Bad Company General Report Twenty

The vote is effectively over: Evil dictator; 19, attempt at democracy; 7. Four of the Brothers voting Against were Prospects?! If any Brother wants a list of who voted what ask for BCS4R. The vote was stopped because it is no longer possible for me to lose and a split seems highly unlikely.

I've thought long and hard about what to do with the three Brothers concerned, and considered advice offered by numerous Brothers. What I decided is this. All Posts are lost - in order to regain a Post the Brother has to reapply along with other interested Brothers. The Senate has been abolished as from now. Senator/President Posts no longer exist.

As far as demotion goes, I'm prepared to cut the Brothers a lot of slack assuming certain conditions are met. However, if similar things happen in the future (ie. Brothers refuse to cooperate on Holy Missions, attempt to take control of Bad Company, attempt to alter Bad Company without permission or issue any information which damages Bad Company either internally or externally, etc) the penalty will be a lot worse. Each of the three Brothers will retain his Rank providing they decide to cooperate from now on. As far as I'm concerned this matter is over.

Some Brothers were worried about the damage caused by this. Don't be. The result of the vote shows (if you remove Prospects) that there was no split. If any other Groups think we are damaged it works to our advantage - they will underestimate us.

The Missions are going well. 1st Platoon get it easy as I've already found their Site at (167,17). Any Brother in 1st Platoon should explain to Col Smegley exactly what his plans are if he hasn't already done so.

2nd Platoon get the short straw. Col Midg cannot be expected to organize this Mission on his own so I'm currently acting HMC. Col Midg will assume command of 2nd Platoon after The Temple is Sanctified and a decision about The Fort has been made.

This is our Mission. First we need to find The Temple Ruins. This requires coordinated mapping. Send maps you already have which aren't on BCM05n to me - one should be enclosed if you're in 2nˆdˆ Platoon. After every Turn send your map to me, though if you find nothing after every two Turns will suffice. Don't forget to include all Terrain, all Structures and all Creatures.

We will probably meet between the Far Post/Inn/Forge Triangle. If you get the Price Lists of the Inn or Forge near the Site (applies to both Platoons) then send them to me for the BCGns - don't forget the alphanumeric codes or it doesn't save time. Keep your exploration to East of 175, South of -8, North of -35 and West of 200 initially. Remember we can't Rebuild Temples within 25 squares of each other.

Once we find a Site proceed there and Rebuild like there's no tomorrow. Burn those APs! Each Brother will probably have to Rebuild 320 Points of Temple. If at least 8 of us Camp in that square this equates to about 160-180 APs. It's better to shovel an entire Turn's APs in at once rather than spread it out over several Turns. It reduces the wait for other Brothers and increases your chances of finding more. As soon as it's up try to Sanctify it. If you already have the CS order then attempt to predict when it will be finished and try to Sanctify it when there's about 400-600 Points left. You can leave the square during Rebuilding but don't Make Camp anywhere else until you see The Ceremony of Sanctification performed.

What 2nd Platoon does next depends on how long this takes. If 1st Platoon beats us hands down then we'll forget The Fort and return to it in the future. If we can keep up with 1st Platoon or only lag by several Turns then we'll proceed to The Fort at (180,-20) and whack that up as fast as possible. It's already been started.

Next a Timeout of aproximately 15 to 20 Turns will commence after the last Structure is complete. Why so long? Each Brother will be given sufficient time to visit Spigot Red's, The Polished Rod, The Black Swan and The Blazing Arrowhead, plus the other Temple depending on which Platoon you are in. This should be done as fast as possible because...

During the Timeout we'll decide what to do next. We need another 2 Temples to make a total of 5. Thus whatever we do will have to take into account primary Sites. It would seem logical to head South to the centre of The Island as we'd benefit from visiting more Far Inns/Forges rather than if we headed East. We'd also be closer to Void. Assuming we do head South there are prime Sites at (134,-48), (154,-67) and (182,-67). The 2 Easterly Sites (on -67) are ideal. Don't reveal these Sites!

After Rebuilding these 2 Temples to make 5 and visiting The Jolly Ogre and Silver Hook's the situation is less clear. The area near these two Far Structures is literally infested with Loggerhead Camps so finding and Rebuilding a Fort there would be a good idea. Since many Brothers would not have had a chance to visit all Temples we'd Rebuilt at this point, a colossal Timeout would be needed to allow them to do so. Somewhere in the region of 30 Turns would be appropriate. This would give most Brothers time to make sure they could cope with the area beyond The Crystal Hills.

Personally I'm going to use this time to organize The First Holy Crusade - a voluntary Mission. The absolute minimum requirement is to be a 3rd Rank Disciple, but preferably 5th. Brothers must have Gator Armour or better, the remaining Armour Iron. All attempts should be made to obtain Shadow Swords with Poison for this event together with the ability to use Rattler Darts (Missile 5) and heavy Offensive and Defensive Spells (Lightning, Battle Slowness/Dexterity, Enchant Weapon, etc). The Holy Crusade will seek out and destroy Void. The tactics will be relatively simple, head towards an enemy Temple and Loot it, killing everything in the way (which will be reasonably easy for Brothers who've achieved the above).

So the timescale would look something like this. Finish these Missions in say 10 Turns if possible. Finish with this area in a further 15 Turns if possible. We should be able to travel to both Temples at (154,-67) and (182,-67) Rebuilding them within another 10-12 Turns. The Holy Crusade and other things will take around 30 Turns. We should be ready to go over The Crystal Hills in force in about 70 Turns time (two years).

This a rough plan at the moment - if you have any thoughts, modifications or other ideas then let me know. It's IMPERATIVE that we find a Thermadon Rex - keep an eye out and let me know if you see one.

Two Posts are presently up for grabs (The Speaker and The Scout). If you want either you must be prepared to work hard. Write to me if interested.

If you need Initiating wait until you arrive at your Site where Brothers will be able to conveniently do it. Unless you can rendevouz with someone beforehand.

If you want to write a Message, Trade or anything else then I'll put it in BCG21. I can only provide the means - it's up to you to use it! I have sorted out both items I advertised for last time! Luck...?

Some of you asked about my Stats?! Hmmm. My technique is to sacrifice Muscle and Creatures Killed (initially) for Weapon Skill. Turn 75, Toughness 193, Muscle 195, Badness 132, Stealth 27, Monsterliness 1126, Blurbs 233. With a Tarzan Yell!? 207 Creatures, 27 Monsters, 27 Offense, 16 Defense and 4 Tricks. I've Missile 4, Bashing 5, Pointed 4, Edged 3, Pole 3 and Whip 3. I use a Spiked Club, Iron Dagger, Silver Spear and Dactyl Whip - though I pick up a Smite Pike and Long Sword soon, as Edged/Pole 4 are nigh. Gator and Iron Armour (AC31). Justification? Competence in all Weapon Classes means effective killing thus taking less damage. Together with good Armour I reckon my Kill Rate is better in the long run. Muscle can wait! GTG.