Top Ten Armies Reviewed – Consumers’ Guide to SL Military
by Alphaville Herald on 04/09/08 at 10:58 pm
A must-read for potential recruits
by Vinzenz Fiertze
Part I – The Brass Accord (Iron Symphony Section)
Army 1: Merczateers
Leader(s): Lurdan Huszar, Anthony Lehane
Background: Set in Post-Apoc Ukraine, hence the sim: Badnarik.
Current Members in Main Group (as of 9/3/08): 274
Rating: 9
Pros: I found the Merczateers to be one of the BEST armies the grid has EVER had. For a start, their leaders have both a sense of humor, while still maintaining a moderately strict attitude to keep his soldiers disciplined and aware. It could actually be said, that, perhaps the Merczateers are a mixture between Ordo, and an army of the Soveriegn Regime. Not ONLY are they of quality leaders and officers, but their recruiters are very good. They are not like Ordo, in the sense that they decline roughly 82% of their applicants, but they do not invite those minorities who know little to zero english. Aside from the soldiers, the armor is remarkable, and most unique. The huds and weapons are also very well created, and are professionally scripted (as most army weapons should be). The Merczateers are nothing short of professional, when it comes to battles, armor, or weapons.
Cons: I find few flaws within this army, and those that I noticed, were small at best. One of them was the minor drama that I noticed would occur from time to time. Although some of it, later on, I admit I started, there was from time to time many others who could not stand a drama-free army. Other than that, the rumors that are constantly passed about are false.
Army 2: The Elite Armed Forces (EAF)
Leader(s): Br1an Razor,Teal Razor
Background: None
Current Members: 0 (lol)
Briefing: First off, yes, I know, they are, at the moment, non-existent. Second, I did confront Br1an once about the army’s background, and he said there was none, so I guess we know the answer. Also, yes, I put this in the Iron Symphony section as a joke. Deal with it.
Rating: 2
Pros: Decent headgear, good potential, even better R&D.
Cons: Br1an is not one to be a leader. From what I gather, before founding EAF, he was just another SL resident. Things change, I guess, but not for long. I wanted to help them get on their feet, because I noticed they could be a good army. Half jokingly, and half serious, I asked Br1an if I could be an officer. Yes, stupid question, but do not be quick in answering for him, as he gave me the highest officer rank, O-9, right off the bat, AND, gave me command of my own division. Although that is somewhat fun, I was confused. Recognizing his acceptance of my intrest in helping, I began helping out, and ironing out the wrinkles. It was all going well, but after a week or so, Ordo attacked. Now, not to say THAT is the problem, no, not at all. It was what the soldiers of EAF did, that got me frusturated. Now, I will probably get millions of IM’s about how all of what I am about to state false is true, but I do not care. Most of the soldiers did a horrible job retaliating. As a matter of fact, they just sat there, and yelled and cursed at the various attackers, whining about the obvious lag. After the battle, and after I scolded those who said the hateful comments to Ordo, I did my best to hold my promise of making EAF into a reputable army, and went to Ordo to deliver a formal apology. Now everybody knows when you mass-teleport to Dorien, you will also notice server lag, and the same thing happened at the EAF base. Other than ALL this drama, a few days after, a cocky officer of EAF, Ratien Raymaker, played out a conversation with me as if everything was okay, and then, right when I wasnt paying attention, he ran to Br1an, BEGGED for the rank of the leader of EAF, and Br1an gave it to him. Then, since Br1an was the most easy person to convince, Ratien proceeded to ban me, and eject me, AND, after a while, Br1an did the same, per Ratien Raymaker’s request. A few days later, EAF died because of drama issues.
Army 3: Militant Collective
Leader(s): Radieur Ng
Background: YAFA (Yet Another Futuristic Army)
Current Members: 121
Rating: 4
Pros: Nice sim, decent weapons, cool divisions.
Cons: I don’t have much to say except this: (very) Silly armor, a lot of their high-ranked individuals are cocky and some use sad abbreviations ALL THE TIME, and speak poorly. That CAN get annoying. Also, they are just gross at battle. Yes, I use the word “gross,” do define their combat skills. I don’t want to go through weeks of training to be in an army that has the skills of a mladshiy or chargen graduating class, thank you.
(Notice how I leave out Rathium :O )
Army 4: Ordo Imperialis
Leader(s): Aryte Vesperia
Background: Set in a “Warhammer 40K” background, and derived from somewhat Roman roots.
Rating: 8
Pros: Ordo has amazing armor, and is THE MOST disciplined army yet, not to mention their amazing sim-structure, and their detailed weapons. They have various leaders, and Aryte is one who leaves the high-ranks to their job and doesn’t bother. For example, if you ask Aryte directly to join, he will most likely respond with: “I’m sorry but you’ll have to take that up with either the Curia, or the Schola. IM Kristian Kit or Yoko Puff with an application. Thank you.” It puts a bigger sense of responsibility in front of the soldiers themselves, instead of the leaders doing everything. Teamwork, I’d call it.
Cons: A bit too strict. Their recruitment staff declines more than half of the applications they recieve, and that’s a fact. Not that it is a big problem, however, you know, it is quite the tedious hole many fall into. Other than that, all the hatrid put towards them is wrong, although I do believe that many times they can be too short about a situation, and come to conclusions way too fast, rather than thoroughly investigating first. The parody I made on their video about Maza Rau, as well as the parody I made on Mercz’ promotional video, were not made in insult, but just for humor.
