Dec 18th 2013, 5:06:45
I found this in the CWG ghq site. This is the History of CWG as written by Banks, Founder and Original Ringmaster:
I stopped over a friends house one night in summer of '97 to meet some of his relatives from Southern Cal. Chatting and having a beer, we were talking about computer games and the fact that we played Doom quite a bit. The subject of board games came up (Risk, Stratego) and the question was asked if a game similar to it existed. At that time, Bill's brother in-law mentioned the game E2025 on the net. We went onto other topics and ended the night.
Two weeks later, my friend Bill joins the game and tells me all about it. I look up the URL, read up on the game and decided to try it. I joined a random game and started building my country, with no clue as to what I was doing. LOL! I remember my 1st landgrab. I was nervous as hell and not sure what to expect. It took me 30 minutes to hit the attack button. The next day, I was retaliated on about 7 times. I spent the rest of the reset hitting the explore button. The next reset came; I joined again and hooked up with some dude running a country called Slow Southern Crawl. We talked through in-game messaging and he taught me how to play the game. What to build, how to grab, the whole bit. That reset, in a game of 700 people, I managed to finish at rank 8.
I joined in on the following reset, but my friend wasn't around. I played in the same method. (At that time, It was researching and selling on the market). That reset, I didn't do so well; I finished in the 100's. I was grabbed a lot and didn't have decent allies. I found myself getting mad at not being able to make headway from all the attacks. I would grab 300 and lose 600 like clockwork. Then, the next reset set my tone. I get a grab from someone running a country called InSoMnIa, and he sent me a message that I will never forget "Thanks for the land punk! You suck. Don't think of retaliating because I will destroy you". Bingo, there was the hook! I was challenged. I didn't respond to his message. I started reading the government types and what their advantages were and found (at that time) a tyranny was the government of choice for fighting. I quickly changed my Demo country to a Tyranny and watched my NW plummet. I thought "What a dumbass" but started rebuilding myself. I managed to convert all my land to food and Industry. I started producing jets and spies only. It took me 3 weeks of building and selling but I managed to get myself to 3 million jets and over 300,000 spies in a country that was in the 300's with around 4,000 acres. The whole time, I was watching this guy and where he was in the game. He was not too far above me, maybe 100 ranks at the most. I took a chance and did a spy op on him one day and got through. I copied his Intel and started saving turns. Comparing his Intel to mine, I had him beat with my spies but he had a lot more jets than I did. Well, the next day goes by and I realize, "It's my jets against his turrets on a bomb run!" Duh! So I save up turns till I had 75. The night came (Sunday night) and I did another spy op and found that he had grown, but I still outnumbered his turrets. I sold all of my tanks and troops on the private market for the cash so I could sustain my turns and started bombing runs on him. I spent every turn I had on him with bombing runs and just ruined his playground. The next night, I logged into my country to find that he did not retaliate on me. I was surprised as hell. I did another spy op and found he was trying to rebuild what he lost. So with my 30 turns, I did it again. Retal's came in the next day as missiles but I noticed my jets were still there. I sold tech the day before so I had cash, and started attacking again. This went on until the 2nd to last week of the reset, where I managed to kill him. And then, I send my message "Sorry about all those attacks. The attack button jammed up on me." It was so satisfying to fight someone and win. At that point, I didn't care about winning the game, I just hoped someone would challenge me to a fight.
The following reset, I played again but went back to my demo strat, hoping I would get into a fight. If I didn't, then I wouldn't have to convert and I could net gain all reset. I managed to get to rank 25 when I landgrabbed this country called Mansouria. I wound up becoming allies and later friends with this guy. We would torment people that attacked us and had fun doing it. No one was safe from us if we were taken advantage of. He and I managed to team up for two more resets carrying on in the same fashion.
My last reset in Random was the same as the previous ones, except, we found a country that we could not break. After weeks of crossfire, the reset ended and the person running that country invited me to join in the "A" game and play under the protection of SOL. Not knowing anything about it other than if you were a die-hard, it was the game to be in, I got ICQ under his recommendation and was able to contact the Co-Leader of SOL (Piston). I'll never forget that day, I was being civil and professional when I requested membership because it was my 1st time using ICQ and I didn't know what to expect from the person at the other end. It turns out that he was a kid and had one wicked attitude.
