Welcome Comrades to the 39th edition of the Dispatch
Our interviewee this week is
saxitoxin , a very special Conquer Club hero. Special not for his gameplay or for mod-ing or for any of the conventional reasons but for his contributions to the forums, especially to off-topics. In our interview he shows his charm, compassion and wit and above all shares with us from his vast fund of life experience. Read on for his rib-tickling adventures in the penguin enclosure at Luanda Zoo.
laughingcavalier -
Newsletter Executive If you would like to apply to join the news team, please visit the thread below for more details!
Click here for Recruitment Details... Apologies for the lack of content in this edition's freestyle news. There will be no community opinion this edition. InsomniaRed opted to let the issue die out on its own rather than relighting any fires, due to a few harassing PMs, a few serious PMs, and her own judgement. However, we hope to make up for it with the long awaited interrogation from saxitoxin and also the return of the cook! Want to write for the dispatch or perhaps an article on an issue you feel is very important to you on this website? Drop me a PM and if your article is good we will publish it! Stay tuned for the following edition which will have a christmas theme to it in time for Conquer Club's fifth anniversary and a very special interrogation
nagerous Click image to enlarge. show: Interrogation of saxitoxin
Q. Is that you on your avatar?
Q. What am I to do in the event of a Sax Attack?
Q. We all know you're an international man of science, which of your many research expeditions would you say is your favorite?
The Lancet . Or LiveJournal. One of those two. Do you have a facebook account?
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saxi-Toxi ... 5912011502 . Have you ever visited live chat? Have you ever violated live chat?
Which game is better - Enders or The Hunger?
Who would you rather mud wrestle with, Stalin or Lenin?
What do you think Trotsky's big mistake that lead to his ouster was? And as a follow-up how would the world wide revolution have been different had Trotsky taken over after Lenin's death?
JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
*trapped in the body of a 74 year-old German immigrant living in a gated community in Santa Barbara How do you think History would be different if Germany had won the first world war?
What were the happiest times of your life?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE9sQEw0W4s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kk1cyfnEjg . Describe your earliest memory
Is 42 really the answer, and if so. Why?
Y tu mama tambien (if the main characters had been a pair of arthritic, 70-something Germans, as opposed to a pair of horny Mexican high schoolers). On a scale of one to nine-thousand, how honestly are you answering these questions (on average) ?
Do you think you're next forum ban will be self-determined or from the higher ups?
Let ’s c eleb rate! What public-serving roles have you undertaken on Conquer Club? I'm familiar with your 'Unofficial CC Happiness Ombudsman' --- but I know I'm missing a few others. Could you also describe these roles for the uninformed?
Who's your favourite historical figure?
Which model will be your next iPhone?
Saxi,Saxy or Saxie?
If I kicked you in the shins, how would you respond?
Whose Avatar is or was your favorite?
Who is responsible for global warming?
Why does someone die every second of every day?
Was Obama really a good choice of president?
* 5 for Gloria LaRiva, 2 for Ralph Nader and 1 for Obama (and that one was just because Kanye West was offering a free MP3 download) Why are you being interviewed?
not be willing Why do we exist?
FU NZ ER S! If you could only use emoticons to answer this question, which emoticons would you use?
*Take away ol’ Saxi’s Discover card before you let him anywhere near a Crate & Barrel! SRSLY - LOL! Who is your favourite member of Team CC?
Do you have a life outside of CC?
What's your FAV colour, Saxi?
Could you please define love for me?
Thanks for your questions!
amazzony looks at some of the tourneys that are worth joining this week, and
jrh_cardinal takes a look at speed tournaments.
Join This? Or Not! by amazzony show: JOIN THIS - OR NOT
"Join This? Or Not!" is an unprofessional, biased and subjective view on Create/Join a Tournament forums and which great (or not so great) tournaments can be found in there. Vampires VS Werewolves 2: Soviet Union (TPA) by jpcloet who brings us an interesting concept where you are turned into a werewolf, vampire or a (boring) human.barterer2002 's tournament: History of the World Part II Europe mcshanester29 offers also something rare to join - a freestyle terminator - MC's The Terminator's Revenge jakewilliams gives you be a chance of Don of CC The Speed League - Season 4 - Wednesday Evenings which is run by DJ Teflon and HighlanderAttack .
Speed tournaments by jrh_cardinal show: Speed Tournaments
Speed tournaments are a quickly expanding way to enjoy Conquer Club tournaments. The founder of speed tournaments, DJ Teflon , has run more than a dozen speed tournaments, beginning with the first Speed League , a tournament run without official tournament privileges, through Callouts. When asked what gave him the idea of running a speed tournament, he said "As I enjoy both speed games and tournaments it seemed like a wicked idea to put the two together - maximum fun and adrenaline rush, especially for those of us too impatient to play out full-length big tournaments and long casual games. " He has continued his speed tournament organizing, and is currently running his fourth Speed League , with the help of HighlanderAttack . Weekly Speed along with helping with the Speed League 4. I asked HighlanderAttack why speed tournaments are gaining such popularity. They're the same idea as casual tournaments, except players are forced to be online for several hours nonstop. He said "Speed tourneys are real time--you play the entire game/tourney in one block of time. I compare it to other tourneys like darts, foosball, and pool where you go out for a night and play in a tourney and it is over that same night. "There will be more tournaments in the New Year, of various formats, so there should be something to suit all speed players... Eventually, I am hoping we can get enough speed tournaments running to merit having a Calendar of Events... " The future appears to be very bright for anyone interested in speed tournaments.If you are interested in running a speed tournament, please contact DJ Teflon , the Tournament Director in charge of speed tournaments.
