Rise of the Cruiser

With Retribution came ship re balancing. The biggest benefactor to these changes were by far the T1 cruisers. Long before the expansion launched our theory crafters buckled down and spent some time exploring the possibilities these changes would bring. The day Retribution went live we had ships in place and a fleet doctrine ready for trial by fire. That fire came quickly. The SFI blob was in for a surprise.

The first test of our new doctrine did not come in a medium plex as I expected it to but on a gate. Our cruiser fleet with T1 logi met a Minmatar fleet in Huola. The time spent in EFT was well rewarded. Even though the Minmatar brought Guardians we quickly dispatched them. They tried again with more guardians, cruisers, ahacs, BC, and even BS but our fleet held. Both fights we took little to no losses.

We then punished UK for their lack of foresight. More brawls where our cruisers and T1 logi decimated the field.

I knew that the Minmatar would quickly catch on and around day three they did. At the same time UK and LNA overcame some of their differences and decided that we were a bigger threat. It just so happens that took place in Isbrabata, one of the new gate systems. It's nice to see they really did make a big difference. The Minmatar pinched our fleet on a gate and we had to disengage, very well played by them.

We have had many cruiser fights in the last week or so. We have won many but also lost a few as the Minmatar brought more numbers, coordination, and caught up on fits. Even though these fights are T1 hull cruisers there is much more depth and strategy to them then most would realize. What happened last night in Kourm should have made it clear to anyone who was on field that Faction War plex fighting has changed forever.

The first engagement of the night was in Ezzara. We were set up in a medium plex. LNA/UK/Defiant Legacy and to come into us. Primaries were called and ships started dieing. Both sides had substantial amount of Logi. The Minmatar had 7 and Amarr had 6, all T1. We had the advantage of being set up with a few Black Birds at range and a few more tricks up our sleeves so we won the fight pretty handily. 27 ships destroyed to 9 lost. From there we went back to Kamela and got ready for round two.

A medium plex opened in Kourm and both sides made their moves for it. What followed was the longest fight I have ever been part of. Almost an hour and a half of constant fighting. The Minmatar forces did not skimp on the Logi. I believe they had brought 10 and we had also brought our fair share. After both sides took some initial losses Logi chains were set up and reps were almost impossible to break for both sides.

I found myself calling rifters primary just to have something to kill. Both sides tried to Alpha ships before reps could land. Some times it work but mostly it didn’t. Both sides used damps to slow the lock time of logi but with so much on field it was damn near impossible to damp it all out. The Minmatar even brought in a ECM burst super tanked vexor to break our Logi's lock. To top this all off there was a group of awoxing/pirating caldari militia killing both sides as they tried to reship. They got rewarded by a War Dec from Fweddit and I.Law for their actions.

The point finally came where I could no longer break any targets. I asked if we had anything else, anyone else to bring on field but the answer was no. I made the choice to break off and regroup. Only one or two people were pointed and left to die.

After the fight many of us sat around on comms and chatted about what will probably go down in Amarr/Minmatar history books as one of the greatest fights ever. Ideas were tossed around about what we could have done and what we can do next time. I mostly sat there with a smile on my face listening to the chatter. It's not often you get to FC a fight like that.

A Birthday Party and Bitter Vet's

I.Laws one year anniversary is today. The Corporation itself has been around longer but a year ago it became the home of Shalee, Ryven, Kato, Phione, Czech, Snape, Joni, and myself. Since then many others have joined and left us. It's been a hell of a year. We survived our “CEO's” bio mass, a massive corp theft, and a few long distance moves. While there were whisperings and serious talk about leaving the Amarr Militia we stuck to our guns and saw it through. I'm very proud of what we have accomplished in the last year and look forward to the next! Thanks to all who helped make this thing a success.

I make mistakes every day. In real life and in Eve. The important thing is I also learn from them. As our large fleet activity went down and small gang stuff went up I started watching the kill board like a hawk. I've always been a numbers guy even though I hate math. I liked to look at the fits and the damage taken and all the other little things. Also, it's fun to see how much isk you cost the other guys after a fight. As time went on I started looking at that corporation efficiency number a little too much. After one of our newer members lost a few surprisingly expensive frigates I almost went off the deep end.

I've always looked at our kill board as the worlds first look into our corporation. When I want information on a pilot or their corporation I look them up on Eve Kill or Battle clinic. While this won't give you their complete biography reading the dust cover is better than nothing. So when I see “wtf” losses on our own kill board I cringe a little. I put the fleets I FC under the same scrutiny. Even more so if I'm honest. This is where the bitter vet syndrome starts to kick in.

