SSSD SOVEREIGN NEWS, 3-11-03

COM/AD Proton reporting for the SSSD Sovereign, flagship of the Emperor's Hammer Strike Fleet.

SOVEREIGN AND FLEET NEWS AND NOTES

-- The Sovereign Squadron League 2003 begins in four days! Keep your TIEs warmed up!

-- Operation Outrageous Fortune is in one of those seeming lulls between major battles. The tension mounts ...

-- Sovereign Policy standing orders updated to include flight provision applied to command officers:

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SSSD SOVEREIGN POLICY

This document, signed by the Flag Officers of the SSSD Sovereign, was written to give Squadron Commanders and WCs some general information about the way things are done here aboard the SSSD Sovereign, to help them become better CMDRs, and to inform them a bit more about what their Flag Officers expect of them. As such, it is our official policy on the diverse questions that could arise during one's stay as CMDR.

We hope that this document will prove useful to you, that you will enjoy it, and that it will help you create a more enjoyable TIE Corps for all your pilots - and make the command experience more fun and more involving for yourself!

1) The objective: The goal is to have FUN! Your job as CMDRs is simply to make sure that your pilots enjoy being in the Emperor's Hammer as much as possible! (and that they stay within the rules to make sure that everyone else can enjoy it too.) We're not in the Emperor's Hammer to get promoted. We're definitely not here primarily to show off, or to boost our egos. (Don't misunderstand us - a healthy ego can be funny once in a while... just as long as you don't promote yourself through bashing others...)

2) Priority: Keep your pilots in; keep your pilots interested; keep your pilots happy. The thing to avoid at all costs as a CMDR is to have pilots going AWOL due to lack of interest. As CMDR, the author watched manning numbers more than anything else. The idea here is not to always push your pilots to be active - if they didn't want to be active up to some point, they wouldn't have joined the Emperor's Hammer. The idea here is to give them a wide range of activities that suit their interests - which doesn't always mean flying, by the way - and to keep them very well informed about all those activities and how they can participate. Simple, eh? All it takes is time, a good sense of observation, and dedication - but put that in and the results will come.

3) Promotions: A promotion is not a reward, but a pledge of continued service, to your Squadron, to your Ship and to the Empire as a whole. And two months is the minimum delay for going from LT to LCM. It doesn't mean that people will automatically get promoted after two months. Don't ever promise anyone a promotion - you never know whether it will be denied. Don't be surprised if it takes twice the minimum delay before a Wing Commander clears a promotion. Don't be surprised if the Wing Commander never clears one, either.

Also, one thing: If a pilot comes up to his leader and says "I want a promotion, dammit," it usually tends to severely decrease his chances... :)

4) Decorations: An Imperial Security Medal is not something to be taken lightly. A pilot who gets such a decoration must have shown exceptional dedication and loyalty to his squadron over a continued period of time. It is a Ship Standing Order aboard the SSSD Sovereign that all medals must be cleared by the Wing Commander before they can go through - even if you have the option of awarding the ISM on the emperorshammer.net page, don't do it until the Wing Commander's approved it.

Another thing is that medals in the TIE Corps are solely worth the pride you get out of them - and that if you don't deserve a medal, you can't feel good about it. To get his first ISM, one pilot we know (as an example) had to fly about 10 battles, become a Flight Leader, and get an Emperor's Hammer Site of the Week on a web site he'd taken care of for a couple of months. This strictness is good - because how happy do you think it makes him when he gets a Bronze Star of the Empire? Very happy indeed! Medals must never lose their meaning through over-awarding.

And finally, a medal which you already know you're going to get is not as fun as a medal that suddenly drops out of the blue because you've been a great pilot all along. A good rule of thumb is this: if you would not be ready to pull that medal you're awarding off of your own uniform, don't award it.

5) Minimum mandatory tour of duty for squadron commanders. An officer who becomes a squadron commander aboard the SSSD Sovereign agrees to commit to a minimum TOD of four months. This requirement ensures that all CMDR applicants are serious about it and willing to do the job necessary. It takes time to build continuity in a squadron, and effectiveness in squadron command is not achieved if the CMDR leaves before he or she has completed a basic TOD. This policy also prevents the unsavory and thankfully rare tactic of someone applying for a CMDR job only intending to hang around long enough for the usually commensurate rank promotion. Each new CMDR with the rank of Commander is expected to work hard and excellently and therefore can expect to be promoted to Captain and then Major by the end of the four-month TOD if performance is at a high level. If a CMDR chooses to step down before the end of the four-month tour, rank upon transfer will revert to the pre-appointment rank. A final note: The TOD requirement is not an automatic pass to loaf through four months as a CMDR. Just as before, an inactive CMDR can expect to be removed quickly.