Part II: The Nazi/Communist Governance (The Soveriegn Regime)
Army 1: Vanguard
Leader(s): Christoph Naumova
Background: Vanguard is an army that takes place in a perhaps later version of Germany.
Rating: 5
Pros: Good armor, some good people, and fantastic weapons, scripted well by Lance Lefay. Also, the sim is amazing in looks, and in maneuverability.
Cons: Oh, gosh, where should I start? Here, let me explain something: If you take a bunch of “single-digitally” aged children, and throw them on an appealing building, throw guns in their hands, and armor on their backs, which are both cool and easy to use, you’ve got an army, so Vanguard did nothing that anyone else couldn’t do. The reason they have so many people, in fact, is that you get an enlisted rank upon joining. In various attempts to be a good leader, Christoph Naumova, on preparation of attack, will order all men to gather around him, and explain, in blanket statements (eg.: AD take the left, and Infantry take the right), how he wants the show to run. And the behavior is not that much better. Structure is always non-existent, and you will never see VG soldiers “Strategizing.” They don’t need to, right? They are perfect, aren’t they? No, I really don’t think so.
Army 2: The Pan-Slayva Coalition
Leader: Dark Svenska
Background: Set in post-apoc Russia
Rating: 8
Pros: Dark is a good leader and is understanding when necessary. The guns are extraordinary, and the armor is unique. The sim, is also quite well-structured. Some of the soldiers are dedicated, and well-disciplined. PSC is one of the few “new” armies I have seen get such fame so fast.
Cons: You will almost always be able to catch a PSC soldier dicking off. Any time I am on base, I will see them running around with Pikachu hats on, or screaming various gestures, or even teamkilling. When I give them an order (as an E-6 NCO), they will yell at me, and tell me to leave the others alone. They will also whine about me to the leader, saying that I am “ABUSING MY RIGHTS.” They are full of shit, they are just addicted to being selfish, mindless fiends, and they don’t want to stop it.
Army 3: Task Force Marines (TFM)Leader: Bennyboy BallBackground: Not evidentRating: 6
Pros: They are doing their best, let’s put it that way. They are a good group of people. They also are getting better and better with armor and weapons, and have a full blown sim, as well.
Cons: I have been on base with them a lot, until recently, but they seem to have few flaws. Maybe that’s because they are not doing much at the moment. I have to be honest, as good a group of people they are, they are not that good at combat. Other than that, they are doing well. Keep it up, TFM.
Part III: The Progenotorial Action (the Ascendant Initiative)
Army 1: Sparta
Leader: Bruno Ziskey
Background: Set in futuristic Sparta
Rating: 6
Pros: Good background, and weapons. Nice sim. Pretty good fighters, too.
Cons: Oh, Bruno. I guarantee you that anyone you meet (besides other Spartans) will say that he is Ban-Happy. Why? I don’t know, go there and ask him after he bans you. That is if he doesnt mute you right after, at which point you should consider yourself lucky. I think it’s because he’s afraid. Ask around for the quote of him saying he has every right to ban anyone, for no reason, as the land owner. I do not like to consider them as an army of SL, but rather a lego-army of Lego Life, if it exists. Yes, I am talking about their armor. Most, if not all of the rumors and stories about Sparta are true.
Army 2: The Alliance Navy
Leader: Jim Herbst
Background: Was founded originally as a group to defend others from greifers in sandboxes, but then later became an army based on a “Mars-like” atmosphere.
Rating: 6
Pros: THE MOST strict leaders you will ever know exist in this army. If you even FIRE YOUR GUN without REASON, you WILL get laps. VERY good discipline. Well-scripted weapons.
Cons: Unattractive armor, easy foe (sorry). I do not find much else wrong with the Alliance Navy, only other hearsay. I do not believe much of it to be true as I discovered myself that they aren’t half bad. I don’t really like their style, and I do not like some of their procedures. They are just a bit to pushy as far as saluting protocol goes, although, when you think about it, it CAN be necessary at times.
Army 3: The 39th Black Watch M.H.T.F
Leader: SqueezeOne Pow
Background: Scottish Mobile Heavy Task Force
Rating: 5
Pros: Good group of people, and good strong soldiers.
Cons: There is not much to say about these men. They are VERY boring, their armor is even more boring, and they never stick out. Their base is TOO small, and they do not allow most lone-wolves to attack with good chance of winning, as they banned black-ops weapons and other reputable company weapons. At least they don’t ban as much as Sparta.
Weasel Blackadder
Sep 7th, 2008
‘Mercz suck because Command doesn’t have enough control’, my experience as a Merczateer is that they strike a very good balance between command responsibilities and not exercising power for its own sake. We are all in a military to have fun, after all.
Overall, this article is a bit of a disappointment. The SL military scene is very dynamic, and a good and objective review of the various armies would be interesting. Unfortunately this isn’t it.
A related bit of gossip, we had a chap come into Salamis yesterday in a newbie avatar with a very recent creation date who said that he was a journalist from Sky News, a British TV news channel owned by Murdoch for those elsewhere in the world. He said he was building a package on SL, and so we briefed him on the military side and had a firefight or two. I think it was a decent advert for the Merczateers, and it will be interesting to see what he makes of us, and of any other SL military that he may stumble across.
Eye Korobase
Sep 7th, 2008
Geezs Ethan, I was agreeing with you on a good amount of what you said in your post. I think all this SL talk is getting to your mind a bit too much. Little too much drama that happened in a game that your taking to heart.
Also, I like to thank LULZ for pointing out a great point. If no one cares about me, then why reply to each of my comments?