My first reset in SOL was exciting. Hehe, my 1st grab, was on Cougar (as I found out later). And at that time, I had no clue that SOL was a part of UCN so I caught flak for attacking an ally. I made amends and went on my merry way. We got into a war (don't remember with who) and I lost my country. I started back up and was just coming out of protection when the reset ended. The next day, I met Mike the leader of SOL. He and I hit it off pretty well, and he asked me to play another round in SOL. So I did. I met Wing and was soon on the spy team. I played the whole reset as a spy and learned how to build and operate a spy country.
The next reset I did well, I kept my country in the top 50 for most of the reset and started getting the feel for informal alliances and how it all worked. I understood how SOL operated and what I could and could not do. At that point, I was your average member that had a pretty good understanding of the world of 1A. And, my ICQ list was growing pretty rapidly. Then, one day, I get a message from our Sec. of War (Les) saying that we are going to war with an alliance called HAN, so be prepared. I was ecstatic. I finally got to do what I loved to do, and that was to destroy. Although there were some internal problems going on in SOL, I managed to stick to the plan and due my duty. I also convinced my friend "Mansouria" from the random games to join SOL and 1A. LOL! I'll never forget it; he joined and just started his country and was pissed that he couldn't attack anyone yet. Man, those nights of listening to him fluff were classics. Oh, I should introduce him, that person was Al-Man.
I watched Les and his ways and soon picked up on the concept that there was a method to this thing called war in 1A. We won that war and in the process, Les and I became good friends.
The next reset found some people leaving SOL, Les taking the seat as Alliance leader, and I found myself leading the spy team. We had a pretty good group of people and we did our job well, but, something was missing, I wasn't fighting. I was gathering Intel and doing destructive spy OP's. I wanted to fight. I wanted to grab someone for hitting me and take more than he took from me. I wanted to war. So, with that, I turned the spy team over to someone else (cant remember the name), and started running a team.
It was pretty cool at that time in SOL. I became good friends with a lot of people in SOL and so did Al-man. Al found himself doing diplomatic relations and negotiating with other alliances. He was good at it. Brad (Cosmic) was our Sec. of War and was a nut for war strats and retals. He was a busy guy LOL! And there were about 9 teams in SOL by then, all competing to be the best. We didn't have any wars that reset, but we did get into a couple scuffles here and there. At that time, there were 5 of us on a team and we had labeled ourselves as the Bash Brothers.
The next reset brought upon a revelation. I got to run a team again, and was dealt members that I didn't know. After talking to them all on ICQ, I got to be friends with them all and noticed we shared the same thoughts. We all loved to fight. Finally, I was with a group of people who all wanted the same as me, blood and destruction. And the funny part of it all, we were all jokers. Always laughing it up, having a good time on ICQ, and staying online to wee hours of the morning. But, we still didn't have a name for our team. Sitting in an ICQ chat one night, Mike made a statement "You guys are a bunch of f'in clowns" And there it was, staring me right in the face.... Our team name, Clowns with Guns. I soon made up the pages that would become our team site complete with stats, targets, "leftovers" and a plethora of useless garbage that kept everyone laughing. We even had a picture of the Memphis Bell with a "No Bozo" sticker for every kill we made. At that time, that was the challenge between all teams; to see who could get the most kills. We grew close as a team that reset and built a bond that was uncontested. We took on any and all challenges and did well. And I'll never forget the nasty grams we would send after each attack. I swear it helped diffuse the enemy in counter-attacking because of all the reading he was doing.
The following reset, A guy by the name of Disco had assumed the position of Sec. of War as Brad left the game. SOL was having some problems with an alliance called RD. I had heard through people that they were the premier fighters of the game. Bingo... another challenge. I spent 3 weeks gathering as much information on RD as I could. I thought out a way of taking them down to their knees and presented it to Disco. He was sold. So, 3 nights later, after all the clowns had maximum turns, CWG dealt RD a crippling blow. That soon started a wave effect and soon, all of SOL was attacking RD. 3 weeks later, the war was over, and RD and their multies were dead. Finally, CWG received the blood and gore they so desperately longed for.
