11/03/2008Hot Lap Series 6
Posted By: SqR LukeJS
The sixth instalment of Forza Motorsport’s popular Hot Lap Series has kicked off this week.
The five week event began on Saturday morning, with Squadra Recon looking to repeat their recent success, after taking third place last season.
In an attempt to maintain the team's competitive edge, additional team representatives have been added for this season. The roster therefore contains all of the SqR drivers, along with eAxis Patohm from Evil Axis, as well as oNyX Roadrunner and oNyX I Mafia, both from oNyX eSports.
Good luck to all the drivers representing the team this season.
10/21/2008New Team Logo
Posted By: SqR LukeJS
Squadra Recon are proud to present their new team logo, after securing a partnership with Logo Design Planet.
Here is the new team logo, designed by Logo Design Planet:
Logo Design Planet prides itself in providing professional, distinctive custom-designed business logo designs. Logo Design Planet will put an end your creative quandaries by providing innovative and ingenious solutions in the fastest time imaginable; within 24 hours, hassle-free.
For more information on Logo Design Planet, please visit their website: www.logodesignplanet.com.
Many thanks go to Logo Design Planet for this amazing new design.
10/07/2008First Anniversary
Posted By: SqR LukeJS
Sunday 5th October marked the first anniversary of the founding of Squadra Recon, and what a journey it has been so far.
The team was formed on 5th October 2007 by Luke Sowersby (SqR LukeJS), along with his brother Ashley Sowersby (SqR Sowersby). The two had zero clan experience at the time, and the closest they had come to competitive gaming was through hot lapping on Forza Motorsport 2. A year on, the team has grown to become widely known, especially within the Call of Duty and Racing communities. Heres a look back at the first year for the team...
When coming up with the team name and tag, there was no doubt we wanted to go with two words and a three letter tag. In looking for a unique twist, we went with an Italian word, in the form of Squadra. When we put the second word of Recon into the frame, the resulting tag of SqR was something that we felt very happy to go ahead with.
The first teams setup up under the Squadra Recon name was the Racing team and Halo 3 UK team. The Racing team was an instant success, with the early acquisition of Parabolica and RaFaby. The Halo 3 UK team, led by SqR Sowersby, on the otherhand, didn’t kick start and plans for this team were later withdrawn. The US Halo 3 team that planned to attend MLG also never got going, and ended under similar circumstances.
Call of Duty 4 was released later in the year, and the game would prove to be the turning point for Squadra Recon. The initial line up instantly made a mark in GameBattles Season 1 and 2, but the team was still to prove itself in major events and competitions.
The first achievement for Squadra Recon would come in the launch season of the Forza Motorsport 2 Hot Lap Series, organised by the game developers and moderators. In the very first week, the team dwarfed in size compared to its competitors would make a shocking impact, by leading the championship after the first challenge. The team would eventually go on to finish fourth in the series, with the Pit Pass Report claiming: “Still this small team of only 7 members showed that they have the skills to take on other teams that dwarf them in size.”
Meanwhile, the Call of Duty 4 team would compete in its first competitive tournament, getting to the quarter finals of the XLeague Search and Destroy tournament, losing to qG.Decerto. However, the experience gained by playing the best teams in EU would prove vital in helping the team progress. Just 2 months later, Squadra Recon would make a television appearance on XLeague in the Spring 08 Ladder championship finals. After defeating Natural Definition in the loser bracket final, the team would eventually finish second after losing to Team iDentity in the final. Once again, this was another invaluable experience for the team, as well as great exposure for the team.
In the mean time, the Squadra Recon racing team would finish fourth yet again in the second and third instalments of the Hot Lap Series. The additions of Gator300, McLovin, Kroozin, Kinetec909, Choc and SmashingPilot also took place, as the racing team continued to grow stronger.
Furthermore, to help improve the teams image, a new website was launched in May, after initially using free resources for the old website.
The Call of Duty teams first LAN be the next event around the corner, in Matchbox 360s XL5 (Summer 08). The team finished fourth with minimal practice and preparation, in what was a great event for the team. This would prove a vital spring board in promoting the team, and as a result, the team would seal its first sponsorship, with Clan Patch.
A month later, the team would walk away with their first cash prize in the XLeague Summer 08 Ladder, to seal Squadra Recon’s first major tournament success. Events would then lead to a revamp of the Call of Duty 4 team, with new players NayNay, ZyG0N and L1GhTz joining the team. The racing team also continued its success recently, securing its highest Hot Lap Series standing with a placement of third in the fifth instalment of the series.
Once an unknown team consisting of unknown players, it is clear Squadra Recon has made huge progress in its first year, and we look forward to see what steps it can take in moving forward in the future.
Thanks go out to all the players, and those who have helped Squadra Recon along the way so far.