The Second Life Herald is not in SL, it is on the internet. Way closer to RL, SOOOOOOO that gives me the free will to talk what I want to talk about and tell the truth then sitting idlely back as you all agree with a man that is a two-face. Why do I say that? well to bring up some issues with ethan.
Ethan, Many times has tryed to talk anthony and lurdan into using griefer tactices to destory the AN. like wanting to get Avil to teach him how to walk across void spaces into other sims and to build weapons that would overpower almost any army. Also, Ethan trys as hard as he can to “pull rank” in merczs with Epic fail results. One time during a battle with VG, back before they had a city base, Ethan was trying to get lurdan to pull out the troops we had there for really no reason and then when lurdan said no, Ethan had a freak out and told lurdan that he was disgracing the merczs and all this other bullshit like if Merczs were a real life army or something. Thankfully, Lurdan having more sence as to listen to crazy ethan, just closed the IM and we fought up the beach and kicked alot of VG ass.
So Moral here is that, listening to Ethan is like walking into snake pit and everything you take his advice or agree with him, it is like you let a venomous snake bite you and you have no way out of it, unless you stop listening to him and come to your sences and get out of the snakepit and go for help.
Proteus Hand
Sep 7th, 2008
You know, some places don’t belong on the internet, but rather, saved as a screenshot on a floppy disk belonging to Judge Hocho, stored in his attic along with several articles of clothing that his dead mother once wore, which he forces on every other drunk tramp to visit his abode – yes, a little black floppy disk covered in some hair, semen, dust, and some half burnt, half chewed tobacco.
This page is one of those places. For the love of all that is Protean – make the internet unsee.
Ethan Schuman
Sep 7th, 2008
Oh Eye, you poor deluded fool. Sure, you might have been agreeing with me, but that’s because you’re far too weak and insignificant to generate your own thoughts and viewpoints, and must instead latch on to those of whomever around you seems to be strongest at any given time. Why do I respond to each of your comments? Because each response takes less than ten minutes to type, and because making retarded kids feel like shit makes me giggle. Does this make me a bad person? Probably, but I doubt anyone has a problem with the online equivalent of me stealing your lunch money and giving you a swirly.
Sure, I still assist in the making of command decisions in both Mercz and Ordo. And no, my advice isn’t always heeded, but since you brought it up, let’s go on ahead and compare contributions to the community. I brought Avil Creeggan into the community, created the original MOSCOW foundations (which was later incorporated into Iron Symphony, which I had a founding part in as well), put Aryte in charge of the AN II, came up with the idea of using combat blockades as weapons, as well as so much other stuff it’d break my ten minute per post rule many times over to list even half of. You? You sexually harass women using e-rank, and can’t even maintain a respectable position in PSC. Your sole contribution are your absolutely hysterical Youtube videos, which causes everyone who sees them to bust out laughing AT you, not with. The cosplay ones are particularly funny.
“So Moral here is that, listening to Ethan is like walking into snake pit and everything you take his advice or agree with him, it is like you let a venomous snake bite you and you have no way out of it, unless you stop listening to him and come to your sences and get out of the snakepit and go for help.”
Ahh, more lulzgrammar. Listening to me is like letting a snake bite you? O lawd, Eye r tryinz 2 b smurt! I doubt there’s a single person on these forums who would honestly choose to fail so hard at absolutely everything as you do.
Vinzenz
Sep 7th, 2008
Everybody listen. First of all, PLEASE leave EYE alone; This is not about him. IF anyone is to be insulted it is me. Let’s all just have a nice fun battle in-game, and not do any more flaming upon each other. Of course, those from EACH army I criticized are going to insult me, and stick up for their army. They aren’t to be blamed, but nor am I. Referring to the ACTUAL newspaper, if they REALLY believed it to be opinion-based, wouldn’t they have put it in the editorial section? They are the ones to ask, as I have no control over what they call it, or where they put it. I DO, however, have control (I hope) over what’s in it, and I will stand by it 100% of the way, regardless all the insults and criticism that approaches me through IM and other ways of communication.
Vegna Fouroux
Sep 7th, 2008
Combat Blockades are nothing to be proud of Ethan, Jesus.
Once again article comments go off topic from What a pathetic piece of trash this article is to bashing Eye Korobase, (he deserves all this attention why?)
to Eye: YOU’RE ON THE “PEOPLE WHO POST COMMENTS ON HERALD ARTICLES” not so cool list. I’D AVOID IT UH YEA.
Proteus that was a fucked up metaphor, but anything anti-judge is fine by me
VANGUARD R THE KOOLEST KIDS EVAR SHUDAP
Raideur Ng
Sep 7th, 2008
Article is not bad, but I’ll give my two cents…
Dark is questionable, but not beyond redemption.
Trinity is a fine leader.
Bruno has no concept of reality.
Aryte may have too many bodyguards, but they can fight.
Bennyboy likely doesn’t actually leader his army.
Myself, Raideur, have indeed been missing, but I am back.
Zrazor Rozenstrauch
Sep 7th, 2008
You know Ethan, combat blockades achieve a certain degree of success insofar as demoralization is concerned, until most of the military exercising said blockade starts hanging out in a public combat sim where those being blockaded can go ahead and fight them anyway.
Being banned from Narik ain’t no thang when there are always Mercz I can shoot in New Jessie.
Nadav Vaher
Sep 7th, 2008
10 points to Ethan.
He may be an asshole, But damn, He makes sense.
