[CoI] 2nd Anniversary!

Day 1,941, 15:51 • Published in USA Canada • by Goran Thrax
Happy 2nd Birthday Captains of Industry!

That's right, two years ago, CoI was founded as one of eCanada's first Military Units. There was a big announcement and everything!

We may have had humble beginnings:


But we grew, I myself joined CoI soon after it's founding. Back then MUs were limited to 50 members, thankfully that got fixed rather quickly.

We grew quickly despite economic limitations. In part because back in those halcyon days the CAF was Canada's army and got the funding. It wasn't until later, almost 7 months after CoI (and many of our early MUs) was founded that eCanada changed it's policy to fund more than just the Canadian Armed Forces MU and Crimson Canucks. This led to growth and increased supply.

Of course, supplies were different in those days, when CoI started, Q6 and Q7 weapons didn't exist. Q5's were the best in the game and even without funding we were handing them out. Oh how times have changed! For our first year, we were under the leadership of our founder, Addy Lawrence.

This all changed when eCanada faced a serious crisis of leadership. Many of us don't have fond memories of the Rolo Pardon period, Addy was then our President and chose to step down both as CoI's leader and as President because as so often happens, events in the game impinged upon real life. Threats were levied. So CoI was handed on short notice to Acacia Mason. For days our supply system was disrupted and that's where Dereck Ryan, and I really stepped into the picture. With Addy gone, we needed to completely redesign our supply network. As it happens Acacia served the shortest tenure as Commander in CoI's history, holding the job for just 2 months before also facing the same sorts of threats and interference as President of eCanada.

During that brief tenure, Dereck and I opened new slave pits, to take in the workers now left without jobs by Addy's departure. Acacia also hosted workers but with his departure so soon after Addy, our supply system didn't really settle down into it's present form until the end of march 2012 when Dereck Ryan took over as our Commander.

As you might imagine, after what happened to Addy and Acacia, it became our unspoken policy not to get involved in politics, or to campaign for high office. In fact, Dereck and I took up eUS citizenship mere weeks after becoming the new leadership of CoI, for the better production bonuses. The side benefit of course is that it cut politics out of the equation.

Dereck Ryan oversaw CoI for 8 months. Dereck was responsible for our greatest expansion, both in supply levels and membership. We've grown quite a bit in the few months I've been our Commander but Dereck laid all the groundwork that allowed for our growth and prosperity today, I merely finished his work. Under Dereck, we expanded from two slave pits, to 4. A program to reward fighting activity, and two weekly contests were started.

Dereck brought us into a new era!


Our supplies, produced internally were the match of eCanada's other leading MUs, our costs were low, and dropping regularly as we invested in infrastructure. Dereck kept our finances on track as the game economy sputtered and sank following the removal of The Bot! As the economy collapsed, eCanada lost two of it's leading MUs, they've since returned but alas HOPE and Independent Legion haven't retaken their place in eCanada's MU rankings. CoI's supplies were stable, we had room to grow and so many of eCanada's active soldiers joined our ranks when the old MU funding model could no longer support the old system. It was a sad day, and I still mourn the loss of combat prowess eCanada used to have on tap.

Just over 4 months ago, Dereck Ryan made a fateful decision. In the most peaceful and orderly transfer of command CoI had yet experienced, control of CoI was handed off to me. Dereck selflessly gave of himself, gave gold and logistical support to CoI throughout and after the transition. He remains the manager of our largest slave pit and valuable contributor to the leadership team.

Only a few weeks after the transition, thanks to all the work Dereck put in, CoI brought off one of it's most spectacular achievements. Without planning, CoI became the largest MU in eCanada, on the same day it got the most kills on the MU ranking page taking first place for the first time. I might have received the congratulatory PMs, but without Dereck putting all the pieces in place in the months prior, it wouldn't have happened.

It's been two years...

So where are we now? Well eCanada is unfortunately in a very dark place these days. I don't want to put a damp on the celebration of this anniversary but as a nation, we find ourselves in a tight spot. eCanada has been wiped from the map before, but never held down so long as we have been by eSpain. We lack a Congress, and so all MU funding has stopped. CoI will carry on, and can certainly afford to carry on for many months if need be. Of course, I do not want to have to. CoI has been stretched to the limit by the collapse of more eCanadian MUs, right now we don't have room to grow. For all practical purposes we have reached our maximum potential while we try to create a new slave pit, and look at ways to support more of eCanada's fighting forces. Regardless of these limitations, CoI is committed to doing our utmost to see that eCanada one day retakes it's place on the map alongside our allies as a whole nation on it's sovereign soil!

Still even in these dark times, there is cause for pride. As you have seen above, we have such a rich history to be proud of. I hope our members, past and present feel pride in our accomplishment! One in ten eCanadians wear our colours. Tens of millions in influence is posted for eCanada and our allies by our members each and every day. In two years we have gone from a small self-funded outfit to eCanada's preeminent fighting force; that just so happens to be once again, self funded. 😉

Lets keep fighting and growing Captains of Industry, the eWorld hasn't seen anything yet!

Commander Goran Thrax