About *AUS*
"I remember the times back on the MP Demo... *AUS* was the sharpest clan around and maintained that from the beginning.."
=Mike B=
"If it wasn't for you blokes, the Aussie VC community would have died a long time ago."
History Of Vietcong
"*AUS* formed in February 2003 and were the first Australian Vietcong clan. They played a key role in the devlopment of the Hradba anticheat and set an early benchmark in playing fair but pro level VC."
Clan of Minh
"*AUS* have done a lot for the VC community from the start and the Australian community wouldn't have been the same without the start you guys gave it."
[VV] Inemo
2003: Foundations
*AUS*'s Vietcong division was founded by Ice Cannon on the 1/02/2003. Within a couple of weeks 13 members filled the roster. We seemed to have it easy recruiting wise - other clans complained at how it was hard. Players such as Beer Baron, Spetz Naz, Sw1fty, Paul (Spartan) and BattleBorn were among the first to join our ranks.
On the 21st of February the wars began, *AUS* took on <DC> in the multiplayer demo in what was one of the first clan matches in Australia. Paul (Spartan), ICE CaNNoN, Wildcat and Spetz Naz made up the *AUS* attack. *AUS* ran home winners 4-1 in a match that featured ICE CaNNoN attacking with the sniper rifle and some great defending skills from Paul (Spartan) and Wildcat.
The recruiting continued. Then came the best thing that Wildcat could have ever done - he recruited a fellow named Ace, who played Vietcong as if it was a hooker and he was a rich man that couldn't get any. He would play on USA servers to improve his skills. On the first day he joined, we were short a member in our match against {RKn}. It seemed unfair to have him walk into a match just joining hours before, with others training so hard. But he got a run and he owned - he defended the stream entry to the US flag as if it was his home.
Other greats that were born in that game included BeerBaron (BABYSHAKER), Overlord and Cow Killer. The game ended up a 1-1 draw and was one of the most thrilling games ever, with Cow Killer and Overlord sniping like heroes.
We played {RKn} again 2 weeks later, settling the score with a 2-1 win. Jios, I like Shrimp and Diesel accompanied us to that victory. RKn was a common foe back then as the games were so close and were played in the best spirit. We faced them again in another 3 weeks another 3 legends were born - Fate, Justice and Ranger Bob. They helped *AUS* to a 1-0 victory.
That was to be *AUS*'s last match in the demo. We attempted to play other demo teams such as TFA (now [Z]) but the games never came to fruition.
With the clan off to the best possible start it was time to make a decision on who would lead the division. After much deliberation between Camouflage, ICE CaNNoN and Wildcat, Ace was appointed division commander on the 1/04/2003. He showed tremendous commitment and skill on the battlefield and met all other requirements.
Vietcong was awarded Division of the Month in April for being the most organised and tight-knit bunch of players I'd ever seen. Ace also was awarded Player of the Month for his strong leadership and dedication. Ace reached #1 in csports.net worldwide Vietcong rankings and it was a safe bet that Ace was the number one Vietcong fan at the time.
Also during this period, Ace and ICE CaNNoN worked very hard at starting some Australian Vietcong tournaments through TheBattleground, which *AUS*'s Delta Force Division was already heavily involved with.
Our first match in the full version of Vietcong was against [SASR] on Arroyo. This marked Gunther and Nads' first match and *AUS* came out on top 6-0.
Things were going great: servers were full; cheats were minimal; everyone was friendly most of the time. Then came the =Oz= match in July where the division ran into some controversy. The server dropped out a couple of times and the language used by several =OZ= members was far from impressive. *AUS* decided to give the win to =OZ= to save splitting the Aussie VC community and were eliminated from their first tournament - TheBattleground Aus Only CTF. Although a disappointing result, *AUS* members walked away with their heads held high.
*AUS*'s consolation prize was being given the opportunity to become official beta testers for Pterodon, Vietcong's developers. Even now (in 2005), members still enjoy every minute of testing new maps, patches and add-ons such as Red Dawn. Pterodon even put the following text into one of the data files: "Help me! Kill all those AUS-squad members!"
We then took on =]tAg[=, who were a prominent MOHAA and BF:1942 clan in Arroyo CTF a few days later. They were angels compared to our previous experience. They were great sports - it was a pleasure to play them.
Nyx and Kaj joined *AUS*, bringing a fast server and solving our problems with trainings. We started hosting servers of *AUS* vs All. Having 6-8 *AUS* players against 25 of the public was exhilarating to say the least!
Unsavoury also joined, bringing with him a 10mb ADSL server. This sparked the start of the *AUS* public servers, which were running daily. Camouflage coded a server stats page for the server which saw a jump in players playing on it.
In November 2003, Call of Duty was released and many players and clans started to lose interest in Vietcong. Things looked like they were going to go downhill, but patch 1.4 was released and provided custom map support.