6) Ongoing flight certification requirement for command personnel. Squadron commanders, wing commanders and the commodore of the SSSD Sovereign must fly at least one free mission or battle per month or risk removal. The reason for this standard is simple: Sovereign command officers should lead by example -- and flying each month is a great example for FLs and FMs to follow. The second reason for this requirement is to reinforce Section 5 above: If you're not flying a little bit as the CMDR of a combat squadron, you're probably not active in other matters, and can expect to be risking removal.

7) Honour: Quote from former Wing I WC GN Wolly: "We Sovereign vets are proud to serve aboard the Sovereign... we love our job and we love it to be part of the TIE Corps. We don't really need decorations so we won't award them so easily." It's true, boys and girls. Ultimately, we do our jobs because we care for our people and for our friends, and we know that it's more fun when people play it fair. We aren't six years old. We know that a win we deserve and accept humbly is more satisfying than a win we steal and then shove in everyone's faces. We play it straight, we play it cool, we take it all in good humor. Despite opposition from many places, we just keep rocking on. The best Wings in the TIE Corps are not made up of a bunch of unknowns in a rat race for promotion - they're friends who love the fun place they've created.

8) Worth fighting for: What is worth fighting for? A few letters you add at the bottom of certain messages? No. Friendship? Honour? Pride, fun, and glory? Yes. Vodka? Absolutely! We want to move towards Wings where people are rewarded by the fun atmosphere of the whole place - for collective achievement; rather than Wings where people are rewarded by medals - for individual efforts. Fly because flying makes your squadron a strong squadron, something you can be proud of. Not because you might get a medal for it. Have good intra-squadron communication, a lively Cantina, lots of non-flight activity - because flight and non-flight activity complement each other and having strength in one increases the likelihood of having strength in the other. People who just have fun, make it fun for others, and have a good attitude - those people are rewarded by their very work, and they also tend to get a lot of medals naturally, almost as an afterthought... while those embittered ones who work super hard, but do it solely to attract recognition to themselves, may get a few medals too - but not more than the others, and those medals will pretty much be the only so-called reward they'll ever get.
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-- Rat Pack vs next vic-- uh, Wing II CMDRs. Combat begins next week.

-- For those already running TIE 95 on XP, ignore this. Others who plan to fly TIE on XP, I highly recommend this guide:
http://www.tcinternet.net/users/s.sanders/Tie95WinXP/index.htm

-- LC Mickk and others have been drawing attention to this new sim ... the Science Office is also apparently working on a conversion for Star Wars and the EH:
http://www.starshatter.com/
http://www.minos.net/~sco/project/imperium/

-- Courtesy of LCM Dweezil of Rho Squadron, breaking news involving an important character!:
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2003/01/jaromir.html

FORCE STRENGTH

-- Give a big Sovereign welcome to these new or returning pilots:
FM/LT Josi/Psi 1-2
FM/LT Willis/Psi 1-3
FM/LCM Ryan Chi'Cath/Mem 2-3
FM/SL Bret Rion/Gamma 3-2
FM/SL Heero/Alpha 2-2
FM/SL Luca Fett/Psi 3-2

SSSD Sovereign [172]

Wing I [29]
Wing II [36]
Wing III [35]
Wing IV [41]
Wing V [30]

Omega Squadron [9]

SHIP COMPETITIONS
-- Sovereign Nighthawk Multiplayer Competition, each Friday night in
#ehcoc on IRC, 3 to 6 p.m. eastern time.
-- SBOTM for February:
Medal awarding and finalfinal results pending TAC review of a winner's pilot file.

SHIP COMMUNICATIONS
IRC channel: #SSSD_Sovereign
Message board:
http://boards.minos.net
The SSSD Sovereign Cantina Song:
http://www.minos.net/~proton/drink.html

SOVCOM'S RANT

-- I'm entitled to this once in a while. I'm going to vent. Squeamish folk, please skip to the next item. ... Anyway, twice this week I have alerted pilots to links and other information I thought they might find useful in using the games our organization supports. In both cases, these news briefs were immediately greeted with "duh, hehhehheh, I already knew that" responses. So, here is some advice for the nyah-nyah types who feel some compulsion to point out that they are way ahead of everyone else, or smarter than everyone else, or whatever they are insecure about: Reach behind yourself, pat yourself on the back, and don't send that snide e-mail. In return, I will now take a chill pill and try not to get so ticked off about stuff like this.

