21st Century Warfare
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21st Century Warfare (21CW) is one of the largest online leagues currently for the game Battlefield 2. 21CW is different from other online tournaments in that instead of clans battling against one another the battles are part of a larger vitual war. The divisions consist of players who are randomly assigned when they sign up (or transfer themselves for a fee).
History
21CW was first conceived back in March 2003 and began initial sign ups in April 2003. The tournament was created by [MFOTS] and was administered by a single Tournament Admin back then, Sedric. The original player base for 21CW came from [Battle for Europe: World at War], a Battlefield 1942 tournament run in a similar style.When 21CW first started up, it began with one division per side, 1CD and O2. As time passed, by the second week of sign ups, two more divisions were opened for both the Coalition and Opposition, 3UK and O4. The campaign began in May 2003 with official battles, but not before the battles remembered by many players as the Bocage and Tobruk Scrims.
A few weeks into the campaign, two more divisions were opened, C5 and O6, with a total player base of more than a thousand players.
The first campaign was completely run on vanilla Desert Combat, the following campaigns included modified balanced maps, until the 21CW Mini-mod was created, which gradually introduced more new content.
Since 21CW opened in April 2003, the tournament has gone through ten campaigns of Desert Combat starting at version 0.25 and ending at version 0.7, and is now in its third "official" (after the beta campaign, which tested new ideas with Battlefield 2 adapted to the tournament) campaign of Battlefield 2 - of many more to come.
21CW is now owned and operated by [MyIS] as well as all other [MFOTS] Tournaments
Structure
At the highest level the tournament consists of two sides, Coalition and Opposition. In the Desert Combat days, the Coalition took the Coalition side in the game while the Opposition took the Iranian side. Currently in the BF2 tournament the Coalition plays as the USMC and the EU while the Opposition plays as the Chinese People's Army and the Middle East Coalition. Varying with the number of players per campaign there are typically two or three divisions per side.Division
Each division is composed of three or four line companies, a special forces unit and an air force. The high command consists of several divisional officers (e.g. General, Major General, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, SMA) who are responsible for developing strategies, running divisional practices and of course commanding the division during the battle. Divisions typically hold 1-4 divisional practices per week, sometimes substituting them for scrimages with its sister division.Line Company
Each company is run by a Captain who has several men below him in a hierarchy. He runs the company, organizing practices and training and maintains the roster of players. The role of the line company is to man the provided armor and to either attack a flag in order to capture it or to defend an already captured flag. The backbone and blue collar workhorses of the division. Line companies may schedule one or more company-level practices per week and if activity-level of personnel permits, individual platoons are formed and often train together in pickup games and variable impromptu practices.Special Forces
The Special Forces Company is usually composed of 21CW veterans who have proven their skill, discipline and leadership capability in previous campaigns. They are typically used for difficult missions such as attacking deep into enemy territory, stealing vital equipment or holding a front line flag. In Battlefield 2, they can also be assigned to destroy the enemy Commander's assets (radar, UAV trailer and artillery). While most divisions have always had a dedicated Special Forces Company, one opposition division didn't have one. In Campaign 3, the Opposition Division 15NE introduced the Parateam, a combined special operations group from different companies, but it was disbanded at the end of Campaign 3. Until the BF2 Beta Campaign there were no Special Forces in that Division. Nevertheless, Special Operations took place, conducted by individuals from the Airforce, Command Staff and distinguished line company personnel.Air Force
The air forces of the divisions have the responsibility to fly the air assets provided on the map. They are the only players who are allowed to fly the aircraft and must be proficient at one or all kinds of aircraft (i.e. fighter planes, bombers and helicopters). In order to join the air force, a player usually has to pass a certification test. Some divisions provide a "Flight Reserve" certification for line company personnel with the necessary skillsets to be valuable pilots when the division is in need of airmen. For most divisions, air combat units have always been categorized into 'Wings' of fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, each with its own CO. Occasionally, fighter and strike-bomber units also maintain separate hierarchies.Artillery
One of the aspects to undergo the greatest evolution since the birth of 21CW is the use of artillery support. Combat operation and the associated training regimens are heavily dependent on the structure of gameplay, and the features of Battlefield 1942 included artillery units as fully mobile, mannable vehicles. These were known as the M-109 Howitzer and M-1974 Howitzer, BM-21 Rocket Truck, and MLRS. This lead to the artillery support vehicles becoming valuable assets vulnerable for attack or theft by the enemy's Special Forces.In the early days - from the Alpha/Beta Campaigns to the final Campaign 10 - the methodology and discipline employed in the training and use of artillery support developed considerably. As the practice evolved, there was a brief period of time (Campaigns 6-8 and intermittently there-on) in which divisions deployed a 5th company, Field Artillery. Beginning roughly in the 2nd and 3rd Campaigns, the French-Canadian player known as Nimitz of the 7th Infantry Division and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, respectively, became well known for his unparalled accuracy at delivering long-range artillery barrages. It was not until the later half of the 3rd and continuing through the 4th and 5th campaigns that experts such as General Luke, Skrogzilla and Holy Soldier joined the ranks as vilified and respected artillery specialists.
