The Damned

From The Air Combat Wiki

History:

The Damned are without question or debate the most infamous fighter squadron to ever fly the skies of Fighter Ace. From the squadron's first days in the skies of Fighter Ace 1.0, to its several-month-long winning streaks in in Fighter Ace 2.0 and 3.0, to its ghost-like existence today, The Damned have dominated and won more fighter squadron events and titles than all other fighter squadrons combined in the history of Fighter Ace.

Founded in the skies of Fighter Ace 1.0, blunderingfool brought together a collection of the best Free-For-All pilots solely for the point of winning squadron events. After annihilating their competition in several events, the group came to call themselves the Damned.

Shortly after the advent of 2.0, _Alliance_ assumed the position of Commanding Officer of the squadron and forged the squadron's reputation as the best Territorial Combat fighter squadron. The squadron picked up Smokin_Hunter, then known as Fighter Ace's best fighter pilot. The squadron also picked up PTR_Rilak, known later on as _Rilak_. The squadron continued in both TC and squadron events, with less than 10 competition losses in the entire lifetime of Fighter Ace 2. The Damned merged with MGFH, one of only two squadrons to ever claim a win against the Damned in Fighter Ace 2. It was at this time that _Merlin_ joined the squadron.

With the coming of 3.0, many pilots in the squadron were lost (due to new computer hardware requirements of 3.0) and the squadron was unofficially disbanded. _Smokin_ returned to take command of the squadron and, within 2 months, the squadron was again undefeated. At this time, _Scorpion_ joined the squadron as _Rilak_'s wingman. With _Rilak_ and _Scorpion_ winging together, they soon dominated the fighter pilot leaderboard and reinforced the Damned's reputation. At this time, many old members of the Damned returned to the squadron.

Shortly thereafter, _Ajax_ was recruited into the squadron. Between _Smokin_, _Rilak_, _Scorpion_, and _Ajax_, the Top 5 Fighter Pilot category of TC were filled permanently. Only until a year later, with the return of TEA_Hammond, did a non-Damned achieve a Top 5 position in the Fighter Pilot category in TC. Along with the rest of the Damned, between 6 and 8 of the Top 10 Fighter Pilot rankings were held by the Damned at any given time. _Rilak_ and _Shadow_ maintained the top number of kills for the squadron, frequently switching places with each other for #1 and #2. _Ajax_ held the highest kills : deaths ratio by number of kills (5000+), with an impressive 6:1 kill ratio by lost planes with several thousand tank kills as well. _Smokin_ held an impressive ship-kill ratio, with well over 1000 ships destroyed and more than a 3:1 ratio.

The overall success of the Damned in air-to-air combat in Fighter Ace was and still remains unprecedented and unmatched. Due to this, the squadron was constantly at the center of player-generated drama from outsiders. In addition, many other "squadrons" were started solely for the purpose of defeating the Damned in squadron events. Not until late 2002 / early 2003 did any squad suceed at this. After several attempts of double-teaming with other squadrons against the Damned and "running" from the Damned to reduce their overall kill count, the _Knights_ (led by ex-Damned member _Admiral_) finally defeated the Damned, bringing an end to their unmatched winning streak. Though talented, the _Knights_ lacked any long-term committment and, after losing the majority of their subsequent matches against the Damned soon disappeared from the Fighter Ace scene. They would later re-emerge as the Ants of War.

The Damned continued their domination of squadron events, namely in KOTS (Kings of the Sky) and M-KOTS (Melee Kings of the Sky). By the mid-part of 2003, the squad competitions in level 6 (Territorial Combat Setting) rooms were non-existant, as the majority of players had become tired of losing to the Damned and moved on to other levels in hopes of being able to win a squad competition. This prompted the Damned to create a secondary squadron, known as the "Bikinis." Though the name was comical in itself, the Damned treated their flying under the squadron with the same seriousness as the parent squadron. To outside squadrons, the "Bikinis" were hated even more than the actual "Damned" name itself, as the Bikinis would not only annihilate their competition in level 1 and 10 with ease, they would act as if they didn't care they had won; which in all truth, they didn't. The Damned had now done something else no other squadron had done before: continually win in an arena in which they only flew during events. The Damned now controlled all 3 arenas, with an occasional loss every few weeks.

The end of the "Bikinis" came about when the Damned, after being bored with the lack of competition, decided to fly a against themselves by registering both the Bikinis and the Damned for a KOTS tournament. A few vocal outside players were outraged that not only were the Damned dominating KOTS and M-KOTS, they were flying against themselves while effectively destroying any other squadron that challenged them. This brought about the @FA (sysop) decision that a squad was not allowed to fly under a different name solely for event purposes and that each squad may only register for one level of competition for KOTS. With no way to fly in more than one arena for KOTS, the Bikinis were retired. This marked yet another milestone in Fighter Ace history: A squadron (The Damned) were so clearly unmatched in skill that tournament rules had to be changed to give other squadrons a chance at winning. Though rules had been changed before due to cheats, exploits, or unfairness, never before had they been changed because of the skill of one squadron.

