Aurther Winters Archives - Independence Fleet

Happy 23rd Anniversary, Independence Fleet

Posted on July 4, 2024 | by Charles Star | 9 Comments

Happy 23rd anniversary, Independence Fleet! For anyone new and not aware or simply not wanting to do the math, this club was founded all the way back on July 4, 2001. Continuing a tradition we began a few years ago, here is a message from a special guest:

What else do we have for this year? You might remember the 20th Anniversary Almanac that we published three years ago. Well, we got the cover page signed by none other than Star Trek legend William Shatner:

pdf | jpg

A closer view of the signature:

In case you were wondering, the cover photo at the top is indeed based on the greatest Star Trek selfie ever taken by LeVar Burton. Thank you to Captain Misaki for creating our header image two years in a row.

I almost forgot, we have a second message this year too:

Happy anniversary, IDF! Here’s to 23 years and much more!

A sleek, futuristic conference room table with grey surfaces and blue glowing lights on the sides. The chairs surrounding the table have a modern design with dark grey fabric and geometric shapes. The walls of the room are simple, with soft purple accents. The environment has a clean, minimalist, and high-tech aesthetic.

Admiralty Changes

Posted on June 1, 2024 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

We have two personnel changes to announce:

Rear Admiral James “Rook” Mirtoh hereby relieves Commodore Heather Meadows as Director of Media
Captain Aurther Winters is hereby promoted to Rear Admiral and relieves Rear Admiral James “Rook” Mirtoh as Director of Personnel

First, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Commodore Meadows and she has been a tremendous asset to the fleet over the last two years. Her counsel and wisdom have been invaluable in matters far beyond her formal role here. Our partnership will certainly endure as she continues to do great things in both Theta Fleet and the broader community.

Rear Admiral Mirtoh has served admirably as our Director of Personnel for over four years now. His management of the monthly awards, an institution that sets us apart from many other great fleets, has been second to none. I have no doubt that he will bring the same energy and enthusiasm to his new role.

And finally, Rear Admiral Winters is no stranger around these parts as he commanded the USS Chuck Norris for three years, and loyally served on that same sim for many more before assuming command. I have no doubt that he will fit right in with the Admiralty.

USS Chuck Norris Change of Command

Posted on September 1, 2023 | by Charles Star | 2 Comments

As of today, Captain Michael Intermeezo has relieved Captain Aurther Winters as Commanding Officer of the USS Chuck Norris. Captain Winters concludes 36 months in command. However, his history with the Chuck Norris goes back much further. As a Lieutenant, he officially joined the sim on June 26, 2012 as Chief Engineer, and then sent his first post on June 28th. He picked up his first award, an MVP, in November of that year. He later became Executive Officer in 2014, and then Commanding Officer in 2020. Along the way, he snagged 12.5 total awards, including 4 MVPs and 3.5 Genesis awards, good for 8th place all-time. He also chaired the 2021 SciWorld Online Convention, for which he was awarded an Ongoing World Community Honor. If there’s one thing that stands out, it’s been Aurther’s loyalty to both the fleet and his sim! Aurther, best of luck with everything and we hope you don’t wander too far!

Captain Intermeezo, welcome to the command team! We know that you have what it takes to lead this wonderful and historical sim to even greater heights.

Promotional image for Independence Fleet, a Star Trek simming organization founded in 2001. A glowing IDF emblem with purple wings and gold trim is at the center, surrounded by labeled images of starships including Albion, Montana, Wayfarer, Ganymede, Chuck Norris, Sunfire, Eminence, Washington, Eclipse, Liberty, Starbase 80, and Churchill, all set against a starry space background.

At the movies… with Independence Fleet!

Posted on July 4, 2023 | by Charles Star | 7 Comments

And yet another year of IDF is in the books with our 22nd Anniversary today. To remind you of how old we really are, here’s a quote from last year’s anniversary post:

“On our 22nd Anniversary, we will be further removed from the premiere of the 2009 Star Trek film (May 8, 2009) than IDF’s launch was from the premiere of The Next Generation (September 28, 1987): 14 years, 1 month, 26 days vs. 13 years, 9 months, 6 days.”