I started taking losses to personal. I blamed myself for not getting my people fights. Everything that went wrong was my fault. Luckily I had Shalee to talk me off that ledge. For those of you that don't know her very well she is one of the kindest and sweetest persons you will ever meet. She also gives great advice and is willing to listen to me bitching about whatever. After I started getting a little burnt out she suggested I take a break from FCing and I did. When something popped up I would go for it but besides that I relaxed and did solo and small gang stuff. I forgot how much fun that could be.

After some time just blowing some stuff up without all the frustrations and stress that can come from FCing it felt good to get back into the chair. This past weekend has been a blast. It culminated in a six hour fleet yesterday that started on our home station in Egg. About twenty war targets must have thought they were being cleaver camping our undock in a mix of BC down ships. Fweddit had just put a fleet up and a few of us I.Law guys decided to join in the fun. RTSAvalanche of TMFED was already outside poking them with a stick when we undocked a few armor BC. I told my pilots to hold aggression until the Vagabond red boxed. He did and I called for the fleet to undock. Many of the war targets were spread out and out of point range but we grabbed what we could. It was a beautiful site watching almost thirty purple boxes explode from inside the station.

Since we were already in a fleet and in a killing mood we went on a nice roam. We went up metro and got a few kills then came back down once we got word that LNA was messing around in Kourm. A Caldari fleet was asking for help but they welped into the Minmatar before we were ready. We picked off a Cyclone at the sun then set up in our cruisers in a Major plex. Even though we out numbered them by about ten they had two falcons and were in BC's compared to our cruiser fleet. Setting up in a plex was to negate the Falcon issue. After a while they didn't come to fight so we set up on the Houla gate. After a small wait they came into us in mostly armor BC's. We had a nice little brawl and we held the field for once. It felt good calling a larger fight again. I really do get a feeling of satisfaction watching(mostly) focused fire and a primary dropping like it should.

I told Shalee one night, during one of my “bitter vet” conversations that leading a fleet can have dizzying high's and terrible lows. You really do feel responsible for the outcome either way. I can't tell you how good it felt, how my hands shook from adrenaline when I baited out a minmatar carrier and killed it. I also find it hard to explain why I almost fall into a depression when I make mistakes and get us slaughtered. What I do know is that I need to find a balance. I can never be a“didn't want that fleet anyways” kind of person. There has to be a happy medium. Care enough to get people the fights and kills they want while not suiciding them while not emo rage logging every time I lose a fight.

Why Do I Even Bother?

For months on end, night after night, my fleets clashed with the Minmatar in the triangle of doom (maybe death is better than doom?) Epic battles from thrasher free for alls in minor plexes to the only capital fight in US TZ for the last eight months.

After Fweddit and MT left for Caldari space I changed how and what we flew. Mostly smaller faster ships. We roamed the war zone looking for little fights, brawls, and ganks. You may be surprised in how little we found.

After a few roams all over the war zone, some nights going as much as sixty jumps without killing more than a rifter I was bored, burnt out, and hating Eve. I got this way a few times. I wanted a fucking fight! But since LNA is lazy and all they do is sit in triangle of death night after night you have to go into them. Below Im going to detail what happens when I take a fleet to kourn area.

Step 1 Form fleet, get 8-12 pilots.

Step 2 Pick ships.

Step 3 Shake your head as half the people can't fly what you need.

Step 4 Roam down to Kourm area and bait the gate camp.

Step 5 Kill a few things. 

Step 6 Either hang around waiting for LNA to forum up or leave.

Step 7 Fight LNA (Late Night Alliance) blob and die in a fire.

This is how it goes almost every time. I guess I have a reputation for running away now as Susan Black and Gritz like to point out. But what are my options? I can't get my guys a fight anywhere but around Kourm. When I do chose to fight in Kourm I'm almost always outnumbered and out shipped. The Minmatar base there. They see what we have and ship accordingly.

We can either take a fight we have little chance of winning or leave. Either option is not very appealing to me. Last night I asked for drakes and canes. I got about half the fleet into the right ships. The rest was kitchen sink. When LNA finally came to fight they had almost all BC's and matched my numbers. They also had links and we did not. I ended up welping half of my fleet and we got three kills.

Later on LNA did an amazing thing and came over to Sisiede. We had been playing around with a few neutrals and killed their Vagabond. A war target Vexor landed at the sun and we killed it but not before one of our BC's was pointed and local spiked by around ten war targets. Some pleasant local banter followed where I was told I always run away. I mentioned the numbers and reshipping issues. To that Susan Black told me to get more people.