Bruno Ziskey
Sep 7th, 2008
“You’d think after witnessing what beatdowns I give Bruno”
*Chuckles* So you still fancy yourself as a tough guy I see. Here’s the problem though. You can’t “beat me down” if I don’t care what you say, if I don’t take offense to it. And I don’t really. Care to know why?
They’re just words. Not actions. That’s probably the only thin you’re really good at: words. You can make a very poetic speech that can drive people to your side. Unless of course they read between the lines.
Go ahead. Prove you’re some big bad guy and keep insulting me. I already know I’ve stumped Lurdan and others who have asked Jim Herbst on Ventrilo why I “am so mean.” Jim already gave the answer: I don’t care. I don’t care about you, your views or anything else. Sparta, it’s members and our allies are the only things I even have the time to care about. You don’t even make the list of things I care about.
Saddest part is you think I care. You think I can actually hate you, as you hate me. Newsflash: I don’t hate you. I just don’t care about you. It’s easy as hell to ignore your rantings. It’s called a mute button and a mouse scroll. So go ahead and keep insulting me, I won’t be replying to you on this articles comments or to anyone’s comments on this article. I don’t agree with how the writer did this, but hes already got enough reasons why it’s bad, I need not go on a rant about it.
Base line is: if you really want to know a military, just go visit them. Don’t rely solely on ignorance (aka the views of only one person/group), go visit the other military and talk to them. Get to know them better yourself. Only then can you really get to know them.
I’ve had people like DamionStJames Webb and Sera Otoro, both members of the Ordo who everyone knows I ban for their continued stupidities (sending in 15 members to a base with only 3 defenders…yeah real nice..and those blue seeker balls….also “nice”) come to my base, talk to me and they’ve told me that I’m not who you (Ethan) and others say I am. Same goes for other enemies like VG and Mercz. I’ve got people in different enemy groups who, after talking to me, actually say they like me as a person. Go figure. Unfortunately Ethan…you’re not worth talking to anymore. Bai.
Deimos
Sep 8th, 2008
This is why I’m not active in the SL Military scene anymore. It’s like gunning down a whole bunch of preschoolers, except that actually might be more entertaining.
You people and your stupid petty arguments.
lawl
Sep 8th, 2008
Bruno is a girl.
My dad can kick your dads ass.
Oh yeah.. I almost forgot. Shut up Eye.
steve319 cao
Sep 8th, 2008
I just hope years from now when people look back at the Iron Symphony they see our legacy as a group of people who were trying to establish a better way of fighting rather than the faction that invented the combat blockaide , thats nothing to be proud of and with a few exceptions e.g PSC and VG rarely needed.
As far as these articles go for fuck sake guys you may not like eye and damit I have no respect for the group he serves but when we start to tell people to shut up just because you dont like them, you turn these pages into a forum to make us all look like assholes.
And as for a combat blockaide against Sparta what the hell is the reason for it if you claim to be able to overrun them as easily as you do.
I actualy had an enjoyable battle against Sparta the other day and I would rather be in the smaller forgetable groups of sl as Ethan puts it because the smaller groups seem to remember its about fun not drama .
Vinzenz Fiertze
Sep 8th, 2008
Fight it out in-game. We have sized one another up enough! Just FIGHT it out already!
Vegna Fouroux
Sep 8th, 2008
Bruno Bruno Bruno
when will you learn…
The templar cop-out:
UH WHATEVER GUYS I DON’T CARE *STICKS FINGERS IN EARS AND WHISTLES LOUDLY AND TUNELESSLY*
Good job on emulating something that thankfully is now in its death-throes, everyone else seems to have moved on into a nicer, calmer, INTENSER, military community. It’s just you left sitting there in your empty sim, still whistling from a decadent past, when hate thrived in SL military. The Nanaos are gone as are the Harlequins. The I.S stopped trying to help you and educate you a long time ago, they realized you had to be taken apart, how many members is it now Bruno? in the 30s, the 20s?
You can of course change your ways, you can become a responsible leader, stop insulting your counterparts in other armies, clear your ban list and behave like an adult. Everyone else has moved on, I believe we are about to enter a fruitful stage of SL combat, your blindness is unfortunate but that really isn’t any concern of mine. Have fun O forgotten one.
Ethan Schuman
Sep 8th, 2008
Dear Bruno:
When commenting about military groups, it’s best if you can do more than struggle to muster a fire team. You’ve been bitching about people swarming your base with 10 people vs. your three defenders (who always seem to be the same people), for the past 6 months. Get a clue, and either start being a real leader, or turn the reigns over to someone who can be. Sparta has, what, seven people online at peak times? I could pull three times that many men, arm them with guns I’ve done for various groups as charity projects (which are still better than your crap), and declare Pacific Breeze a colony sim of the Iron Symphony, and do so without breaking a sweat. Grow a spine, take me off your ban list, and I’ll do just that, laughing as you bitch about how it’s not fair that an impromptu raid team can stomp all over your “super elite” troops that you can never seem to call to your aid.
You’re “mean”? Please do not confuse “bitch” with “mean” as I use the first term frequently to describe you, and it is in no way similar to the second. I couldn’t care less about what you care about. Judging by the state of your “fire team that calls itself an army”, your priorities as a commander are obviously quite misplaced. Perhaps you should spend less time oiling yourself up with olive oil and prancing around in your cape and Burger King crown, and focus on saving what’s left of what used to be a great group.