The following reset, the team stayed together and even added a few members. Disco left the alliance and I found myself in the Sec. of War seat. I turned the team over to my Co-Leader Wanderer and began the duties of Sec. of War. Although I had a decent plan in place in case of war, it was never used to its potential as that reset only saw a few skirmishes. But during that reset and all its peaceful days, I saw the team I loved so much get antsy. Nothing was going on and it was unacceptable to start something as most of SOL was on the path of peace and net gaining. I had to do something to keep the team alive. It was at that point; I approached Les and presented my idea of pulling CWG out of SOL and into the world of 1A as a fighting alliance solely at SOL's disposal. This would allow us to do what we loved to do while SOL was at peace, but still allowed SOL the use of a fighting team whenever they needed. Les frowned on the idea. I was torn. I didn't know what to do. On one hand, I had a deep respect and a solid friendship with Les. On the other hand, I had a team I was proud of and I was watching them grow tired. So I did the unconceivable. I let them go on their own to start up without me. I decided to stay in SOL and remain the Sec. of War. Out of respect to me, the members left the name Clowns with Guns to me and formed another alliance until I severed myself from SOL. That alliance was called Order of Druids. That whole reset, I did my duty and sorely missed being with my team. So, the decision was made, this reset would be my last with SOL. At that time, I became friends with a guy named Valator and soon made it so he was the Assistant Sec. of War, soon to be Sec. of War. The guy was phenomenal at developing war tactics, more so than me which, in my mind, is still true today. (For all you vet's that always heard me talking about getting Valator to join CWG, you now know why.
During the course of the reset, Deitylord was leading OD and he appeared to be having the time of his life leading an alliance. The end of the reset came and seeing how well OD was doing and that Deitylord and the guys were having a great time, I couldn't bring myself to taking it away from him or the members. I had met Gramberto along the way and somehow, found myself joining LaF.
That whole reset with LaF was spent on a fighting team. I met some new friends and had a great time. It was interesting to read the net gaining strategies. Hehe, to think the time they put into figuring out how to make a top ten country still blows my mind. But it was interesting to learn, even though it wasn't for me. But as I said, I had a great time in LaF. A lot of memories were made there, but the whole time, I was watching OD and missing what I had.
OD started to fall apart for reasons unknown to me to this day. When that started to happen, I was afraid that the guys would not stay together. So, I made a move. I talked to one of the best guys I met in LaF (Ghost) and got him to go along with me in starting up CWG again. Viper agreed with my idea and helped me out by letting some of the fighters of LaF join me as the premier fighting team of LaF while helping me back on my feet. It started out pretty much uneventful but it was fun. Ghost and I could speak our mind without the repercussions from LaF, and Viper had a team at his disposal to protect LaF's interests.
While all this was going on, Deitylord had given me access to OD to see what was going on and to be a part of the group. The 1st person I met was Dirty Dog, followed by Diamonddog, Vaneken, and a host of others. Shortly after, people started leaving OD and it was soon disbanded. I quickly got in touch with all the old members of CWG as well as Dirty Dog and Diamonddog to see if they were interested in my project. I was able to get most of the original members to rejoin as well as Dirty and Diamond. Soon, I became good friends with Diamond and Dirty and found that they were really into the CWG project. Ghost and I thought, "It's now or never" so we went for it. I told Viper that the next reset, CWG was going solo. We gained Vipers support and all the LaF fighters went back to LaF. So there we were, 12 guys sitting in a world of alliances that had 100's of members.
Our 1st reset was scary. We didn't have any allies except LaF, SOL and a NAP with TIE. Neither one of them seemed interested in war. We quickly organized ourselves and began building our countries as if we were going to war. Then it happens. Something goes down with FOE and they find themselves outnumbered. After looking at the situation, we see that they are being taken advantage of and by one of our allies. (Now remember, we were not allied to FOE in any way) So what did we do? Right on the spot, cancelled our pact with TIE and began attacking them in defense of FOE. That stirred a lot of controversy, but it also set a precedence that CWG was a fighting alliance and no matter who is at fault or what circumstances prevailed, CWG would jump right in, regardless of size and take on any and all comers. CWG began to gain some respect and recognition and soon found themselves with new friends in Rage, NLS, and MD.
