Aphrodite's Knights

[dooya]

[...]
And ole Dixicrat can get a second from me also, just for having to put up with the torture he must go thru daily. The artillery piece was probably easier. LOL

[HMSWarspite]

Pocus? Almost... Me? Okay... Let's clear that up now. I second Pocus to the "Tip Top Highest Super Duper Programmer Developer" Medal or whatever it's equivalent might be!

And ole Dixicrat can get a second from me also, just for having to put up with the torture he must go thru daily. The artillery piece was probably easier. LOL

I am going to have to get a bigger mouth for all these feet I put in it
Actually you said your award ought to go to Pocus - almost a nomination, see

[gchristie]

Sometimes when I put my foot in it, my wife gives me the gentle admonishment to "stop while I'm behind."

[Jim-NC]

Help guys. I have just realised I made a major faux pas (or dropped a clanger for the non english speakers! ) . By vetoing our mighty and honorable queen and re-proposing Dixicrat myself, I have inadvertantly increased the number of seconders needed to get Dixicrat his medals and thus turned a joke with honorable intentions into a potential diplomatic incident. (If you read the proposing rules you will see what I mean ). So I have now got 3 choices as I see it:
1) go out and expose myself on a desolate hillside and never darken these hallowed portals again - easy but does not actually solve anything
2) Have a coup, declare myself Queen temporarily, get one further vote, then resign (sorry, abdicate) and support the one true queen - would work, but likely to get a guy killed around here
3) get three further prople to second Dixicrat (come on, you know you can do it, the artillery piece is value on its own!)
4) beg our sovereign Lady, Aphrodite Mae, to forgive this lese majeste (affront to the throne for our non english speakers again - sorry for the lack of accents ), and bend the rules so that she can second my proposal and call it carried

Finally I would like to propose Pocus for an award. I would like to leave it to Her Serene Highness Aphrodite Mae to decide which, as I am not sure one completely fits. I propose him for many months, nay years, of effort to deliver and improve this game, never failing to be friendly and helpful, ignoring the more tempestuous 'suggestions' and 'helpful' posts, whilst picking up the good ideas. But above all for continuing to patch and improve this game and transforming it since it was written. He never seems to be too protective of his baby and will make quite radical changes when asked. And he has kept it bug free (mostly) whilst doing it.

I hope I haven't missed where someone has already awarded him something... (Lensman almost proposed him)

How about option 4. Give yourself a paper tiger award.

[HMSWarspite]

How about option 4. Give yourself a paper tiger award.

I would propose myself, but I think that it would be outside the spirit of the award I will award myself the 'Whitehall Warrior star' - as my sins do not even involve going to war

If Her Majesty will allow it of course

For those that dont know, Whitehall was the location of the UK Ministry of War in WW1 (and 2 for that matter), and anybody who was stationed there doing some admin job had a very cushy war, with the only danger being sceptacaemia from a paper cut.

[Aphrodite Mae]

I've been delighted by people such as Manstein and Banks and Yellowhammer displaying their medals on their avatars. To me, at least, this says that they're proud of their medals. I also consider it a high compliment to myself, because they're displaying my tiny works of art.

The problem is, that there are lots of medals to be awarded! By the time that I'm through, almost everybody on these AACW forums will have one or two, and many of you may end up with have a lot more than that!

Gentlemen of the OAK, I don't want to "mess up" your avatars! The German Ambassador, Dooya, pointed out that there are "hacks" for enabling the display of medals, and he helpfully provided me with a link so I could check out some examples. But after checking things out, I've decided that that isn't the way to go, at least for now. That's because it requires all sorts of complicated stuff dealing with forum admin, and so on.

It's been said that you shouldn't point out a problem, without providing a solution... so, here's my solution! (Or at least, my suggestion.)



Display your medals in your profile picture! I don't know about you, but my avatar is more important to me than my profile picture. By displaying your medals here, you can keep your current avatar without "messing it up", and display your medals, too! Plus, whenever you want to change your avatar (like I do, occasionally), you won't have to go to all the trouble of adding the medals to your new avatar picture!

So, gentlemen... what do you think of this idea?