There are a great many myths and community legends surrounding a number of players, but few memories are as well-known by comrades and abhorred by foes as the engagement of Medina Ridge and Holy Soldier's full 12-hour artillery performance. While artillery was conventially useful as a deterrant against attacking armor columns and shock-attacks against mainbases, the engagement of Medina Ridge saw a much more dominant artillery role. While typical highest round score for kills mounted near 50-75 in those days, Holy Soldier's artillery barrage consistently wracked up 200+ points per round, single-handedly accounting for nearly a half of the enemy's total ticket-count. Depleting the enemy's ticket-count to zero is the means by which a round is won.
With the introduction of Battlefield 2 as the tournament's combat platform, artillery has changed drastically. There are no longer artillery vehicles accessible to individuals players, but rather an artillery barrage deliverable with pin-point accuracy by the Battlefield Commander, a position usually occupied by a High Commanding Officer in charge of the battle. The enemy can still destroy these assets, but cannot commandeer them. This change has diversified the battlefield landscape and enriched the experience of tournament play, however many players long for a time when artillery was controlled by players on the ground. Similarly, many veteran officers of the Desert Combat campaigns welcome modifications to the present 21CW Mod which may bring about a more DC-esque style of gameplay and free the Commander from the tedious "Commander asset" duties such as directing artillery support, allowing him to focus more on pure tactics and strategy.
Intelligence, Reconnaissance, Exploits and Subversion
During the early days of 21CW, the tournament relied heavily on the Vanilla Battlefield 1942 maps such as Battle of Tobruk, Battle of Wake Island, and Battle of El Alamein, among many others. Since Battlefield 1942 had been around for awhile and players had a large volume of experience on these maps, intelligence gathering and reconnaisance was of little importance. Hardcore players were well aware of the intricacies of each map's terrain, navigable travel routes, defensible zones and support equipment (ammo, health cabinets). When 21CW began to use custom maps developed by freelance mappers and later from its own Mapping Team, however, players were often faced with a wholly unfamiliar battleground. Thus entered the practice of intelligence gathering. During the late 3rd, following 4th and 5th campaigns, the American Coalition player Elessar from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit systematized the organization of intelligence information much the same way players such as Nimitz and Holy Soldier did for artillery around the same time.While players had begun "researching" the maps for their own benefit the first time a custom map was used in battle, a systematic approach to organizing and presenting the information to the Division for assimilation by all troops had never been done before.When Elessar ascended to General in the 6th Campaign, the task was passed to other members of Charlie Company and Bravo Company where it took root and primarily resides in that division today. The practice soon spread first to the Coalition sister division and then very soon after, to the Opposition divisions. Presently, the development of military intelligence reports includes screenshots, custom mini-maps, base layout diagrams and graphically enhanced travel routes in order to assist soldiers to be as prepared and informed as possible. These reports also now reside in their own special subsection of each Division's forums.
