Clubswingers have commenced a secret project

During our last visit to the Clubswingers' village, we were taken prisoners!

It was unexpected at best. We arrived at the evening as usual, ready for the usual press conference and meetings with the amicable Clubswingers, not suspecting anything had changed since our last visit. But as soon as we entered the walls of the capital, vicious barbarians captured and imprisoned us immediately.

We protested fiercely about the treatment that was given to us but to no avail. We were kept in our cells for almost a month, without any explanation for the sudden change in behavior. We were treated relatively well though, the food was good and there was no torturing involved.





After a long boring period passed within that sell, we were suddenly moved away, having hoods in our heads. When the hoods were removed, we were outside the city, and we were told that we had to leave and not return again for a period of time. The long imprisonment made us oblige and we went on our way.

We did not dare ask what was going on, but we managed to overhear something about a secret military project they undertook. Sadly we do not have more information to share at this point.

Earthmoving operations commence

The empire of the Clubswingers keeps prospering, and the number of suburbs close to their main trading center has increased to seven. Using the income from their flourishing trading business and native production, they have managed to setup a booming business. Furthermore a great army has been trained, to protect their riches from evil enemies and eliminate competing merchants.

Lately, we received word that the Clubswingers have commenced earthmoving operations in their area, in effort to improve it. These operations sometimes may not be pleasurable for the neighboring settlements, however they are essential for the long term security of the trading business.

We have managed to acquire a foreman report of one of these operations and we are presenting it exclusively below. Some of the information is hidden to protect the stakeholders' interests.

A great artist is born among the Clubswingers

The Clubswingers' empire keeps growing very fast and their capital city has now become the largest city in the known world. The merchant population is also growing at a steady pace, as the worldwide fame they are gaining has opened up more trade opportunities.

Within this environment of booming, the Clubswingers' culture has also seen a rapid growth, as they invested in a lot of artistic and intellectual activities. A most significant development in this environment was the emergence of a great Clubswinger artist, who produces works of art of immense quality. We have managed to get a screenshot of one of his allegedly greatest works and we present it below:

One of our art critics made the following comments about this magnificent piece of work: "This drawing reflects the original beauty and aesthetics of every Clubswingers' invention and building created to date. It is a testament to their artistic style that can be observed in every activity".

A boom in population

The Clubswingers' success in the trading and production business has brought about a strong population boom in the last couple of days, that is expected to last for some time now. A new suburb has already emerged next to their main trading center, for a total of 3 suburbs now in close proximity to their largest city.

The capital of the Clubswingers itself has experienced a population boom as well, becoming one of the largest cities in the world and being on track to claim the top spot regarding population. This is definitely a sign of flourishing, as the high population means that a large amount of factories and productions facilities are operating.

In addition to the regular population operating the buildings and production facilities, the Clubswingers are now boasting thousands of merchants that start expeditions further and further away, taking greater risks in the process. Some of these merchants have been provided with mounts to cover the long distances faster, though most merchants are still travelling on foot, in an ongoing effort to minimize costs.

The Clubswingers prepare for terraforming operations

The Clubswingers have managed so far to establish a successful trade and production business and their stock is rising in price since their first day of operation. This success has occured mainly due to their careful planning and paying much importance to efficiency and execution.

The great visionaries among the Clubswingers' council have now foreseen that the area around their trade centers will be needed by them in the future, and they have set out on a grand project that includes large scale terraforming operations around their villages. The terraforming operations might probably include the destruction of nearby unfriendly settlements, in an effort both to create space for their sprawling empire as well as eliminate possible danger for the future.

The engineers of the Clubswingers have designed an advanced terraforming device and we have managed to secure an exclusive schematic showcasing its functionality:

There are rumours that this device has already reached its production stage -  a factory working day and night to produce a sufficient number for the Clubswingers' needs.

Formidable warriors join the Clubswingers

While the Clubswingers are focusing on their production and trading businesses as well as improving their infrastructure, they have surely not forgotten about their war preparations. Though the Clubswingers are very peaceful and friendly people, they are prepared to act in case vile enemies threaten them in any way.

Thus, the Clubswingers started investing a share of their profits into training new formidable mounted warriors, ready to spread fear and despair to their enemies.

