Battlegroup III Report # 14

BATTLEGROUP III REPORT #14

March 1, 2025
AD Locke Setzer

Introduction

Red Alert, Battlegroup III! Imperial Storm has begun, and the first battle is immediately upon us! There's no time for useless prattle - let us begin!

TIE Corps News and Competitions

Competition Alert - Imperial Storm VII Begins NOW

The Emperor Hammer's First Recon Division's continuing journey in Chaos space has come to a halt. We have encountered a force with Imperial-like technology, demanding our immediate surrender and obeisance. They call themselves... the First Order.

Imperial Storm VII has begun!

As a refresher, Imperial Storm is one of our three major competitions in the year. Specifically, Imperial Storm is a turn-based wargame where the outcomes of battles are decided not just by the meeting of forces, but by the performance of the pilots of the TIE Corps.

When our battlegroup is engaged in combat in this competition, all pilots will have 48 hours to complete as many PvE and PvP matches as they can, as well as specific single-player frees. Points for PvE and PvP matches are based on platform type. Points for completion of selected SP missions are based on percentage of high score.

Any pilot who participates in one battle will earn a campaign medal specific for this year's Imperial Storm. Any pilot who participates in three battles will earn an ORA. Additional ORAs will be up for grabs based on how we as a collective unit perform against the forces of the First Order!

Our first battle has already started! We have encountered a First Order patrol, and surrender is not an option! This current battle will last through March 2nd, 11:59PM EH time (6:59PM EST). The selected single player missions for this battle are...

Throughout Imperial Storm, I will be notifying you about new battles as they occur, so expect an uptick in emails and Discord alerts from me this month.

You can follow along with all the action for Imperial Storm on the site and on the Discord server. Game-specific updates can be found in the #imperial-storm-hub channel, while story-based updates can be found on the #imperial-news-network channel. Entries will also be visible at the Imperial Storm site. You can keep track of our performance using the Imperial Storm VII Score Trackers. Otherwise, for more information about Imperial Storm, please consult the competition listing or the complete ruleset.

Good luck!

Competition Reminder - TIE Corps in Battle Season 8 Continues!

TIE Corps in Battle continues on! From now until the end of April, each month the Warfare Office will select one battle for TIE, XvT, XWA and TFTC. Each member of the TIE Corps is challenged to fly those battles and earn the best score possible for your squadron!

As a quick overview on the rules - the pilot with the highest score each month in each platform will earn 9 points. The next highest score will earn 8, then 7, and so on. All submissions will earn at least 2 points (participation matters!!). Any mission high scores will earn 1 bonus point and any battle high scores will earn 2 bonus points.

The points earned by each pilot will add to their squadron's total and their battlegroup's total. At the end of the season, the participants from top three squadrons and the top battlegroup earn awards. Additionally the top overall pilot will receive the title TIE Corps Battlemaster.

After January's results, BG3 sits in second place overall for battlegroups, with our own Typhoon currently sitting in third place for squadrons. Still plenty of time for more positions to shift around, so let's see what we can do! Every point counts!

For the month of March, the battles selected are...

I'll be sharing tricks and tips for each battle this season over in #bg3-tcib-season-8 channel on the Discord server. Feel free to jump in and join the discussion!

For more information, please review the competition listing. Good luck!

Competition Announcement - Fly Straight Down the Middle

Our own MAJ Jagged Fell III is starting a new competition this week that for the next three months will try to find the most middle-of-the-road pilot in the TIE Corps! What does that mean? Well, it's all about being average!

Every week, a free mission will be selected, and all pilots will be challenged to perform as average as possible. All submissions in a given week will be averaged. The pilot with the score closest to the mean will be the winner for that week. You can use whatever difficulty you want, whatever cheats you want... just remember you're shooting to be middle of the pack, based on all of your other competitors...

Free missions will rotate between TIE, XvT, XWA, and a random selection (which includes TFTC). All missions selected will be patch-free.