Well, here we are! For this year’s celebration, each of our 12 sims created a movie poster to capture their unique essence and feel. We are also very fortunate to have Amanda Rose from RPG Writing, NX-1701-G from Zodiac Fleet, and Beth from Sim Central to judge the entries in three categories: overall image quality, how much does it look like an actual movie poster, and general creativity/originality. Before we get to the posters themselves, we first have an announcement from a special guest:

Now, the 12 movie posters:

And your winners are…
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Congratulations to all three winners, and a special thanks to our judges! However, to quote Kirk from Star Trek III, we’re not finished yet! Here are superlative awards for our other nine games:

While we’re on the topic of movies, we are now further removed from our July 4, 2001 founding than it was from the premiere of the first Star Trek film Star Trek: The Motion Picture (December 6, 1979): 22 years vs. 21 years, 6 months, 28 days. Feel old yet?

Continuing last year’s tradition, we again have a second video message:

Happy IDF anniversary, everyone!

The Record Book Has Been Rewritten

Posted on January 12, 2023 | by Charles Star | 3 Comments

With 2022 in the books, it’s high time we checked in with the latest version of the IDF Record Book over on our About page. As it turns out, we have a new all-time leader in monthly awards. Lieutenant Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell of the USS Sunfire now has a grand total of 29.83 awards, passing the previous leader, Jenna Ramthorne (of a prior version of the Sunfire), who has 24.83. What’s even more incredible, is that both characters are played by the same person!

	Best Post	Funniest Post	Genesis	MVP	Most Posts	Most Improved	Recruitment	Total
Durnell	5.05	5.78		4	14	1		29.83
Ramthorne	4		.83	4	15		1	24.83

Prolific across multiple award categories, the two stat lines seem to mirror each other. However, the difference is clearly Durnell’s five plus Funniest Post awards to Ramthorne’s zero. See what adding humor to your game can do! Congratulations to Lieutenant Durnell on this incredible accomplishment!

As it turns out, we have quite a few current or recent members who have moved up leader board since we brought the Awards back for March 2020:

Active Member — received an award within the last year or confirmed to currently be on a sim
Hall of Famer

*All characters with five or more total monthly awards*

In addition to all those who’ve won awards, I also want to thank each of our sim Commanding Officers for submitting nominations month-in and month-out and to Rear Admiral James “Rook” Mirtoh for running the program and selecting winners. Without their tireless efforts, the awards simply wouldn’t be possible.

I’ve long been of the opinion that the monthly awards are one of the absolute best features of this fleet, and they’re a key bonus that really distinguishes us from other groups out there. The numbers speak for themselves: Through the end of 2022, we have 969 total documented awards presented to 506 different individuals through 1,226 different award records. Each one is permanently part of our continuing history, starting all the way back with the five original awards presented for our very first month of July 2001 going up through today and beyond.

Now it’s time to add your legacy to the story…

Banner for the USS Chuck Norris NCC-4005, showing a detailed close-up of a Defiant-class starship soaring through a star-filled region of deep space.

USS Chuck Norris: 10 Years

Posted on January 2, 2022 | by Charles Star | 1 Comment

Ten years ago today, our very own USS Chuck Norris launched. That makes it the longest continuously running IDF sim in its current form: Despite two URLs and two Novas, it’s still Defiant class and NCC-4005. And as far as I know, no other ship in Star Trek simming has anything like the USS Chuck Norris facts!

Through four Captains (Dick Sprague, Shane Youngblood, Grover vonMcCormick & Aurther Winters), dozens of crewmembers, and many zany adventures, the Chuck has seen it all. Beyond the story, it’s also been quite the historical sim. It sponsored the 2012 Simulation Cup (aka Tournament of Simulations), the only game ever to do so. It later won its own award at the 2014 competition, the last IDF sim to win until the 2020 tournament.

Let’s also not forget perhaps the Chuck Norris’s biggest contribution: When IDF’s old website went offline in early 2019, the Chuck kept simming over email to keep our legacy alive. Without that effort, there would be no Independence Fleet today. Like so many other fleets, IDF would already belong to the ages.

But we are here today. So let’s all write a post in honor of the USS Chuck Norris!