While most applications of information retrieved via map recon is done for legitimate purposes, there are other less-sanctioned motivations for studying custom maps with a fine-toothed comb. Maps often contain bugs which allow for exploits, unintended advantages that one side can take over the other that are a product only of mistakes in the code or weaknesses in the game engine. The utilization of these is strictly forbidden by tournament rules and carries a heavy penalty for both the offending player and his home division. This rule has been exercised on more than one occasion since its inception, in some cases amidst claims of innocence or ignorance.
While the practices conducted publically are sanctioned and legal under tournament rules, other practices of intelligence gathering and black ops may form a somewhat gray area in terms of legality. Practices like joining both divisions to spy on forums, recruiting spies in opposing divisions and using Teamspeak bugs to listen in on communications chatter are all examples of illicit behavior that is strictly forbidden and carries the penalty of banishment from the tournament. Infractions of these kind have rarely been formally alleged by the Tournament Admins and perhaps never in a case of decidedly deliberate conduct. For example, new players have often been mistakenly banned due to problems registering if they accidently register multiple accounts. Other allegations of deliberate misconduct and the use of illicit intelligence gathering techniques have been made on occasion but often in the heat of battle or immediately following a crushing defeat.
The use of 3rd-party cheating software has all-but been dismantled through the universal use of the anti-Cheat software Punkbuster. Even so, most consider it a matter of honor and in only in extremely rare cases has anyone been caught cheating in 21CW. However, allegations inevitably arise in tournament play, and these are more or less equally encountered on both sides.
Instances where one encounters (as all players eventually do) the feeling of, "OH there's NO WAY!" it is most likely a testament to the tremendously high level of skill of players of 21st Century Warfare.
Divisions
The history of divisions and their respective Generals through all campaigns is listed below. Also listed is the respective Commander-in-Chief (CinC) of the force for each campaign.| Campaign | Coalition | Opposition | Campaign | Coalition | Opposition |
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| Campaign 1 |
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| Campaign 2 |
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| Campaign 3 |
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| Campaign 4 |
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| Campaign 5 |
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| Campaign 6 |
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| Campaign 7 |
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| Campaign 8 |
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| Campaign 9 |
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| Campaign 10 |
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| BF2 Beta Campaign |
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| BF2 Campaign 1 |
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| BF2 Campaign 2 |
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| BF2 Campaign 3 |
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The Mod
The [21st Century Warfare Mod] is one of the unique features of 21CW; the tournament has its own team of developers who have developed a mod for Battlefield 2 to better fit the needs of the tournament. The mod changes are things such as balance issues, weapon additions, vehicle additions, custom maps and other things. The ultimate goal of the mod is to expand the game while keeping it fair and balanced. The latest version of the mod (currently being beta tested by the community) debuted the weapons from the Euro Force expansion pack for the 4th British Highlanders (used with permission by EA) and also featured transplanted equipment from the Special Forces expansion and the return of the man portable stinger from DC.Communication
21CW uses many different ways to communicate, officially Teamspeak and forums are used, unofficially many people use GameComm, Xfire, MSN Messenger or [IRC]. In-game communication is also critical to combat operations. Troops can communicate via text to their entire team or to their local squad. Pre-set vocal radio messages in Battlefield 2 also allow players to point out the location of enemy troops, armor, aircraft and virtually any other pertinent information succinctly without cluttering up the voice channel over Teamspeak.Teamspeak
Teamspeak is used mainly to communicate while playing in battles, practices or during practices. It is also used for meetings of the Tournament Admins (TA) or divisional staff. The Teamspeak server is divided into a hierarchy, each division gets their own section, within their section it is split up with sections for companies, company COs, and divisional staff. In addition, the mini-mod team, the tournament radio, TAs, and other games get their own sections. Players can also bind keys to whisper to specific players, squads or groups of squads.Forums
Much like Teamspeak, the [21st Century Warfare Forums] are used for communication, but because forum posts can be read anytime, it is useful for posting announcements, news, and other useful information which may need to be accessed at varying times. Again like Teamspeak, the forums have sections for each division and their respective companies. In addition there are forums such as the mess hall, the public forums, and the announcements forum.External links
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