Name: RND stands for "Research aNd Development", which was the main spirit and a proud claim followed by the RND officers for a long time.
Motto: “Semper Tentantes” (Classic Latin for “Always testing”).
A more common and functional motto used by RND has been “Knowledge; Teamwork; Victory”, as the three pillars supporting the RND strategy.
I. Origins
The RND claim to have been originated in Caissa, a cold and ringed planet located in the distant outer border, near to the uncharted area and to the Cogwerk far borders that develops its own independent government, defended by formidable ground and naval defenses, which regular army has been traditionally reinforced by the RND clan.
As the Caissa's main entertainment and system's national sport is the Chess Game, the RND picked that strategic and mindful game as their leitmotif, using Chess concepts into their flags, banners, names and even strategy.
The Clan 1st/99th Lite Legion was created in 3267, under the High Command of Jack Daniels, who was the Wolverine’s CIC. The unit was assigned under the direct management of Richard Millich as his CO.
The Clan Wars IV Tournament (3268) was their stellar debut, achieving the Gold in the Seventh Division.
After the creation of this unit, disagreements between the CIC and the CO led to Cdr. Millich to break the unit away from Daniels’ command, starting the roots of what born as the RND (The Research & Development Group).
For the next Mech Tournament, the mercenary clan was renamed as the 99th Chessmen R&D Corps and joined the Clan Wars V in 3270, achieving a succession of glorious years that RND knew as the Golden Years, in an uninterrupted chain of twelve years as champions in their division.
This unit was always seen as the Seed, Core and Emblem Ship of the whole RND Faction.
III. The Stalking Strategy (Camping)
The RND began the camping technique as a broad clan family strategy because they lacked the Niode resources necessary to keep pace with the game's opportunities. This lack of resources was nearly universal, as we had a big shortage of Niode generating pilots at that time.
In addition, the camping technique was broader than a resource management issue. The RND believed, even then, that long term, thorough study of Mech Warfare mechanics was a key to victory, and that the early battlefield changed so quickly as the Pilots scenario increased that no one had taken the time to study how it could be refined.
This unit was always seen as the Seed, Core and Emblem Ship of the whole RND Faction.
The RND began the camping technique as a broad clan family strategy because they lacked the Niode resources necessary to keep pace with the game's opportunities. This lack of resources was nearly universal, as we had a big shortage of Niode generating pilots at that time.
In addition, the camping technique was broader than a resource management issue. The RND believed, even then, that long term, thorough study of Mech Warfare mechanics was a key to victory, and that the early battlefield changed so quickly as the Pilots scenario increased that no one had taken the time to study how it could be refined.
IV. Historic RND Units Summary
Along the time, these have been the RND Clans and their lifetime:
- Foundation (3267-3268)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Corps
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND]
- 123rd Alpha Strikers [RND] (Formed on 3272)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Formed on 3276)
- RND Alliance with AC [ARC] (3285-3288)
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (3285-3292)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (3276-331)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND-AC]
- 111th Delta Recon [ARC] (3285-3290)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers [ARC] (3272-3290)
- 123rd Delta Recon [ARC] (3291-...)
- 144th Caissa Light Cavalry [ARC] (3285-3292)
- Second RND Eve (3288-3308)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Until 3306 last activity)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND] (Until 3309 last activity as RND unit)
- 111th Delta Recon [RND] (Until 3290, last activity)
- 111th Baconators [RND] (3301-3306)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers [RND] (Untill 3310 last activity)
- 151th Nova Knights [RND] (329
- Bacon Addicts (Affiliated to RND)
- Bacon Addicts 1.5 (Affiliated to RND)
- Bacon Addicts II (Affiliated to RND)
- Post RND Crysis (3308-Present)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND] (In 3309 they fought their last battle as RND unit, going as a Ronin clan afterward)
- 111th Delta Knights [RND] (3313-3316 last activity) Disbanded.
- 123th Alpha Strikers [RND] (Untill 3310 last activity) Disbanded.
- 144th Caissa Light Cavalry [RND] (Reactivated on 3317 - Active)
Original Staff:
- Richard Millich (RND Founder, 99th CO, 82nd CO, 123rd XO)
- Steven Vreeland (123rd Alpha Strike CO)
- Mel Gibbens (99th XO and CO)
- Jeff Pizanti (82nd Omicron Guard CO)
Councilar RND Staff (Second Age):
- Michael Telladira (RND factotum, Bacon Addict 2/151th Nova Knights CO)
- Mel Gibbens (Bacon Addict Units Founder, CO and Councilor)
- Jeff Pizanti (82nd Omicron Guard CO and Councilor)
- Brandon Cascio (99th Chessmen R&D Core CO and Councilor)
- Dan Laffoon (123rd XO and keeper)
- Abe Yap (Bacon Addict XO and CO)
- Jason Smith (99th XO and Councilor)
- Josh Schultz (RND XO and Councilor)
- Brian D. Wise (RND XO and Councilor)
- Richard Millich (123rd XO)
- Germán Jaramillo (RND XO and Councilor)
Third Age RND Staff:
- Richard Millich (RND CIC, 123rd XO)
- Brian D. Wise (RND Staff Cdr. 123rd CO)
First RND Eve: The Golden Years (3267 to 3284)
The gold on 3268 and 3270 were the first in a continuous succession of championship and masterly success that the RND Faction called “The Golden Years” and that lasted for twelve not interrupted years as champions in the division in which they participated in the Tournaments (from 3267 to 3284).