[dooya]

[...]
Display your medals in your profile picture! I don't know about you, but my avatar is more important to me than my profile picture. By displaying your medals here, you can keep your current avatar without "messing it up", and display your medals, too! Plus, whenever you want to change your avatar (like I do, occasionally), you won't have to go to all the trouble of adding the medals to your new avatar picture!

So, gentlemen... what do you think of this idea?

Wouldn't be the signature a more prominent place for the medals?

[Aphrodite Mae]

Recipients of these glorious awards should display them in their signature !

Wouldn't be the signature a more prominent place for the medals?

This is a good idea, too! And I suppose that there's no real reason why people couldn't use either (or both!) of the methods.

Uniformity contributes to a sharp military appearance, right? So, I'm thinking that no matter which way is used, we need to agree on a standard. I propose that we use the dimensions of the "profile picture box" that I used in my last post. That way, the same bitmap of your medals can be used, either way.

This brings up something else that I guess I should mention. Each medal has a certain rank in relation to other medals. I've been calling that rank "dignity". Here's a view of how the medals would be ordered, if you were enough of a hero to win all of them!


[CENTER][/CENTER]


[SIZE="1"]That kinda reminds of that guy in The Deerhunter who says, "What did you do, win the war by yourself?!" when he's looking at his friend's medals! [/size]

The "Distinguished AACW Coordinator" medal isn't displayed.

No matter how you choose to do it, guys, keep this in mind: there is a one pixel-wide border with each medal, so when you're building your "rack", don't forget to copy that part, too! That'll keep 'em from getting all squooshed together, OK?

[tagwyn]

Havely: I don't like your pic. You are classy! Abs is retarded. t

[Comtedemeighan]

Havely: I don't like your pic. You are classy! Abs is retarded. t

Abs?

[Aphrodite Mae]

I don't know what it's like in the armies of other nations, but in the US Army, good conduct is rewarded with a medal! I think that's a good idea. So, I've created some "Good Conduct" medals! These are pretty easy to earn, I have to admit. All you have to do is show up, and behave yourself. How hard can it be?

To be awarded any of these medals, all that's required is that you have served the required amount of time, and that your rep is in the green. No nomination is required! Just take the one that you deserve!

So! Here are the medals.

[CENTER]
4 months of Good Conduct


8 months of Good Conduct


12 months of Good Conduct


16 months of Good Conduct


20 months of Good Conduct

...and so on! [/CENTER]

Not a lot of deep, meaningful symbolism in the design here, guys.
Red = Conduct
silver or gold = Good!

[Aphrodite Mae]

Here is one more Good Conduct medal for you! (I kinda ran out of room, in my last post.)

[CENTER]
24 months of Good Conduct[/CENTER]

[SIZE="1"]Hope you weren't too surprised by the design...[/size]

OK. Now, a lot of the other medals I've already talked about have citations that you can earn. The Good Conduct medal is no exception! Want to earn one? Well, I think that it would be fun to offer you a puzzle to solve, if you want to. I like Hobbes "seasonal contests", and so this idea is inspired by that! (Thanks, Hobbes! )

We'll call this "the Queen's challenge!" Solve the challenge, and win a citation for your medal!

Here is the first "Queen's Challenge".
Look at the arrangement of broad and narrow threads of silver and gold for the different Good Conduct medals, and then look at the time (4 months, 12 months, etc.) for each medal.

Now, here is the question: if I wanted to design a Good Conduct medal for 27 months of service in a way where each side of the medal mirrored the other, what threads would I use, and where would they go?

So that it won't take you much time, let's agree to a simple code: S1, S2 for narrow and broad silver threads; and G1, G2 for gold, OK? For example, the "4 months of Good Conduct" medal is S1 S2 S1. [SIZE="1"]No, you can't make up your own threads.[/size]

Send me a Private Message with your answer!

Because the answer is easy, and because there are a bunch of different solutions, we need to limit this, OK?
So: response time for this challenge is limited to 27 hours from the time I post this.

[Dixicrat]

What a character you have for a wife, Dixicrat!

