After Action

Here in I.law we have been doing some thing we call an After Action Report for a while now(Shalee's idea!) I figured I would share last nights report with you all. Enjoy!



We formed up around 0100 eve time In Egg and rolled out Nano BC down. The Minmatar had a gate camp on Kourm Kam so we went the back way to pick the rest of the fleet up in Kam. Once we were assembled we went to fight the camp but Fweddit fleet showed up at the same time and the minnies ran. A Neut Pirate fleet showed up to help the Minnies but they would not come close enough to gate to fight. Got a few kills then moved on.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13910006
http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13909720

We roamed up Sosala way and got a few kills.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13909842
http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13910030

Arayar was vulnerable and intel told us they were trying to form a fleet to hit the bunker. We went up to see what they had and the fun began. We warped onto the ihub and spread points getting a few nice kills including a Damnation. A few more warped in(fail intel on their part) and we killed them. After coming in and out of system they hit the bunker again. I had us warp back in but they ran as we jumped in.

After we landed at the bunker someone opened a Major plex and I had us warp to it. The Minmatar landed a few min later and we slaughtered them. We lost a falcon and a dessy. Falcon was my fault as I thought they would try and go into the plex and not die horribly on the acceleration gate.

We decided to run a Minor plex and camp a gate hoping they would come back. After the Minor plex failed to decontest the system and the enemy fleet was reported in Oyo I decided it was time for us to intercept. Before we could go far a scout reported Baha off station possibly afk in a Drake. He was and he died in a fire! His pod must have been afk also.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_related&kll_id=13910412

Before we even left local the Minmatar came back to Arayar. After debating for a few sec if we wanted to jump our nano fleet into an armor Cane fleet we said fuck it and went in. Drakes broke cloak before the lighter stuff and falcons warped off to come back at range. Canes melted in seconds once the rest of the fleet decloaked. We killed four Canes, a ruppy, BB, Arbi, and some smaller stuff while losing 4 frigs.

Battle report for that whole thing. Almost 3bil killed and 300mil in losses.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_related&kll_id=13909964

We took a break then headed back to Kourm area. Got intel of a Muninn camping Kam gate at range so we sent 2manno to get a tackle. He did and it died.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13910817

Since the Minmatar packed it in the for the night we went on a roam up Metro and we were rewarded by a pirate Tengu jumping into our fleet.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13910920

We went all the way up to Resbroko and got a few kills. A Scorp jumped into us and we went GCC. I am so used to flying with people who know the rules of GCC I kind of forgot to tell the newer people. Few people died to gate guns but nothing expensive.

http://ilaw.killmail.org/?a=kill_related&kll_id=13911169

We called it a night soon after. Was a great fleet overall with some great kills. Our inty pilots were kicking ass and we got a few very nice pods. Good job all!

What's in a Name?

It's was not an easy choice. Even in a game your grow attached to things. I have spent the last two years in the Amarr Militia and it grew on me. I can't help but feel a little sad we may soon be parting ways. It is almost like an era is coming to a close.

Since before Inferno launched a small group has been very vocal about the repercussions of the changes made to Faction War(a few very well known and respected Minmatar included). Many of these people were shouted down and said their doom and gloom predictions would never come to pass. Some predictions have not came to pass. The docking issue is a pain in my ass as an FC but we are able to work around it. The incentive to join the winning side has pulled many more pilots into the Minmatar fold but we still win many of our fights.

While the Amarr has gotten combat pilots, many of them seasoned veterans the Minmatar have pulled a 1,700 pilot lead. They have gotten many PvE pilots, enough to pressure every Amarr held system. The doom and gloom people predicted this. The winning side will keep winning. The availability of easy Isk ensures this. Farming Minmatar LP with an afk alt in a T1 frigate is safer than mining in high sec.

At the start of Inferno I honestly didn't give this too much thought. I figured it would be more for us to kill. After a few weeks the gravity of the situation started to sink in. With so many new and dedicated Minmatar plexers any system we flipped was just a pile of isk for them to flip back. Meanwhile the Amarr Militia had little reason to defensively plex. Hours spent in a system to try and hold it would just increase the Minmatar wallet size.

As the weeks after Inferno's launch turn to months something must be done. A war is expensive. When I ask for a certain ship type for a fleet and people are no longer able to afford those ships or even the potential loss of that ship something is wrong with the system. As the Minmatar printed their own isk for almost a month riding the coat tails of the Goons then control enough systems to coordinate an effort to raise their control level to three or four as they please the Amarr struggle to make any isk at all.

Missions are not viable. LP made from kills and plexing won't pay for much at level one. Capturing systems to see them flipped back a week later and add 20 billion Isk into the enemy’s wallet is not a solution. How do we keep fighting? How can we make the Isk we need to pay for ships and fittings? We turn Caldari!

Susan Black blogged about it, she was wrong, but what else is new? Shalee posted on SovWars the real version of what we plan. We will join the Caldari Militia but stay and fight the Minmatar. We will get Cladari LP for killing Minmatar and capturing their plexes. The Cladari love to plex(god knows why) and have enough systems to reach a higher war zone control level. Why not play the system? Nothing changes but our Militia chat, current war targets will remain war targets. Where we live and fly and fight stays the same. It's a win win for us.

I feel like we were pushed to this point by broken game mechanics. We don't want to leave Amarr Militia. We want to stay and fight but with almost no Isk coming in how long could we pay for our war? There are times in life where you must make difficult choices. Risk losing the war to keep flying under a certain banner or change in name only to keep up the fight?