Exercise Cantina Run

Exercise Cantina Run (or ECR as it was more commonly referred to) was an annual competition for the TIE Corps Battlegroups that determined the flagship of the battlegroup for the next year. The competition began in 1999 and ran yearly through 2005, with eight total iterations. During this time, it was regularly considered to be the premiere event for members of the TIE Corps Battlegroups, often overshadowing fleetwide events. The ISD Challenge was the winningest ship for this competition, winning half of all ECRs held.

Background

ECR was founded by Kessler as a competition to determine the TIE Corps Battlegroups flagship. As originally conceived, the competition took place over three phases: fiction, graphics, and flying. Because the TIE Corps Battlegroups was considered a "single-player battlegroup", the flying portion would typically consist of one or more a single player missions. The nature of which mission (or how many missions) would vary from ECR to ECR. Some ECRs incorporated additional and/or simultaneous phases including multiplayer and/or mission creation, but at a minimum, every ECR had some form of the base fiction, graphics, and flying phases.

In addition to designating a winning ship, ECR often acknowledged the best performing squadron as well. In some iterations, the top squad would be designated as the "BGCOM Escort Squadron" for the next year, with early iterations even changing the squadron's designation to "VIP Escort". This practice of changing squadron designation was discontinued after ECR II, but the title of "BGCOM's Escort Squadron" or some variation was a common occurrence for most iterations.

The time of year when ECR occurred varied greatly throughout its lifetime, with one year (2001) accounting for two ECR events. While there were eight ECR events in total, one particularly controversial ECR (ECR IV), which declared a winner without completion of all events, resulted in a second ECR (also designated "ECR IV") to be re-ran the following year, although the assignment of the winning ship (Immortal) as the flagship per the controversial ECR was upheld between ECRs.

History

ECR I

The first ECR was created in 1999 and ran by Kessler, with three phases: fiction, graphics, and flying. Competitors included the Challenge, Relentless, Colossus, and newly-commissioned Immortal.

It is generally believed that the Challenge was the victor of this initial run of the competition.

ECR II

The second ECR, occurring in 2000, continued with a similar ruleset as the first ECR, with the same three phases of fiction, graphics, and flying. Fiction and graphic submissions were required to be about events occurring in the Imperial Storm wargame, another event created by Kessler. Competitors again included the Challenge, Relentless, Colossus, and the Immortal.

The Immortal won the second ECR, with Typhoon Squadron winning BGCOM's Escort Squadron, resulting in its designation being changed to VIP Escort. This was the final ECR that resulted in a designation change for the top squadron.

ECR III

The third ECR ran from February 4th, 2001 through March 31, 2001, and was run by the Battlegroup Commander of the time, Jarak Maldon. Competitors included the Challenge, Relentless, Colossus, and the Immortal. First round was fiction, followed by graphics, followed by flying, with each round lasting two weeks. Fiction and graphic submissions were required to reflect something about the TIE Corps Battlegroups

For the flying round, each ship was able to choose their own free mission. Whichever average score was closest to the high score (or surpassed it) won. Points were given for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (5, 3, 2), with additional points given as a participation bonus depending on how many pilots on the ship flew their mission (10 for 100%, 5 for 90%, 3 for 75%, 2 for 50%).

Selected missions were as follows (with the high score of the time listed as well):

• ISD Colossus: TIE-FREE #126 (HS: 42,607)
• ISD Relentless: TIE-FREE #100 (HS: 53,231)
• ISD Challenge: TIE-FREE #150 (HS: 163,045)
• ISD Immortal: XWA-FREE #5 (HS: 12,159)

The Relentless won ECR III, having dominated the first two rounds of the competition.

ECR IV (first)

The fourth ECR occurred during the fall of 2001 and was run by the Battlegroup Commander of the time, Adrenaline. Competitors included the Challenge, Relentless, Colossus, and the Immortal.

Unlike past ECRs, this ECR had four phases: fiction, mission design, graphics, and flying. Each round was supposed to last two weeks. Winning pilot submissions in each phase would earn points for their ships, with first place earning 15 points, second place earning 10 points, third place earning 5 points, and fourth place earning 3 points. Additionally, participation points would be awarded to ships per round based on percentage of participation, with 100% participation earning 10 points, 90%-99% earning 9 points, 80%-89% earning 8 points, 70%-79% earning 7 points, 60%-69% earning 6 points, 50%-59% earning 5 points, and 40%-50% earning 4 points. Finally, all submissions would be ranked each round, with the average rank value for each ship determining how many points the ship would get in addition to individual and participation points, with the ship with the highest averaged ranked submissions earning 35 points, second place earning 25 points, third place earning 15 points, and fourth place earning 10 points.

Like ECR II, all creative work submissions were required to be about the recent Imperial Storm, Imperial Storm II.

While records are incomplete about this competition, it is generally believed that the mission design phase was intended to feed into the flying phase. However, ultimately, only the fiction and graphics phases were graded, with the mission design phase left ungraded and the flying phase proceeding with standard mission compendium entries.

Nevertheless, the Immortal was declared the winner, achieving 100% participation in the final round and winning by a single point over the Colossus. This was highly controversial at the time, not only for the incomplete nature of the competition, but also because of rampant rumors and accusations of an "Immortal bias" directed towards then-BGCOM Adrenaline, who originated from the Immortal and had already faced complaints about such a bias even before ECR occurred. It did not help that this ECR event was conducted so soon after ECR III had completed, arguably short-changing the Relentless's time as flagship.

While the Immortal assumed position as the flagship of the TIE Corps Battlegroups, the results of this ECR were not recognized by many members of the battlegroup at that time, throwing doubt into whether or not the competition had a future.