The next reset, with its new friends, CWG went on a tour of duty helping out Rage, MD, and SOL. Although we were slaughtered, again, more respect was gained for the unconditional support we gave our friends. During this whole time, Ghost, Diamond, and myself were recruiting like crazy, and we managed to hit 40 members by the end of that reset. Big Dog handled the diplomacy and relations and kept an eye open for any "problems" We made amends with TIE towards the end of the reset and began our relationship as full defensive allies, which still stands today.
The following reset found CWG growing to 55 members and in a war with HAN. Although CWG was again slaughtered, we managed to drag the war out till the end of the reset. Again, it was undeniable that CWG had no concern for its countries and would tango with any alliance, big or small. That reset is about when CWG took charge of the propaganda / spam wars on AT and found that people were watching CWG. What was interesting was, most people thought CWG was just another fly-by-night alliance, that we wouldn't last. What we saw was that some people were trying to act like Clowns, so much that a group of players who called themselves SGN decided to join in on CWG's fun for a reset. We made some good friends in SGN and at that time, all you heard of was "Alliance X merges with Alliance Y" and it was a complete merger. We didn't want to do that. Not a complete merger anyway. People took pride in creating an alliance at that time and who were we to judge their capabilities? We were babies as well. So we let them hang out with us for a reset knowing they could leave at any time. That relationship became stronger than any coalition could ever be. The fact that we were not out to dominate led to friendships with a host of other alliances. It was also on this reset that Crack Brownies came into existence. I forgot how it started, but I know it originated in one of Ghost's AT posts.
The next couple of resets were building blocks for CWG as it grew to 80 members. Although the membership always seemed to fluctuate, we would steady at 80 members. Wars were had with smaller alliances, with some assistance to allies. One thing that happened during those resets is CWG found themselves with relations with most major alliances. I would like to say out of fear hehe, but that may not be the case. I think it's more of a way to divert a nuiscense. LOL!.
The CWG leaders and myself found that a lot of time was being consumed in diplomatic relations, keeping the CWG site fresh, and sustaining a high moral that we didn't have the time to plan ahead, keeping our original visions in site. By a stroke of luck, we found a member in CWG who, almost overnight, became infatuated with CWG. He started doing anything and everything possible for the alliance. By doing so, he took a lot of responsibility off our shoulders, which allowed us to focus on the direction CWG was going. Two resets went by and Ghost decided to leave the alliance to get a taste of life in another alliance, as well as hang out with some other friends. That left a leadership position open which needed to be filled. What better person to fill that than Jiggles? He brought back the comedy to CWG that seemed to be on a slight fade or was put on hold while we managed to keep CWG moving forward.
A number of resets have past since that time and we have grown a little more, gotten a little wiser, gotton our asses handed to us,and been having the time of our lives. Today, with a substantial membership base, were going back to our grass roots as a no-holds barred fighting alliance taking into consideration all the changes in game since the day's as a little ol' team in SOL.
But anyway, there you have it. That's how CWG became the alliance that it is today. I know it was long and the beginning talks about how I started playing this game. But while I was writing this, I thought it was important that you understood how the fighting aspect of CWG came into being. A lot of newer members have contributed to the success of CWG in recent resets, and I haven't forgotten you all. When this history is updated, I'm sure I will be mentioning you. As a matter of fact, you can count on it. But, to recognise the people that stick out in my mind the most for taking CWG from a 12 member team to what it is today:
Jiggles, Big Dog, Diamond, Tequila, Griff, Ghost, Arcane, Mo (the surprize of the century :o), Aplomado and Peregrine, Si (almost lost this guy!), bad carpet, KFC (my quiet but loyal friend), Fish (Jerry), Wanderer, Deitylord, Dirty Dog, Shedevildog, Crusader, Viper, Don Blubb, Piston, Mike1, Lassemaja, Les, Disco, Brad (Cosmic)...........Thank you all for making this dream come true
I stopped over a friends house one night in summer of '97 to meet some of his relatives from Southern Cal. Chatting and having a beer, we were talking about computer games and the fact that we played Doom quite a bit. The subject of board games came up (Risk, Stratego) and the question was asked if a game similar to it existed. At that time, Bill's brother in-law mentioned the game E2025 on the net. We went onto other topics and ended the night.