I don’t “know you”? Now you sound like Eye Korobase. I don’t have to “know you as a person” to know you’re a thickheaded, ignorant, inept son of a bitch who believes he matters somehow, again, just like Eye Korobase. Your arrogance is comical, as you have done absolutely nothing to justify it. Grinding a great army built on the accomplishments of everyone as a whole (everyone, that is, but its incompetent figurehead) into the ground does not count, sadly. Nobody needs to come get to know you, as no number of “Wow, you’re actually a nice guy”s will save the group you choke to death.
Stick your fingers in your ears and run, little girl. You can’t stand toe to toe with me, let alone Lurdan, Anthony, Aryte, Raideur, Steve319, Trinity, Jim, or even CaptCuddles and his miniature minions. Even Christoph cares about his group more than you do about yours, and that’s just fucking pathetic.
Ivy Contepomi
Sep 9th, 2008
“how many members is it now Bruno? in the 30s, the 20s?”
Vegna, we’re growing. Its not Bruno whistling in an empty sim, and come to that fact, Sparta is in the process of purchasing its own sim at the moment. I know all of you like to toss around the idea that Sparta is dying, but we’ve been growing. We have no intent to be a large group to begin with, and we’re pleased with our numbers in 40s.
I think its rich of each person here to jump on one person – be it Bruno, Ethan, Eye – for being insulting, when nearly every single post has been an insult to the leaders and armies they don’t agree with.
Ethan – really. Did that last post make you feel like the bigger man now? Perhaps we should let the three of you get out the measuring tapes so you all can end your “who has the biggest dick” contest.
Anyone, /anyone/, can build a big grunt army and swarm others. Most people call it, ahem, griefing. I don’t see what the big deal is – we ask for a fair fight. We take on double our numbers constantly, and enjoy the fight. We even have an agreement with Heather McKay and the infamous Lurdan regarding swarming so that our groups can fight each other. But each time it comes to blows, Ethan, all you can pull out of your hat is “let me come with three times as many people as you to blow you out of the water.” Congratulations on your ability to recruit and arm minions. We’d prefer to actually have fun in the process.
Raideur Ng
Sep 9th, 2008
Bruno has been the direct cause of more failures for the major militaries to agree upon combat rules than any other single person. Lurdan, Aryte, Squeeze, and Trinity would likely agree.
Bruno Ziskey
Sep 9th, 2008
“Bruno has been the direct cause of more failures for the major militaries to agree upon combat rules than any other single person. Lurdan, Aryte, Squeeze, and Trinity would likely agree.”
Nice to know I’m loved and somehow super important in the SL military community, so much so that I am somehow responsible for everything that’s wrong in SL combat. Yay me!
#######
Sep 9th, 2008
YOU ALL SUCK ASS.
Jager
Sep 10th, 2008
It makes me sad to see such hostility off the battlefield. Has all these soldiers of unnamed to famously known armies forgotten why we wage wars on SL in the first place? First Person Shooting fun. Fast ass kicking action. Bombs a plenty. Bullets so many. Ducking for cover and shooting right over only to score a savory sweet head shot. Thats what First Person Shooting was meant to be. Yet, Its not the cause of one army but all seeing how you all fight with drama and propaganda. You tell 30% truths and 70% bullshit. Im not going to entertain you with what I think and have come to know about other armies but simply ask that you look at yourselves. What your doing now. Think, Are you having fun? The kinda fun you came into the SL Military life for in the first place? Its about time that stupidity like this ends.
Shame for all these words might and most likely go on wasted ears.
-O-3 Spartan Navy Officer. Jager.
~May we curse our enemies names and lay down the insults on the field upon each corpse we make! Remember off the field we will chat and converse with a spot of tea as well!~
Vegna Fouroux
Sep 10th, 2008
Ivy I like how you just refer to years worth of work by the merczateers, hours spent building and scripting weapons, armor and other tech, setting up industries to fund themselves as inferior to Sparta’s “WE WOULDN’T LIEK HAVING A BIG ARMY” utter bullshit. Bruno has claimed on many occasions to want to wield a power akin to the Alliance Navy’s. You see to misunderstand what Sparta is: a tiny unit barely capable of funding itself, with poorly built arms and armor with stolen scripts with the occasional original that lags to pieces” Bruno is illogical, crude, brash and would be defined as a grunt in all other armies (PROUD OF YA’).
Jager don’t lecture about propaganda EVER. you as a Spartan, are an embodiment of that hateful “Weekly Wisdom” which according to Bruno is just “MY OPINION GUYS” the self-titled “all-mighty father of sparta” doesn’t worry about things like facts when defaming almost every single former officer who left, or trying to destroy the reputation of every other leader on the grid barr those whose ass he kisses, “TRUTHINESS? that’s for
those damn axis of emo guys lul..axis of e..”
Infamous Lurdan? I lol’d. As for Sparta not trying to amass troops, what about operation rising sun? When bruno tried unsuccessfully to launch a major recruitment campaign. Good job.
O________O
Sep 10th, 2008
Just gonna’ put a good ol’ quote here.
“Fighting on the internet is like taking part in the special olympics. Even if you win, you’re still retarded.”
\O/
Roo Tenk
Sep 10th, 2008
I could just add to all the hate in this comment list… But you guys seem to have it pretty much taken care of.
Also, I would like to thank Sparta for recognizing the Echelon Union as a fair opponent.
(We have a lot of fun in those battles too.)
-Roo
CaptCuddles Boa
Sep 10th, 2008
-O_O-
Zrazor Rozenstrauch
Sep 11th, 2008
The Bunny makes an excellent point.