ECR IV (second)

A second attempt at ECR IV was run during the fall of 2002 by then Battlegroup Commander Krax Tarnisar. In recognition of the controversy of the previous ECR, Krax designated this iteration of the competition as "ECR IV" in an attempt to invalidate the previous run, although he still recognized the Immortal as his flagship during this time.

This second iteration of ECR IV returned to the standard ECR formula, with a graphics, fiction, and flying phase, in that order, each lasting two weeks. The topic for the fiction phase called for writing some kind of history of the TIE Corps Battlegroups.

The Challenge was declared the winner of this iteration of ECR IV.

ECR V

The fifth numbered ECR started November 23rd, 2003 and ran through December 23rd, 2003, although results were not available until a month later. Devised by then Battlegroup Commander Krax Tarnisar and his self-appointed assistant BGCOM, Immortal Commodore Locke Setzer, ECR V set out to shake up the competition with a number of changes. Locke Setzer would be responsible for running this iteration of the competition, which for the final time would include the Challenge, Relentless, Colossus, and the Immortal as its competitors.

This iteration of the competition served as a round-robin tournament, consisting of four rounds whereby one ship would face off against the other, flying the assigned single player mission (a TIE mission and a XWA mission) and playing multiplayer matches against pilots of the opposing ship. Fiction and graphics were not relegated to any of these rounds, but instead ran for the entire competition, with submissions open for the entire month.

For the weekly ship vs. ship SP and MP rounds, scoring was based on how one ship performed against its opponent. For SP missions, for each platform (TIE and XWA), 15 points were awarded to the ship with the top scorer, 10 for the second place scorer, 5 for the third place scorer, and 1 for any other pilot that submitted an entry. For multiplayer matches, 4 points were awarded for a MP victory, while 2 points for participation in a MP match.

For graphic submissions, the given subject was to portray the ships of the TIE Corps Battlegroups working together to destroy a Rebel ship/outpost/planet/etc. 25 points were given to the ship with the top graphic submission, 20 points for second place, 10 points for third, and then 2 points for every individual pilot submission that did not place in the top three.

For fiction submissions, the prompt was to write a story about one of the ECR training exercises that is interrupted by an unforeseen event that makes things go terribly wrong. 25 points were given to the ship with the top fiction submission, 20 points for second place submission, 10 points for third place submission, and then 2 points for each individual pilot submission that did not place in the top 3.

Additionally, 30 points were given to each ship that "won" a round against its assigned opponent, as well as 20 points for whichever ship among all competitors had the most participation in a given round (regardless of who the opponent was).

The single player missions were custom built for the competition by Locke Setzer and Master, with Locke being responsible for the TIE missions and Master being responsible for the XWA missions. While not officially a part of the mission compendium at the time they were flown, they were later released as TIE-TC #224 (erroneously named "ECR IV - Training Maneuvers") and XWA-TC #42 (correctly named "ECR V - Training Maneuvers")

As competition organizer, Locke was barred from placement on any fiction or graphic entry (but was allowed participation points). Additionally, Locke and Master were barred from placement on the single player missions (as they were the creators of these missions), but were allowed participation points.

The competition did not run without controversy. Bugs with some of the XWA missions resulted in real-time patched versions, with some extended timelines for completion granted. After the flying portion was completed, the Relentless had a significant lead, but the fiction and graphic portions remained to be judged. However, both Locke and Krax became unavailable during this time, leading to extended waiting period for the results. Locke was ultimately declared AWOL and Krax resigned, leaving Relentless Commodore BubbaX to retrieve the fiction and graphic submissions from Locke and have them judged by independent TIE Corps members.

Ultimately, the Relentless was declared the winner of the competition, becoming the flagship of the TIE Corps Battlegroups for the second time.

ECR VI

The sixth numbered ECR started on October 22, 2004 and ran through December 3rd, 2004. This ECR returned to the more traditional format, with four rounds that included flying, fiction, graphics, and a return of mission creation. Initially launched by then Battlegroup Commander Mell Kerrigan, responsibility for completing the competition again fell on the shoulders of BubbaX, who assumed the BGCOM position midway through the competition. With the Immortal closed earlier that year, the competitors for ECR VI only included the Challenge, Relentless, and the Colossus.

The Challenge ultimately won ECR VI, resuming its role as flagship of the TIE Corps Battlegroups.

ECR VII

The seventh numbered ECR began on September 4th, 2005. This iteration of the competition was run by then Battlegroup Commander BubbaX. Competitors included the Challenge, Relentless, and the Colossus.

ECR VII returned to a ruleset similar to ECR V, albeit without the "ship vs. ship" round robin approach nor the multiplayer component. Four flying rounds were held, with one TIE free mission and one XWA free mission assigned for each round. ECR VII also included fiction, graphics, and mission creation submissions as well, but like ECR V, these submissions were accepted throughout the duration of the competition.

This competition was completely dominated by the Challenge, both in points scored in placement as well as in participation, completely overshadowing the other competitors. This spoke well for the Challenge, but not the state of the other ships in the TIE Corps Battlegroups.

Cyclone Squadron was awarded the title of BGCOM's Own as the best performing squadron in the competition.

The Challenge was again declared the flagship of the TIE Corps Battlegroups, a title it would retain for the remainder of the TIE Corps Battlegroups' life.

Competition Summary

Competition	Year	Organizer	Winner
ECR I	1999	Kessler	Challenge (?)
ECR II	2000	?	Immortal
ECR III	Spring 2001	Jarak Maldon	Relentless
ECR IV (first)	Fall 2001	Adrenaline	Immortal
ECR IV (second)	Fall 2002	Krax Tarnisar	Challenge
ECR V	Winter 2003	Locke Setzer / BubbaX	Relentless
ECR VI	Fall 2004	Mell Kerrigan / BubbaX	Challenge
ECR VII	Fall 2005	BubbaX	Challenge