Francis Nyeo

Battle of Jade Hills III

2017 IICP Tournament

**Francis Nyeo Siang Shuo** was one of the original founders and former commanding officer of Night Owls NERF Community from 2009-2018.

## Biography

Being one of the founders of the community group that eventually evolved into the Night Owls, Francis started being involved with NERF in 2009. However the group went inactive until its resurgence in 2012, catalyzed by interest and participation in NERFTOUR4 in which Francis led the Night Owls team as captain.

### NERFTOUR4

Playing in a support role during NERFTOUR4, Francis fielded a Stampede ECS and a Vortex Praxis. The pointmen Marshall Tan and Alan Tiang would rush to both sides within seconds of the match starting, while he and marksman Wan Muhd. Farizan would hold back to defend the team's flag. However during one closely contested match, Francis was the last player still active and took on the last opponent player with his Praxis, managing to tag him out.

The team went on to dominate Group IV, leading with 9 points, but was defeated in the bitterly fought quarterfinals by defending champions SHOTS. However, the experiences gained in the tournament and subsequent interest within the local community led to the formal reestablishment of the Night Owls.

Throughout 2012 to 2014, Francis led efforts to build up the Night Owls' ranks and capabilities, organizing frequent games as well as forming relationships with other communities to draw on their experiences. He is credited with restructuring the Night Owls into a more formal organization, making it recognized as the premier group in Northern Malaysia and one of NERF Community Malaysia's first registered affiliate groups. He was appointed as administrator of NERF Community Malaysia on June 26, 2014 and served till his resignation on March 22, 2015 due to infighting among the admins.

### Jade Hills II

As contingent commander of the Night Owls, Francis led a small fireteam assigned to the mid-bottom sector together with Ramon Lee. The fireteam managed to penetrate Yellow Team lines during match 2 and advanced into the enemy's rear. However, Red Team lines collapsed further uphill and their radio request for support went unanswered and the 5-man fireteam was surrounded by over 20 opponents, and despite being the last Red players alive at that point, managed to hold the enemy off for several minutes.

Numerous equipment issues arose during the matches. Francis' Stryfe often shorted out due to rainwater and he had to use Tan Qi Ming's Retaliator and with that blaster, he and Yellow Team opponent Max Cheong scored hits on each other simultaneously during one of the matches.

In the post-event lucky draw, Francis won a Dart Tag Speedswarm.

### Staff Service

    Francis participated in several events as a staff member or marshal, beginning with the hosting of the 2013 Christmas NERF Championship. He went on to host the 2016 Virtus Skill At Arms Meet, as well as participating as guest marshals in the Battle of Jade Hills III and the 2017 IICP NERF Tournament.

Prior to Jade Hills III, he formed the Joint Forces Coalition (JFC) that would eventually form the bulk of the Yellow Team with the Roughnecks, the Night Owls' ally during Jade Hills II. Due to serious pre-game tensions between the JFC with the Alliance group that would form the Red Team, he elected to serve as a marshal during the event to ensure that the rules were being fairly enforced on both teams.

### Handover of Command

Francis stepped down from front-line command in 2015 after Jade Hills III to take on a managerial role, and relinquished the position of Commanding Officer to David Ooi after an injury in 2018. He still plays semi-regularly with the Night Owls and serves as an advisor.

## Trivia

Francis is one of the few Night Owls members who served in the National Service program.