These new warriors are very fearsome indeed, able to attack viciously the enemies of the Clubswingers and eliminate them without much effort. Hundreds of these new warriors are being trained already, and soon the Clubswingers will have at their disposal an offensive force that most can't even dream about at this stage.

Irrigation techniques improving production

The productivity boon at the Clubswingers' village has reached its pinnacle over the past few days. The council of the Clubswingers consolidated the situation and decided to invest a lot more resources on another irrigation channel, providing a lot more water for the ever expanding fields:

Meanwhile a lot of infrastructure buildings are being built to support the ever growing production and trading centers. What started a small village a few weeks ago is now becoming a large town with two suburbs already.

Reliable sources are suggesting that the Clubswingers have found some new potential trade partners and are considering to increase their trader population soon again.

Advanced Warfare Technology

A lot of days are passing peacefully in the Clubswingers village. The trading resumes unhindered and investment in production facilities goes on well. Things go so well that celebrations are held to both trade centers on a daily basis.

The Clubswingers have noticed though that somewhere in the area evil enemies might be gathering forces to strike them. The enemies gather behind their walls and there are rumours everywhere that they are plotting to destroy the Clubswingers and disband their trading missions.

Though these rumours are unconfirmed and noone may want to harm the Clubswingers, their board of directors decided to invest a few of the resources to prepare for the worst before its too late. As an old saying mentions "If you want to keep peace, start preparing for war".

The Clubswingers thus payed their scientists to increase their research rates and they managed to come up with a few advanced military suggestions, both offensive and defensive. Below you may see the new wonder of the Clubswinger technology, a powerful offensive unit constructed with the best materials and manned by the best fighters in the world:

Productivity rapidly increasing

The main trade center of the Clubswingers has undergone a few important upgrades over the past couple of days. New techniques have been applied to some of the croplands around the the town center and their productivity has increased a lot. These new techniques are going to be applied now to the rest of the croplands as well.

Meanwhile the Clubswingers found another way to increase their productivity. They managed to use water from a nearby lake to water the fields. As soon as the water arrived, all the fields in the area started producing a lot more food and some say the quality of the food may have improved as well.

The lake was infested with wild animals, even crocodiles, and the Clubswingers payed a heavy toll of blood in order to clear them. However in the end their hero prevailed and the lake became theirs.

Several defenders have been placed in the lake to prevent enemies from destroying the water pipes.

A suburb emerges

Not much have been going on in the Clubswingers' trade centers during the past few days. The trading missions are being conducted as usual and the resources gathered are invested in their infrastructure.

The most important event that took place in the past few days was the founding of a new suburb next to the Clubswingers' main trade center. The new suburb facility was required because more space for infrastructure  buildings appeared to be necessary. The new suburb was also built in a fertile area, promising to provide food for a large amount of inhabitants in the future.

We have managed to secure a picture of the new suburb during its inauguration event:

A hybrid business model emerges

The Clubswingers' vastly successful start has given foundation to a great era of booming. Based on the high revenues from their trading activities, they have managed to setup over the past couple of weeks two growing trading centers. A chunk of the revenues was invested in cultivating fields and production facilities and we heard that yesterday they even managed to setup a legendary building called bakery:

The council of the Clubswinger leaders gathered to consolidate their efforts so far and plan for the future. They have noticed a very important trend: that the resources gathered from trading, no matter how vast they are, could potentially be outclassed by investing in their own production facilities and resource fields. This trend became obvious after consolidating the profits of their first village: too many competitors in the area and  a gradual reduction in the numbers of trading partners were the root causes of the problem.

The council decided to slowly dismantle the trading business from the first village and leave a nominal trading force to keep some old customers satisfied. The whole of the trading business is going to move to their second village which seems to have far greater potential. However, that area is going to decline as well in the future and the Clubswingers are already making plans to invest in production there, as well.

Still, the trading income is still very high and most of the activities from the short term are expected to come from trading.

The hero of the Clubswingers finds powerful artifacts

The hero of the Clubswingers has increased his power a lot during the past few days. Tirelessly doing quest after quest and searching for treasures in various places, he has learned a lot of new combat techniques. He also came across a lot of powerful artifacts, weapons and armor that he found or traded.