Vinzenz Fiertze
Sep 13th, 2008
Look, next time I am online, I want to fight one of you. You seem so angry at me? What are we all angry about? It’s just a game! So, guys, come on. Let’s fight it out, and have fun like SL was supposed to be. IT’s funny I see the reasoning in all of your stories. They all make sense, however, the others don’t notice it. Let’s have a battle or something, whatever. I really respect all of you for the way you present good facts to prove your point, but enough is enough. Let’s kill each other (in SL I mean)
Proteus Hand
Sep 13th, 2008
@ Steve – Combat blockade was erected against Sparta for breach of established Rules of Engagement which are as follows : The Merczateers and Sparta have compromised to not engage in combat involving aircraft with one another, due to debate as to whether or not the Uriel IS or ISN’T an actual vehicle. The Merczateers honored the agreement, and had the courtesy to send a small 8 man squad, which was at the time reported by Spartan forces as 12. Despite the absence of infantry from the actual agreement, Spartan officials acting on this miscalculation, felt it in their best of judgment to deploy all online aircraft and fleet, as well as the current infantry guard to lay down suppressing fire over the exit to the HUB area.
Merczateers pleaded to King Ziskey that there were actually eight men attacking, and were ignored or insulted without any will to compromise from Bruno, thus the squad teleported back to Badnarik, suffering one banned soldier whom had committed the crime of setting the Spartan King on fire, which is an unmentionable crime of the highest degree – so unmentionable that it was never written down or posted in the telehub entry point.
Outraged, the Kommissariat agreed that a second combat blockade was in order against Sparta, as well as a quick talk with key members of the Ascendant Initiative, hoping that Bruno might grant his allies an audience more suitable than those he granted his enemies, which were to say as brief and unsatisfying as sex with Bruno’s mother.
@ Vinzenz Your article was decent, my good sir, but there needed to be more research, and more balance to the pros and cons. I noticed that the pros were extremely laconic, whereas the cons were long, and very detailed. This is ASKING for drama, because everyone in that military will take it as a HUGE insult. I also think that rating the Merczateers as a 9 was a bad idea. People don’t want to know who the best is, if they’re not in it. I’m not saying we’re better than ANYBODY, but when you do assert that, everyone will have a reason why they’re oh-so-much better.
One thing you did do though, even if the article was one of your first, and far less than you can achieve, you did manage to capture what the Herald is generally longing for, and that’s website traffic. Military articles that spark drama draw HUGE crowds of people that want to put in their little bits of their argument, because whether or not it involves guns, it’s ALWAYS a war. Essentially what you just did, was create a battlefield, and invite everyone with an opinion (AKA everyone with an asshole) to come fight on it.
Bruno Ziskey
Sep 14th, 2008
“The Merczateers and Sparta have compromised to not engage in combat involving aircraft with one another, due to debate as to whether or not the Uriel IS or ISN’T an actual vehicle.”
You used your uriels on your base against us. I am beginning to find that if you’re going to do that, we’re going to use our aircraft against your infantry since you used yours against ours on your base.
“The Merczateers honored the agreement, and had the courtesy to send a small 8 man squad, which was at the time reported by Spartan forces as 12.”
It WAS 12.
“suffering one banned soldier whom had committed the crime of setting the Spartan King on fire, which is an unmentionable crime of the highest degree – so unmentionable that it was never written down or posted in the telehub entry point.”
He entered the base through a part in the wall thats more than 5m thick. This IS posted in the hub. Do try to read.
“which were to say as brief and unsatisfying as sex with Bruno’s mother.”
Making silly insults doesnt make your point any stronger.
“Combat blockade was erected against Sparta for breach of established Rules of Engagement ”
Boo hoo. You’re not as important as you think and you dont HAVE to come to our sim if you dont want to. One group shouldnt have the power to throw a ban wall over another enemy group just because they werent able to get past our forces AND broke the agreement first. As it is…I doubt some members of the IS will in fact follow that ban wall you threw up. Some might actually have the guts to have fair and fun fights. I.e. UNIT and Echelon are the primary opponents who so far have been the only groups to show any sign of respect to their opponents, whether it’s Sparta or another group.
In short, stop trying to create mroe emo drama. You don’t want us to fight you? Fine then just dont come. But you’re making your case worse by making all your allies comply with this. *shrugs* Your choice. Bai. And no I won’t be responding to any attempts to insult me here. I’ll only respond to lies like what Proteus posted. Lies cannot stand against Truth.
Architect Jarrico
Sep 14th, 2008
I find this joke of an article rather amusing. A quick question for the authors of Herald Articles. Do you have a burly man holding a gun to your head telling you write an article in under a minute? The amount of research that has gone into this article suggests that much.
I am glad to see that the military community is still the boiling lavapit I left it as, meaning intense fighting, fury-driven bans, and hostile words exchanged between commands. Fun times.
Thanks for saying my helmet design is great, yanno, the EAF helmet, btw. I prolly should have worked a bit harder on the overall armor set design, though. :/
Aled Numanox
Sep 14th, 2008
This is easily the most biased thing I have ever read, especially seeing how it is reviews. Completely unprofessional, although a good idea. This whole article just geared people towards the Mercz. Not that that is bad, but maybe you could describe why other militaries would appeal to different types of people.
IntLibber Brautigan
Sep 15th, 2008
Its funny how any military article tends to get ground down in the comments to a bawwfest between Ethan, Bruno, oh and Eye Korobase (btw, the “Shut up Eye” is a meme, get over it).
