Alpha Strike Force / ASF1

1998 – During the early days of internet gaming, Lucas Arts released X-Wing vs Tie Fighter(XvT), (summer of 1997). ASF Zebra been a member of a couple clubs during those days, but felt the desire to put together a club whereby all ages could come and participate without retribution.With the help of Osiris, BarnDog, Stallion, Python and Stoney and a few others, the Alpha Strike Force was created/started in April 1998.

1999 – Zebra developed the Code of Conduct, in which ASF still operates by. The Alpha Strike Force quickly became known as one of the elite Clubs of the Star Wars XvT and Xwing Alliance (XwA). During the first years of ASF’s existence the focus of our team was Lucasarts’ space simulations.

2001 – ASF quickly gained recognition as the top clan of the zone and especially within Battle Stats. Some of the top records are still enjoyed by ASF. The team has also taken top Week or Wars honors in the following games, Crimson Skies and Jedi Knight II: Outcast.

2002 – Year after year, ASF participated in numerous online competitive events. ASF’s calendar was always full which eventually became somewhat a burden to many of our members. There is a point when a club’s membership can reach a burn-out. ASF experienced such in the fall of 2002! Members decided competition was not that important, and with the exception of some diehard pilots, ASF competition days had somewhat came to an end.

2003 – Then came along games, such as Raven Shield, Call of Duty, Joint Operations . These were games that could be played co-operatively. It seemed that ASFers came to a point where they enjoyed fighting the A.I more than real players. As one of our esteemed members stated back then, “ASF has become a good ole boys Country Club!” Indeed he could be correct, but ASF’s prime directive from the start is about having FUN!!

2004 – ASF’s next game was Star Wars Battlefront (SWBF). It wasn’t long before ASF signed up with yet another competition called Battleweek. This competition was different from others since it was launched by ASF Maelstrom. True to its tradition ASF claimed victory on the first two Battleweeks. During the same period our team launched its new website.

2005 – With the ASF-sponsored Battleweek taking off and attracting more and more clans, ASF turned its focus to competitive gaming once more. As Star Wars Battlefront started gaining traction among the ranks of gamers Battleweek became the most attended online competitions. At its peak, Ecliptical Realms (hosting website of Battleweek) gathered 20+ clans and helped organize more than 1000 games in a period of one week.

2006 – The next game in ASF’s list was actually a sequel – Star Wars Battlefront 2. Again our team led the way in adopting the latest Lucasarts’ first person shooter. At that point, Battleweek was a well-established event in the Battlefront community. ASF continued serving its prime directive – having fun. Learning from its past, ASF leadership decided to scale back on its competition involvement and focus on co-op gaming.

2007 – This year was primarily focused on Battlefield 2142 – EA’s latest First Person Shooter game. A great number of ASF members participated in beta testing the game and provided valuable feedback to the game’s developers. The continuous feedback and support extended to future map releases of Battlefield 2142. Up to this day, a number of our members continue to beta test for EA through CombatTesting.com

2008 – During 2008 ASF officially launched a newer version of its website which incorporated a number of new features. The website also incorporated new communication options as well as an updated look. During the same timeframe, our team saw an influx of new members from other clans who were looking for a less demanding environment to play their games with.

2009 – With Battlefield 2142 maturing and with a lot of our members getting Brigadier General ranks for multiple accounts, our team started experimenting with new games and platforms. With EA focusing its efforts on Battlefield Heroes, our team tested the game for a number of months before deciding that its intensively cartoon-like environment wasn’t as appealing as other Battlefield titles.

2010 – 2010 was an interesting year for competitive gaming since many excellent titles were released. One of the most interesting ones was Battlefield Bad Company 2. The game was quickly adopted by ASFers since our team members were always enthusiastic about this particular gaming series.

2011 – 2011 saw two major releases from Electronic Arts. The first one was Battlefield 3 while the second one was Star Wars The Old Republic. Both games immediately drew the attention of Battlefield, Star Wars Battlefront and X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter veterans.

2012 – 2012 was the year of SWToR…The ASF guild originally started with 20 members on the Axial Park server and eventually grew to close to 500 members on the Jedi Covenant Server. Ryder took the reigns from Zebra as Commander of ASF. At the same time, Legacy ASF members focused on games like Battle Pirates and Battlefield 3, proving once more that it’s all about having fun -not what game you play!

2013 and on – Going forward, our team will continue to follow the principles set many years ago by its founder Zebra. Friendship, honor, respect, fun and healthy competition will always be the guide of ASF as our team surpassed its first decade of existence. Ryder’s vision is to make ASF the premier online gaming community spanning games across multiple platforms. We currently have groups playing consoles, steam, MMO’s and many other games and are always looking to add new members. Come join us today, and Don’t Fly without a Wingman!