USS Chuck Norris	NCC-4005
Format: Prose & Script	Era: TNG/DSN/VOY
Type: Open	Class: Defiant
CO: Captain Aurther Winters	Join!

Monthly Awards: September 2021

Posted on October 12, 2021 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

Congratulations to all of our award winners for September:

Best Post (Single Author)

Commander Savar cha’Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen
Executive Officer
USS Sunfire

For “Through The Looking Glass”

Some feel a vision from the prophets is a tired old hat, but this was nicely written an left me wanting more. Great work!

Best Post (Joint Post)

Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson & Lt. Aiko Kato & Ens. James Phoenix
CMO / XO / FCO / TO
USS Washington

For “To Go Forth….Again”

Good writing from a team that is used to working together getting it done. Not all Trek posts need action sequences to be good, and this one hits the mark with the threat of violence without actually getting into it. Had me on the edge of my seat!

Funniest Post

Commander Jackson Andrews
Executive Officer
USS Albion

For “Back on the Command Track, Well Sorta Pt.1”

Lol, he was made a Yeoman? So awesome.

Genesis

Lieutenant JG Djon Zyngh & Captain Aurther Winters
CSO / CO
USS Chuck Norris

For “Death’s Triangle”

Nice intro and good tags all around on this one. Well done!

MVP

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Sunfire

What a player! From creating well crafted posts to encouraging engaging joint efforts, Durnell also acts as the Captain’s counsel to bounce suggestions and ideas off of.

Most Posts

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Sunfire

For writing 15 posts.

Most Improved

Lieutenant Aiko Kato
Flight Control Officer
USS Washington

The Washington’s young pilot really worked to get involved with the crew and to become more integrated, creating some excellent contributions along the way.

Rookie of the Month

Lieutenant Trevor Andrews
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Eminence

Don’t let the rank fool you, Andrews arrived on the Eminence and hit the ground running. A great addition to the sim!

Recruitment

None this month. Get recruiting!

It’s been a while since we’ve had 5 sims represented within the awards in a single month, well done! Keep all the great posts coming, and maybe we’ll see a few more next month.

Awards… For Monthly Awards!

Posted on July 3, 2021 | by Charles Star | 2 Comments

Wow, what a 20th Anniversary Webcast! It was so awesome that I think we have a new tradition here in this fleet. Our very own Admiral Ken Gillis hosted the event, where he introduced the Hall of Fame class of 2021 and awarded prizes to three people from among our monthly award winners. If you missed it, you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see the Hall of Fame inductees. However, I can give a quick recap of the prize drawing.

First, here are the prizes:

Next, the names of the monthly award winners were added to the big wheel. Players received a spot on the wheel for each award they won dating back to March 2020 (award fractions were rounded up):

The three winners were…

Captain Aurther Winters of the USS Chuck Norris

Lieutenant J’goss Yass G’odoss, also of the USS Chuck Norris

and Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun of the USS Sunfire

Congratulations to all three! And thank you again to Ken for hosting and putting this on. Bravo!

Please stay tuned for more anniversary news tomorrow…

EDIT: Due to our current embargo on shipping goods to Canada, Aurther Winters will instead be getting a Tim Hortons gift card as a consolation. Also, Remal Kajun has offered to donate his prize. As such, we drew two more winners: Lieutenant Dean House of the USS Sunfire & Lt. Cmdr. T’Ponga Shemara of the USS Montana. Enjoy the prizes!

Monthly Awards: May 2021

Posted on June 13, 2021 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

I hope everyone enjoyed SciWorld yesterday. It was an instant classic! Thank you to all who played a part in putting it on, including Aurther Winters, who was just awarded the Ongoing Worlds Community Honor for his efforts as Chair. Congratulations!

And now, on with the May monthly awards:

Best Post (Single Author)

Lt. Cmdr. Grexx
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Albion

For “Stop blowing holes in my ship!”

A great character introduction, and the character’s introduction to his new ship… along with its problems.

Best Post (Joint Post)

Lt. Cmdr. Estella Stratton & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson
Chief Counselor / Executive Officer
USS Washington

For “Quiet Time”

A fantastic character development piece between the two Washington crewmembers. Well done!

