Creating a squad

Allegiance squads are all about playing squad games. Squads aren't just a social club for hanging out in pickup games. They are about teamwork, improving as a group, showing up for squad games, playing to win against equally talented and equally determined opponents.

If all you are looking for is "group recognition" of you and a small band of friends - and you otherwise have no interest in going head-to-head with the best players in the game - there is no need for you to form an officially recognized squad. Just convince your friends to add a "_TAG" to the end of their callsigns, come up with a cool logo, make a website, and you're done.

If you really are interested in recruiting 15-25 players who want to disturb the established order and compete among the top players, this Sunday and every Sunday then we offer advertisement space on the Currently forming squads page, but first read the rules and advice about creating new squads below...

Rules on forming a new squad

Minimum Size	The squad must have at least 15 members.
No multisquadding	None of its members may be members of another squad.
No newbie squads	At least 15 of its members must have lost their 'newbie' status.
Recognition	A squad is expected to play three squad games against any other squad for full recognition. For these games to count, both sides need to have ten or more players.

A squad that wishes to be officially recognized must satisfy all of the above criteria.

Squad Privileges

Once a squadron is officially recognized the following benefits are afforded to them:

Tags are issued	Squadron members may wear the squad tag (e.g., @FOO)
Public roster	The squad roster is published on the ASGS Rosters page.
Officer's Club	The squad leader and his assistants can read and post in the Officer's Club forum. (Which is mainly used for organizing squad games.)
Hosted boards	Last but not least, the squadron can have a squad forum freely hosted on freeallegiance.org if they wish.

Advice on Creating A Squad

Publicity

Although your first instinct may be to advertise your fledgling squad as much as possible this is probably not the best course of action. In the past there have been very immature players who have attempted to create a squad and in the process created a backlash from the community against them. Generally anyone who attempts to create a new squad is greeted with resurrected in-jokes comparing the aspiring squad and founder to these immature predecessors.

Be advised that you may encounter unexpected resistance to your new squad no matter how honorable your intentions are. The best recommendation is to not advertise at all, but to Private Message (PM) players directly in-game and thus quietly gather your minimum 15 players.

Recruiting

Don't recruit until you already have some players.

If this seems like a chicken and egg-problem to you then you are going about starting up your squad the wrong way. You see it's not 'your' squad. It belongs to the people you play with. You start it up together, as a team. Think about it: which sounds better: 'hi, i wnt 2 start a new squad, who wnts 2 join me?' or: 'Hi, Bob, Peter, Mary and I have decided to start a new squad together. Who wants to join us?'.

You and your friends might decide to become visible in-game, to help your recruiting. For instance, even before you meet the criteria for an official @TAG you can create an alternative callsign via ASGS to go with your chosen squad name. For instance if your callsign is Jadein you could create a second callsign Jadein_FOO. After all, this is how clan tags work in most other online games.

The best way to create a core of committed people to your squad is to use the personal touch, approach individuals who you think would be a good fit for what you've defined your squad as. At the beginning you should only contact those players who are familiar with you and like you (few people like being recruited by complete strangers), and you need to consider that each new person that joins will also have to get along with the others you've recruited.

There're several things that people will want to know when you are discussing the new squad;

• Who is the Squad Leader, and the officers, are there any open slots?
• Which people have agreed to join the squad, what are their callsigns?
• Which of those have completed @cadet or @acs, will I believe they can fly well?
• How many people have _committed_ to join the squad, how many are just possibilities?
• How is the squad unique, how will it be distinct from all the other squads that are formed?
• Will the squad be competitive, do you have a mix of skill levels where you might have a chance at winning a squad game, will there be any decent commanders that have a chance to win games?

When recruiting don't get desperate, find people who will fit into the squad and want to be there. Covet the officer slots, these can be used as a bargaining tool in negotiating with a potential player... keep in mind that officer positions are the public face of your squad - don't give them away lightly. Don't rush, take your time, gaining 1-2 members in a week is a reasonable rate.

You'll want to try and work on quantity, then move to quality. Having said that, you do need to have a core group of members that are somewhat skilled and known. People will join a squad based on how well the squad competes and how well they like the members. The rules state that you only need 15 players, but you really need close to double that as not everyone is active 100% of the time. Adding 10 newbies on day one may make it look like you're getting larger, however in reality it's going to drive away potential veteran players if all they see are cute newbies to cuddle and no wingmen to help them.

Advice from people who have formed squads

Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder only survived because there was a large influx of new players when the Allegiance Source Code was released, due to online publicity. Most of them played a lot together on the newbie server and thanks to Badger got united to a single squad. In a mere two weeks RT had the necessary numbers and were allowed to officially form the squad. After that it took determination, resolve and patient members to make it work. So, don't think this will be easy. RT is actually the only newbie member formed squad of the last 4 years to survive... — Quoted from Fell

Roman Legion

When you are first starting a squad, the best idea is to join a squad. Yes, it may sound contradictory, but knowing how a squad works together is a huge advantage both in running a squad and in recruiting players. When you ask a player if they are interested in joining, having experience in a squad and a good deal of time in the community always helps. Be sure to make friends, as well, for if no one knows you, then no one will follow you. When it comes down to recruiting players, don't be selective until you acquire your tag. Also, don't try for the minimum, try for as many people as you can grab. Send messages to the entire cadet classes, ask every unsquadded vet you see. Don't try to recruit from within existing squads - They do not like this much. However, don't not accept someone because they are formerly a member of a different squad - You will want their experience. Try to get as many players as possible before scheduling your first games - Having twenty players makes it more likely that you will be able to make the minimum 10 players required. Also, don't be afraid to ask people who have more experience than you. Even if they don't join, they generally have a lot of helpful advice. Ask the existing squad leaders about things, ask people that have formed squads, generally, ask. Be sure to have a 'core' group of people that you can count on - People who went through Cadet with you are great, but the most important thing is having people you can count on. One thing that is VERY important for a new squad is morale - You expect to lose every solo game for a long time, but you need to keep your squad happy. Schedule training sessions with other squads where it is mixed teams. Fly in groups in PUGs. Schedule double games (Two squads per team) with already existing squads, and pair yourself up with the best you can. Even though it's not just you, you are still part of a winning team, and that will keep people happy. — Quoted from Andon

Related Articles

• Currently forming squads

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