|
|
Early in WWII, it became clear that the highly successful Blitzkrieg tactics needed to be supplemented by the use of highly mobile, elite troops proficient in the use of all weapons, stealth, explosives, and all forms of vehicle. Leutnant Kooldawg, who was serving with the SS Clan unit at that time, developed the idea of a small unit of airborne troops, capable of being parachuted into any terrain, anywhere on the globe.
Knowing that the SS Clan could not assemble a group with the characteristics and ethics he was seeking, Kool proposed building the unit from scratch. Fallschirmjägers were what he needed, and he knew that he couldn't find them in the usual places. So he scoured the gaols, brothels gutters and slums of the major cities in the world, to find a group of soldiers who were looking for something more from their lives than could be provided by simple military life in the other units that provided a place for such people to congregate.
Kool figured that if he called the unit a Division, it would fool the enemy into thinking they were a much bigger unit than in reality, and deception was a major card to be played by this unit. So was born the idea of the 1st Fallschirmjäger Division. It would have the punch of a Division, with heavy firepower, skill and the ability to move quickly to any battlefield on the globe.
Kooldawg reckoned that to achieve a unit with the characteristics he wanted, he needed to scour the world. He advertised widely, and sent out talent scouts to find out who was about that might be interested in joining a new unit.
Fips4Fun was Kool's trusty 2IC in the early days, and helped Kool set up the unit and assisted with his extensive recruiting exploits, both with considerable success. In response to the recruiting drive, Kool and Fips dredged up Drozdov, Boself, Ola, Hirsch, Winters, Bruce, Hellfish, Bullettrain, dTekt, Yeo Thomas (now Rage) and §tratocaster in pretty quick time out of the low-life haunts of the world.
Fudge and Target, who were in their own small elite unit, the Zinc Clan, saw the potential of this motley group, and decided to merge their clan into the 1FJD. Others joined shortly afterwards, so that within months the group had grown to the order of 20 members. Professor Spatula, Matty the Welshman, Weepete, Bigfoot, Undercoverman and Coolkidrock brought their own special talents when they joined the group early in the piece. DavidS, pDaisy, Surt, and Gormath joined shortly after. Edelweis joined but went AWOL shortly afterwards, having only made a very brief appearance. Fips4Fun transferred out of the Division for personal reasons, having made a great contribution to its early development. Shiva was a more recent recruiting coup after his unit disbanded and left him as the lone member.
Kooldawg selected his final Command Team carefully, with Drozdov as his 2IC after Fips left, and Ola, Fudge and Boself as the Regimental Commanders. Knowing the importance of flexibility, the regimental structure was kept fluid to make sure that specialist teams for the job in hand could be selected from the entire Division at a moments notice.
With the exception of the retirement of Prof Spatula, the membership remained relatively stable for a time, and then a spate of recruiting saw Martijn, Pyle, Blue and Creeping Death join in quick succession.
Since then, more members joined and left from time to time, such as Prinz Dan, Columbo and Constantine, but the original core group, with the exception of Ola, who left to join the Hippos, followed by Connie and Dan, remains intact, and still includes Dan's wife Krizzy on the list.
In recent times, the group has matured and diversified its interests intoother games, and operates closely with teh Hippos, sharing use of tehir TeamSpeak server.
Since its initial formation, several members have been lost or are missing in action, leaving a hardened and dedicated core of members who have become good friends as well as comrades-in-arms. The Division is still prepared to consider applications from anyone who wants to join, and can show the traits that make the Community such a desirable group to be part of.
EQUIPMENT
A major problem for the group becoming effective in its early days was the availability of essential facilities and equipment, not the least being training facilities. However, between Target and Fudge, they were able to provide some training areas on occasions that helped the group work more closely together. Most of the time, training was undertaken through members merging into battles with other general units, and trying to work together in a supportive way that would resemble the group's real actions when it came to special unit based missions.
However, the real missing element was a communications system that worked effectively. Morse units were made available by the High Command, together with some crystal set radios, that barely worked, and required more resources than was worth dedicating to them. The Morse units were clumsy and difficult to use in the height of battle, and needed care to ensure the enemy did not listen in. It was clear that the enemy units with the most modern radio equipment were difficult to tackle without similar communications equipment.
Finally Target was able to pilfer a set of modern radios, and the group began a new era of success, but not without some trauma as not everyone was able to equip themselves with the two way facilities in the early stages. These members had a listening capability, but had to talk using the old Morse system.
The Division also set up a major notice posting board available to the general public, as a means of promoting the group, and providing a base for seeking new membership. The board also had a secret compartment where clandestine messages could be passed between members while maintaining radio silence. The board proved popular, and the number of postings has been enormous, with some most enjoyable stuff being put on there. It also provided an opportunity for the Division to squabble amongst ourselves, and slag off other clans in private.
An important weapon in the 1FJD arsenal is use of timed TNT explosives used on missions in North Africa and beyond the Arctic Circle. However, an effective remote alternative demolition weapon for use against fuel tanks is half a clip of bren gun ammunition. While the chatter of the bren always seems to draw an unwelcome crowd, its effect on a farm of fuel tanks at a remote enemy airfield in North Africa has been particularly spectacular, as well as devastating.
An important step forward was the purchase of a reasonably large country by the Division, in which the members have been able to develop and promote warfare based on the ideals and ethics of the Community - like having fun, no abuse of players, no glitchers, and other offensive behaviour that detracts from the pleasure of the serious players. We hope to set an example to the others in the HD community that host countries for battles, that this game can offer a lot if played within its intent - which is mainly about having fun.
EARLY MISSIONS
The Division embarked on several missions of varying success early in the piece as they became used to each other, and to the varying skills that each brought to the group. An abortive foray against the Triple D was the first real test, abandoned because most of the opposition didn't turn up, and those that tried to turned the battlefield into a gluggy mess.
A major battle that brought home to the group the need for better organisation and communications was the skirmish with the Use The Bazooka [=UTB=]Clan. With relatively little training under their belts, but with good teamwork and cooperation the small group of 1FJD involved was able to hold the line against a larger force of seasoned troops.
CLANBASE
After some discussion the Clan joined ClanBase on 12 December 2004 to allow participation in the most critical battles of the war. It allowed the Division to test itself against the best, well the rest anyway. Our first official ClanBase Ladder battle was held against the Czech Legion Clan (ºººCLCººº) on 19 December 2004. The match report can be viewed on our Battle Log page, along with information on subsequent battles.
The clan's early endeavours met with little success, mainly though lack of training, and very poor comms in the early matches. Things improved when modern communication equipment was obtained, and work was done on developing a set of tactics to be employed in various situations. The Division, however, excelled in objective based missions, rather than out and out confrontational battles and has been, at least to the time of writing, virtually unbeatable at this form of warfare. As proof of this, the Divison ran second, by a whisker in the spelTV 2004/05 Objectives League.
|
|
