Mission: Possible

This Titan will destruct in 5 seconds. Well, if only it was as simple as that. I do find that it's not a matter of luck but a matter of whether a Titan is lightly defended. If any, a Titan that is lightly defended is ripe for certain awards. One of them is the Titan Destruction Achievement badge. The highest award rank for this requires the destruction of 3 Titan Consoles and a Titan Core, a feat that is more about whether there are greedy teammates than about getting inside.

The problem with Titan-related awards is how the Titan ship was designed. Granted, there are some small and cramped corridors throughout the entire ship. But this invites the notion of people who do nothing but sit in that corner. They do nothing but throw grenades, lay explosives, and resupply themselves. It's akin to the legitimate form of stat-padding, a method by which is against DICE/EA's rules and regulations.

I have tried to sit back and catch these Titan attackers in action. Sadly, it's too much sitting around and not enough action. And I'm often itching for some action. But that's digressing a bit.

With another hurdle out of the way, the next step is to determine the method of getting 30 kills in a round aboard the enemy Titan. I get the feeling this is something I will have a hard time in getting.

The Time Was Right

For a while, the Gold Armor Service Badge had been an award that I had already qualified but never bothered to hunt down 35 victims. So for the night, I had the grand opportunity to play with some old friends who had been playing other games. I have mentioned to them that I was like the lonely little kid sitting in the dark corner of the room. But it was their company that brought out the best in me, shooting up a storm and laying waste to every infantry wanderers who crossed my path. The map was Cerbere Landing. I was on the assaulting PAC team with my buddies. After capturing a few flags, I later found out that there's an important piece of equipment that is left unused by the team: the battle walker. So after a quick death, I spawned back at the base and took it for a joyride. I also started my count after each kill. It was then that things seem to be going smoothly at first. There were plenty of tickets left so there's room for more kills and opportunities.

About on the 3rd or 4th run in the walker, I went straight to one of the control point and started shooting at anything that I can recognize as enemy. One by one they fall until I get that nice little message on the screen. I have succeeded in getting 35 kills with armor in a single round. It is not difficult to achieve but it does take some decent effort and perhaps some luck as well. Most of the awards that I have gone after were achieved when the situation was right and ripe. In this case, I was fortunate that the opposing team weren't very adaptive in getting me out of my walker.

But it did not stop there. Even after one additional death that I came back with a battle walker to lay waste to the enemies. The round ended and I took one final screenshot that displayed a summary of my achievements during the round. Mission accomplished. Another award is done and I move on to the next. Does it mean that I step out of armor for good? Nope. There is one final armor-based award that I need to get. But I can now take my time in getting it.

Peace of Mind

It goes without saying that some things are better left earned the slow and old fashion way. It's part of the reason why I did not go on Titan servers to earn several of the awards. Some people believe that it's easier to get them in Titan. That much is obvious, as Titan maps and servers do not have a defined time limit nor do they have a predefined number of tickets (aka lives) for players. This enables people to potentially get 100 kills in a single round, even though I exaggerate that example by a good sum. Some awards are more easily achievable than on Titan... but that's not how I would like to get them.

My standings on getting many achievements through Conquest continues on and it nearly got me that one award that I have been trying to achieve (see here). Sadly, I was short by just 2 points and I was denied of getting it. I was so close but it just eluded me. But I was not to be denied a second chance.

Today, on a random server, I joined a friend and took up the Commander role. Both sides are fairly evenly matched. As the round went on, I took a look at how high my score is. Slowly but surely, it was getting up to that point. In a single round, I must have a Commander score of 45 in order to get the award. And at the rate the game was going, it seem like I'll be able to make it. Just when it seems like all is going to be lost as one of my squads pointlessly went to the enemy Titan, I took one quick glance and see my score is at 45, the amount I need.



One of the hardest journey is over and once again, I look forward to determining what award is next. I am one step closer to my final goal.

It's a conspiracy!

Just when I was about to finally get the global requirement criteria fulfilled, I run into a problem with EA's statistic servers. It seems at this time the servers are lagging behind in processing the new numbers and awards that I received. Until this is resolved, I remain so close yet so far away from the virtual dream. I still chase it... that War College Ribbon.

On the bright side, I took the transport car for a test drive and drove around like a maniac. I eventually ran over 5 guys (or was it 4?) and received the Silver Transport Badge. That doesn't seem like much but it's a nice little achievement to have while I try to work on other awards. Eventually I'll have to figure out how to get 12 road kills for the gold version. I just know that I'm going to get some painful experiences when I go for it.

Enemy infantry spotted!

It's always amusing to get those random mutiny votes from players who are annoyed with the way I spot enemies as the commander. I've been told a few times to shut up. But it never ceases to amaze me just why they want me to be silent about it. I had one individual tell me via VoIP to tone it down. How can I? Enemies are scattered in various places and the UAV can only cover so much. I think the next time I get a response from someone who's annoyed at it that I'll give the guy an ultimatum -- "Deal with it, or I can do absolutely nothing at all." We can then see how many people like it when they have no commander to do any spotting.

On a different note, one of these days I should do a random recording of a single round. There are times when I wish I had a recording just so I can make a video out of it and post it up online.