Using his newfound strength, he is now helping the peaceful merchants in their efforts for finding new resources while at the same time he is contributing to their defenses in case evil outsiders come to plunder their riches. The stronger he becomes, the better for the Clubswingers.

Merchant population is rapidly increasing

Today we received some insider information that the Clubswinger merchant's population has already exceeded 1000. With so many merchants available, the increase in the incoming resources is significant and they have been able to extend their trade missions in even longer distances.

Meanwhile, the scouts sent all over the area are coming back with a lot of information about mythic resource deposits the Clubswingers can claim. Sometimes though these reports are not accurate and hidden dangers may appear at any time; for the time being the Clubswinger merchants stay close to their safest routes instead and go for steady yields.

We have managed to secure a report about a cache hidden treasures but noone knows if the resources are still there or if the report was accurate in the first place:

Rearranging the trade activities

During the past few days, there has been a significant shift in the way the Clubswingers are conducting their business. They noticed that the untapped trading potential in their newly settled trade center was vastly superior to the initial one and thus decided to gradually move the center of their activities there. Here is a report that shows their current trading trends:

As the trading activities shift away from the initial trade center, the Clubswingers' minister of finance decided to shift the initial center's economic model from a trading one to a production facility, while maintaining a minimum amount of trading activities. One of our paparazzi managed to sneak past the Clubswinger scouts and take a picture of some new buildings that verify this change in the economic model.

Clubswingers under attack

Last night Clubswingers were under attack! Fierce horsemen from the east came to plunder their precious resources. The Clubswingers' scouts were ready to spot the danger in time though and they managed to hide the riches. Some hired troops were killed during the attack, forcing the Clubswingers to reduce their profit margins to hire additional warriors for protection.

We have been informed though that the trade activity is proceeding more than fine, and the Clubswingers' balance is highly positive despite the losses they suffered. Now that the second trade center's activity has increased, even more profits are expected in the coming days.

A Wall Street expert we talked with is advising everyone to buy Clubswingers stock as soon as possible, since huge yields are expected in the future.

Revenue increasing techniques

The Clubswingers have now successfully setup 2 different trade centers that operate all day long. However the revenue yields are not quite satisfactory as of yet; thus the Clubswingers decided to employ a couple of techniques.

The first technique that they employed is the classic competition elimination. Competing merchants were sabotaged and more room was created for the Clubswingers to operate:

Another technique they used is to get rid of some of the wildlife in their area, and tap into their resources. With the wild animals killed, the merchants managed to find some nice treasures in their lairs.

New town starting to flourish

It has only been a day since the Clubswingers settled in this new area. Thanks to the hard working merchants sending resources from the previous settlement, the new town is already starting to come to life. Some trade missions have already started, in an ongoing effort to find more resources:

Meanwhile, the town infrastructure is already being improved, and the population of the new settlement is rapidly increasing:

A new Heaven

The Clubswingers' boom quickly led them to search for new areas to expand and discover more trade opportunities. Using a fair share of resources that were hardly collected over the previous days, they funded an expedition.

The expedition was highly successful; using some information the Clubswingers' payed dearly to acquire, they found themselves after only a few hours of travelling in a hidden heaven among oases. The fertile land is very promising and it could be an ideal location for a really huge city in the future.

They promptly claimed the area and started building their infrastructure there, hoping to use it as a base to expand their trading.

Trading continues to boom

Not much have changed since the last time we heard news from the Clubswingers' village. The trading business continues as usual and the population is increasing as the village infrastructure is getting into place.

Some of these trade missions prove to be extremely successful, while others might have a bad ending (often resulting in the death of a few merchants). The trade minister of the Clubswingers was kind enough to provide us with an exclusive sample of the trade mission outcomes:

Newfound Friends

While the party continues for yet another day, and everyone is having a great time at the Clubswingers' village, it seems the great buzz has attracted some more friends. A group of spear fighters and paladins came to the party to check what's going on.



They spent the night there and they liked the environment so much that they decided to hang on with the Clubswingers, swearing to helm them fulfill their goals.