Believe me we have been trying. We are getting new pilots. Unfortunately many just don't have the Skill Points to fly what I need to effectivly fight the Minmatar head to head. There are just not that many pilots with the skills and wallets needed that want to join Amarr.

Every night I ask how many pilots are online in both Militias. The average is about sixty Amarr and 240 Minmatar. Last night I.law had 9 pilots online. The entire Amarr Militia had 38! We had about a quarter of the entire militia online in our Corp. Add in alts and Afk people and it was probably closer to half.

So why do I bother getting fleets up? I know we won't find much on a two hour roam. I know I can't fight in Kourm area effectively. We get more kills hunting in small packs in the Dal cluster. What is the point of even trying to do an organized fleet?

To answer my own question, because I need to. Because people like fleets. Because when people apply to I.law they want to roam and fight and have fun. Because there is always that off chance we will run into another roaming gang and have a good fight.

I don't give two shits what the Minmatar think. They can tell everyone I run away. They can think we are not trying to grow our corp. They can think we are scared to fight them. They can talk shit all they want. The simple fact is when we had even numbers we dominated the Minmatar fight after fight.

To the best of my knowledge I am the only US TZ Amarr FC left that runs even semi open fleets. There is just no one left. There is no back up I can call. There are no other corps or FC's I can ask for back up. When you see me and my fleet out and about that is it. That's everything I can get. Every single person I can beg, borrow, or steal to toss in a ship.

I may be a shit FC. I may welp my fleets almost every time I try to pick a fight in Kourm these days. I may end up burning out completely and spend all my time mining. I just want to have fun. I just want the pilots who risk their ships with me almost every night to enjoy the game. That is why I bother.

Umm, Ok?

I got on Eve today after sleeping in late, talking to a friend on IM, getting sushi, and a very pleasant phone call. I relaxed and lounged and ate raw fish dipped is soy sauce and wasabi and I never once thought “fuck me we are down to one system!”. It just never crossed my mind. You see even though I FC for Amarr from time to time and I do feel a sense of pride and loyalty to my faction and the many friends I have made here I just can't be bothered to care about system sov.

Call it apathy if you want. It's just not something that I, or most of Amarr people I know care to much about. There was no huge cry when the Minmatar started taking all the systems. No Call to Arms to save them. If fact we used a few days after our cash out and the subsequent Minmatar plexing push to take a much needed break. I think many in the Minmatar Militia can sympathize with me here.

There was heated fights over Kamela then Kourm. After Amarr took Kourm most of the fights stayed there as the Minmatar pushed it to keep us out of Huola. This is the system occupancy fights that mattered. Once Fate and Moar Tears left FW we chose not to defend Kamela since we lived elsewhere. If you are keeping score at home there are 70 systems in the Amarr/Minmatar war zone and the fighting happened in two.

Many people have suggested that we should spread out. Put bases everywhere and plex for system control from them. It is a sound tactic. But why them were most the Amarr and the Minmatar in my timezone based in the same area? Because we wanted to fight not plex! I can not stress this enough. We live where we live for ease of access to fights. That applies to both the Amarr and the Minmatar.

After my sushi and pleasant phone call I looked at twitter to see Poetic felt the need to blog again. He seems very keen on getting a medal from CCP for controlling all the systems. Kudos to him and the Minmatar if they get a medal I'm sure many people will proudly wear it and many blogs will be written. What I don't understand is this.

“Last week I was of the mind that this medal (if we get one) will be a tad undervalued due to the remaining Amarr rolling over, giving up. But this week, I've come around to a different view of the situation. Fuck the Amarr. Even without Fweddit and Moar Tears and Lost Obsession, they still have more than enough pilots that they could have held one or two systems (nothing is a certainty, but they would have made it exceptionally difficult at the very least.) If the Amarr want to roll over like submissive dogs, then that is their choice. I'm sure there'll be the "we gave it to you" propaganda from the Amarr, but since they didn't prove they could keep total system dominance from us, their complaints are a moot and indefensible point.”

So by continuing to say what most of us have said for the last three months will be propaganda? Since when were we out to prove anything in the realm of system control? I just don't understand where this is coming from Poetic. Every Amarr I know has said for a very, very long time they can't be bothered to defensively plex. Why do you think Fate left? Why do you think so many Amarr moved to Egg? It's because we don't enjoy plexing! We want to use our time in Eve to do things we enjoy.

I think most have made it clear they consider the PVP aspect of Faction War to be the determining factor in winning or loosing. System control is mostly a PVE experience. Again two systems heavily fought over. If you see me or my fleets in Sathogas it won't be to help save it. It will be looking for a fight while the Minmatar try to take it.

