Cry Havoc!

3rd Brigade, SfMC

July 2010

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Publication Information

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Brigade OIC - BDR John Johnston, SFMC

Brigade DOIC - LTC Christopher O'Banion, SFMC

Brigade NCOIC - MSGT Kaiden Khaos, SFMC

Brigade Aide-de-Camp– BGN Mark West, SFMC

Brigade S1 (Administration) - LTC Daniel Dreesbach, SFMC

Brigade S2 (Intelligence) - 2LT Wallace “Ace” Cady

Brigade S3 (Operations) - GSGT Artemis O'Connor, SFMC

Brigade S4 (Logistics) - VACANT

Brigade S5 (Communications) - VACANT

Brigade S6 (IT) - LGEN Aaron Murphy, SFMC

-------------Cry Havoc Staff

-------------

– MCPT Thomas “Tank” Clark, SFMC

Cry Havoc-------------

is the official bi-monthly newsletter of the 3rd Brigade of the STARFLEET Marine Corps. This newsletter is written for the entertainment of the staff, officers, and enlisted women of the 3 BDE, as well the members of the chapters that make up STARFLEET International, Inc. The Opinions of the writers stated in the newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Brigade, the STARFLEET Marine Corps, or STARFLEET the International Star Trek Fan Associations, Inc. Unaccredited material may be written by the editor or culled from various sources. All other copyrighted material, trademarks, and/or service marks cited herein are registered to their respective owners. This publication is not intended to infringe upon the copyrights or trademarks of Star Trek as held by Paramount Pictures, a division of the Viacom Corp. Various artwork by Dave Pipgras, STARFLEET Office of Graphic Design, ROFLRAZZI.COM, and various STARFLEET Marine Strike Groups and Marine Expeditionary Units.

Newsletter submissions are requested in the form of an ASCII text file, Microsoft Word file, or Open Office Document. Image files are also requested, in JPG, GIF,or other standard format. Reports and/ or submissions may be edited and used as space permits. The deadline for submissions is the fifteenth of each odd numbered month, (January, March, May, July, September, November.) These need to be sent to the newsletter at cryhavoc@gmx.com.

Table of contents

Publication Information 2OIC 3Aide-de-Camp 5S-1 Administration 7S-2 Intelligence 8S-3 Operations 9S-6 IT 10Tank Treads 11What's in the Galley? 153rd Brigade Honor Guard 16Adventures at Muster 18Reports from the Field 20Word Find 21

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THIRD BRIGADE actualBDR John Johnston, SFMC

Greetings, you Dogs of War you!

The last two months have been very interesting for Third Brigade. Taking over this desk has been an interesting challenge,  but thanks to the capable staff, things are beginning to settle down here. The Marine Mess Dress was very nice, so I heard. The Marine Muster had good information on things coming down the pike from SFMC HQ, and got the ball rolling for a new brigade logo. And very soon, you will be able to choose the final design for the new logo.

I want to take an opportunity to thank the Brigade Staff for helping with the Change of Command transition.  I would not be able to keep my sanity (too late for my hair) if it were not for you all.

Due to technical difficulties with the airline, I was not able to attend the Marine Mess Dress at last month's Summit. However, LT Michael Tolleson did a great job at hosting the Mess Dress in my place. The attendees had a great time, and I heard the Chicken Cordon Bleu went really fast.

The Marine Muster opened a few doors on things that are coming from SFMC HQ. The new subdued BDU standard has been put into place, so when you go to next year's International Muster and Paintball Tournament, you should have your subdued uniform ready to go.

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During the Muster, LGEN Murphy presented a proposal for a new brigade logo. After a few minor changes, a triangle-shaped patch was created as a possible replacement. However, after the Muster, some folks on the mailing list decided they did not like the triangle patch. I asked LGEN Murphy to take ideas from the Marines, and as soon as the images are posted on a website, you will choose what you want for the new Third Brigade logo.

So, that is a recap of Brigade activities for the last two months. It was very interesting, to say the least. Let's keep things interesting, shall we? That is all...