Bruno, nobody broke the rules of engagement on the Mercz side, it was your guys who started using aircraft. This is the typical lying and misrepresentation we see so often from Bruno (like claiming an attachment vehicle that wont move if you are in avatar flight mode is av flying, claiming the physics engine replicates aerodynamics, claiming your spamming guns that bring the sim to its knees are not laggy). Mercz have repeatedly tried to negotiate terms with you that you will stick to, but it seems like every time, when you figure out no matter how easy we make it for you, you are still losing, you decide to break the rules and whip out the banhammer unilaterally.
Since it also seems you will never give up control of your group, and the only reason that any competent people stay in your group is that its easy to make rank in such a small group (provided you don’t displease Big Brother and get demoted when he’s having a snit), a combat blockade is a valid means of responding to your dishonorable conduct. Those who like fighting against good groups like Mercz, Ordo, etc will leave Sparta and it will devolve into ever lower levels of assclownery until Sparta is indistinguishable from, say, TFM or some other noobunch.
I’m not going to comment on the article itself much, it was the opinion of one person who has bebopped around the various groups, and reads sorta like a brief travelogue, as if military groups are a bunch of beach resorts one should compare for surf, sand, sun, and chicks. As such, it is as valid as any such subjective piece. I was gonna say opinions are like Brunos, but not everybody has one of those…
Detox Exonar
Sep 15th, 2008
”Bruno, nobody broke the rules of engagement on the Mercz side, it was your guys who started using aircraft. This is the typical lying and misrepresentation we see so often from Bruno…..”
Sorry Int – but I need to correct your statement further specific to that incident as I was there that day at Pacific right after the agreement was approved for Mercz to engage SPARTA without aircraft. The fact of the matter is when ground forces of Mercz and SPARTA were engaged, a SPARTAN pilot, I believe it was Tig, who either was unaware or oblivious to the no flight rule rezed his aircraft and took to the air. Bruno immediately got on comm and ordered the pilot to land and derez his ship – which he did. I know this occurred because I had just logged and seeing the activity asked Bruno if I had permission to rez my aircraft (just prior to Bruno getting on comm to Tig) and he said NO on IM. The next thing I heard after that incident was Mercz threw a ban blockade on SPARTA for rezzing their aircraft and intentionally breaking the agreement that was reached. Nothing could be further from the truth. This all transpired due to a simple miscommunication. One thing I know about Bruno is he doesn’t lie and misrepresent the facts – he tells it like it is and there is no other leader in SL military who wants to play more by the rules and on a level playing field. OK, he might be a bit ANAL at times, but he is honest and upstanding to a fault. He treats his people with fairness and the loyalty to him is always openly expressed. I say this now as a former member of SPARTA and now a loyal member of the Merczateers. I have nothing to gain saying this now except I wanted the facts to be understood and be known to all. And let’s face it guys – these personal attacks on Bruno need to cease. If SPARTA ever totally fails and vanishes from the grid – it will be a sad day for SL militaries – think about it.
IntLibber Brautigan
Sep 16th, 2008
Detox,
I’m willing to accept the possibility that it was a miscommunication on the part of Tig. That speaks to poor training and communications all around (esp given the agreement had been in place for how many days already?), which is unusual given how much Bruno likes to issue pronouncements and procalmations.
However lets look at the situation if the roles were reversed. Lets say a Mercz mistakenly thought attachment Uriels were now permitted and took to the air. What do you think Bruno’s reaction would be? Mild mannered understanding about a miscommunication? Likely not. He would spaz and ban every Mercz while shouting on the estate channel insults about the Mercz, their parentage, etc etc etc bawww bawww bawww.
Now lets look at the whole aircraft issue. Bruno claims to be for reducing lag in the sim during combat, thats his main excuse for demanding small combat parties as well as no air combat, yet the attachment Uriel, which is PROVEN to be 1/20th the lag of a physical aircraft, is rejected with ignorant excuses that are unsupported by any facts. If Sparta developed a similar aircraft (its not hard, 2142 has a similar aircraft), we could have significant air combat without significant lag. If Bruno really cared about lag he’d be full bore for Sparta developing an attachment aircraft.
Really, the only people who hate attachment aircraft are cheaters who like to right click on enemies physical vehicles to immobilize them so as to shoot them more easily, something we saw repeatedly in Sparta before we implemented this model of aircraft. Since this model was implemented, the groups that bawwwed the most about it were those with a regular habit of right clicking to immobilize aircraft in the air: VG, Sparta, and AN. The AN have accepted the new model now that they have more honorable leadership, VG is a lost cause. So which side is Sparta going to fall on?
Bruno Ziskey
Sep 16th, 2008
“He would spaz and ban every Mercz while shouting on the estate channel insults about the Mercz, their parentage, etc etc etc bawww bawww bawww.”
Wrong. I’d ban the Mercz who used the aircraft and continue fighting. Like I’ve said countless times, the ones who get banned are the ones who cheat. With the exception of Ordo, I don’t ban on a group basis, merely individually.
“(its not hard, 2142 has a similar aircraft)”
Wrong again, theirs requires a sitbox with aircraft scripts, set to alpha, to be used. Do try to keep your facts straight.
“Really, the only people who hate attachment aircraft are cheaters who like to right click on enemies physical vehicles to immobilize them so as to shoot them more easily, something we saw repeatedly in Sparta before we implemented this model of aircraft.”
Prove it, and I can say the same thing about your people.
IntLibber Brautigan
Sep 16th, 2008
Bruno,
You have a long history of mass banning Mercz over minor perceived violations, you reduce sim avatar limits drastically below what is necessary to keep sim stability (12 avatars? Please….) merely to keep your opponents in a numerical disadvantage, and you regularly spread lies and innuendo about opponents in a hateful manner which is not conducive to good sportsmanship.