Meanwhile, one of our paparazzi managed to sneak inside the Clubswingers' village, avoiding their scouts, and  he managed to get an exclusive picture of their village:

You are invited to the party!

The Clubswingers decided to spend a part of their overflowing resources to host a party, for everyone that joins their effort.

The party is definitely a sign that everything goes according to plan and the Clubswingers seemed happy indeed, according to one of the guests.

A boom in trading

The Clubswingers are rolling tonight. Trading has never been better, the effectiveness has surpassed even their own expectations. Their numbers are increasing very fast and you can see how well it is going just 3 days after the start of their journey.

More Clubswingers of course means even more trading, and a lot of citizens are already gathering in their camp to support them as required.

We tried to learn more details about their warehouse but they refuse to reveal such sensitive information, fearing that the balance of prices may change. It is suspected though that most of their treasures are well hidden in holes beneath the ground, however these are unconfirmed rumours as of yet.

Vicious attackers threaten the Clubswingers

Not vicious enough though...

While the Clubswingers were happily trading resources and materials (making that offer that noone can really refuse), another tribe of their kind attempted to engage in warfare to steal the precious resources they fairly acquired and even kill them!

Luckily the ever vigilant Clubswingers had placed a good amount of guards and scouts and the danger was spotted early. The first time the enemies came through, there were no defenses available and the poor crocodile the Clubswingers had tamed earlier in the day died after eating a mere two enemies.

The Clubswingers suspected that enemies might come again during the night and they started preparing defenses. We do not know many details about this but it seems they were adequately prepared; the enemy came in raging again but none survived.

The enemy gathered what was possibly the last bit of their remaining troops and came in for a last desperate attack, but the Clubswingers had made some more friends while trading and they helped out in this time of dire need.

More news from our peaceful and friendly traders coming later on

Clubswingers prove to be powerful merchants

A new day has dawned and the Clubswingers decided to let go of the nature treasure hunting and focus on what they can do best - become merchants. 

They have already set camp in a hospitable location and they immediately set off to explore the area around them in an effort to gather more resources for their journey. Small groups of Clubswingers set off on various directions, sometimes even taking up journeys that lasted a whole day. 

Their mission was very clear: find others around and trade with them:

The offer was so good that most of the people they met happily agreed to trade with the Clubswingers. Thus a steady stream of resources and goods has already started arriving in their village, and it is certain the Clubswingers will prosper in the days to come. 

We have managed to get an exclusive (but very short) interview from one of the great heroes of the Clubswingers (the bald guy in the top right section of the following picture). He was kind enough to give us a few details about their ongoing offers and answer a few extra questions.

Q: What are your plans for the immediate future?

A: RAAAAAAAAAARGH UGH UGH RAAAARGH 

Q: Do you like the area you have settled so far?

A: UGA UGH HRAK HRAK HRAK RAAAARGH

The journey has begun

After all the necessary preparations were completed, the Clubswingers set off for their long journey. The first hours of the journey went by without any serious incidents; the occasional fights with wild animals proved to be profitable rather than dangerous.

Some of the encounters with the wild animals felt like hitting the jackpot. Significant treasures were found in the oases explored and cleared:

The Clubswingers got greedy and started risking more when encountering wild animals. Every time they found a new treasure, their greed became greater. In their treasure hunting they were joined by allies found along the way (some people claim that it was prearranged, but these are just rumors as far as we know). Their methodical strategy payed off for quite some time and they managed to hoard a significant amount of resources to use throughout their journey. However, nature is not always forgiving to greed. 

Nasty animals came through the trees, hidden from plain sight, and the Clubswingers payed a heavy blood toll, despite their leader's efforts to save as many of them as possible. The cost was far greater than the reward they hoped for.

Undaunted by this setback, the Clubswingers are continuing their journey. At least they will be a bit more careful from now on.

Preparing for the journey

The Clubswingers are expected to start their journey sometime around the early hours of Monday 25/02/2013 on a newly discovered land.

Preparations are already almost over, there is enough food stockpiled for the one-year journey and the necessary funding for all expenses has been secured.

The group of Clubswingers will be led by at least three different guides, ensuring that there is always someone watching over their lot.