Vanguard: Expanding the Horizons of TAW

Vanguard

The last few months in Vanguard have been a busy time.
After agreeing to step up to the Vanguard Commander role my priority was to hunt down a reliable and capable Vanguard Lieutenant Commander. Initially I followed my views that you needed a EU/NA partnership to really make Vanguard effective. However after not finding any NA candidates that were suitable and willing to step up, I decided to widen the search. Instead of looking for an NA member I decided to look for the best candidate for the position regardless of the region. In this regard I am very pleased to announce that Wardy who is currently the division officer for Battlefield 3 has agreed to take on the role and will commence duties with immediate effect.
Having filled the VLC role, the next goal (beside building teams) is explain to the TAW community how Vanguard works and make it alot more transparent in regard to the decisions that are made. Therefore look out for the VG Wikis, and notes in the VG TS channels.

 Moving on from the Vanguard structure, let’s see the teams we are currently working on which are Counter Strike Global Offensive (Recent addition), Diablo 3, Dota 2 (Recent addition), Ghost Recon Future Soldier and Tribes Ascend.

The Spin Up Leads for these teams work extremely hard and give so much of their time.  Therefore before handing over to them I just want to thank them all for their enthusiasm and dedication.  Thanks guys.

Kingcheese - VC

Counter Strike Global Offensive

This team is a new addition to Vanguard and only became a Horizon team this week. As a Horizon team it is currently only open to external applications.
Therefore recruiting and then structure is the order of the day.
Staff wise currently Paint is NA SO with Aracun as EU SO. By the time of the next TAW newsletter there should be alot more news on the development of this team.

Diablo 3

The coals on Diablo 3 are still burning and the TAW inferno runs are just beginning. The hot winds blow down on the TAW warriors as they prepare for the fight of their lives !

Since Diablo 3’s launch the Spin up team has grown significantly with a lot of new recruits and current TAW members now residing within the D3 ranks. The EU is currently being lead by Zerrro plus Toyxn and the NA side by Viperious. These members have stepped forward to volunteer themselves to help lead the D3 Division in the TAW army.

Currently they are working hard to complete a plan on how to work together in their small 4 man teams until the release of PvP which should bring some new challenges into the diverse diablo world. Each battalion has virtually decided on another practice day which will be done as per NA timings and EU and then the entire Division will be meeting up together for a weekly briefing and gaming.

The game is starting to evolve with cross region being worked on as well as the real money auction house.

Wardy - SUL

Dota 2

As with CSGO, this team is a new addition to Vanguard. Unlike CSGO however this team is a full Spin up team and therefore is open for internal transfers as well as external applications.
Staff wise we currently have Denied as SO with TheGame as the first DI.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier

Greetings from Ghost Recon Future Soldier,
Future soldier is being released June 26th, 2012. PC version will be a similar port from Console game version. Featuring over 20 Million Weapon configurations, there’s lots of customizing to do with weapons. Featuring 1st and 3rd person views for this First Person Shooter. Featuring 3 classes; Rifleman, Engineer, and Scout, you can pick your skill set to play with. 10 Maps from all over the world from Africa to Industrial Compounds. 4 game modes, 12 players that are focused on objectives and cooperation, including new exclusives game modes and GR’s Classic Siege mode. Play 6v6 for intense online experience. Guerrilla mode: endure to win, survive to win. 4 players vs hundreds combat mode, inspired by real-life U.S. Army counter-insurgency techniques. Enter, capture and protect a target area against countless enemies. Play cooperatively online with up to 3 friends.
GRFS is currently in Horizon phase, seeking Vanguard Spin-up with a strong member base to start off with. We have a few seasoned members that are helping with Drill Instructors and Training Specialists. We are active in forums around the web. We currently are finishing up badges, lower-level assignments and duties, weapon qualifications, squad and fire-team layouts, Tactic sessions using GTactix program. With many tools, including the TAW.net website, GRFS is making strong progress towards launch in Vanguard, and with the support and leadership in GRFS and VG, goals are working out extremely well. Special thanks to Kingcheese and Wardy.

MGN_ChicagoONE CC 1CC - SUL

Tribes Ascend

The 29th of January, 2012 Tribes: Ascend became a official Horizon team here in TAW.
The beginning of the team was somewhat unorthodox, as it initially was given 3 officers.
1 Horizon Team Leader, me, and a few days after set up, the Oceanic player Koto who is the OC CO today, and the NA player Paint, as Spin-up Assistants. This was changed at transition out of Horizon.

When the game launched out of beta, Tribes: Ascend transitioned into a full spin-up team, with me as spin-up leader.
Tribes quickly gained a lot of numbers, reaching 30+ members before transition out of horizon, and later reaching 100+ members. Today we are floating between the 80 and 90+ mark, with filled staff positions along the front. I'm proud to have trained alot of these guys. Without these people, first of all Koto and later to join Freeoath, we would not have had
the success we had forming this team.
Now we are finally seeing a transition into a full division in the vicinity, and I am
without a doubt amongst the most excited people within TAW at the prospect of this.
Now enough of the team, onwards to the game.

Tribes is built up around the Capture The Flag game mode, with a highly competitive community, with ladders and cups ranging through Europe, America and the Oceanic.
While the community is competitive, it is also very old. Most of the core players have played since the days of Tribes 1. This may sound a bit intimidating, but a lot of new blood have entered the Tribes community with the launch of Tribes: Ascend, offering a fair chance for everyone. As the learning curve is not as steep as the previous games you will easily learn the basics of skiing, jetting, punting and mid airs. Mastering it though, is an entirely different matter.
Tribes is unique in its form of combat, mechanics and teamwork requirements, that allow for speeds up to 300+ km/h (186+ mph) and makes it impossible to win without coordination.
As in other FPS games, individual skill matters a lot, but it is worth absolutely
nothing, if you can't work with your team. Tribes does not work without coordination from
every team member.

Eifer - SUL