BDR John JohnstonOIC, 3BDE SFMC

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BRIGADE AIDE DE CAMP- -BGN Mark West, SFMC

Greetings Marines,

I am the new Aide to BDR Johnston and his Chief of Staff for the Brigade.  I am a grouchy, surly, nasty, crusty grumpy old guy that used to run this Brigade.  Some of you know me, some of you will come to know me.  After the outer layers are gotten through, I am a pretty good guy, at least that is what I am told.  :) 

First off, Staff members are here for more than just occupying space.  Newsletter Articles are required in order to keep everyone informed about you and your job.  Communication is important, and it is time to start working to fix the lack thereof.  This is the start.  I will keep you informed as to what else is to be done on your end.

Second, BN OICs and DOICs, Unit OICs and DOICs, and unit members: Communication is important, and you are encouraged (Unit and BN OICs and DOICs are required) to submit to the BDE Newsletter.  Unit commanders can send their unit activity logs from their MSRs, BN OICs should have their own activity logs for their

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Where There's A Whip...

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own reports, and may also submit those.  Unit members, well you guys will just have to come up with something, be it a report on something you are working on, a movie you liked, a project you would like the rest of the BDE to know of and participate in, etc.  You may also use this criteria, and those of your own club newsletter articles as a guide.  The task at hand now is just get something in. 

As staff members, we serve at the will of the Brigade Commander, and as such, we need to make sure that we don't give him cause to relieve us of our duties.  My goal is to reinvigorate and reignite the spirit of this Brigade and its members.  The MFM says that one Marine can make a difference.  A difference is what I intend to make here, and for the betterment of the Brigade.  I hope that you will be there to help me accomplish this.

In Service to 3rd BDE,BGN Mark West

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BRIGADE S administration officer-1LTC Dan Dreesbach, SFMC

Summit is over and we are midway through a Hot and/or Steamy summer.  I hope everyone is keeping hydrated. While everyone is out there having fun remember school starts in approximately 6 weeks depending on where you live.  Now is the time to start planning your back to school needs.  An example are the vaccines and/or shots that children and teacher need to attend the fi rst day of school.  While last year in Dallas County, exemptions were made for those that did not have those necessary items, this year those exemptions will not be approved.  Soon, the Brigade will have a new logo for official use.  One item of note that will use the new logo is a Brigade challenge coin.   Since BDR Johnston is paying out of pocket for the first 100 challenge coins, those of us that agreed that the challenge coins are a good idea need to purchase them when they get here.  Doing this is beneficial to the Brigade since any profit from the challenge coins goes to the Brigade funds.  This way we will not be dependent on the kindness of the Region 3 and strain their resources further to fund Brigade activities.  Any other ideas for fundraisers are welcome for consideration, so please send them up the chain of command.  Please include any costs associated with a fundraiser along with any other pertinent information necessary to manage such a fundraiser.  The Brigade website is being worked on.  Some of the information being added to the websites is the MSG/MEU info.   That info needs to be sent in by July 20.

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BRIGADE S intelligence officer2MCPT Wallace “Ace” Cady

No article received this period.

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BRIGADE S operations officer3GSGT Artemis O'Connor, SFMC

No article received this period.

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BRIGADE S i.t. officer6LGEN Aaron Murphy, SFMC

No article received this reporting period.

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tank treadsMCPT Tank Clark, SFMC

Cry Havoc editor

http://web.me.com/tank.clark

I am a player, and collector, of role-playing games (RPGs). By the way, I don't think of computer or console games as real RPGs. In a “real” RPG, you have a game master (aka Dungeon Master (DM), aka Narrator, aka “that dude/gal behind the screen with a stack of notes and an evil grin on his/her face”). Playing an RPG properly includes gathering around a table with buddies, drinks, snacks, dice, paper, and plenty of time. I've been playing various games for as long as I remember... in fact, I remember when my gaming group got a copy of the brand-new Player's Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, what's now called “First Edition AD&D”. The fi rst game system I DM'ed was “red box” D&D, and the party had two elves, a cleric, and a thief. Since then, I've been hooked, and I have enjoyed many, many hours buying new games & supplements, reading them, and playing them. A few of the systems I've played include Tunnels & Trolls, RuneQuest, MERP, RoleMaster, GURPS, Palladium FRPG, Castles & Crusades, Star Wars SAGA edition, the Star Trek Role Playing Game (by Decipher), and

both editions of AD&D (1st and 2nd) as well as the d20 D&D (both “3E” and “3.5” versions) and the new-ish Fourth Edition – which isn't very much like D&D, in my humble opinion. I always call it either “ Fourth Edition” or “The Hasbro Role-playing Game,” depending on my mood.