And ole Dixicrat can get a second from me also, just for having to put up with the torture he must go thru daily. The artillery piece was probably easier. LOL

Yes, it's true: I do live in pain, sometimes. But that's only because my sides are aching from my wife making me laugh until it hurts.

Gentlemen, you can't imagine what it's like to live with Aphrodite Mae!
...
Let me rephrase that.

Gentlemen, I'd prefer that you not imagine what it's like to live with Aphrodite Mae, for obvious reasons.
That being said, my life with her is a real blessing, in many ways that you might not consider. Her creativity, kindness, and so many other great things that you see here on the forums are just the start. I guess I can sum it all up by saying that I couldn't have a better wife.

HMS Warspite:
Thank you for vetoing my nomination, and I mean that sincerely. Your point was a good one, and I'm pretty sure that most people saw your humor for what it was, from the start. I think that you actually did us all a favor by showing that Aphrodite Mae wasn't joking when she said that her nominations could be vetoed. Furthermore, the high honors that she nominated me for did smack of nepotism, although I have no doubt whatsoever that her intentions were pure, noble, and good.

I think that you handled the matter quite well, and all things have been resolved, it would seem. You have renominated me; and Gray has seconded.

So: thanks to Warspite, Gray, and Lady Mae for the awards! I'm honored, and commit myself to continuing to serve in an ever greater capacity.

[Aphrodite Mae]

When I started this thread, I began with three categories of medals: "battlefield", "service", and "campaign". (The campaign medals have an intractable problem that I'm working on, so I didn't mention them in my original post because they're a long way away from being ready to present, OK?) But oldspec4 made a great suggestion, and Soundoff got me to thinking, and so I've created a new category of medals that kinda bridges "battlefield" and "service"! We'll call the category "duty".

These medals don't require a nomination! If you meet the qualifications, you get the medal! These are the medals of the "unsung heroes": there won't be a post that sings your praises, but you've earned it, anyway! You can wear one (and only one) of these medals, but you can wear the one which has the highest "dignity".

The first medal is the "Enlisted Service" medal.
The "Enlisted Service" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Private (or higher), and who have been on the forum for a month or more.

Here's the medal!



The medal's base color is "Olive Drab Green", because it's a color that's used on the duty uniform of many of the world's armies. On either flank of the medal are four stripes. These represent the four seasons. Each season has its own weather... and the weather is usually miserable, as any soldier will tell you!

The first stripe is brown, representing Spring. Brown is the color of the mud which Infantry slogs their way through, in the Spring. The second stripe is a hazy yellow, representing Summer. It is the color of the hazy, humid, blazing hot summer days that every field soldier is all too familiar with! The third stripe is blue, and it's all about Autumn and its cold , rainy dreariness. Finally, the fourth stripe is the color of the ice and dirty snow of Winter, which soldiers know all too well. These stripes are on each flank of the medal, to symbolize that no matter which way you turn, the combat soldier cannot get away from the weather and its misery.

The second medal is the "Veteran Enlisted" medal.
The "Veteran Enlisted" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Private (or higher), and who have been on the forum for a year or more.

Here's the medal.



This medal is pretty much the same as the Enlisted Service medal, except for the broad band of gray, in the middle. This gray is the color of an elephant! That's because it's said that "you have seen the elephant", after your first experience in combat. If you've been mustering with the AGEod AACW forum for a year or more, you are a veteran!

Congratulations to those hardy forum veterans who are eligible for this medal! I've added a special attachment to this post, just for you! It isn't a reward... but it's your right, and it's a right denied to all who don't qualify for this medal!

If you are not eligible for the "Veteran Enlisted" medal, I [color="Red"]trust your honor[/color] as a gentleman to not look at the attachment that's titled, "FOR VETERAN ENLISTED ONLY"! Your time will come, eventually.

Veterans... don't talk about what you've seen, except to each other.

The third medal is the "NCO Service" medal.
The "NCO" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Corporal (or higher), who have been on the forum for a month or more, and who have a minimum of two pips of reputation. (Two "green thingies".)

Here's your medal, Sarge!