TRASH TALK OF THE WEEK

"You see, Jon Boy, you're scarred for LIFE now. That thar INT kicked
your arse but good! And you were so terrified, horrified, at the
sheer utter LOSS it caused your fleet that you will forever see it
every time you encounter a Blue Fleet in combat.
FEEEEAAAAR the interdictor! EEEeeeeEEEEEVIL!
OOOOooooOOOOoooohhh!!" -Warlord Khan Freelancer

"As you may recall we had a comp with Omega a while back but it fell through due to the Omega CMDR resigning (must have scared him straight to the reserves, good job LAMBDA!)" -LC Freelancer

"What exactly does AAR stand for? An acronym, or "AAAARR!!! THOSE BUMS
WASTED MORE OF MY PRECIOUS GUNBOATS!!!!" ?" -LC Freelancer

"After action report, but it could stand for Arrrrr by gum we nailed their
butts to the walls again if you want...." -COL Jon

"Okay, I guess I'm just now responding to this since I've been deleting the ABSOLUTELY USELESS Wing I e-mails, without even pretending to look at them, for the last eight weeks or so - but I just wanted to say one thing:
Why in the world would you, COULD you expect a Pilot in Omega to give an airborne fornication about some character in a Star Wars game that ISN'T A FLIGHT SIMULATION?!?" -GN Compton

"Oh, and just for the record, any time you Wing I... whatever-the-heck-it-is-you-ares want to challenge me to a real-life drinking contest, it's on." -GN Compton

"I challenge thee to a Milk Drinking Contest! :P
 What?" -CM Ras Kronar

CANTINA COMMENTS

"Good job, Jon! **hands JD a Sov-issue veteran's cane** " -AD Proton

"younfg ? YOUNG ??? Somebody hand me my cruth so I may show thjat it is as old as I am on Inky's head !! Agh! it 's too heavy, I can't lift it... ack ack ack ack " -Carl Methusalix
 
" *swipes Jon's cane, leaves him an anniversary present, and runs* -zeekie

"You need a Med Check something bad GN Stele!
 There is a problem with the battles of the month......... The TIE battle and the XWA battle don't exist!" -LC Mickk Emrys

"Well, personally, I can't believe that U1NTRCBTb3Z is a rule of this comp.
It smacks of blatant favoritism if not outright corruption, reaching to the
highest levels of the Squadron League coordinators.  This has NEVER been a
rule before, and with good reason-- it hurts the best pilots.  Obviously,
it's only been included to try and keep things "close" so that Wing IV
won't cause everyone else to give up in despair after the second week.
This is obviously very important to me, and if I don't receive a reply
meeting my satisfaction within 30 minutes,  I will begin posting on the
messageboards to bring to light the stench of unjust gerrymandering going
on in this comp.
Er... maybe I'm spending too much time reading complaint about the Great
Jedi War in the DB.... sorry 'bout that." -LC Philo

"Huh?  Philo, you are using too many big words for my
poor limited brain to process.  :P " -MAJ Nurel Turr

"Wow....Proton is GOD! He just revised the Bible!!!!!" -LC Frodo

"I approve of everything except the part abotu Lynard Skynard.  We all know
that the greatest band is and will remain THe Pillows.  If you don't know
who The Pillows are, you UNCULTURED SWINE.  I rest my case." -LC Mike Chistu

"- btw, Freelancer.  I am leaving you one socktrooper to help keep order in
this place.  And by keep order, I do NOT mean, create chaos.  They will
only obey you in justifiable pursuits.  If you try to misuse them, they
have orders to pop your head like a grape. Enjoy!" -LC Mike

"Oh, is it justifiable if I make the sock trooper follow around and
stink up those who don't participate (without good cause) in the
upcoming comps? :P " -LC Freelancer

"- O:OF is still ongoing.  Looks like Frodo's fleet suffered the same fate
as my fleet, so it now all rests on Freelancer.  Crap.  We're doomed..." -LC Mike

" I'd also suggest that the Sov have it's own official BadAss ... Mr. T !" -COL Sasquatch

"As an aside, Proton's convinced me, albeit unwittingly, to adopt this title. I am now "Warlord Khan" Freelancer
>:P " -Warlord Khan Freelancer

"humm well, if your khan.... then I suppose. Ok from now on everyone just call me
Admiral J. D. Kirk  :) " -COL Jon

"To everyone who doesn't give a damn about our 'little' wargame that involves just about every game platform the EH uses ----
}:oP
I'm having fun!
Thanks for the info Jon!" -LC Mickk