In mid 2005, the Damned had become bored with the Fighter Ace, both in squad events and tournaments and in open arenas, such as TC. It was at this time that the majority of the squadron looked into other games, namely City of Heroes, an online Role-playing Game (RPG). With the lack of numbers, the rest of the squadron slowly disappeared from the face of Fighter Ace. The few tournaments the squadron did participate in were not clearly dominated, as had been noted previously, due to the lack of squadron members and overall morale. The squadron was eventually disbanded in mid 2006 due to lack of active members, only to be quickly reformed for name-sake by _Raptor_, a long-time veteran of the Damned. Reasons for Success:

The Damned's chief reasons for success were 1) a thorough and unmatched understanding of Fighter Ace and its flight characteristics, namely Energy-Fighting (E-Fighting), and 2) fine-woven teamwork.

The Damned redefined one on one combat, namely with _Smokin_, Fighter Ace 2's best one vs. one (1v1) pilot. In Fighter Ace 3, _Admiral_, _Ajax, and _Merlin_ became known as the masters of one on one dogfighting. The aforementioned pilots decimated anyone and everyone. Also noteable is _Rilak_'s initiative to carry over energy-fighting from Fighter Ace 2 to Fighter Ace 3, which was an achievement in itself due to the difference in raised acceleration mods (which no one else had done sucessfully up to this time).

The over-all caliber of skill in the Damned was their main secret to success. The Damned recruited by invitation only, setting the skill-level of even the least-skilled pilot in the squadron to a level higher than any other average player. In addition, the Damned talked very little to the public about their inner workings or their tactics, causing many players to speculate they either hacked or cheated at the game.

The Damned's teamwork and tactics led to the redefining of the loosely coined terms "hanging" and "roping." The Damned had developed a method so precise and teamwork so tight-knit that it wasn't uncommon to see two or three wingmen in the Damned taking on 10+ opponents. This led to the Damned breaking many records for "Aces." Most noteable in this category is _Bruv_, who, through thorough teamwork, careful flying, and determination, achieved 50 Aces in Fighter Ace 3.5.

The Damned were unmatched, both in their skill and their accomplishments, both in squadron and individual categories. Due to the Damned's domination of squadron events, there were more rules changed to try to give other squadrons a chance at winning than there were rules changed for cheats and exploits. The Damned not only reshaped the definition of skill, but the mechanics of the events they flew in as well.

Members and ex-Members of the Damned:

_Admiral_

_Ajax_

_Alliance_

_Blade_

_Boneslusher_

_Bruv_

_Coldchisel_

_Dragonmate_

_goldfinger_

_Guderian_

_Insano_

_Klatuu_

_Lucifer_

_Lethal_

_Malice_

_Majestic_

_Merlin_

_Playmate_

_Rage_

_Raptor_

_RUSH_

_Saint_

_Saucerful_5

_Scorpion_

_Smokin_

_Soulslinger_

_Star_

_SteelHeart_

_TRUTH_

_Vulcan_

_Wildcat_

blunderingfool

PisPorShot

Present Day:

Though the squadron still exists on the records, it has no real presence in Fighter Ace aside from a few rare random showings of select members. Whether they will return or not is still undecided. Only time will tell what lies in store.

In the end, The Damned remain both mystified and legendary. Though many have tried to claim equality or discredit their accomplishments, the fact remains that no number of squadrons combined can claim to have won as many victories, can claim to have had rules changed simply because they outclassed their competition, or can claim the level of fear and respect that the Damned instilled simply by entering the game.

Most noteably, perhaps, is a comment made by _Ajax describing the long-term reputation of the Damned after one of their few losses in a KOTS match against the Ants of War. The Ants of War and a few onlookers had suggested that the Damned had lost their influence due to a single loss to the Ants of War. Ajax replied:

"Many people are claiming now that the Damned have lost a squad competition, that they are no longer the presence they used to be in competitions. Let me make an analogy, if you may: If you recall the movie "Troy." In the part where Achilles is challenged by the giant, he slays him in seconds. Afterwards he yells, "Is there anyone else?! IS THERE NO ONE ELSE?!" That is how the Damned are, in my opinion. We might lose occasionally, like any squad, but overall, no squadron has come close to what we have done and no one can challenge us in that sense either.... We will be remembered for our wins and accomplishments.

The Damned will go down in the history of the Fighter Ace. People will remember who they were... Who we were..."

They were the few...

They were the legends...

They were The Damned...