 

Not PVE Blog

Is anyone else sick of the PVE talk? Forums, blogs, and local is filled with it. I'm all for the chest beating when you win a nice fight with internet spaceships. If LNA beats me down I may not enjoy the taunting and obligatory blogs that accompany it but I know the next time there is a good chance myself or my friends in Amarr can do the same. This is what should matter in Faction War. PVE should be a means to an end, a way to support the war effort. We are not miners, we are not incursion runners, we are combat pilots for fucks sake. Lets act like it!

After the recent loss of many of our friends I.Law took some time to relocate our dispersed assets back to our home base. We resumed formal corp fleets Tuesday night. They have been somewhat disappointing. I was expecting Minmatar everywhere. EM and their neutral support has been south of Dal for the first time in a long time. LNA members have been blogging about wanting to fight and in Poetics case being a down right jackass. In reality it has been rather slow.

For those of you that may read this but have not flown in my fleets I do have a few rules. I ask any links with nudity or vulgarities are labeled as such. I also ask that people lay off the sexual insults regarding our Minmatar friends. While I am no prude I want everyone to be able to enjoy themselves. Normal smack and is more than welcome of course and is even encouraged!

This was why I was so disappointed in Poetic's recent blog and corresponding Eve Forums post. We are all just people who fly internet spaceships. Why can't he insult people without focusing on their sex? Why was that even necessary? Was it to piss I.Law off? Did he think that would make us undock in battleships and sit on the Huola gate waiting to get our revenge? Poetic's display of sexism was truly pointless. He should be ashamed of himself.

Since resuming fleeting activity we have seen two things. The first and most annoying to me is stabbed and even cloaky MWD trick frigs. Dozens of them. Very annoying to hear your inty pilot call point then watch as your prey warps away.

The second is over shipping. Last night I showed my fleet to the Minmatar. Let them get a real nice look and then hung around waiting for a response. I always try to mix things up. Some nights I will try to hide part of my force to get that upper hand. other times, like last night I just lay all my cards on the table and see what comes. As I watched the Minmatar form up and head out things looked good. We wanted a fight, they were undocking so I could only assume they were looking to brawl also! Happy times all around.

We were in Shield BC with fast tackle. The Minmatar were bringing the same. Then came the Battleship. Scorch Mega Pulse or maybe even beams were not something I was looking to fight. We were pretty evenly matched till that point. Unfortunately its tank and damage projection was more than I wanted to deal with. Instead of getting a nice brawl with the Minmatar I took my fleet elsewhere.

I can't really fault the Minmatar for bringing what they did. Everyone wants to win. But if you do want the fight, and you know what the enemy has, and you have no way of evading their eyes, bring a fight they will take. I am known as a fairly conservative FC. I don't “leeroy” my fleets all that often. I like to know what I'm fighting and I like to know we have a chance to win. Ships are expensive.

Thank F&@#ing God

Thank god that's over with. I can't tell you how much I wanted to just cash out and stop caring about plexing. To be honest with you I never really cared about what level we were at or what percent of the war zone we controlled. What I did care about was getting my Corp mates and people who I fly with some isk in their bank accounts. In my humble opinion CCP really fucked up FW with Inferno. They tried to introduce some grand occupancy plans where system ownership mattered. What they got was a massive influx of LP farming alts and still the same two or three systems being fought over.

I fully expect the Minmatar to take back most of the systems and hit T5 very quickly. Not because the Amarr Militia can't stop them. We could put up one hell of a fight. I expect this to happen because the Amarr combat pilots have better things to do than defensively plex a system 15 jumps away in Metro. There is just no incentive to do it. The Minmatar Militia have the easiest time getting to T5. They have an entire region of space, something around 40ish systems that are almost inaccessible or so inconvenient to get to its not worth the time or effort to go plex, offensively or defensively(except for AFK plexers as no one goes to these systems and its safe).

So I have to ask, why the hell are there so many systems? Why, when the two Militia's live mostly within four jumps of each other are we forced to try and control 70 systems? If that number was brought down to 30 systems total and the map was made remotely fair I think we would see a increase in fighting over systems and PVP in general. This would also deter AFK frigate alt plexing. Concentrate the people you have in FW. Make every system mean something. Honestly, when was the last time you were in Eytjangard?

I fully expect the troll blogs to start up about how Amarr failed to get T5 and fell from T4 so quickly. Things like "Even with a null sec blog Amarr suck" will be tossed around I'm sure. That's ok. The Amarr Pilots knew what they were up against. A astounding number of afk plexers, a map that's so messed up Patton himself wouldn't try to invade, and a hole so deep and dark light can't escape. Amarr created a strategy, implemented it, and accomplished their goal of a lucrative cash out. There was a lot of talk about waiting to hit T5 or just cash out at T4. I was in favor of T4. A man can only bash his head against his computer desk so many times while orbiting a button before brain damage becomes a real possibility.

