The Clan
786th Recon — tag >786-R< — ran the sand under the Desert Combat mod for Battlefield 1942. Founded September 2003 by 5150 Joker, who put out the recruiting call and never really let it drop. Public server on port 14567, IRC channel #786, TeamSpeak always open, donation drive every month to keep the DC server paid up.
Blackhawks over the ridge, F-16 dogfights above the flag, Abrams column pushing the mid-map cap. Those years had a texture the modern shooters can't quite reach again.
« If interested, e-mail me at [email protected] » — recruiting notice, September 2003
The Roster
Pulled from the archived member list. Everyone who wore the tag.
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Founder · Clan Lead>786-R< 5150 Joker
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Founding Member>786-R< Kensei
- Trooper>786-R< RedBravo7
- Trooper>786-R< Khanivore
- Trooper>786-R< Slyder
- Trooper>786-R< TimmA
- Trooper>786-R< crow
- Trooper>786-R< NINJA
- Trooper>786-R< MrSmack
- Trooper>786-R< MSGT_TTTRUX
- Trooper>786-R< ason
- Trooper>786-R< Midiean
- Trooper>786-R< Rojoe
- Trooper>786-R< sgtpolice
- Trooper>786-R< MLG_Tom
- Trooper>786-R< Lawn_Gnome_Hitman
- Trooper>786-R< Fuzzz
- Trooper>786-R< dan
- Trooper>786-R< ozzman
- Trooper>786-R< dave
- Trooper>786-R< Flipped
- Trooper>786-R< iopunkoi
- Trooper>786-R< UGREDDRA…
- Trooper>786-R< LunaticG…
The Mod
Desert Combat took Battlefield 1942's WWII engine and rebuilt the arsenal around the modern-era desert war — M1 Abrams, T-72s, Apache and Cobra gunships, Blackhawks, F-16 Fighting Falcons, MiG-29s. Trent Pollack and the DC team spent 2003 through 2005 turning a WWII shooter into what many players still call the best combined-arms game ever released. Free. Community-run. Server-hopping was the meta.
The Server
Period detail, straight from the 2003 & 2004 archive of clan786.com:
Server rules were on the front page: "publicly listed server and you are welcome to play here, however, if you make racist comments, act obnoxious and otherwise annoying, then you will be kicked. Repeated offenses will earn you a permanent ban."
The Moment
Somewhere on El Alamein, sun going flat, Blackhawk touch‑down at the north flag with three troopers in the door. Enemy AA already tracking. Joker on the radio: « Right side, right side, roll off » and everyone bails, the bird's already smoking, the flag flips before the spawn timer resets. That was the whole clan in one round.