RND wasn’t the unique Clan reaching that achievement, but they were the first one, and for that reason, the Craftsmen adorned their Zadok's honour exhibition prototype with the 99th's banner.
At that time RND started to stagnate and become insular, so the Staff though they needed a large shakeup as well as personnel to continue their expansion toward the First Division.
RND attempted then a merger with The Brotherhood that failed largely because of differences in style. Some of the RND members then had thought that the Brotherhood was too militaristic in appearance, and others feared the loss of the RND identity. Everything else was a good match, but this one minor difference killed the merger.
After that, knowing that some kind of merger was necessary, rather than allow minor quibbles to get in the way, the AC Cdr. Wilben Pagayon approached Cdr. Millich proposing a new option for a merge, so Millich made a command decision as Commander In Chief to proceed, as he knew after the Brotherhood attempt that these large deals collapse quickly, and debate was not an option if we were to advance further.
At that time RND started to stagnate and become insular, so the Staff though they needed a large shakeup as well as personnel to continue their expansion toward the First Division.
RND attempted then a merger with The Brotherhood that failed largely because of differences in style. Some of the RND members then had thought that the Brotherhood was too militaristic in appearance, and others feared the loss of the RND identity. Everything else was a good match, but this one minor difference killed the merger.
After that, knowing that some kind of merger was necessary, rather than allow minor quibbles to get in the way, the AC Cdr. Wilben Pagayon approached Cdr. Millich proposing a new option for a merge, so Millich made a command decision as Commander In Chief to proceed, as he knew after the Brotherhood attempt that these large deals collapse quickly, and debate was not an option if we were to advance further.
The ACR Period (3285 to 3288)
In 3285, RND and Armored Core (AC) signed an agreement to merge into a single group [ARC], believing that this would strengthen the new resulting group, making it more effective. But for a set of reasons, the result was not as expected, significantly reducing the golds RND had previously obtained and ending the golden age of the 99th RND emblem unit by bringing the first defeat after 17 years.
The alliance had an awkward level structure, and half of their combined forces were working unstable, with whoever they could find.
RND found that Armored Core and the Chessmen simply had different levels of focus and that they weren't a good fit after all. The alliance was ended in 3288, so both groups could prepare for the next event, Clan Wars XIX in 3290.
Second RND Eve: The Councilor RND (3288 to 3308)
As a result of the rupture with the alliance plans and disagreements with the RND Staff Officers, Cdr. Millich left RND in 3288 in bite circumstances.
With the absence of Millich, the Chessmen Officers refused to have a new CIC, so they brought a Council integrated by the Staff Officers (The COs and the planning Officers), in which the important decisions required a consensus. While this granted a high democracy degree, also stole flexibility and capacity of quick reaction.
Another side effect of the lack of a single Faction Leader was a progressive loss of unity. Many of the RND clans developed an increased a strong independence feeling, that went against the former spirit of a single unit and turning more difficult the ability to transfer members, to better balance their units and manage their Tournaments participation in the divisions.
In 3301 Millich returned into the RND and he was allowed to enter and lead the 123rd Alpha Strikers as another CO.
In this scenario, the former CIC, Millich, tried to recover his lost rank, creating an aggressive riposte from the majority of the Council Officers, who were over protective with their units. This accelerated the decomposition of the RND unity, as there were divisions about the best management system.
The RND Crysis (3309)
After RND took a couple unfortunate decisions, not yet agreed by all the Council Officers, being the worst the merge with FUSION for the participation in the 3308 Faction Wars, in addition to the lack of unity, greatly undermined the bounds between the different units, leading to discontent of many of the elite pilots and causing a wave of rejections.
This generated a decrease of morale among the RND pilots and was a cause of increasing tension in the Staff, a tension that went aggravated when some Staff Officers tried to recover the figure of a CIC in their try to restore the feeling of an unique team with the old flexibility the RND family had in the past. This tension, only strenghted the Independence of the different units rather than unite them, and after the Faction Wars of exploded after by the inner dissension and lack of agreement in the try to establish an unique lead.
After the crisis, a high amount of elite pilots left the RND faction to join Dragons and Black Star. The Bacon Addicts affiliated clans left the alliance and the core clan, the 99th, went rogue dropping their RND flag.
Third RND Eve: Renovation (3310 to present)
After the Crysis and the massive leave of many of the elite pilots, a few former Officers decided to keep the RND's faint flame on, grouping in the 123rd and the 82nd around Commanders Brian . Wise and Richard Millich, which resumed the direction of the remnants of RND as CIC.