Also, you are wrong on the 2142 aircraft.
And, no, you cannot say the same thing about Mercz wrt right clicking, it is prohibited explicitly by our code of conduct, and I dont need to prove that this is a regular habit of your troops, the entire AD of Mercz has been victimized by it at various times, and some of them are with other militaries now and can vouch for your groups tactics.
Bruno Ziskey
Sep 17th, 2008
“And, no, you cannot say the same thing about Mercz wrt right clicking, it is prohibited explicitly by our code of conduct”
Your code of conduct also says to not spawn camp, yet I’ve been personally spawn camped in my throne room by Anthony Lehane, Lurdan Huszar and others. Care to explain?
Also, I am not wrong about the aircraft.
Vinzenz Fiertze
Sep 17th, 2008
Look, let us not argue any more about this topic. Fight it out. Everybody, un-ban each other and have a battle. Just have fun! That’s what SL is all about, isn’t it? It’s a video game! I do think I have a point here, guys.
Zrazor Rozenstrauch
Sep 17th, 2008
If there’s one unifying thing that could bring all the militaries of SL together, it’s our unanimous belief that this article is no damn good.
IntLibber Brautigan
Sep 18th, 2008
Bruno,
Once again your pure lack of intelligence amazes and astounds the community.
Wrt spawn camping: This applies to the home group spawn camping their own hub. Its against IS and AI and STABLE rules, but Sparta still camps their own hub when they feel they are getting their asses kicked too hard by an equal number of attackers.
For attackers to camp the defenders spawn points is the achievement of victory. It means the attacker has gotten so deep into your base that they have for all intents and purposes won, even when you are too arrogant and proud to admit it. Camping the defenders home points is typically followed up quickly by the defender getting someone in the air to bomb their own base with wide radius bombs, or the deployment of Dr Strangelove or similar 96+ meter radius weapons. WMD deployment is the defenders acknowledgement that they got their asses handed to them, without having to lose face by admitting to it.
We do not allow bombs or other AD to camp defenders home points (unlike Spartan practice). We insist ground troops do the grunt work of going in and getting face to face, preferably with melee weapons (hand to hand) to iron in the fact of defeat of the defender.
Now generally, Spartans like to show up in Salamis at 4 AM so they can use AD and camp a couple AFK grunts in the barracks with 20 meter radius blast bombs and declare victory, which we all lol at.
And no, Bruno, even your own people keep trying to tell you the attachment Uriel is a real aircraft. Like any obsolete leader who needs replacing, you cant seem to listen to your subordinates.
FUCK, DRAMA, FUCK.
Sep 18th, 2008
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Bruno Ziskey
Sep 18th, 2008
“And no, Bruno, even your own people keep trying to tell you the attachment Uriel is a real aircraft.”
Do tell, who would that be?
Ivy
Sep 18th, 2008
At the USLMF meeting on Tuesday, others in the AI alliance mentioned that they also do not allow the Uriel, because it is an attachment, and funny…Lurdan, Anthony, and other members of the IS simply stayed silent…
Ivy
Sep 18th, 2008
Sorry, failed to really complete my thought with the last one about the Uriel and USLMF.
That it is an attachment, and therefore is not subject to the physics and rules of other aircraft, and is not subject to the typical actions of any other SL vehicle – in other words, its not a vehicle. Its avatar flight. Which is prohibited by STABLE, and being that groups such as Sparta and Blackwatch are STABLE abiding, the Uriel is banned.
I think the time to discuss changes to aircraft will come if and when a new arms treaty is put in place; until then, there really isn’t any question of the attachment and its vehicle status, and how it pertains to STABLE.
If USLMF actually ends up creating a new arms treaty, and the armies agree that we should all move to Uriel type attachment/avatar flight modules in order to reduce lag, then it’ll be something to broach then. One army deciding they can try to force it on everyone else…not so much.
And 2142′s requires a sit prim. Period.
Vinzenz Fiertze
Sep 20th, 2008
Okay GUYS. LISTEN. I DID NOT TITLE THIS ARTICLE THE WAY IT WAS TITLED. I just wanted to present to the public, the view of an individual who has been in all those armies by himself. IT WAS NOT A CONSUMER’S GUIDE, IT WAS JUST A TRIVIAL REVIEW. I DON’T BLAME YOU FOR thinking that this article was not good, becuase IT DOESN’T SERVE THE TITLE’S GIVEN PURPOSE (for a reason!). So please do not blame me. These are just my opinions. I did not have any control over where in the herald it was placed, nor what title would be given to it.
Dante Indigo
Sep 20th, 2008
This article should not have been written…
Also, thanks for the nice comments about Echelon.
Anonymous
Sep 22nd, 2008
Vinzenz made yet another alt and got into Vanguard, we didn’t realize it was him until he told us, so Christoph gave him another chance.
Vinzenz Fiertze
Sep 25th, 2008
I demand this article be archived and removed. It was a large mistake.
Keystone Gray
Oct 19th, 2008
When I have the time and the ability, I will perhaps write a fact-based review on as many military groups as I possibly can, with less ability for dispute. I’m sincerely disappointed in the immaturity and hate mongering I’m seeing in these posts – all of them – and it’s frustrating to see it. Hopefully I’ll be able to conjure something less controversial should I decide to write an article of my own.
Stephen Holder
Nov 3rd, 2008
is there a news paper with an un biased military view on sl????