On Tuesday night we found a wormhole to Etherium Reach and went on a little roaming gang. I joined up late and sped along in a Sabre to catch up. This was possibly a bad call. I don’t have a good history with interdictors.

We found a fight pretty quickly. There were a handful of battlecruisers hanging out on the station undock in LXQT-2. We trickled in our gang to get them to engage and once they were off the station and aggressed the call was given for the rest of the gang to jump in and warm. Being a bit of a killmail whore at times I leapt into action and began one gunning some of the Hurricanes. This maybe wasn’t the wisest idea and I started taking fire. Shit. Time to burn away. I aligned out and hit the MWD and cleverly dropped my transversal. 425mm AutoCannons hurt, even at range, and I was pretty quickly reduced to a wreck having contributed nothing to the gang. Thankfully we won the fight comfortably despite my incompetence.

The really annoying thing is that I know what I’m supposed to be doing in interdictors. Its just that when the red mist rises I just want to dive in and get involved. Chatting it over in our corporation channel later Aditia came up with a gem of a quote:

[02:17:52] Aditia Holdem > i usually tell my dictors that their primary job is not to live

I’m not sure that’s entirely what he meant. Anyway, the wormhole was still open so I podded myself home and went to get something that I actually know how to fly. With my Taranis at the ready I rejoined the gang and we had a moderately uneventful roam through Insmother where we got a few kills but no real fights. We called it a day and made our way back to the wormhole but I decided to log off in LXQ2-T instead of heading home with the rest.

Yesterday morning I logged in to LXQ2-T to see local at a couple of hundred and the iHub coming out of reinforced in about six hours. I had a poke around and found that all of the gates were camped and large bubbles had just been erected. My plan to head to Uemon and dock up in Empire had to be shelved and instead I used the map to find an interesting looking system and scouted my out gate. There were a handful of battlecruisers and a Stiletto on the gate. Ah what the hell. I warped to the gate and predictably got caught by the bubble. A burst of overheated microwarp drive got me out to a safe distance and I slowed down to see if the Stiletto was following. He was and once he was about 70km from his friends I turned round and charged. My scrambler landed and I launched my Hobgoblins and began pounding him with Null. I had Warrior II drones on me but they didn’t seem to be doing me much harm. It seemed to take an age to melt through the Stiletto’s medium shield extender but once it was down things looked good. By now I was taking damage from one of the Drakes and, thinking my job was done, I aligned out and pulled drones. Pulling drones might have been a mistake. I was hammering warp when the Stiletto exploded but unfortunately a fraction of a second later I blew up too before I could enter warp. I got my pod out but with the gates bubbled there didn’t seem to be any way to get out safely. I decided that the best bet was to log off and let the fight for the iHub unfold.

About six hours later I logged back in and found that the station fight still hadn’t occurred. Unfortunately I needed to get back to 4C-B7X to take part in an alliance operation. I warped my pod to a bookmark on the Paala gate and saw that it was still surrounded by bubbles and camped. There were about 800 in system and a fight was obviously brewing. Upon closer inspection of the gate I noticed that it wasn’t entirely covered in bubbles and I warped to a second bookmark to get a closer view. Imagine my surprise when I saw that there was a clear path through. I warped my pod to the gate and jumped to the safety of low security space. Once safely docked in Uemon I clone jumped back to Outer Ring.

Last night was the big fight for the infrastructure hub in 9R4-EJ and we formed up early in remote repair battleships with logistics support. As usual I grabbed my trusty Guardian and got ready. One of my corpmates was short of a battleship so I lent him my Tempest for the evening (making sure I put him on my watchlist). Once we were all formed up we moved down to 9R4-EJ and, after destroying an onlining cynojammer, got safe in our staging POS. Reports came in of a couple of 200+ strong fleets forming to defend the system. We had about 100 in ours and another hundred Ev0ke came to support us.

Eventually local began to climb as the Fountain and IT fleets jumped into system. We moved to the E-BWUU to intercept but our intel reports were mistaken and the hostiles were being bridged to a titan. The order was given to align to the cynosaural beacon while our FC prepared a warp in. Suddenly I was in warp. What. The. Fuck. It turned out that someone who had been keying up on TeamSpeak all evening had warped either my squad or wing straight into the hostile gang. It could have been a mistake but with the unusual TeamSpeak behaviour the odds are that it was a spy. I landed in a bubble and before I could do anything about it I was locked down and destroyed before I could warp out or get within range of our main gang. Once again I was able to get my pod out safely and after a lot of lag I jumped it out of system and hit autopilot home. Its fair to say I was pretty bitter to dying in such a crappy way. I’d missed out on the whole what was going to be an epic fight and that always sucks. To make matters even more frustrating for me the Tempest that I had lent out was also caught in the same warp and died just before my Guardian. Two ships down for no fight. I took myself off to the pub for a drink while everyone else enjoyed a pretty even fight that ended with the Fountain coalition saving their iHub and destroying our TCUs.

Amazingly my pod was safely in 4C-B7X when I came back a couple of hours later despite autopiloting through nullsec and then sitting unattended on a gate. It was my second piece of pod ninjaing of the night.

I got back just in time to join a sniper HAC roam in my Scimitar. Intel reported carriers repairing the iHub in 9R4-EJ. The HAC gang burnt at full speed but we hotdropped them with motherships before the gang could arrive. Not to be left out of the action we arranged a nice trap for an Archon using a sling bubble on the station.

There were a couple of gangs roaming around and we were able to crash a party involving a Goon destroyer gang and Fountain fleet. Later on we ran into a superior WIdot sniper gang and that didn’t end so well for us.