"Look, I'm just happy my name was spelled correctly most of the time.
Therefore, no humor attempts... although... here's a list of alternate
spellings:
Flem
Phlem
Phlegm
Fulm
Flum
Flelmo
Elmo
Felm
Fem
And finally, from Free:
Flume.
I must admit, that's a new one.  Good job." -CPT Flelm
 
"Just a quick run down of terminology:
Bob: the three tailed leopard thingy (who is Psi squadrons Mascot)
Fluffy: My 6 ft unluckiest suicidal lemming in the galaxy that has taken
over the storage cupboard (he wasn't 6ft till an accident with the Sovs
Core)
Scorps: Kramers (ex SovComms pets) they may or may not be brought up
occasionally
LS&D: Proton (the current Sov com) law enforcement agents, please try not to
cross them
Ballista: a very angry secretary driod belonging to Proton.
Private Melvin, Copral Squeaker and Sergeant Arkela: COL Inkwolfs ground
crew, watch out for the lead pipe.
OOF: operation outrageous fortune (a Sov based Wargame involving XWA, XvT,
TIE, JKII, SWBG.) " -COL Jon (welcoming new Psi pilots)

"WOOHOO!
Welcome to Psi, all!
New faces!  People who've never yet experienced a
Psi Ewok barbecue!  People whose legs are as yet
unscarred by Bob's claw marks!  People who have
not yet experienced the 'Thrawn's Doom' toilet
seat boobytrap!  (Hey, who's got some duct tape, a
drill, and twelve live chickens?)
Good to have you! :P " -COL Inkwolf

"But you see, he docks my income 100%, thus you're depriving HIM of
   income, so you just might not be allowed to move ;) " -LC Freelancer

"Good point, but I'd rather not pay him either.  /me files suit in the
     HCI for freedom of quarters and moves Delta back to their regular
     quarters.  Heh, the HCI case'll take years with all the appeals we
     can make, do your worst  ;P " -MAJ Argon Viper

"Courts? Appeals? Legal processes? ...
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
**Team L.S.D. and Ballista descend on Delta, especially the mouthy CMDR,
and proceed to deliver the Mother of All Beatings (MOAB) upon the foolish
commander and his hapless wingmen** " -AD "take that" Proton

" *Sirik stares at the holonet screen on hoth*
Glad I'm not there, oh, ow, that's gotta hurt.... " -LCM Sirik

" /me looks up at the spreading conflagration from the HGBs.  Yeah, me too.  Luckily, LSD and B are too dumb to tell the difference between me and the pillows I tucked under my blanket before getting punished again  ;P " -MAJ Argon Viper

"Argon... The Freelancer in my wants to high-five ya, but the acting
Mike in me has to say....
"HEY! L, S, D! He's over here!"
Ooooh yeah. Feel the power!" -LC Freelancer/etc.. *cough*A-WC*cough*

" /me makes a mental note to kill Mike for influencing this act and another note to kill Freelancer for perpetrating it.  After which, he lights a match...  ;P " -MAJ Argon "in the HGBs" Viper

" *Vector raises his head off the bar. Drinking contest what? Where.......* "
-CPT Vector

"Man this is getting hard on the brain......
I'm actually starting to think!!
Little wonder I can smell smoke......" -LC Mickk Emrys

"Welcome!!!!  /me prepares his throwing booze  ;P  To Wing I!!!!  ;) " -MAj Argon Viper

"Don't make me lick the new guy.  Please don't make me lick the new guy." -CPT Flelm

"In my Acting Wing Commander Authority, I hereby forbid Flelm from
licking the new guy. As such, if anyone dare throw booze they must
first distract Flelm (so as not to allow him to lick it up) or buy
him his own drink first. Either way." -LC Freelancer

"Dude...the Z axis is in XvTED...nothing new..." -LC Frodo

"NEVER underestimate stupidity. It is the one thing political powers
have in abundance." -LC Freelancer

"You don't understand, Mickk, the guy brain moves faster than our sluggish concept of time...he's ahead of the TAC releases.
Is either that or he is drunk like a drunk monkey :p
Perhaps we should give his brain to the bio research department for study and they'll decide either way :p" -COL Roasty

"Tissue Cutting Servant. It's a rather vital position in the FC's
advisors and Fleet Medical Corps
Not to be confused with Tactical Surveyor - though..." -COL Darth Vader

"AAAHHHH !!!!
Send a Heavy Assault Squadron to aid Sauron ! After all , he uses the Dark Side, too ;) " -Carl Lost

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COM/AD Proton/SSSD Sovereign