Awards will be handed out weekly for the best (average-est?) performer. Monthly awards will also be given, based on total average for the entire month. Finally, the most average pilot for the entire competition will be awarded an IS-PW and the title of "Most Average TIE Corps Pilot".

Competition starts today, with the first mission selected being TIE-FREE #121: Psi Squadron's Reunion.

Each week runs from Friday through Thursday, so this first mission would be due by the end of Thursday, March 7th (23:59 EH time, or 6:59 EST)

Competition begins today and will run through June 27th, 2025. For more information, please view the competition listing

Good luck!

Competition Results - Battlegroup III Highlights

Let's take a moment to highlight members of Battlegroup III that placed in various fleet competitions this past month!

For Mandalorian Cup combat event, kudos to Tempest Squadron's COL Mordred, GN Silwar Naiilo, LCM Mrowaksu on earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and making up the majority of our EH team for this event!
For the Shoot to Kill competition (devised by Eagle Squadron and ran by our own CPT Xylo Pethtel), congrats to COL Mordred and CM Armon Ferro for placing fourth and fifth in the competition!
For the Where It All Began: TIE Fighter competition, kudos to myself, MAJ Jagged Fell III and LCM JKast on earning ORAs as part of this competition!
For SP Ace of the TIE Corps, congrats to CPT Anthony Starr (1st), MAJ Jagged Fell III (3rd), and myself (7th) on placing in the top ten for the month of January 2025!
For PvP Ace of the TIE Corps, congrats to LCM JKast (5th), LT Thalios (8th), and CM Therj'en'nuruodo (9th) for placing in the top ten for the month of January 2025!
For PvE Ace of the TIE Corps, congrats to CM Armon Ferro (2nd), CPT Xylo Pethtel (3rd), and CM Hector von Ricmore (8th) on placing in the top ten for the month of January 2025!

Battlegroup News and Competitions

Competition Results - Battlegroup III Training Maneuvers: Imperial Storm

With Imperial Storm now at the forefront, let me take a moment to acknowledge those pilots who trained the hardest in preparation for the battles to come!

Congrats to our top four pilots for this competition:

LT Yuria Vanagandr of Firebird Squadron with 543.9 points for an IS-GW!
LCM JKast of Typhoon Squadron with 282.0725 points for an IS-SW!
CM Armon Ferro of Eagle Squadron with 133 points for an IS-BW!
MAJ Jagged Fell III of Typhoon Squadron with 76.8575 points for an IS-CW!

Props to Firebird Squadron for having the most overall points, and Typhoon Squadron for having the most participants.

Thanks to all who participated in this training exercise! Let's hope it pays off now that Imperial Storm is upon us!

Competition Status - 2025 Trivia for the Challenged - Season 1

Trivia for the Challenged will be paused during the month of March for Imperial Storm. We'll pick right back up as soon as the threat has ended and Imperial Storm VII is concluded.

Current leaderboard after two months for this season is as follows...

LCM JKast - 42 points
CPT Anthony Starr - 33 points
GN Stryker - 31 points
MAJ Jagged Fell III - 31 points
LCM Evil_Edgar - 24 points
GN Silwar Naiilo - 18 points
CM Armon Ferro - 13 points
CPT Xylo Pethtel - 11 points
GN Triji Boliv - 9 points
LT Artanno Lach'Beria - 7 points
CM Therj'en'nuruodo - 6 points
LCM Alun Tringad - 6 points
CM Kieran Yoyo - 4 points
GN Jarek La'an - 4 points
LT digitalviking - 4 points
LT Yuria Vanagandr - 3 points
CM Maple Wulvar - 2 points

For more information about this competition, please view the competition listing for this season here.