Two weeks later, my friend Bill joins the game and tells me all about it. I look up the URL, read up on the game and decided to try it. I joined a random game and started building my country, with no clue as to what I was doing. LOL! I remember my 1st landgrab. I was nervous as hell and not sure what to expect. It took me 30 minutes to hit the attack button. The next day, I was retaliated on about 7 times. I spent the rest of the reset hitting the explore button. The next reset came; I joined again and hooked up with some dude running a country called Slow Southern Crawl. We talked through in-game messaging and he taught me how to play the game. What to build, how to grab, the whole bit. That reset, in a game of 700 people, I managed to finish at rank 8.
I joined in on the following reset, but my friend wasn't around. I played in the same method. (At that time, It was researching and selling on the market). That reset, I didn't do so well; I finished in the 100's. I was grabbed a lot and didn't have decent allies. I found myself getting mad at not being able to make headway from all the attacks. I would grab 300 and lose 600 like clockwork. Then, the next reset set my tone. I get a grab from someone running a country called InSoMnIa, and he sent me a message that I will never forget "Thanks for the land punk! You suck. Don't think of retaliating because I will destroy you". Bingo, there was the hook! I was challenged. I didn't respond to his message. I started reading the government types and what their advantages were and found (at that time) a tyranny was the government of choice for fighting. I quickly changed my Demo country to a Tyranny and watched my NW plummet. I thought "What a dumbass" but started rebuilding myself. I managed to convert all my land to food and Industry. I started producing jets and spies only. It took me 3 weeks of building and selling but I managed to get myself to 3 million jets and over 300,000 spies in a country that was in the 300's with around 4,000 acres. The whole time, I was watching this guy and where he was in the game. He was not too far above me, maybe 100 ranks at the most. I took a chance and did a spy op on him one day and got through. I copied his Intel and started saving turns. Comparing his Intel to mine, I had him beat with my spies but he had a lot more jets than I did. Well, the next day goes by and I realize, "It's my jets against his turrets on a bomb run!" Duh! So I save up turns till I had 75. The night came (Sunday night) and I did another spy op and found that he had grown, but I still outnumbered his turrets. I sold all of my tanks and troops on the private market for the cash so I could sustain my turns and started bombing runs on him. I spent every turn I had on him with bombing runs and just ruined his playground. The next night, I logged into my country to find that he did not retaliate on me. I was surprised as hell. I did another spy op and found he was trying to rebuild what he lost. So with my 30 turns, I did it again. Retal's came in the next day as missiles but I noticed my jets were still there. I sold tech the day before so I had cash, and started attacking again. This went on until the 2nd to last week of the reset, where I managed to kill him. And then, I send my message "Sorry about all those attacks. The attack button jammed up on me." It was so satisfying to fight someone and win. At that point, I didn't care about winning the game, I just hoped someone would challenge me to a fight.
The following reset, I played again but went back to my demo strat, hoping I would get into a fight. If I didn't, then I wouldn't have to convert and I could net gain all reset. I managed to get to rank 25 when I landgrabbed this country called Mansouria. I wound up becoming allies and later friends with this guy. We would torment people that attacked us and had fun doing it. No one was safe from us if we were taken advantage of. He and I managed to team up for two more resets carrying on in the same fashion.
My last reset in Random was the same as the previous ones, except, we found a country that we could not break. After weeks of crossfire, the reset ended and the person running that country invited me to join in the "A" game and play under the protection of SOL. Not knowing anything about it other than if you were a die-hard, it was the game to be in, I got ICQ under his recommendation and was able to contact the Co-Leader of SOL (Piston). I'll never forget that day, I was being civil and professional when I requested membership because it was my 1st time using ICQ and I didn't know what to expect from the person at the other end. It turns out that he was a kid and had one wicked attitude.