In this issue we have a new History 101 highlighting the military history of the Unites States of America. To keep with that theme we are featuring California as our Map Spotlight and Sully's Old School for the Quenched sets its sights on USApocalypse. I would also like to thank
natty_dread for the great job he did as the Foundry Executive in charge of the newsletter foundry team. I only hope that I can live up to those that have gone before me --
dolomite13 Latest News FFF Holiday Contest Still Open MrBenn is still on the lookout for entries to the
Festive Foundry Fun contest. Medals have already gone out to those who have submitted their own cheery little logos... but
MrBenn wants more! So anyone with toy soldiers, mincemeat pies, or other holiday icons from your corner of peaceful Earth, share your logo and gain a chance to win a contest medal.=120]
Map Surveyors Want to follow the pulse of Conquer Club's Map Foundry?
Join this usergroup and receive notifications when new maps are at key stages of development, and receive advance notifications of Foundry contests or official Foundry projects.
Maps Review On the Move show
Celtic Nations Goes Bragh... er, Beta The Bison King , creator of Thysenal, has followed up with one of CC's more elegant maps. Celtic Nations is simple- yet full of strategic possibility- and is sure to be a favorite among fans of small-map play. Thematically centered around the fierce warriors of ancient times, the map covers the lands of modern-day Ireland, Great Britain and northern France. So don your kilt and brush up on your Gaelic, for great deeds await in the battles to come! Stalingrad Fires Out of Beta cairnswk 's intricate depiction of one of the most grim battles in World War II history has been quenched. Stalingrad is a must-play for lovers of deep strategy, and will doubtless become a 'specialty map' among the higher ranks. Congratulations cairnswk !
On the Horizon show
Just to give our readers a sneak peek at the near future, here's a list of maps in the Final Forge that are close to live play: South Africa 1885 South Africa 1885 is one of Industrial Helix 's excellent historical maps that depict the turbulent region when British Imperial troops and other interested parties were threatening tribal lands. Inspired by The Bison King's watercolor graphics, the map is painted in a similar style. The XML appears complete, and is awaiting a final approval before submission for Beta.Clandemonium Blitzaholic and mapmaking guru Kabanellas that depicts CC's own clans vying for mastery over each other's turf in a mystical land. Featuring excellent graphics, and input from many clan members, Clandemonium is currently awaiting some final touches on the XML code.The King's Court The King's Court is an intense map of feudal empire-building from Foundry mainstays Kabanellas and chipv . Done in a graphical style reminiscent of Clandemonium (see above) but with added gameplay elements of intrigue and production lines. The map was recently moved to the Final Forge, but has much of the XML already in place and so should be moving to Beta faster than usual.The Balkan Peninsula ZeakCytho and Foundry Foreman MrBenn are working hard to give CC another corner of the world to conquer. The Balkan Peninsula portrays modern-day nations in muted tones that make it very easy on the eyes. Currently, the map is undergoing some very minor graphical tweaks and the XML is under construction.Feel free to stroll into these threads and give your input, all comments are welcome! In order to receive regular updates about maps going through the foundry subscribe to the Map Surveyors , a usergroup open to anyone in the CC community.
Map Spotlight: California show
Sully: Aha! The tables have turned, eh, Bison? Tell us a bit about yourself.The Bison King: Indeed they have. I'm a 23 year old dude who lives in Cincinnati Ohio. My 2 favorite things are Cartoons and Cartography. Both of these I appreciate and create myself.Sully: This is your third map to date, correct? What style do you present with your maps?The Bison King: Correct. I present a hand done kind style, which hopefully brings a kind of warmth to the maps that I think Computer graphics leave out. Granted Computers are a large part of the process but it always starts on paper. I'm trying to develop a consistency in my work. Some people on the forums have been of the opinion that they'd like to see me branch out and try a new style, but it's sort of my philosophy that there are enough maps out there that don't look like I did them, and if people want to see more like that, I'll leave it to someone else.Sully: There are 50 states in the whole of the USA, so why California?The Bison King: Because I'm in love. As a fellow Ohioan I'm sure you can sympathize when I say it becomes easy to romanticize about other states. I have family over there so I've been there a lot. It's my hope to move there in a few years. I know that seems like a bit of a cliche, but when you're trying to find work in the animation industry it actually makes a lot of sense.Sully: What features are you excited to bring to the table with this map?The Bison King: Really this map is pretty straight forward. It has the whole City implement but that's not really something new as far as CC maps go. I think this map is going to have a slower pace to it than some of my other maps. What I mean is that this one has less Bonuses with larger territory counts. Especially when compared to Thyseneal Which is riddled with bonuses all over. Celtic Nations is sort of in it's own little world since it's so small. On this map players should have to work harder to steak their claims early on.Sully: Do you have any more ideas for the Foundry you'd like to pursue?The Bison King: Yes I do. A lot actually. It's hard because I'm starting to burn out but I have so many more idea's that I want to do. The hardest part is getting psyched up enough to actually start the map. Once you have it it's kind of like "we'll here it is, I'm not going to quite now". Once I get that first stamp I sort of feel a responsibility to finish it. It's a pain though. I won't lie the whole process can become very tiring.
