Exercise Cantina Run

Exercise Cantina Run (or 'ECR') 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 during this time.

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 a single player mission or battle. 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.