Once this is all over, and Amarr pilots take a much needed break from plexing, we can get back to what FW is supposed to be about. Running Missions on our Minmatar Alt's and getting space rich!

In Love and War

I had thought to write this before the recent flurry of blogs and forums post but Susan's most recent tirade finally got me to put pen to paper(or fingers to keys as it where). Susan Black recently wrote "While I never, ever intend or strive to single out people for personal attacks that go outside the bounds of game-play, some of what I say is taken very personally.". What Susan may fail to understand is that we invest large amounts of time into Eve and singling people out in game is almost the same as a personal attack against them. Most people don't respond too well when you write a poem implying that they are a witch.

If you were to take a little time and go though her old blog posts you would see she spends a lot of time and effort singling people and corporations out. She repetitively insulted Individuals,

"If you want something different --something less, where GMs try to make things a little less hard, and a little more fair, then I suggest you go back to playing WOW.".

"In the midst of all this cowardice, the Amarr have attemted to paint a picture to the rest of EVE of an elite, underdog Amarrian force, overpowered by the tyrranical regime of Minmatar bullies. In a post truely made up of "lies and tears" on Sovereignty Wars, Amarr pilot Almity attempts to portray his corporation as an elite small group depending on the advanced tactics of 'guerrilla' warfare."

Corporations,

"This was seen this weekend when the Amarr (specifically Smurfsbrigade) abandoned their ships in a station and ran home in pods ",

"Some of the arguments they gave were uncannily close to what I’ve heard I.LAW members say in the past"

"As far as his Fwedditer Interviewees go, someone's been drinking the Amarrian Bitter-Vet Kool Aid. I'm kinda disappointed."

"Even though many considered this a surrender by Wolfsbrigade"

And the entire Amarr Militia,

"Amarrian ‘vet’s’ are whining about “why I hate Faction War”

"Honestly, I used to feel kind of embarrassed by the Amarr, and the picture of incompetence they were painting to the rest of the EVE community."

"The Last few months have been very eye opening, as Amarr Militia veterens who were once thought to be hardened warriors have been reduced to the ranks of whining, sniveling juveniles. In an uprecedented show of tears--rivaling even those of the ongoing Hulkageddon--the Amarr have literally bathed the streets of their abandoned home systems with a salty flood of incompetence."


She continues on by saying "I sometimes wonder if these people—these Amarr, (I realize that often a very few tend to loudly contribute to the overall perception of their Faction) will ever realize that their personal attacks, their local spamming and threats have little effect. I wonder when people will realize that entire blog posts ranting about how I am a liar and should ‘suck it’ just makes the writer thereof look petty and immature, and doesn’t really inspire remorse on my part, or even much of a thought beyond what I write here.".

If someone looks petty and immature it is you Ms. Back. Almost every blog or forum post is in response to a specific attack from you. People have every right, and will exercise that right, to respond to the vile and insulting things you say.  I for one will not turn another cheek when you insult my friends as you so frequently do. I will blog and post and rebut what you say. This is how things are done.

I do find it funny how any response to Susan is labeled as "crying", when any Amarr pilot posts on the forums they are "cry babies". Susan spends the vast majority of her time blogging about how the Amarr suck. Should she be surprised when she get a negative response to that?

"I grow incessantly frustrated and disgusted with the growing argumentum ad hominem stance of people like Shalee Lianne, and others"

Shalee's recent blog post was in defense of her friends and her Militia. She did not say, or call Susan anything that Susan did not say first. Shalee and her blog were attacked by Hans(CSM) for doing so. When did it become ok to lob insults but not to rebut them? Does Susan expect a free pass? Should the entire Amarr FW community let her spout her hate speech and toss insults at anyone who dares to speak up? Fuck no. It infuriates me that Susan is playing some sort of victim here. Being the aggressor the vast majority of the time she should expect a healthy dose hate filled back lash.

"Contrary to what anyone in Faction War might tell you, it’s not just about getting good fights. There are extreme elements of camaraderie and loyalty that you will not find anywhere else in this game."

Susan and I agree on this point. While I do enjoy the good fights I'm here in FW because of the friends I've made. I don't like it when my friends are insulted and demeaned. I can only assume Susan Black feels the same way. I hope Shalee will use her extremely popular blog to keep countering Susan Black's hate filled rants. She has every right to post op-ed's in defense of her friends and Amarr, it is her blog after all(looking at you Hans).

Almity