galaxy down.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

Freon Mecha Review By Pat Willis#224534

Today we're looking at the crystal based ice thrower mecha the Freon, aside from the basic purchase information which is shown here you should also know what it comes armed with off the showroom floor. It comes with 1 Enveloper ice weapon, 4 Focused Icer ice weapons, and 1 Cheops beam laser weapon.

As would be expected for a ice mecha the Freon has bonuses to Ice Damage, and has its own inbuilt Slow ability as well as X2 damage potential. It has decent expansion slots and gives you plenty of room to improve upon. For example a level 111 Freon will have 5 Cockpit, 4 Chassis, 4 Engine, and 3 Shield slots to work with.

It should go without saying that one should look at equipment within this tonnage range to figure out which would play best to the mecha strengths, as well as fit individual play style. The thing to remember is it is a 70 ton mecha. It is made for basic engagements, to hold the line for a period of time, or as "heavy" back up for lighter forces. This is not the knock down, drag out, ass kicker such as the Boreas, or the Fext.

It may not be able to hang with the big niode guns but it will serve loyally, and well in your line up. Use the equipment slots to the utmost advantage and stash some kick ass ice weapons on it to get some extra damage from it. You could be looking at one nasty piece of ice hardware once you are done. It is a solid mecha and to pass one over can be a underestimation.

Submitted by Pat Willis#224534

My Bitter Faction War by David McCallum #701548

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