Join the new world

There has been in the last number of days a number of articles concerning the status of the NHS MU. My colleague Wayne in many of these article threads called for the NHS MU to be scraped. This has lead to the defence of the unit and people like Big Ant stating it will never be scraped under his leadership and has indicated he would want to extend the scheme etc. I am not against the NHS MU – in fact the underlining principle of providing new players will all the resources they need to get started and level up is a worthy sentiment. On the other hand, when you see official articles from the PM like:

President-oh-dear-updates...

Followed by an official MoD article of:

ukgov-the-nhs-needs-your-help...

which consists of those responsible for running the NHS MU and the official eUK army (the BEF), for no better words, *begging* for resources. The NHS MU is not working in its current structure.

+++ This article is not about bashing the idea of a NHS unit, but more of the way it is run. +++

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There seem to be a certain sentimental, as per the real life NHS. In real life, many health trusts are semi-bankrupt and yet any attempts to reform it is blocked by those within the service and (primarily) the left wing politicians. I would pose the following questions to the likes of Big Ant and those who think the NHS MU is the greatest thing ever:


1) If you kept the NHS unit as it is but changed the name to “The Newbie Unit” then would the NHS still exist?


2) If you significantly change the way the unit operates, but keep the name “NHS” then would the NHS still exist?

As the great wordsworth Shakespeare himself once wrote: “What’s in a name? That which we call the NHS by any other name would still be as bankrupt and inefficient...”

There does appear to be some inherent problems with the NHS MU -

1) The NHS MU is financed by taxpayers money

Big Ant’s upgrading of supplies to Q7 quickly hit a snag when it appeared that at the time he wanted to increase spending, tax revenue dropped. There are a number of reasons why tax revenue drops. I shall not bore people with listing all of them, but in a real generalisation, when the country is going well, the tax revenues go up. When the country is doing badly and in most need of funds, the tax drops. Currently though, the main “reason” being put forth is the changing of the market thanks to the introduction of the Q7 buildings.

News check: Plato and Co will be periodically introducing new buildings, weapons and all sorts of ‘upgrades’ to the game designed to encourage donations for gold.

Basically, if the system is likely to fall over whenever Plato introduces anything, then you are going to be constantly applying the electric shock pads to the economy.

Iain Kerr’s “The Economist” newspaper will probably explain the whole Q7 thing in better detail if you are intereste😛

The-economist-notes-on-the-global-financial-crash...


2) The person responsible for running it is a politician

Every month for a long time we have seen a new politician given the role of head of the MoD. This month it has been reported elsewhere that the two new guys responsible for handing out of supplies have been handing them out to foreign nations to fight on our behalf in pointless wars that don’t need fighting at all or already won. I have no idea if this was deliberate policy (ie, give weapons to anyone fighting for the eUK), an oversight or merely they being temporarily out of their depth while they get to grips with the role.

I know I am not an elected member of parliament, but I shall put forward the following proposal in the hope that one of the elected representatives will run with it and officially propose it and get it passed as official law:

“The Head of the MoD should be given the role for a minimum period of 2 months and the position reviewed at the end of the third. The elected head will retain the role for the minimum period irrespective of if the person has managed to be re-elected for the later months. The MoD will also have a minimum of one, and maximum of three under-ministers who will also assist in the handing out of supplies. Should the performance of the Head of the MoD be considered poor prior to the end of the minimum period, then they can be removed early with the passing of a vote (as per impeachment rules). Should the eUK not have a congress, then the vote will take place between the leaders of any political party whose membership is more than 20% of all people who are members of parties.”


The key word concerning the above is “Continuity”. Everything else being equal, I believe supplies logistics will benefit from experienced people who know what they are doing and of whom learn who the regular individuals from the NHS MU are. The presence of the under-ministers will hopefully lead to further individuals being trained to take over should the need arise. By putting such a thing into the constitution, it’ll hopefully prevent a certain “I gave the role to X as they are a good friend that I trust” old boys club situation that has always existed.