The only difference between the Enlisted Service medal and the NCO Service medal is that a stripe has been added, in the center of the medal. That stripe is the base color of the "command" medal! The symbolism here is that you are a leader, and that exemplary leadership should be central to what you do, here. You've "earned your stripes"!

The fourth medal is the "Veteran NCO" medal.
The "Veteran NCO" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Sergeant (or higher), who have been on the forum for a year or more, and who have a minimum of two pips of reputation. [SIZE="1"] Two "green thingies", in case you missed it, the first time.[/size]

Here's your medal, First Sergeant!



It's a lot like the NCO medal, but I've added two gray stripes. That means that you, too, have "seen the elephant"! There are two because you've done so, while "earning your stripes". So, since you're a Veteran, you can go ahead and peek at the special Veterans attachment. Just remember the admonition: "Speak not, of what you've seen."

Remember: it is a matter of [color="Red"]personal honor[/color] that you not look at the special attachment for "veterans" if you haven't earned the privilege, OK?

Wear these medals with pride, gentlemen!

[Redeemer]

Hmmm, should I jump on the NCO medal or wait for the Officer's version??

Thanks for all the moral work Aphrodite.

[DarthMath]

I'm wearing very proudly my first medal !!
Even if it's the cheapest one.
But I'm only one more little green square ( or thingie ) short for a NCO medal. I'm trying to work hard for it.
Many thanks to Aphrodite for her impressive work, and for her communicative good mood. Keep it up !!

[HMSWarspite]

So: thanks to Warspite, Gray, and Lady Mae for the awards! I'm honored, and commit myself to continuing to serve in an ever greater capacity.

You are welcome

[Aphrodite Mae]

Hmmm, should I jump on the NCO medal or wait for the Officer's version??

Thanks for all the moral work Aphrodite.

I have known many officers in my life who were originally enlisted men, but later attended OCS or ROTC to acquire their commission. On these forums, everyone who is an Officer has worked their way through the enlisted ranks! So, just in case anyone is wondering... it doesn't matter what your current rank is: if you're eligible for the medal, you're entitled to wear it!

As for your thanks, Redeemer... you're quite welcome. But you know what...? It's fun to be Queen! I highly recommend it!

[SIZE="1"]...on second thought, why don't all of you just take my word for it, OK?[/size]

I'm wearing very proudly my first medal !!
Even if it's the cheapest one.

My friend, there is a medal which is slightly less prestigious than the one which you've displayed. Furthermore, you're eligible to wear it! Your "enlistment date" is October 28th of 2008, and so you are entitled to proudly wear the "4 months of Good Conduct" medal!

As for your gracious thanks... thank you! <curtsy>
I wish you well, in your future endeavors. I somehow doubt that it will be long before you earn more medals.

Now: it is time to announce the winners of "[font="Times New Roman"]The Queen's Challenge[/font]!"
[SIZE="1"]You can go ahead and imagine a trumpet fanfare right now, if you want to.

...By guys wearing those cool medieval pointy-toed shoes, OK?[/size]

Gentlemen, I was simply astonished by the number of responses to the challenge! Really! The number of responses was very different from what I'd naively expected. Furthermore, all responses were correct!

All who responded are now entitled to proudly wear the Bronze Oak Leaf citation on their "Good Conduct Medal". And for the very first respondent, I hereby award the frosted Bronze Oak Leaf. Congratulations, Jim-NC!

[oldspec4]

Now revised to proudly wearing my "Veteran Staff Officer" medal/ribbon

[Injun]

Ms. Aphrodite Mae,

It is great that you have instituted these awards. May I suggest 3 additional awards.

1) Combat Award :Given for playing a PBEM for the first time, an elephant pin so to speak. Just a Black Ribbon with elephant.

I concider that any games vs Athena a training expersice. The real challenge is with a human opponet and "seeing the Elephant" for the first time. This would help stimulate and incourage new players of this fine game to play a PBEM.

2.) Combat Veterans Award:Black Ribbon with Rifle, Given for 5 PLEM games completed and for every ten games a background line in gold. This would help keep the interest of PBEM going.

3) Drillmaster Award given to member for taking a green player on in a PBEM and teaching him the finer points of the game. Given after playing 5 green players and a Star for every 10. Encourage those with experience and others to follow to share thier knowlege and help crate more experienced opponents.