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One of the interesting things that sprang out of 3 rd Edition was the Open Game License (OGL), enabling many different types of RPGs to be built on the same “engine.” Basically, if you knew how to play one of them then you understood the basics on how to play them all. Some examples are d20 Modern (and d20 Future, and d20 Past), Star Wars d20, and the game I'd like to discuss here, “Starship Troopers RPG (SSTRPG) ” published by Mongoose Publishing using the d20 OGL.

The game is based on a blend of R. A. Heinlein's book Starship Troopers, the three movies roughly based on it, and the short-lived animated TV series based on the movies. My lovely and talented bride, LT(JG) Tracy Clark, found me the pocket version of the core rulebook and three of the supplements (The Arachnid Empire, The Mobile Infantry Field Manual, and the Guide to the United Citizens' Federation .) I searched online, and the core rulebook is available at various websites (used, as it's no longer in print); you may also find a PDF copy that you can download directly or via BitTorrent.

Unless the Game Master (GM) is running an unusual game, all player characters (PCs) start out in the same class: Mobile Infantry Trooper (MI). As the PCs advance in levels, they can qualify to take Advanced Classes (similar to Prestige Classes in D&D 3.0 and 3.5) like Sniper, Field Medic, Engineer, or Officer. Missions primarily are against the Arachnids, or “Bugs”, a race of insect-like aliens with a hive mentality and a determination to destroy all humankind.

Character generation is fairly simple: six ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma) generated by rolling two six-sided dice and adding six to that total (2d6+6) for each ability. Something noteworthy about this game is that according to the rules as written, starting hit points (HP, a number indicating how much damage the PC can withstand) is equal to the Constitution score, and only increases by one or two points per level when the PC advances.

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(Continued from Previous Page) “Defense Score” is similar to Armor Class in D&D 3.0/3.5, based on 10 + (Dexterity Modifier) + (Class Defense bonus) + (Armor Bonus)... players of D&D might enjoy this: the powered armor suit commonly issued to MI grants a +9 Armor Bonus, and at first & second level the MI's class Defense bonus is +1, so your PC's starting Defense is somewhere over 20, depending on your Dexterity. Roll well for Dexterity: it effects your Defense AND most of your weapons are ranged, and your ranged attack bonus is adjusted by your Dexterity. Other elements of PC generation is similar to other d20 games: 5 (plus intelligence modifier) skill points per level, quadrupled at fi rst

level; feats galore (three starting class feats for MI; plus your 1 st level feat; plus a bonus feat for being human – all MI are human – plus a bonus feat from your class list at first, second, and every even-

numbered level thereafter; and select a new feat at 3 rd level and every

character level divisible by three (6th, 9th, etc.) If you have played

D&D since the introduction of 3rd Edition, you won't have any difficulty. Read the descriptions of the feats and skills carefully, as some are a little different from the D&D or d20 Modern versions. It's a good game. However, I recommend some house rules, to make things work a bit better. First, double the starting hit points, and add the Constitution modifier to new hit points gained at each new

level. Second, we adopted 4th Edition's “Second Wind” function: once per encounter (battle), you can regain one-fourth of your maximum hit points as a standard action. (Non-player characters – NPC's – don't have this ability.) Third, when a medic treats a character's injury, roll a d8 (eight-sided die) instead of a d4 (four-sided die). You might notice all three of these rule adjustments increase a PC's survivability in battle. Yeah, that's on purpose – the first time we tried the game out, we lost 80% of the party. That might be “realistic” but these are HEROS, and it's no fun to role up new PCs all the time.