Funniest Post

Capt. Shran dh’Klar & Lt. Deanna Celes & Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson & Cmdr. Samantha Howard & Lt. Cmdr. Estella Stratton & Ens. Connor Carrick
CO / OO / XO / CMO / CC / CSO
USS Washington

For “Dealing with Duplicates”

A classic ensemble post that reads like a great sitcom episode! Hilarious!

Genesis

None this month.

MVP

Lt. Cmdr. Grexx
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Albion

The Chief Engineer joined the Albion after many years away from simming. He immediately integrated himself into the story, drove the plot forward, and worked well with the crew. It’s as if he never left!

Most Posts

Lt. Bonnie “Bon-Bon” Durnell
Computer Systems Specialist
USS Liberty

For writing 12 posts.

Most Improved

Ensign James Phoenix
Tactical Officer
USS Washington

Ensign Phoenix dove into the current mission and showed an eager willingness to advance the story, both for his own character and the greater storyline.

Rookie of the Month

None this month.

Recruitment

None this month.

Keep up the great work, everyone, but let’s make sure we have winners in all categories for June!

SciWorld 2021

Posted on June 7, 2021 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

Join us this Saturday, June 12th, at 11:30 AM EDT (-4) / 4:30 pm BST (+1) for the 2021 SciWorld Online Convention. Chair Aurther Winters, Fleet XO Ken Gillis, and many others have put in a lot of hours to make this an extra special event this year. After the 11:30 opening ceremony, we have seven hours of provocative discussions, interactive trivia games, and live role playing planned.

Since we’re this year’s host, you get a sneak peak at the official opening ceremony video:

YouTube
mp4
Alternate ending (YouTube | mp4)

This will be the 19th SciWorld, and the third hosted by IDF. The first SciWorld was held all the way back in 1999. And just to see how far we’ve come over the years, here’s the opening video from the first modern SciWorld, which we hosted in 2011:

See you this Saturday at SciWorld XIX!

1st Place: USS Wayfarer CO: Captain Akeno Misaki Poster by: Akeno Misaki	2nd Place: USS Sunfire CO: Captain Rhenora Kaylen Poster by: Bonnie Durnell	3rd Place: USS Eclipse CO: Captain Aven LaCroix Poster by: Aven LaCroix
“I’m impressed by the technical skill and originality that went into this poster.” “If you’re familiar with Anime movie posters, this is spot on.” “Having anime Trek characters in the mirror universe with the crack showing the Federation and Terran emblems on different sides was brilliant.”	“Of all the posters shared this was the one that actually made me want to join the game in question.” “Image expertly merged the dinosaur imagery with clear Trek imagery without making them appear distinct.” “This poster screamed movie poster. I would expect to see this on the wall in some theater. A starship with dinosaurs and big lettering. Well done!”	“I’m not typically a fan of the starship and character posters, but this one spoke to me.” “I kept wanting to rate this poster higher in my rankings. There’s a lot to like with the faded facial imagery and ship… …[including] ‘Coming Never,’ which was mildly amusing.”

Best poster for Seinfeld/Trek crossover USS Albion CO: Captain Dick Sprague Poster by: Akeno Misaki	Some bold judges not to pick this one! USS Chuck Norris CO: Captain Aurther Winters Poster by: Bonnie Durnell	Best poster for past meeting the future USS Churchill CO: Captain James Stewart Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster if you actually watch Picard USS Eminence CO: Captain Alex Shepard Poster by: Akeno Misaki	Best poster for a random trailing light USS Ganymede CO: Captain Dyllon McMahon Poster by: Akeno Misaki	Best poster for a low Earth orbit view USS Liberty CO: Captain Kaylia Strenvale Poster by: Akeno Misaki
Best poster for the IMAX experience USS Montana CO: Captain Jackson Adams Poster by: Bonnie Durnell	Best poster for “Aft torpedoes, fire!!!” USS Washington CO: Captain Shran dh’Klar Poster by: Akeno Misaki	Best poster that could double for Dune Starbase 80 CO: Captain Kathleen O’Shea Poster by: Bonnie Durnell