3) It is a political image

I think that where people feel the need to support the new players (and I wouldn’t disagree with that notion) and that the unit is called the NHS MU, there is almost a notion that the unit has to be a success. The NHS MU is something that cannot be allowed to fail. Failure would be bad for the image etc. Being part of the official governmental army (as opposed to being a “private” independent MU), then being able to boast that everyone gets more food they can eat and with the very best Q7 weapons is one of the ego. On the flipside, failing to provide this sends a bad message. Hence, those in power like Big Ant are forced to maintain a level of spending we might not be able to afford (like now).

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SOLUTIONS...

(this is not intended as a promotional post for the RN – other independent MUs will offer similar packages to its members. For those looking for an alternative, ask around and select the MU that provides the best package for your needs)

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A brief pictorial interlude:


Submarine Racing - a popular past time for members of the Royal Navy MU.

/end of pictorial interlude

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The title of the above might be slightly misleading as I offer few solid solutions (in this article at least). I am a member of one of the larger, main independent MUs in the eUK – namely the Royal Navy. It is self sufficient in terms of supplying its members with resources (without relying on the taxpayer), the IRC channel is usually active (the twilight hours aside), and if I do say so myself, is a great place to learn about the military module and how to play more effectively.

Comparing what has been reported about the NHS MU in the various articles, the members of the RN MU gets supplied with 42 x Q7 weapons regularly at the beginning of the week – compare this with the supplies provided by the NHS MU and the reported problems of inconsistency of deliveries. If players report running out of food or weapons during the week either on the shout feed or IRC, then the older players tend to flood the player’s storage with extra food and weapons. Extra resources are provided for showing up at officially organised strikes.

There are solutions to be found if the powers that be wish to follow some of the structures and set ups that independent MUs adopt – and where different MUs might have slightly different structures, there is a choice.

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ON A SIDE NOTE....

Reading some of the comments in the recent articles, there seem to be some myths about independent that are simply inaccurate:

1) The NHS MU is the only place for new players to learn the game.

I’ve seen a few comments from newer players within the NHS MU that members of MUs are arrogant and are disapproving of Div 1 players. This is simply untrue. Independent MUs don’t have the pull of being the “official government approved” military unit and so are very protective and supportive of its members. People within the units appreciate that the new players of now will be the tanks of the future. Member retention is high on the priority and so achieved by being helpful – most are particularly keen to help the newer player.

2) Independent MUs don’t obey the official orders.

During the wipe out by France a month or two ago, Big Ant made a comment that although the wipe out would have happened anyway, the nation’s defence would have been more effective if “certain MUs had obeyed the official orders” (to paraphrase). I sense Big Ant would like to have complete control over all the nation’s soldiers – and before anyone comment this isn’t a criticism of him. In real life, the British Army works better if all units on the battlefield are under control rather than having units outside their control doing other things.

The reality is that if the UK is under direct attack, 95% of the time, the MoD’s daily orders will be followed. The 5% of the time is in the following situation based upon the screenshot below:



(Yeah, it isn't an eUK battle, but the point remains)

The official order would be to continue fighting in that region. An independent MU will look at the situation, determine that the battle is basically won and will switch the daily order towards a different battle where the fight is much closer and the extra damage could make a difference (if the player doesn’t have time to wait for the next round to start). In such a situation, the MU is disobeying the official order, but is actually laying down damage in a much more efficient way. Of course, the MU’s captains will keep an eye on the original battle for any counter attacks. People have commented that this multi battle situation doesn’t happen often, but I’d disagree. During the recent wipe out there were numerous battles open and plenty of damage being directed into already won or lost battles.

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CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY

Question: So what was the point of the “ON A SIDE NOTE...” thing?

Answer: If sections of the government stopped sneering about independent MUs and recognised they are also useful training grounds for new players, then the burden of training the new generation of soldiers can be spread. The NHS MU and the BEF is not the be all and end all. The NHS MU isn’t the only place that a player can get training. It is not the case that unless you join it that you are in some way inferior. Rather than the disappointment of not being able to afford to supply the new players with the top of the range supplies, limit the numbers that the NHS MU ‘trains’ and give those reduced numbers the resources they need in full rather than on a “how much money can we spend today” basis.

All in all, remember that the likes of the Royal Navy and other eUK independent MUs are brothers in arms and allies, and not rivals... There is no disgrace in not monopolising all the new players.... The NHS MU rounding up all the new players is not going to create an elite set of new players....