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The other change we made was to the way autofire weapons worked in the game. The SSTRPG rule is that a weapon on autofire mode fills an area 10 ft by 10 ft square, and the attacking PC makes an attack roll for each character, friend or foe, within the area; the autofi re uses up 10 bullets and does the standard damage. Instead, we use the d20 Modern rule: the autofire mode still fills a 10x10 ft square, uses 10 bullets, and effects all characters (friend or foe) within the area. However the attacker makes a single attack roll against a defense of 10; if this is successful, each effected target attempts a refl ex save (DC 15) to avoid being hit. (One option we're trying out is that characters making the save still suffer half of the attack's damage.)

Overall, it's a very fun game, and I highly recommend it.

Everyone Fights. No-One Quits.

Semper Fi,

MCPT Thomas “Tank” Clark, SFMC

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what s in the galley?'LTJG Tracy Clark, Chief Medical Officer USS Regulator(SFMC Reservist and Tank's favorite Cook)

Pretty Good Cookies

1 ½ Cups Sifted Flour½ Tsp Salt2/3 Cup Butter Softened or 1 Cup Butter Substitute (like Blue Bonnet Light).½ Cup Light Brown Sugar; Firmly Packed.1 Tsp Vanilla

Cream the butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Add Sifted fl our and salt. Next, you can roll out dough, cut into cookies and bake, or chill for up to 48 hours before rolling out and cutting into cookies and baking. Bake in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes, or until a very light brown.Before chilling or rolling out, you can add any other Misc ingredient (like Chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, mashed bananas with pecans, mint chips, etc.).

This is a simple but good recipe for just about any kind of cookie. Go wild, go exotic, go crazy; nothing I tried came out bad, they were all very tasty.

Enjoy!

LT(JG) Tracy Clark

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Greetings Marines! YOUR Honor Guard went to the Regional Summit, in Lack Charles, LA, and there we had our first detail! That's right, the Colors were posted and retreated with style! The detail consisted of WO1 Cory Matt, MCPT Mike Tolleson, and myself from the Honor Guard, and four

members of the USS Lonestar/318th MSG; GEN Sam Black, CMDR Norbert Kessen, CMDR Karen Kessen, and 1LT JJ Kelly. Many thanks go out to them for performing this detail with us!

Also to thank is the rest of the USS Lonestar for providing the fl ags and flag poles (and special thanks to RADM Marian Murphy of the USS Rachel Garret for ironing all those flags so they look great!).

We learned a lot about doing Color Guard details for SFI and the Region, and while things worked out great, I know that the future will only have better and smoother operations! I'm looking forward to them! For now we're going to calm down, recover and regroup, so that we can get a plan as to just how to attack making our details, and our equipment better.

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3rd brigade honor guard reportLTC Jeremy Carsten

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Core members still are:FCAPT Ken Kopacki - USS Joan of Arc, 313th MSgLTC Jeremy Carsten - 301st MEUMCPT Mike Tolleson - USS Regulator, 333rd MSGWO1 Cory Matt - USS Ark Angel

I'd personally like to thank FCAPT Reed Bates, RADM Lisa Pruitt, RADM Marian Murphy and BDR John Johnston for helping guide and mentor me through my fi rst SFI event, and helping to coordinate everything for the detail.

Below, check out the picture of YOUR Honor guard in action!

As always I can be contacted if any members have any interest in the Honor guard – to join, or if your ship or unit would like a detail present for an event, at:

efferus@ussbattleborn.com

or the Honor Guards new gmail address:3rdbde.honorguard@gmail.com

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adventures at muster summit&MCPT Mike “Matchstick” Tolleson, SFMCRegion 3 ShOC

Greetings all Marines,

I thought that some of you would enjoy the tale I will tell you today. If you made Summit in Lake Charles you probably know about it. Due to unforeseen circumstance our Brigade's OIC was unable to arrive in time for the Dress Mess, and he asked me to step up and take over as President of the Mess. So, I did.

Trying to end the mess on a good joke, (I thought) I stood and asked for the Marine to present their coins. Everyone enjoyed it, even though it's not exactly correct protocol, as Lt. Gen. Aaron Murphy quickly reminded me. At fi rst, I thought that we may have had him, but he reluctantly pulled his coin from his pocket. Everyone had a great laugh. The next morning, at the closing ceremonies, the General's wife (Lt. Col. Kris Murphy) and I went to work again. She handed me the General's coin and proceeded to tell the other Marines of our scheme.

