Archive through October 26, 2021
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Company-Conventions-Stores-Ideas: About the Company:
Medals, Ribbons, and Honor Bars:
Archive through October 26, 2021
It would have counted for something at the time, but we don't dig that far back trying to find reasons for awards. Too many people did the same thing and it would be wrong to single out one person. If it's something we can reconstruct, that's one thing, if it's something that has to rely on people spontaneously self reporting unconfirmable prior acts, it's just too problematic.
We have been meaning to do this for years, and now is as good a time as any.
To get one, you just need to run a game at a convention. One star per convention, no matter how many games you run.
Only conventions, not club meetings.
Only one issued per convention to the senior game master. (In the cases of big conventions with multiple GMs running different games, we'll consider one per each, but we're not going to have a group of friends all claim a bar because they all took turns being GM as they played among themselves.)
It must be a public ticketed event not a private game. You have to have documentation of some kind from the convention showing the game, timeslot, and your name. (We will take your word for ONE prior game/convention you did before, but if you have run events at 11 Gencons you better have the programs listing you and your event for 10 of them.)
If some volunteer wants to go through every captains log listing the judges at every Rated Ace event, we'll take the list and issue the bars.
SFBOL RATs count, but only for a non-playing judge who actually RAN the event, not an honorary judge who just allowed his name to be used while no work was needed.
You can get a combat action ribbon for running demos and a GM bar for running regular games, but not both for the same event. (Not sure about the same convention, but we'll see.)
You have to actually have most of the tickets sold and the game actually played. No bar for listing and event but nobody showed up.
Yes, CL52 awards are on the wall of honor. If you are listed in CL52, you are (supposed to be) on the wall now. If your award from the CL52 list isn't on your page (sub-page) then do email me and I'll check into it. Don't post it here.
Will McCammon was awarded the Star Fleet Gold Star, the highest award we can give, for his invaluable work creating and guiding the Shapeways project.
Colonel Chuck Strong has been awarded his second Star Fleet Gold Star for his brilliant leadership of the F&E staff.
As I said at Origins more than once, that kind of performance is what happens when you put a professional military officer in charge.
Jean Sexton has been awarded the Star Fleet Distinguished Service Cross for years of invaluable service. She becomes the eighth person to receive this rare lifetime achievement award.
Thank you, SVC.
We did count up the 2017 Shapeways comments. Due to time limits we will give out ribbons for 2018 and 2019 in CL54.
Sculptors are eligible to comment on ships of another sculptor. If they take time to display the heart of a teacher about their own ship, they can earn a point.
We went through each ship and those who contributed one or more worthwhile comments on that ship got one point. The we totaled the points and looked for the biggest gaps. Those gaps defined the awards. Those with the most points got the Star ribbon, those in the next group got the cross ribbon, the next group got the diamond, those who made the fewest but still valuable comments got the blank ribbon.
We normally award one Spambot Defense Bar to each person who detected one or more spammers for each Captain's Log.
However, it has been 27 months not six months this time so we broke the reports into 2017A, 2017B, 2018A, 2018B, and 2019A.
I don't know but it's entirely possible that someone earned five bars, and lots won two or three.
And yes, Mike West's last minute report did get a 2019A bar.
Of course you don't get five bars but one bar with five little stars on it.
I must comment that if someone gets an award for doing a job one year and a lower award for a subsequent year it doesn't mean he did less the second time but that the higher award marked exceptional circumstances. And sometimes if you see someone who over ten years won eight of one medal and two of a higher medal all for doing the same job ten times in a row it means that he over-earned the lower award and eventually the fractions added up to the higher award.
Ray Olesen, one of the original Star Fleet Staff, transferred to the Black Fleet a couple of weeks ago. I just got word of this from his loving wife, Lisa. Ray leaves behind two adult children; his son is an Army Reserve Officer. Ray's transfer was sudden and not at all expected.
That is sad news indeed. Ray was one of the great early names in the game. 
May he sail the stars evermore.
I remember Ray.
My prayers.
Ray was used in one of our "Die in Place" games (his name and background were used to create the platoon leader which added a bit of reality to the role playing). His platoon was on our left flank when an (unexpected) enemy mechanized assault debauched onto that flank. Ray called for permission to withdraw, and after a couple of seconds review, I refused, which angered the game master (SVC) who throught I was just being a (to put it politely) putz. I explained why I had no choice but to make the call I made. I had known the flank was threatened since we set up, but there had been enough going on that I had never given the orders to obstacle the gap, and that meant Iranian armored vehicles were going to begin driving into our rear. The company team had to fall back on its final fortifications, and that meant time had to be purchased for the majority to do so and the mortars to be brought into the perimeter and, the list goes on. A mistake had been made (SVC had unintentionally kept me occupied, and while I could tell him I would have issued an order, the fact was I did not, and things like this happen, so I dealt with it, mistakes on the battlefield are redeemed in the only currency that truly matters; Blood. Not by "God coming down and making things all better." I knew Ray, and hated the order I had to give, but it was the order that would be given in real life if the position were to have any chance of holding. A platoon had to be sacrificed to buy time.
There us a scene in a Coyle novel about an mech infantry company commander that is sent to screen the flank and she asks "how long do I hold before I can withdraw?" And she is told "I don't think you are going to be able to withdraw..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Coyle
Sad news. Sorry to hear that.
Belated thanks (and a commendation, somebody remind me to put it in CL55) to Lar Bergen for doing so bloody much work to sift this stuff out so many years ago.
I am planning to issue a nice medal to Ryan Opel for cleaning those ancient WARBOOK archives so I didn't have to. Petrick and I are debating which medal to give him.
Wow Thanks!!
I cannot wait to see you all in person. I have not been to a gaming event since (StratCon Sattelite) the year after last Origins.
Art Trotman has been awarded the Bronze Star for 2019 and 2020 and the Silver Star for 2021. He has been transferred to the Black Fleet.
Art will be missed. I didn’t know him very well but he always had that passion for the game and especially the minis… he loved his Klingon minis.
Wow. That's disappointing news.
A loss to the community. Art's passion for the games was obvious.
Art was always a cunning Klingon and a wonderful human being. He never ceased to surprise me with his bold strategies and clever scenarios. He was also really fun to chat with and had a great sense of humor. He will be missed.