My first reset in SOL was exciting. Hehe, my 1st grab, was on Cougar (as I found out later). And at that time, I had no clue that SOL was a part of UCN so I caught flak for attacking an ally. I made amends and went on my merry way. We got into a war (don't remember with who) and I lost my country. I started back up and was just coming out of protection when the reset ended. The next day, I met Mike the leader of SOL. He and I hit it off pretty well, and he asked me to play another round in SOL. So I did. I met Wing and was soon on the spy team. I played the whole reset as a spy and learned how to build and operate a spy country.
The next reset I did well, I kept my country in the top 50 for most of the reset and started getting the feel for informal alliances and how it all worked. I understood how SOL operated and what I could and could not do. At that point, I was your average member that had a pretty good understanding of the world of 1A. And, my ICQ list was growing pretty rapidly. Then, one day, I get a message from our Sec. of War (Les) saying that we are going to war with an alliance called HAN, so be prepared. I was ecstatic. I finally got to do what I loved to do, and that was to destroy. Although there were some internal problems going on in SOL, I managed to stick to the plan and due my duty. I also convinced my friend "Mansouria" from the random games to join SOL and 1A. LOL! I'll never forget it; he joined and just started his country and was pissed that he couldn't attack anyone yet. Man, those nights of listening to him fluff were classics. Oh, I should introduce him, that person was Al-Man.
I watched Les and his ways and soon picked up on the concept that there was a method to this thing called war in 1A. We won that war and in the process, Les and I became good friends.
The next reset found some people leaving SOL, Les taking the seat as Alliance leader, and I found myself leading the spy team. We had a pretty good group of people and we did our job well, but, something was missing, I wasn't fighting. I was gathering Intel and doing destructive spy OP's. I wanted to fight. I wanted to grab someone for hitting me and take more than he took from me. I wanted to war. So, with that, I turned the spy team over to someone else (cant remember the name), and started running a team.
It was pretty cool at that time in SOL. I became good friends with a lot of people in SOL and so did Al-man. Al found himself doing diplomatic relations and negotiating with other alliances. He was good at it. Brad (Cosmic) was our Sec. of War and was a nut for war strats and retals. He was a busy guy LOL! And there were about 9 teams in SOL by then, all competing to be the best. We didn't have any wars that reset, but we did get into a couple scuffles here and there. At that time, there were 5 of us on a team and we had labeled ourselves as the Bash Brothers.
The next reset brought upon a revelation. I got to run a team again, and was dealt members that I didn't know. After talking to them all on ICQ, I got to be friends with them all and noticed we shared the same thoughts. We all loved to fight. Finally, I was with a group of people who all wanted the same as me, blood and destruction. And the funny part of it all, we were all jokers. Always laughing it up, having a good time on ICQ, and staying online to wee hours of the morning. But, we still didn't have a name for our team. Sitting in an ICQ chat one night, Mike made a statement "You guys are a bunch of f'in clowns" And there it was, staring me right in the face.... Our team name, Clowns with Guns. I soon made up the pages that would become our team site complete with stats, targets, "leftovers" and a plethora of useless garbage that kept everyone laughing. We even had a picture of the Memphis Bell with a "No Bozo" sticker for every kill we made. At that time, that was the challenge between all teams; to see who could get the most kills. We grew close as a team that reset and built a bond that was uncontested. We took on any and all challenges and did well. And I'll never forget the nasty grams we would send after each attack. I swear it helped diffuse the enemy in counter-attacking because of all the reading he was doing.
The following reset, A guy by the name of Disco had assumed the position of Sec. of War as Brad left the game. SOL was having some problems with an alliance called RD. I had heard through people that they were the premier fighters of the game. Bingo... another challenge. I spent 3 weeks gathering as much information on RD as I could. I thought out a way of taking them down to their knees and presented it to Disco. He was sold. So, 3 nights later, after all the clowns had maximum turns, CWG dealt RD a crippling blow. That soon started a wave effect and soon, all of SOL was attacking RD. 3 weeks later, the war was over, and RD and their multies were dead. Finally, CWG received the blood and gore they so desperately longed for.
