“They're gonna wish they were never born.”
―SAS[src]
The SAS is a Counter-Terrorist faction featured in the Counter-Strike series. It is a default Counter-Terrorist faction in Counter-Strike 2.
Overview[]
The world-renowned British Special Air Service (SAS) was founded in the Second World War by a man named David Stirling. They were a commando unit during WW2, responsible for intelligence gathering, sabotage, and assassination. After WWII, the British government turned the SAS into a Counter-Terrorism unit after the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
Previously an obscure regiment, the SAS came to prominence with their dramatic ending of a terrorist siege at the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980, where their zip line assault through the windows was broadcast live on both main British television channels in prime time on a public holiday.
Official Description[]
The world-renowned British SAS was founded in the Second World War by a man named David Stirling. Their role during WW2 involved gathering intelligence behind enemy lines and executing sabotage strikes and assassinations against key targets.
The world-renowned British SAS was founded during WW2 by Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling as a commando force to operate behind enemy lines.[1]
Appearance[]
In Counter-Strike, the SAS wear black uniforms, gas masks, and kevlar vests. In Condition Zero and Source, they possess navy blue uniforms and black helmets.
In Global Offensive, the SAS operatives originally wore blue or grey uniforms with black chest rigs, knee pads, and black boots. They wore gas masks and a light grey hood over the gas mask.
Following the model revamp in the December 13, 2016 update, all SAS characters use the same model. The SAS still wore a gas mask and a dark blue uniform, but now wears a brown chest rig and some climbing equipment. Their hood is not pulled up, exposing the white cover worn underneath their gas mask.
Their default gloves in Global Offensive are dark grey hard knuckle gloves.
Deleted Scenes Uniforms[]
SAS operative wear a variety of uniforms depending on mission:
- Standard uniform : blue fatigues with black Vest
- Winter uniform : white fatigues with dark gray Vest
- Desert uniform : desert camo fatigues with green vest
Heads vary upon model:
- Standard: Black helmet with or without black Hazard Mask
- Winter: Black Helmet without Hazard Mask
- Officer: Light Brown beret and sporting a gray beard
Agents[]
B Squadron Officer[]
B Squadron Officer is a Distinguished agent added in Operation Shattered Web. This agent can be earned from the Operation Shattered Web battle pass track or from the Steam market.
“Highly classified and incredibly lethal, Officers in the SAS spend years sharpening their skills through infiltration, hostage rescue, and —REDACTED— missions not fit for the public eye. Who dares, wins.”
―Official Description
D Squadron Officer[]
D Squadron Officer is a Distinguished agent added in Operation Riptide. This agent can be purchased from the Operation Riptide Shop for 5 stars (random selection of all 5 distinguished agents) or from the Steam market.
“Highly classified and incredibly lethal, Officers in the SAS spend years sharpening their skills through infiltration, hostage rescue, and —REDACTED— missions not fit for the public eye. Who dares, wins.”
―Official Description
Map/Bot Appearances[]
The SAS model was used for the player character in the (later removed) Counter-Terrorist Training Center map in Counter-Strike 1.0. For unknown reasons, the model was changed to that of the Arctic Avengers in 1.1.
In the Tour of Duty, the bots that use this skin are:
Outside the Tour of Duty, the following bots will use the SAS skin as a Counter-Terrorist and the Arctic Avengers skin as a Terrorist:
These bots are unchanged in Source.
Building Recon is the first mission where the S.A.S. appears. All the operatives wear winter uniform, even if in the first phase of the attack there is an operative with a winter uniorm and a desert helmet. In this mission some S.A.S. teams will attack a set of warehouses because a nuclear weapon has disappeared and probably it was stolen by a group of terrorists that was making their activities in that set of warehouses. The S.A.S. will assist the player during his chasing of the gang boss.
In Alamo, there are two S.A.S. operatives at the end leaving the rescue helicopter. No further S.A.S. operative is seen.
In Sandstorm, there are only two S.A.S. operatives at the start. Those two will die because of a script. A curiosity is: this is the only mission where probably the player speaks, because no operative at the start is moving his mouth and the voice doesn't seem radio-recorded, so it could be the player.
In Rise Hard, the S.A.S. makes only two appearances: the first is at the start, when a S.A.S. team gives cover to the player. The second one is when the player destroys the turrets, and many S.A.S. operatives will assault the entrance of the skyscraper. A third appearance is of the attack helicopter, owned by the S.A.S. but no further operative will appear.Bugs and Exploits[]
- The SAS in Counter-Strike: Source has a short weapon throw distance due to the weapon incorrectly spawning at their feet, rather than at their hand.[2]
- Following the release of Counter-Strike 2, if the player is playing on Hostage rescue maps with a default CT agent (which is the SAS), picking up hostages will not play their hostage rescue voicelines due to the faction lacking any quotes relating this game mode, instead, they will play voicelines derived from the SEAL Frogman Agent "Cmdr. Frank 'Wet Sox' Baroud".
Behind the Scenes[]
- The SAS in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have an unused model variant present in the game files (named
ctm_sas_variantE.mdl
) that has a white camouflage. Given the circumstances, it was most likely cut from the game. The unused model variant can still be used in custom maps.- The white camouflage doesn't have separate hand models, using the original blue sleeves with black gloves instead. This can be seen in custom maps that use the white camo skin.
- The Union Jack, the flag of the United Kingdom (where the SAS come from) is visible on the SAS playermodel's sleeve in some instances. Other times, it is the SAS emblem.
Trivia[]
- General
- The gas mask-wearing design of the SAS seen throughout the series seems to be heavily influenced by the SAS's attire in the Iranian Embassy Siege, which had a big impact on the public image of the SAS and their depictions in medias after.
- Condition Zero
- Although the selection icon for the SAS features them in a brown suit, the in-game model is light blue.
- In Tour of Duty, the SAS lacks snipers, which may be intentional in order not to repeat the snipers setting with the Terrorists who only use the Arctic Avengers with the same No. 3 skin.
- The SAS units in Deleted Scenes speak with an English accent while the ones in Global Offensive speak with a Scottish accent.
- Despite wearing gas masks in Deleted Scenes, throwing a Smoke grenade near them will still cause them to cough.
- Counting the SAS' appearance in Alamo, it is tied with the Kidotai and U.S. Navy Seals for appearing in the most missions in Deleted Scenes.
- Global Offensive
- One of the quotes said by the SAS, "Watch out for these fellas; they've got a bit of an arsenal and they don't mind using it" is a reference to a quote in film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.[3]
- Many of the quotes said by the SAS are well recognized by the community, and some of them are even featured on stickers.
- The SAS' upgraded models have jigglebones on their cuffs.
- The upgraded models also have the gas mask strapped over the NBC hood, which in reality, would hinder the face seal of the mask.
- The upgraded models have a weighting error on the sleeve, making it appear to stretch from its initial position some extent when the SAS unit moves his arm.
- In Global Offensive, when he is equipped with fingerless gloves, the B Squadron Officer's hands appear dark-skinned; in Counter-Strike 2 however, his hands are instead light-skinned, likely an oversight.
References
External links[]
- Special Air Service at Wikipedia.
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