[Franciscus]

Well, thank you for my veteran NCO medal, ma'am .

Another medal for my "milhões" avatar...

[Injun]

I'm wearing very proudly my first medal !!
Even if it's the cheapest one.
But I'm only one more little green square ( or thingie ) short for a NCO medal. I'm trying to work hard for it.
Many thanks to Aphrodite for her impressive work, and for her communicative good mood. Keep it up !!

Darth, How did you create the ribbon bar. Which program did you use for this?
I have MS Paint, PicPick, Pixia, Helois paint and infrview.

[Jim-NC]

Now: it is time to announce the winners of "[font="Times New Roman"]The Queen's Challenge[/font]!"
[SIZE="1"]You can go ahead and imagine a trumpet fanfare right now, if you want to.

...By guys wearing those cool medieval pointy-toed shoes, OK?[/size]

Gentlemen, I was simply astonished by the number of responses to the challenge! Really! The number of responses was very different from what I'd naively expected. Furthermore, all responses were correct!

All who responded are now entitled to proudly wear the Bronze Oak Leaf citation on their "Good Conduct Medal". And for the very first respondent, I hereby award the frosted Bronze Oak Leaf. Congratulations, Jim-NC!

Thank you your majesty for this prestigious award. I can't wait to proudly wear my Bronze Oak Leaf. I now need to just wait 3 months to actually earn the medal that it goes to. Oh well, whats a couple of months among friends.

[DarthMath]

Darth, How did you create the ribbon bar. Which program did you use for this?
I have MS Paint, PicPick, Pixia, Helois paint and infrview.

Hello Injun,
I've made several tries with Paint, with rectangles side by side and using copying from ...

[Aphrodite Mae]

[...] May I suggest 3 additional awards.

1) Combat Award :Given for playing a PBEM for the first time, an elephant pin so to speak. Just a Black Ribbon with elephant.

I concider that any games vs Athena a training expersice. The real challenge is with a human opponet and "seeing the Elephant" for the first time. This would help stimulate and incourage new players of this fine game to play a PBEM.

2.) Combat Veterans Award:Black Ribbon with Rifle, Given for 5 PLEM games completed and for every ten games a background line in gold. This would help keep the interest of PBEM going.

3) Drillmaster Award given to member for taking a green player on in a PBEM and teaching him the finer points of the game. Given after playing 5 green players and a Star for every 10. Encourage those with experience and others to follow to share thier knowlege and help crate more experienced opponents.

Hi, Injun! Thanks for the suggestions!

1) I have a number of medals that I've been working on for PBEM games, actually. I call this series of medals "campaign medals". I'm having problems with the design of some of the medals, and so these medals won't be presented anytime soon. I'll discuss all of the details later, but I just wanted to let you know that I've given a lot of thought to PBEM medals!

2) I've reserved "black" as the color for "elite" medals. In fact, I have one that I'm planning on releasing, later this week! But I can't talk about it yet. You'll understand about all of the secrecy surrounding the medal, later.

3) I really like your Drillmaster Award idea, Injun! That's something that I hadn't considered! I'll give it some thought, and consider how I can fit your idea into the "big picture". Thanks!

Darth, How did you create the ribbon bar. Which program did you use for this?
I have MS Paint, PicPick, Pixia, Helois paint and infrview.

I've used MSPaint to create the medals. Each medal is 218 pixels by 54 pixels, which includes a 1 pixel gray border around it. When you're copying and pasting your medals, make sure that you include the border, OK? That's for two reasons: first, it ensures that everything lines up right; and second, some of the medals have stuff that "spills" off the edge of the medal (like gold braid, and stuff like that.)

Thank you your majesty for this prestigious award. I can't wait to proudly wear my Bronze Oak Leaf. I now need to just wait 3 months to actually earn the medal that it goes to. Oh well, whats a couple of months among friends.

Let this man be an example to all! He's already earned an upgrade for a medal he hasn't yet earned! Wow, talk about motivation!