Battlegroup III Monthly Awards for February 2025

For the Battlegroup III monthly awards in February, congrats to the following:

For Battlegroup III Squadron of the Month for February 2025, congrats to Firebird Squadron! Firebird Squadron had the highest point total for our Training Maneuvers competition, proving they should be well-prepared for the challenge that now faces us! Congrats!
For Battlegroup III Pilot of the Month for February 2025, congrats to Firebird Squadron's LT Yuria Vanagandr! Yuria had a standout month, crushing the competition for the Training Maneuvers competition! Congrats!
For Battlegroup III Leader of the Month for February 2025, congrats to Firebird Squadron's GN Master! Considering the above, it's been a solid month for Firebird, and I want to give its commander props for helping that happen. Congrats!

Battlegroup III Awards and Stats for February 2025

Battlegroup III Monthly Stats for February 2025

Stats of the Month:

PvE was the both the most popular activity type and had the most activity.
X-Wing Alliance was the most popular platform choice (followed closely by Helldivers 2), but there was a very even split for most matches/missions completed between Helldivers 2 (top), TIE Fighter, EA Battlefront II, and Star Wars Hunters
Platforms used this month (from most unique pilots to least) included X-Wing Alliance, Helldivers 2, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Balance of Power, TIE Fighter Total Conversion, Star Wars Squadrons, TIE FIghter, EA Battlefront II, Star Wars Hunters, Star Conflict, The Old Republic, Classic Battlefront 2, and X-Wing.

PvP

Top Platforms (by number of participants):

EA Battlefront 2
Star Wars Squadrons (tie)
Star Wars: Hunters (tie)

Pilot with most PvP wins: LCM JKast

PvE

Top Platforms (by participants):

Helldivers 2
EABF2, SWS, SWH, SC, BoP (all a distant second)

Pilot with most PvE wins: CM Armon Ferro

SP

Top Platforms (by participants):

X-Wing Alliance
X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter

Pilot with most SP missions completed: CPT Anthony Starr

Battlegroup III Promotions in February 2025

Congrats to the following officers!

	AD Locke Setzer - Promotion to Admiral
	MAJ Jagged Fell III - Promotion to Major
	LCM Alun Tringad - Promotion to Lieutenant Commander
	LCM Evil_Edgar - Promotion to Lieutenant Commander
	LCM JKast - Promotion to Lieutenant Commander
	LCM ScottyTheGeo - Promotion to Lieutenant Commander
	LT Yuria Vanagandr - Promotion to Lieutenant

Battlegroup III Awards in February 2025

AD Locke Setzer

(30)

(3)

(19)

MAJ Jagged Fell III

	(3)			(5)	(5)
(12)

CPT Anthony Starr

	(2)				(3)
	(3)

LCM Alun Tringad

LT Artanno Lach'Beria

GN Triji Boliv

MAJ Prost Varsis

(4)

CM Kieran Yoyo

LCM JKast

	(2)			(2)	(2)
(7)	(104)	(3)

SL Vaxim Sturn

LCM Marlore Julren

LCM ScottyTheGeo

COL Mordred

(2)

(3)

GN Silwar Naiilo

(2)

CM Bronx Bluar

CM Therj'en'nuruodo

LT Talik Aurin

LCM Mrowaksu

(2)

(18)

GN Jarek La’an

(14)

GN Stryker

	(2)			(3)

LT Thalios

(13)

(3)

LCM Evil_Edgar

GN Master

(3)

(4)

MAJ SirCaleb

(5)

LT Yuria Vanagandr

(102)

(18)

LCM Jafan Russ

LCM Hector Von Ricmore

(27)

COL Miles Prower

CM Odin Strongheart

LT Ghostu-Chan

COL Sylas Pitt

CM Maple Wulvar

(4)

CM Armon Ferro

(91)

CPT Xylo Pethtel

(35)

LT AxFive

Conclusion

You have your marching orders - Imperial Storm is upon us! The first battle is here! Expect more announcements throughout the competition! Until then, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about things going on in Battlegroup III, the TIE Corps, or anything else. My email is locke.f.setzer@gmail.com and my Discord name is LockeSetzer. My door is always open!

In Service,

BGCOM-CAPT-TOA/AD Locke Setzer/Battlegroup III
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