Before we knew it, the year had come to a close and Ace, our beloved Commander decided to step down and take a break from the game. Ace led us to many triumphs and he lead with diplomacy that surpasses most politicians. Whenever anyone else was steamed up, he thought with a cool head and made the right decisions.
Ace's help to the community didn't end with *AUS*. Ace made friends in USA servers and became a beta tester. Ace also became a team leader of the United Admins Vietcong anti cheat team. He worked in conjunction with Pterodon, UA and a team of members to help create the HradBa anti cheat software. He worked very hard on this, often chatting to the makers of Vietcong directly over ICQ.
Ace was a great friend to the whole Vietcong community. A big thanks goes to him for all of his efforts! You're a legend Ace.
Ice CaNNoN, who was the initial temporary Vietcong Commander took over the role.
2004: A relaxed approach
2004 saw another another amazing year for the clan. We lost and gained players, but in the end managed to keep the same level of top gaming we have been known for. Ice Cannon, Wildcat and Fate spent a number of hours putting together Auscong.com - a solid Vietcong fan site, now receiving over 7000 unique visitors per month. The site is the only mirror server of all Pterodon's official files.
The year started of with TheBattleground Grand Final against the very strong {AIB} clan. Our line-up consisted of Justice, WildCat, Spartan, BeerBarron, ICE CaNNoN, Fate and Suicidal Ozzy. After a tough first half that finished 2-2, *AUS* prevailed with a 7-2 victory. This was to be *AUS*'s last match before the release of Vietcong: Fist Alpha.
ICE CaNNoN decided to take some leave and focus on school and work. Fate took over the role of Division Commander, which was nothing new for him as he had been doing plenty of the organisation since the clan started.
*AUS* then went into hibernation. Not much happened. We lost some of our best players in Spartan, Justice, Nads, Cow Killer, who had moved on earlier in the year.
*AUS* kick started its Fist Alpha campaign with a match against [F.U] on the 9th of June. The strong line-up of Suicidal Ozzy, Fate, Oddysey, Beer Baron, Pari, Nyx, Fate, Kaj, Long Phu managed to take out the win 7-2. This was very impressive consider it was the clans' first competitive match in nearly 5 months.
Over the next few months *AUS* was able to gain victory over [VV] and [WCD] and then entered Auscong's first clan league - the AVCCL (Auscong VietCong Clan League). The league kicked of with our first match being against [ADP]. [ADP] stuck it to *AUS* the whole way, and we managed to hold on for an extremely close 7-5 win.
*AUS* had continued success in the league beating (TSG) 18-0 and then again beating [F.U] in a close match 1-0. The league was going well for *AUS* until it was forced to be restarted.
So the league began again and *AUS* took to extending its winning streak. *AUS* won 9 from 9 of the matches to go through the league undefeated. We then played [VV] in the final for the league and again won that. In doing so, *AUS* became the inaugural winner of the AVCCL. Thanks to all the teams that competed. It was a great competition and all members of *AUS* had a great time.
In between the league *AUS* played [F.U] in a grudge match on NVA Base. After much debate pre-match, [F.U] lived up to there title of NVA Kings, defeating *AUS* 3-2. This gave *AUS* it's first real defeat. Well done to [F.U] for taking out the win.
2005: Goodbye
*AUS* played a number of matches early in the year, including combining with our good mates from [ADP] for some large scale battles with others clans. Although impossible to score with that many people, they were awesome fun.
As the months went on, some players lost the will to play Vietcong at the elite level that the *AUS* tag deserved. With that in mind Fate decided to retire the division on the 1/05/2005 and let it serve as the legend it is.
Members of *AUS* continued to beta test for Pterodon though. As well as testing Vietcong patches, they assisted with the expansion packs and then Vietcong 2. Fate, Ice Cannon, Beer Baron and Punk received a mention in the credits for Vietcong 2.
The division saw some of the greatest players of Australian Vietcong within it and it has conquered virtually ever clan in the country. More importantly, the division helped the global Vietcong community in every possible way and had fun being part of a great game.
Records:
TheBattleground Tournament: 1st Place (Jan 2004)
*AUS* Network Division of the Month: Apr 2003, Sep 2003, Jan 2004, Sep 2004, Nov 2004
*AUS* Network Player of the Month: ICE CaNNoN (Jan 2003), Wildcat (Mar 2003), Ace (Apr 2003), Fate (Dec 2003)
Vietcong Division Player of the Year: Suicidal Ozzy (2004)
We would like to say thanks to:
Nyx for providing web hosting for a year;
Visitors to our public server and forum;
Pterodon for creating and supporting this great game;
All the clans and their leaders which we have battled again;
Camouflage and the *AUS* Network;
Our commanders over the past couple of years: Ace, ICE CaNNoN and Fate.
Report written by ICE CaNNoN, PuNK and Camouflage.