After the closing ceremonies were over, we set the plan into motion: I walked up to General Murphy and Brig. Gen. John Johnston and said, "Sirs, I know this is not protocol, but... " and I slammed my coin down on the table. This was over heard by several others, and they proceeded to slam their coins down as well, knowing that General Murphy didn't have his. He began to clutch and grab his pockets looking for his coin. As he gets a bit desperate searching his pockets for his coin, I pull it from my pocket and hold it up. The General doesn't see this, and continues searching for his coin.

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I then got his attention, as he looked up he said, "What the... How did you..." Then it hit him, and as he yelled out his wife's name, he knew what had happened.

Grinning, I rendered a salute and he did the same. And everyone got a good laugh over that. General Murphy then advised me that he would get revenge at some point. So, here's some words of advice to all Marines: Don't leave home with out your coin. You never know when you will be asked to present it.

Very Respectfully,

Michael Tolleson, MCPT SFMC333MSG (USS Regulator)

Editor's Note:If you don't have a challenge coin yet, they

are available from the SFMC Quartermaster for only $10 each. Visit http://www.qm.sfi-sfmc.org for more information.

– Tank

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Reports From The Field

333rd Marine Strike Group(from the June MSR)

• The 333rd held a Battletech Tournament; we had large turnout and handed out recruiting material. (see picture , left)

• Went to Iron Man 2 with chapter – a good turnout there, too.

• The unit is trying Decipher Star Trek RPG after attending a Browncoat (Serenity/Firefly fan) Event in Fort Worth.

• Mark West named Aide De Camp and Staff guru for 3rd BDE by new 3rd BDE OIC John Johnston.

Well, so far the Decipher Trek game appears to be going well, everyone is enjoying things. (The Great Bird save us from Lieutenant Dan and his exploding Phasers!!) I am enjoying running the game so far. It is a nice change of things that we had been doing RPG-wise. One of the best things is having a group of talented people to play with while we are learning the rules together. The group is also working on getting some Phaser rifles made to have on hand at upcoming conventions in the DFW area. We are also looking forward to Game Day in September to see a bunch of friends since most of us didn't get to go to Summit.

BGN Mark West333rd MSG, The Regulators

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Word Find

M A R I N E X H W L F D N Y H F L E E TO R N G I B C E H L I I R C P M T H M AS M A J O R J L N A M E A E S O C P L AR O K A E L O P L O T O T O N F L A E DA R I F L E Y D U T S X S C V F B T N MG H O J N N Z C A V A T N V B I T C H IF R D S N A M B Q W L G U H J C I H K RM E I U T L S Y U I U O P D Z E M E P AQ G G B R I G A D E T E D R I R M S H LN L H N G E K S O N E X B A M E U T A RU E K O E U G U N G H O F W I S S C S GI N M O T T U D R I L L P A F S T E E TG O L T A E N D W H I N I A T P A C R RM L Z A V N O I L A T T A B R R F O J EU O X L I A P V E T P R A T O A F R Y KS C A P R N O I O T O S U C O T U P H OT O C J P E R S O N A L Y K P F K O F RE R V S P E C I A L F O R C E S L R E PR P B O E S C O M P A N Y C B I W A W SZ S A L U T T N A N E T U E I L A L N T

DIVISIONARMORBATTALIONDRILLBRIGADEXENOSTUDIESMARINEFLEETPERSONALSTUDYMUSTERSUMMITADMIRALSPECIALFORCES

PATCHESCAPTAINLIEUTENANTMAJORCOLONELCORPSTROOPCOMPANYBATTERYRIFLECORPORALSGTENSIGNPLATOON

SALUTEPRIVATEAWARDGUNGHOMSGMEUOFFICERGUNNYSTAFFPHASERREFORMSTARTREKFORT

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Here's a Fun Fact:

According to “FUBAR: Soldier Slang of World War II”,

the abbreviation“PFC”

Stands for

“Praying For Corporal”

“So long, and thanks for all the fish...”