Inside the Foundry History 101: The Military History of the United States of America (1620-1865) show
Trying to chronicle the full history of the United States would be a grand undertaking indeed. So I have decided to focus on the military history of the United States and I will be presenting it in several installments.Overview Colonial wars (1620–1774) The Thirteen American Colonies by
Industrial Helix Set during the American War of Independence, this map features the 13 American Colonies with the borders as they were in 1776. The map features no regional bonuses, but rewards players for holding a number of the 13 colonies. The map also contains killer neutral Indian routes and British and French ships to link distant territories. The ships also provide a bonus in conjunction with other colonies. War of Independence (1775–1783) Napoleonic Europe 1812 by
Kabanellas The idea was to recreate Europe by the time of Napoleon, in 1812 precisely. Europe by that time offers a multitude of political and social idiosyncrasies holding all the right ingredients for a map that could be both interesting in terms of game-play and at the same time respect carefully all historical facts. Early national period (1783–1815) Continental expansion (1816–1860) American Civil War by
Elijah S A graphic depiction of 1861, the onset of the war between the United States and Confederate States of America. American Civil War (1861–1865)
Sully's Old School for the Quenched show
Old School Honor Roll: USApocalypse Breaking it down Old School: Koganosi: The map is really cool. Did a nuke tournament on it with a partner. Lots of funEddy_26: i like the radiation nexus idea, i think it opens up a lot of extra options and strategy ideas. I think it's a reasonably balanced map when it comes to larger games, however doubles and 1vs1 can often be landslide victories.mcshanester29: I like the fact that the radiation effects can be negative unless you get four of them.jeraado: Starting with a 2 troop deploy is a big difference, and it means that you have to choose whether to focus on nuke territories, lose the territory, or accept the penalty.
Cup finals are under way, the League is shaking out and our very own pirate muses on clan leaders.
State of Play by laughingcavalier (TSM) show
Clan League Season 3 Division A Division B Lubawski (Empire) wrote: What I'm most proud of our guys for is the team mentality. No one is ever concerned about their own stats or how many games they are in. Everyone is rooting for the team at all times.
Division C VampireM (IA) wrote: We are very proud of each member in our clan and we try our best to give everyone an even amount of games. We have also done very well recruiting players that are known for their single plays but are having great success playing in team games. With that being said IA is a game conscious clan, we focus on one clan event at a time. Whether that be the clan league, clan war or CCup we want to have all our focus on that one event so we are playing at our top of our game. IA is the death you never saw coming.
lokisgal (IA) wrote: We walk softly and carry a big stick.
andy_is_awesome, Namor, Eyestone, Nicky15 (AoC) wrote: We at AoC are very pleased with our fast start. We know that our division is a tough one. Nemesis and FOED are excellent clans who have proven their talent by their showings in wars this past year. The fact that we have done so well against them in the league is evidence that our current organization and preparation is working.
We are hoping to step up our game, and put in a good show against IA. If we can manage that and Nemesis perform well against them also, then who knows, we could just grab the top spot (well we ARE dreamers
). To do so would be a great accomplishment for us. We have worked hard this year and have expectations of being regarded as a top 10 clan... and a deep run into the playoffs will go a long way towards earning us that honour.
Division D skillfull (TSM) wrote: Well, we started very well in the first 2 weeks but it seems that we are losing ground in the next 2 weeks. In my opinion the fight vs KORT will show the winner of the division. Monkis are ready to finish first in the Division D.
Conqueror's Cup C.C. Finals THOTA vs. KoRT [0-0] -- Pregame Chatter Chuuuuck pointing out that everyone had signed up to the rule and that TOFU had been particularly keen that rules should be clearly established before the competition began. TOFU might claim they are the moral victors, winning more actual games played, but the official scoreline sees KORT take the challenge and proceed to the final. Incandenza says it’s time to leave behind the bitterness of recent weeks and concentrate on the future. THOTA find themselves in the unusual position of having a mass of clannies cheering for them, but can KORT be the clan who finally unseats them?
All Friends Again, It's Only a Game by laughingcavalier show
We wish to apologise for a few minor inaccuracies which slipped into the last issue. Turkeys Vote Against Christmas Shock Horror was a misprint for All Friends Again, It’s Only a Game
RUM RANTS: Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? by bogangod (BotFM) show
Greetings from the pirate news desk aka wherever I'm perched swaying to the roll of the ship gulping rum (sipping is for pussies).Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?
Stay Tuned for the next Christmas issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for a special one-off fifth anniversary private interrogation of
lackattack .
We'll be back to our roster of open interviews in the New Year.
Submitting Your Own Articles If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to
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