However, despite the efforts of officers like Wise and Millich, the deterioration was so great that it was impossible to maintain cohesion in units that were now totally dysfunctional.
A dramatic resolution was taken: Dissolve the remnant higher units (82nd and 123rd) and allow RND to be reforged from the bases, resurrecting an old unit, the 144th Caissa Light Cavalry [RND] to let it grow from the soil with the old premises that forged RND in the past.
The higher levels of the remnant staff officers joined then their old opponents, AFF, who offered a hand in the restoration of RND, guaranteeing a gap between their units.
VII. RND Tournaments Chronology ~
3268 - CLAN WARS IV
- 1st/99th Lite Legion (Champions on 7th Division)
3270 - CLAN WARS V
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 7th Division)
3271 - CLAN WARS VI
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 8th Division)
3272 - CLAN WARS VII
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 9th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Champions on 11th Division)
3274 - CLAN WARS VIII
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 9th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Champions on 11th Division)
3275 - CLAN WARS IX
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 8th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Champions on 11th Division)
3276 - CLAN WARS X
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 10th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver in 6th Division, only beaten by The Republic of Zeon)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 12th Division, beaten by Death's Acolytes AFF)
3277 - CLAN WARS XI
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Champions on 7th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 10th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Champions on 12th Division)
3278 - CLAN WARS XII
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Champions on 7th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 11th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 13th Division)
3280 - CLAN WARS XIII
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Champions on 7th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 10th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Champions on 13th Division)
3281 - CLAN WARS XIV
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Champions on 7th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 10th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Champions on 13th Division)
3282 - FACTION WARS
RND boycotted Faction Wars refusing to participate because the Mecha Games and Tournaments organizers delayed the announcement of the Tournament rules, that were unclear on the eve of the event and unknown prize returns. That combination created an uncertainty that RND couldn't analyze for the good or ill of the clan family.
3284 - CLAN WARS XV
This year was considered the last one on the unbroken chain of CW golds for the 99th Chessmen R&D Corps.
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Champions on 8th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D (Champions on 11th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 13th Division)
3285 - CLAN WARS XVI
This year, RND and AC merged, what supposed the end of the Golden Years for RND as all the merged units achieved Silver.
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (Silver on 4th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 6th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND-AC] (Silver on 8th Division)
- 111th Delta Reckon [ARC] (Silver in 9th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 10th Division)
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry [ARC] (Silver on 13th Division)
3286 - CLAN WARS XVII
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Champions on 6th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [ARC] (Champions on 8th Division)
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (Silver on 5th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 10th Division)
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry [ARC] (Silver on 12th Division)
Delta Reckon continued as an unit but went rogue, outside the ARC and losing all their fights that year.
3288 - CLAN WARS XVIII
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [ARC] (Champions on 11th Division)
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (Silver on 7th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 8th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 13th Division)
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry [ARC] (Silver on 15th Division)
3289 - FACTION WARS II
This Second Faction Wars Tournament was the debut in this modality of Games for RND, where they achieved the appreciated gold with their Faction merged into their emblem unit.
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND] (Champions on 5th Division)
3290 - CLAN WARS XIX
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry [ARC] (Champions on 16th Division)
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (Silver on 6th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 7th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [ARC] (Silver on 9th Division)
- Delta Recon (Silver on 10th Division)
- 123rd Alpha Strikers (Silver on 11th Division)
3291 - CLAN WARS XX
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry [ARC] (Champions on 16th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 7th Division)
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [ARC] (Silver on 9th Division)
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (Bronze on 5th Division)
- 123rd Delta Recon (Bronze on 10th Division)
3292 - CLAN WARS XXI
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [ARC] (Champions on 9th Division)
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry [ARC] (Champions on 16th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 8th Division)
- 64th Armored Engineers [ARC] (Bronze on 6th Division)
- 123rd Delta Recon (Bronze on 11th Division)
3293 - FACTION WARS III
- 99th Bacon Brotherhood (Champions on 4th Division) Allied with the Brotherhood.
- RND FACTION (Beta) (Bronze on 3rd Division)
3294 - CLAN WARS XXII
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [ARC] (Champions on 9th Division)
- Bacon Addicts II [RND] (Champions on 14th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 7th Division)
- 123rd Delta Recon (Bronze on 11th Division)
Disbanded units:
- 64th Armored Engineers
- 144th Caisa Light Cavalry
3295 - CLAN WARS XXIII
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core [RND] (Champions on 9th Division)
- bacon Addicts II [RND] (Champions on 14th Division)
- 82nd Omicron Guard [RND] (Silver on 8th Division)
- 123rd Delta Recon (Bronze on 11th Division)
Related Entries
- 64th Armored Engineers
- 82nd Omicron Guard
- 99th Chessmen R&D Core
- 111th Delta Recon
- 123rd Alpha Strikers
- 123rd Delta Recon
- 144th Caissa Light Cavalry
- Caissa (RND home planet)
(By Richard Millich - 291875 and GJ - 685605)
