Grover vonMcCormick Archives - Independence Fleet

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!

The Simming Endeavor: The Sequel?

Posted on September 3, 2020 | by Charles Star | Leave a Comment

Last year on Ongoing Worlds, we hosted a role playing game show called The Simming Endeavor. The concept was simple: Bring 13 different role players together into a single game, allow them to compete each week to write the best post on a particular topic, and then have them vote each other out until there’s only one left. As host, it was tons of fun–some of my best all-time memories of role playing.

Our very own Bolak (aka Largehobbit) was one of the contestants. I’ll save you the spoiler and not tell you how he did! James “Rook” Mirtoh and James D. West both served as special guests (episodes 3 and 8, respectively). And finally, our former Director of Art, Sadie Stanton (aka Bella), created all the graphics for the show.

The purpose of this post isn’t to shameless promote our prior work. Well, at least not entirely. One of last year’s contestants, Messenger of Heaven, is looking to host and produce a second season of the show this fall. If you’re interested in serving as a contestant, please contact me on discord or through email. Believe me, it will be a unique experience you can’t recreate elsewhere.

Or if you just want to read the episodes, we’ve posted links below. We recommend starting with episode 1, obviously.

Episode	Air Date
USS Endeavor role play	N/A
Episode 1 (Introduction)	September 8, 2019
Episode 2 (Abdication)	September 15, 2019
Episode 3 (Déjè vu)	September 22, 2019
Episode 4 (Humor)	September 29, 2019
Episode 5 (Others)	October 6, 2019
Episode 6 (Change)	October 13, 2019
Episode 7 (Switch)	October 20, 2019
Episode 8 (Action)	October 27, 2019
Episode 9 (Return)	November 3, 2019
Episode 10 (Random)	November 10, 2019
Episode 11 (Decision)	November 17, 2019
Episode 12 (Finale)	November 24, 2019

In unrelated IDF news, Captain Aurther Winters has relieved Captain Grover vonMcCormick as Commanding Officer of the USS Chuck Norris, and Captain Dick Sprague has relieved Captain Michael Meezo as Commanding Officer of the USS Wayfarer. Both turnovers are dated to September 1st.

Good luck, simmers!

Monthly Awards: April 2020

Posted on May 21, 2020 | by Rook Mirtoh | Leave a Comment

Rook Mirtoh, your friendly neighborhood Director of Personnel here… What, I used the line last month? Then let’s just skip straight to the awards:

Best Post

Lt. Cmdr. Jhettao zh’Vrini
Chief Intelligence Officer
Starbase Mikia

For “Personal Log – 2410-05-09”
It’s not often that a personal log wins best post, but this one does it with the right mix of cheer & gloom!

Funniest Post

Cmdr. Aurther Winters
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For “Make it… more real!”
Very tongue in cheek, a serious officer dealing with an un-serious scenario. Winters is one of the best!

Genesis

Captain Grover vonMcCormick
Commanding Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For “From the Sidelines”
Funny, yet clear objectives that should get the crew going on a new mission. Well done!

MVP

Cmdr. Aurther Winters
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris

Winters does it again; leads the ship in total posts, helps integrate new crewmembers, mentors others, and keeps the storing going.

Most Posts

Cmdr. Aurther Winters
Executive Officer
USS Chuck Norris

For writing 8 posts.

Most Improved

Lt. Cmdr. Estella Stratton
Chief Counselor
USS Washington

The Counselor has delved deep into both character development and mission advancement this month, showing her versatility.

Rookie of the Month

Lt. Cassia Cavendish
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Washington

She jumped in head first with an excellent introductory post and followed it up with several joint posts.

Recruitment

Cmdr. Jonathan Grayson
Executive Officer
USS Washington

Recruited the Washington’s stellar rookie and continues to work on recruiting for the ship.

Congratulations to all of our winners. Good luck to everyone for May and keep simming! That’s what I said last month too? I’m must be getting too old for this.