The following reset, the team stayed together and even added a few members. Disco left the alliance and I found myself in the Sec. of War seat. I turned the team over to my Co-Leader Wanderer and began the duties of Sec. of War. Although I had a decent plan in place in case of war, it was never used to its potential as that reset only saw a few skirmishes. But during that reset and all its peaceful days, I saw the team I loved so much get antsy. Nothing was going on and it was unacceptable to start something as most of SOL was on the path of peace and net gaining. I had to do something to keep the team alive. It was at that point; I approached Les and presented my idea of pulling CWG out of SOL and into the world of 1A as a fighting alliance solely at SOL's disposal. This would allow us to do what we loved to do while SOL was at peace, but still allowed SOL the use of a fighting team whenever they needed. Les frowned on the idea. I was torn. I didn't know what to do. On one hand, I had a deep respect and a solid friendship with Les. On the other hand, I had a team I was proud of and I was watching them grow tired. So I did the unconceivable. I let them go on their own to start up without me. I decided to stay in SOL and remain the Sec. of War. Out of respect to me, the members left the name Clowns with Guns to me and formed another alliance until I severed myself from SOL. That alliance was called Order of Druids. That whole reset, I did my duty and sorely missed being with my team. So, the decision was made, this reset would be my last with SOL. At that time, I became friends with a guy named Valator and soon made it so he was the Assistant Sec. of War, soon to be Sec. of War. The guy was phenomenal at developing war tactics, more so than me which, in my mind, is still true today. (For all you vet's that always heard me talking about getting Valator to join CWG, you now know why.
During the course of the reset, Deitylord was leading OD and he appeared to be having the time of his life leading an alliance. The end of the reset came and seeing how well OD was doing and that Deitylord and the guys were having a great time, I couldn't bring myself to taking it away from him or the members. I had met Gramberto along the way and somehow, found myself joining LaF.
That whole reset with LaF was spent on a fighting team. I met some new friends and had a great time. It was interesting to read the net gaining strategies. Hehe, to think the time they put into figuring out how to make a top ten country still blows my mind. But it was interesting to learn, even though it wasn't for me. But as I said, I had a great time in LaF. A lot of memories were made there, but the whole time, I was watching OD and missing what I had.
OD started to fall apart for reasons unknown to me to this day. When that started to happen, I was afraid that the guys would not stay together. So, I made a move. I talked to one of the best guys I met in LaF (Ghost) and got him to go along with me in starting up CWG again. Viper agreed with my idea and helped me out by letting some of the fighters of LaF join me as the premier fighting team of LaF while helping me back on my feet. It started out pretty much uneventful but it was fun. Ghost and I could speak our mind without the repercussions from LaF, and Viper had a team at his disposal to protect LaF's interests.
While all this was going on, Deitylord had given me access to OD to see what was going on and to be a part of the group. The 1st person I met was Dirty Dog, followed by Diamonddog, Vaneken, and a host of others. Shortly after, people started leaving OD and it was soon disbanded. I quickly got in touch with all the old members of CWG as well as Dirty Dog and Diamonddog to see if they were interested in my project. I was able to get most of the original members to rejoin as well as Dirty and Diamond. Soon, I became good friends with Diamond and Dirty and found that they were really into the CWG project. Ghost and I thought, "It's now or never" so we went for it. I told Viper that the next reset, CWG was going solo. We gained Vipers support and all the LaF fighters went back to LaF. So there we were, 12 guys sitting in a world of alliances that had 100's of members.
Our 1st reset was scary. We didn't have any allies except LaF, SOL and a NAP with TIE. Neither one of them seemed interested in war. We quickly organized ourselves and began building our countries as if we were going to war. Then it happens. Something goes down with FOE and they find themselves outnumbered. After looking at the situation, we see that they are being taken advantage of and by one of our allies. (Now remember, we were not allied to FOE in any way) So what did we do? Right on the spot, cancelled our pact with TIE and began attacking them in defense of FOE. That stirred a lot of controversy, but it also set a precedence that CWG was a fighting alliance and no matter who is at fault or what circumstances prevailed, CWG would jump right in, regardless of size and take on any and all comers. CWG began to gain some respect and recognition and soon found themselves with new friends in Rage, NLS, and MD.