09/29/2008Third in Hot Lap Series 5
Posted By: SqR LukeJS
The Forza Motorsport 2 Hot Lap Series 5 has now drawn to a close with Squadra Recon finishing third.
After finishing fourth in each of the three previous hot laps series the team had entered, this seasons placement is the highest in the teams history. Here is the final top 5 in this seasons team standings:
1. GSR 3756
2. TRC 3681
3. SqR 2295
4. VVV 2160
5. MRT 2070
The fact drivers were missing from what is already an undersized team compared to its rivals makes this achievement even more impressive. In the individual standings, SqR LukeJS finished 17th, and SqR Parabolica finished 22nd despite missing the final weeks challenge.
Well done to all the SqR drivers in working towards this achievement, and also thanks to eAxis Patohm for helping the team out throughout the series.
08/26/2008XLeague CoD4 Ladder Champions
Posted By: SqR LukeJS
The Squadra Recon CoD4 team has secured victory in the XLeague CoD4 Summer 08 ladder, beating Next Generation in the final 3-0.
The team had advanced throughout the play-off finals without dropping a map, and this form continued through the final. The first map was Sabotage on Crash, with SqR taking the round (Scoreboard). Next up, was a tricky team death match on Overgrown. Despite having the recipe for being a very cautious round, it was surprisingly open, with SqR winning 590-470 (Scoreboard). Squadra Recon were now just one round away from securing the XLeague title heading into a Search and Destroy round on Pipeline. The team put in another composed performance, winning 4-1 (Scoreboard), to secure the XLeague title and £500 prize.
In other news, the Call of Duty 4 team has now reverted back to one squad. With the Eclipse lineup not making much progress, SiDunn decided to leave the team, after spending 9 months with the team. He played his last match for the team in the XLeague final, under his new gamertag, xI Dr JeKyLL Ix. This left only Carrier Bag in the Eclipse squad, who therefore followed SiDunn in leaving the team.
Matchbox360's XL Autumn 08 LAN event has also been confirmed, and will take place 28th-30th November. Event Information.
07/29/2008Matchbox 360 XL5 Report
Posted By: SqR LukeJS
Squadra Recon has returned from the Matchbox 360 XL5 LAN event, securing 4th place in the 5 vs 5 CoD4 event.
The event began on Friday with the Free-For-All event, with SqR Carrier Bag and SqR PaThFiNdA getting as far as the semi-final. With just a few kills separating 2nd-7th places, they may consider themselves unlucky to miss out on the final. However, the fact that SqR players met on occasions, meant they were effectively knocking each other out.
The 5 vs 5 event got underway the next day on Saturday. The first match for the SqR team was a tricky fixture against Genetix Gaming, a team that they had played against regularly before the event. The match went down to the final map on Ambush, with the scores being 1 map each. In one of the most tense fixtures at the event, SqR eventually walked away victorious, taking the final map 9-7.
Next up was BsE.BlueNRG, which proved to be a vital wake up call for the team. With SqR taking a 4-1 lead on Crossfire they eventually lost the map 6-4, and consequently, lost the second map, resulting in the team being knocked into the losers bracket. The team then went away for a serious chat, as it was clear they needed to up their game.
PaThFiNdA, Carrier Bag and Sowersby in action during their FFA Quarter-Final
SqR’s first opponents in the losers bracket was BsE.Rapture. The team responded to their previous defeat, taking a 2-0 victory, to setup up a game with Fusion in the next round. Again, SqR would look in fine form, taking another 2-0 victory.
With this result, the team was now certain of a top 6 placement, and now had to face one of the favourites, Team Sirox, from The Netherlands. The winner of this loser bracket quarter final match up was to play the winner of the BsE.BlueNRG vs Dignitas fixture, in the loser bracket semi-final. The team had a shaky start, going 4-1 down on Crash. However, the team made a great comeback, winning the map 6-4. Sirox then took the next map, taking the match down to the wire on the final map. It was SqR who ended a tight game on top, taking the final map 5-3, and the match 2-1. The victory meant the team was guaranteed a top 4 placing, and they now had to wait until Sunday to play their semi-final losers bracket match against Dignitas.
The Dignitas game got underway on Sunday, with SqR losing the first map 5-2. However, they bounced back taking the next map 5-3, only to fall at the final hurdle, losing the final map 5-1.
All round, it was a hugely successful event for the team, taking 4th place at their first major LAN. With the team only finalised a week before the event, many of the players had to make strategies up during matches, emphasising what a great job the team has done.
Well done to all the players, and SiDunn who did a great job as coach. Also, thank you to all those that supported us throughout the weekend, and finally, well done to TCS for winning the CoD4 event. Expect to see more photos soon on the forum, once the official Matchbox photos are released.
MB360: vs UndeRated: 3-1