Battlefield 4 Division Update—January 2014

The Battlefield (BF) division has historically been a strong division in TAW. From top to bottom, the leadership has been steadfast and the membership loyal. Consistently fielding over 100 members, even during the darkest days when people were burnt out on Battlefield 3 (BF3) and started having AWOLs, migrated to other games within TAW or even worse, left TAW. It's those dark times that challenge a staff to create new ways to engage a membership to still enjoy a game until the next iteration becomes available in the digital download queue.

This is exactly what happened with BF3. The membership dipped below 100 for a short while until the Battlefield America Battalion (BF 1) staff decided enough was enough, and initiated a campaign to reinvigorate the membership. This included a fresh look at how internal campaigns were run and exciting ways to recruit more members. Better documentation of events and trainings were created, and every member was treated as a "customer" to reinforce the idea that TAW is about its community. Towards the end of BF3 and in anticipation of BF4, the membership climbed back well over 100.

Now, just two months since its launch, members are still in the honeymoon phase of the game. While "honeymoon" may be too generous given the amount of problems the game has had, the members—and the greater BF community for that matter—want to enjoy the game. That's the reason the BF4 division departed the Vanguard Unit to re-join the 2^nd Corps Army Unit in record time: the member drive to experience the game as it should be, with players around the country and the globe, of all different skill sets and experiences, and in one place.

As it stands today, the division, led by VERMGUY, Division Commander, and Botch, Division Officer, is thriving with over 200 members across four battalions.

While the immediate desire is to continue to recruit more members, the focus is actually on maintaining the current membership through quality leadership and events. This is, after all, what got the division to where it is now. Of course, TAW can't do it alone. EA and DICE need to get their act together to ensure the gaming experience is on par with its consumers' expectations. Every indication shows that EA and DICE are committed to providing this. Until then, the division works creatively and with inspirational determination to create the best, most comprehensive BF4 experience in the gaming community.

Battlefield America Battalion

BF 1 is the largest battalion in the division, comprising of over 140 members. Led by NavyChief, Commanding Officer (CO), their focus is on running the twice-a-week internal campaign, Tides of War (TOW), formerly known as Battleline in BF3.

This campaign, created by ChuckFX, Field Specialist (FS) is a continuation of the storyline from Battleline XIV, "Battle 4 Supremacy," where it incorporates elements of the board game Risk. Unlike before, Russia and NATO cannot afford to be seen waging war against enemy forces across the globe, as the diplomatic heat would be too much for the governments. For this campaign, Private Military Organizations (PMOs) are hired to do the job, which will be represented by two factions / four platoons. It will be set across three regions: China, Europe and South America, and there will be a new Assault Stage feature that will enable maps to be replayed to give a platoon an opportunity to have complete control over the campaign map. The first season of TOW will last 18 matches. Due to the various complexities of running an internal campaign, BF 1 has two FS positions to ensure participating members are fully engaged and informed match-to-match.

In addition to how internal competitions are led by two FSs, training nights will also employ not one, but two Training Specialists (TSs). Tasked with building weekly training exercises that are intended to improve the skill and knowledge of all BF 1 members. And with so much new content in BF4, the need for dedicated TSs and Training Instructors (TIs) will be more important than ever.

BF 1 has set the gold standard for creating and executing fun, quality events that are proven to develop strong leadership for the future of TAW.

Battlefield Europe Battalion (BF 2)

Following BF 1 is BF 2, led by a young but highly capable CO, TheShock, who has fielded a strong staff to lead this battalion back to glory. BF 2 has had its share of adversity during BF3, but BF4 has inspired hope and the spirit needed to become a top community for BF players in Europe. It's now sitting at 40 members and growing.

One of its members (now with BF 1), Alas, was able to connect with DICE developers and informed them of TAW. Not surprisingly, they were impressed with how TAW operates and gifted the division with 15 BF4 Premium codes. These codes were then raffled off across all battalions in the division.

"As the CO, I'm very proud to be here and in charge of the battalion. TAW is very unique and stands out among other Battlefield clans," TheShock said.

Battlefield Oceanic Battalion (BF 3)

Led by SirParadox, Staff Officer (SO), the newly formed Oceanic battalion that oversees the South Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand regions, was thought to be a long shot in actually becoming a bonafide battalion. Conducting a "brutal" recruiting campaign, as SirParadox states, he's now seeing membership pick up and hopes to have 30 by the end of March 2014.

BF 3 was given a server located in Australia to serve as their main recruiting tool, and through a little creative thinking with other battalion staff members, he was able to connect with well-known YouTuber, icemanauz, who agreed to endorse TAW and its server through his videos.

Battlefield America Competition Battalion (BF 7)

Finally, BF 7 is the fourth, but far from last, battalion in the BF4 division. Its creation started long before BF4 was launched, and was the vision of current Commander in Chief, Icarus, an avid BF player and currently part of the BF 7 roster. Icarus wanted to thrust TAW into the BF competitive scene since BF3, but faced difficulty getting this to happen as a result of BF 1 mandatory commitments to Battlelines. The structure didn't allow much latitude for members to both commit to internal campaigns in addition to a rigorous competition schedule.

This is why BF 7 was created to provide freedom to players more suited for competition.

This battalion is smaller, has less staff and focuses solely on competitive play. Led by CO, DoctorKajita, BF 7 has been aggressive out of the gates, recruiting members within the BF4 division, creating a structure embodying Icarus' vision and participating in events through well-known gaming communities and competitive ladders.

The membership in BF 7 is held to a higher standard than other battalions based on criteria set forth in the Battlefield America Competition Battalion Overview, Rules and Regulations.

In addition to participating in events with external clans, BF 7 has organized and hosted two internal events intended on providing a competition-style (5 vs. 5 and 10 vs. 10) experience for all members within the division. These events also have provided the BF 7 staff to evaluate players they otherwise would not get an opportunity to see play.

"These intra-TAW events have given us the ideal platform to 'try out' players, practice for our ranked events and a model for which we plan on developing to host a competition event for external clans," DoctorKajita said.

BF 7 has enjoyed early success, holding onto a 9-5 overall record for the month of December.

The battalion currently has 17 members and intends on having no more than 25 members at its maximum.

The Future

With four strong battalions at its core, the BF4 division is proving to be one of the most progressive and dynamic group of BF players in the world. The quality of leadership and level of commitment each member provides will only help to improve what's already the best in class.

For more information about the BF4 division, visit the Battlefield 4 Division Blog page, the Battlefield 4 Unit page and the Battlefield 4 Wiki page, or contact VERMGUY and/or Botch.