The next reset, with its new friends, CWG went on a tour of duty helping out Rage, MD, and SOL. Although we were slaughtered, again, more respect was gained for the unconditional support we gave our friends. During this whole time, Ghost, Diamond, and myself were recruiting like crazy, and we managed to hit 40 members by the end of that reset. Big Dog handled the diplomacy and relations and kept an eye open for any "problems" We made amends with TIE towards the end of the reset and began our relationship as full defensive allies, which still stands today.
The following reset found CWG growing to 55 members and in a war with HAN. Although CWG was again slaughtered, we managed to drag the war out till the end of the reset. Again, it was undeniable that CWG had no concern for its countries and would tango with any alliance, big or small. That reset is about when CWG took charge of the propaganda / spam wars on AT and found that people were watching CWG. What was interesting was, most people thought CWG was just another fly-by-night alliance, that we wouldn't last. What we saw was that some people were trying to act like Clowns, so much that a group of players who called themselves SGN decided to join in on CWG's fun for a reset. We made some good friends in SGN and at that time, all you heard of was "Alliance X merges with Alliance Y" and it was a complete merger. We didn't want to do that. Not a complete merger anyway. People took pride in creating an alliance at that time and who were we to judge their capabilities? We were babies as well. So we let them hang out with us for a reset knowing they could leave at any time. That relationship became stronger than any coalition could ever be. The fact that we were not out to dominate led to friendships with a host of other alliances. It was also on this reset that Crack Brownies came into existence. I forgot how it started, but I know it originated in one of Ghost's AT posts.
The next couple of resets were building blocks for CWG as it grew to 80 members. Although the membership always seemed to fluctuate, we would steady at 80 members. Wars were had with smaller alliances, with some assistance to allies. One thing that happened during those resets is CWG found themselves with relations with most major alliances. I would like to say out of fear hehe, but that may not be the case. I think it's more of a way to divert a nuiscense. LOL!.
The CWG leaders and myself found that a lot of time was being consumed in diplomatic relations, keeping the CWG site fresh, and sustaining a high moral that we didn't have the time to plan ahead, keeping our original visions in site. By a stroke of luck, we found a member in CWG who, almost overnight, became infatuated with CWG. He started doing anything and everything possible for the alliance. By doing so, he took a lot of responsibility off our shoulders, which allowed us to focus on the direction CWG was going. Two resets went by and Ghost decided to leave the alliance to get a taste of life in another alliance, as well as hang out with some other friends. That left a leadership position open which needed to be filled. What better person to fill that than Jiggles? He brought back the comedy to CWG that seemed to be on a slight fade or was put on hold while we managed to keep CWG moving forward.
A number of resets have past since that time and we have grown a little more, gotten a little wiser, gotton our asses handed to us,and been having the time of our lives. Today, with a substantial membership base, were going back to our grass roots as a no-holds barred fighting alliance taking into consideration all the changes in game since the day's as a little ol' team in SOL.
But anyway, there you have it. That's how CWG became the alliance that it is today. I know it was long and the beginning talks about how I started playing this game. But while I was writing this, I thought it was important that you understood how the fighting aspect of CWG came into being. A lot of newer members have contributed to the success of CWG in recent resets, and I haven't forgotten you all. When this history is updated, I'm sure I will be mentioning you. As a matter of fact, you can count on it. But, to recognise the people that stick out in my mind the most for taking CWG from a 12 member team to what it is today:
Jiggles, Big Dog, Diamond, Tequila, Griff, Ghost, Arcane, Mo (the surprize of the century :o), Aplomado and Peregrine, Si (almost lost this guy!), bad carpet, KFC (my quiet but loyal friend), Fish (Jerry), Wanderer, Deitylord, Dirty Dog, Shedevildog, Crusader, Viper, Don Blubb, Piston, Mike1, Lassemaja, Les, Disco, Brad (Cosmic)...........Thank you all for making this dream come true