[Aphrodite Mae]

I've talked about the unsung heroes who are enlisted men. But what about officers? Well, among our officers here on the AACW forums, there are many unsung heroes, too! You guys don't do the "flashy" stuff. Instead, you make posts here and there, working hard to better your understanding of the game, and helping other people with your knowledge when you can.

Once you have 6 green pips, you become famous! But if you're famous, you're no longer "unsung". I mean, that's just obvious! So: these medals are mostly for people with 5 pips or less. But even if you're "famous", you can wear these medals too, because you used to be an unsung hero, right? Think of it as a retroactive award, if you want to.

When I became a Lieutenant on these forums, I felt proud of myself! I didn't have much rep at the time, but I felt like I'd done something special, just by reaching the milestone. I kinda felt like I deserved a medal!

This first medal awards your promotion to the ranks of Commissioned Officers. The requirements for eligibility are that you have a rank of Lieutenant (or higher), that you have been on the forums for two months or more, and that you have 1 pip of rep.

Here's your commission, Lieutenant!



The base color of the "paper tiger" was the color of cheap newsprint paper. But here, the base color of the medal is the color of paper of the highest quality! It is the color of the paper of a Commissioned Officer's commission.

The stripes on the medal are "teal green", which is the color of command on all of the medals I've made. There are four stripes, representing the four basic principles of AACW unit command: command, mobility, power, and supply. The stripes are narrow, to symbolize that you know about these principles, but you're still learning how to effectively apply them, in your games.

***

Most officers want to be in command of a unit of soldiers. However, it is very rare that a newly commissioned officer is given an actual command. Instead, most of them are assigned to staff positions. This is a good thing, because this gives the young officer a chance to learn and prepare for bigger and better things, later!

The eligibility requirements for the "Staff Officer" medal are that you have a rank of Lieutenant (or higher), that you have been on the forums for two months or more, and that you have 2 pips of rep.

Here's your medal, sir!



Two of the "command" stripes are broader, on this medal. This indicates that you've gained some experience! You're probably the first to admit that you're no master of the game... but even so, your posts have been helpful to our "new recruits", and you've been rewarded with your second rep pip. These two broad stripes attest to that fact.

The "Veteran Staff Officer" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Lieutenant (or higher), who have been on the forum for a year or more, and who have a minimum of two pips of reputation.



With the Veteran version of the award, the command stripes are flanked with "elephant gray".

***

From the ranks of Staff Officers, there emerge promising officers who "know their trade" and have leadership ability. Although they're not quite ready for full command, they are ready to serve as Executive Officers and Adjutants to those who command.

The "Adjutant" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Lieutenant (or higher), who have been on the forum for two months or more, and who have a minimum of three pips of reputation.

Congratulations on your assignment, sir! Now, you'd better hustle over to HQ... the commander's waiting for you!



In the middle of the medal is a stripe of Olive Drab Green: the color which symbolizes "enlisted men". Here on our forums, our "enlisted men" are the new guys. On the medal, the EM stripe is flanked by two of your "command" stripes. Even so, notice that the command stripes which flank "the men" are small. The symbolism of this is difficult to explain, but it's all about bettering yourself while helping EMs, in a way that helps us all.

The "Veteran Adjutant" medal is awarded to those persons who have achieved the rank of Lieutenant (or higher), who have been on the forum for a year or more, and who have a minimum of three pips of reputation.



In my next post, I'll present the Command Medals, for officers with 4 and 5 pips!

[Daxil]

Didn't even know this was going on. What a cool thread. Thanks for mentioning me.

[Aphrodite Mae]

[CENTER][/CENTER]

[Gray_Lensman]

Aphrodite.. Your above post is not displaying whatever you intended.

Here's what I see:

[ATTACH]6790[/ATTACH]

Though you may see what you posted... other's won't depending on the linkage they are using to view the AGEod forums with... Not sure how this works, only Arne can give you the details...

Curious thing is I can see most of your images, but a few have this funky looking "x" box replacement which generally signifies an incorrect linkage/redirect to whatever was posted.

[Injun]

Ms. Aphrodite Mae,

I am honored That you consider my small contribution of Drillmaster award worthy.