Despite the disappointment of dying so early in the 9R4-EJ fight I still managed to have a good day overall so I can’t really complain. Still, damn spies!

In other news I’ve been asked to join in some roundtable discussions for the Lost In Eve podcast. More on that when I have details.

A couple of days ago NCdot erected SBUs in 9R4-EJ and put the station and iHub into reinforced mode. The aim was pretty simple, we wanted to get a fight out of the Fountain residents. Last night we had a CTA and an armour HAC gang formed in 4C-B7X. I chose to fly a Guardian as usual. At the same time Ev0ke were forming up a remote repair battleship fleet to assit us. Intel came that the Fountain residents had a HAC fleet and a snipe battleship fleet. Both sides were fielding heavy logistics support.

When the fleet was ready we titan bridged to Fountain and formed up on the 9R4-EJ gate in E-BWUU. Ev0ke moved to Y-1W01 in an attempt to split the Fountain forces and reduce the lag for all concerned. This plan was a success and both fleets jumped in to be greeted by their equivalent opponents. On our gate the Fountain HAC gang immediately focussed on our Guardians and we lost a couple before we could get our repair chain up and running reliably. Our FC chose to focus on the hostile DPS ships instead and primaries were called as our fleet began to punch through their logistics. Once our Guardians were back on the in gate we had no real problem keeping up with the hostile damage and the only ships we lost were due to them being too far from the gate to deagress and jump out. The Fountain gang had brought a large number of ECM ships and we were having trouble with jams but overheating our ECCMs seemed to give us the upper hand. We were somewhat surprised that it took so long for them to primary SuperTwinky’s Legion but when they eventually did we were able to keep him up long enough for him to deagress and jump out with plenty of armour to spare. A couple of other T3s took damage but we were able to keep them alive.

With the battle turning in our favour the snipe battleship gang warped onto our grid shortly followed by Ev0ke who landed their close range gang right on top of them. At this point the Fountain HAC gang began to withdraw and we were able to focus on slaughtering their battleship fleet. Before too long they also fled the field and the whole Fountain gang was docked up in station. The loot field was amazing. Yellow wrecks were everywhere with barely a dozen white ones and we gorged ourselves on the bounty. Usually I’m terrible at looting but this time I managed to fill my Guardian with T2 mods. For a while we tried to camp them into the station but they weren’t undocking so we moved to the iHub and began to shoot that. Some bomber came in and had a go at us one at a time but there was no way they were going to get anything. There was a short break out that we chased a couple of jumps before returning to the iHub. With the system clear we lit a cyno to jump in motherships who made the job far easier.

Thanks to the Fountain residents for putting up an excellent fight. They certainly kept us logistics pilots busy during the early part of the fight although being jammed is never fun. The final killboard tally shows 262 kills for just 20 losses (NCdot and Ev0ke combined).

Earlier in the evening we took out a HAC gang that didn’t get any good fights but found a Thanatos in an anomaly. All in all an excellent day to be an NCdot pilot and there is plenty of fun and games ahead. The 9R4-EJ station comes out of reinforced today but we don’t expect to be able to put it in for a second cycle. We’re pretty sure that IT will respond with more than a solitary bomber wing this time around. Speaking of IT, they have withdrawn from Catch and the rumour is that they are preparing to come and defend their Syndicate assets from Ev0ke who have been reinforcing Technetium moons. No I’m starting to see the point in basing from Outer Ring rather than Fountain core.

After eight months in Against All Authorities it is time for a change again. I’m not sure if its the state of the game, a general lack of direction, or too long without a threat to its existence but life in -A- has become stale. In my time in the alliance my main focus has always been my corporation. I joined DKOD because I had friends there and because their regular small gang PvP really suited me. When the corporation was wound down I opted not to follow everyone into Havoc but instead moved to Rionnag Alba, a very PvP focussed corporation. Since moving here I have been very happy and we have lots of good FCs, lots of healthy debate over fits and tactics, and most of all lots of participation. At a meeting a few weeks ago we all agreed that we no longer wanted to be part of -A- and the decision was made to leave. Now all we need is a new home…

Rionnag Alba has been part of all of three iterations of Triumvirate, the alliance that terrorises the Northern Coalition. This time we had no intention of reforming the alliance but many of the corporations we have flown with and fought alongside in the past are in Pure Blind and having great fun. Joining them was a logical conclusion. Standings were set and the order was given to evacuate from Catch. Once all my ships were safely in high security space I had a good look at them and decided that it was time to slim down and focus only on the ships that I fly. Except for my faction frigates I sold off most of my possessions and moved the half dozen ships I had settled on to our staging system. Because I don’t fly capital ships I had to rely on a corp mate to jump them out for me but I now have a full hangar in X-7OMU and I am ready to join in the hell raising.

Life up here is pretty full. Back in Catch there were maybe two of three gangs a day at weekends but here, even in the week time, there seems to always be a gang forming up and going out to look for trouble. This is good because living deep in hostile territory does not make for good carebearing during quiet times. Thankfully I’ve built up a decent stock of ISK and have Grr’k making more for me to keep me in ships. One thing that I did overlook was the need for a battleship. Because I am used to flying in logistics ships I brought a Guardian along for remote rep gangs. However, because we fly with lots of carrier support there is little use for logistics ships so my Guardian is pretty useless. Time to ship up that Tempest I was trying to sell, then.

The only allied ops that I have participated in so far have been POS shoots with no kills to speak of so aren’t worth writing about. We did go out on a fast HAC roam last night which resulted in a good fight despite me losing my Vagabond fairly early in proceedings. At least I learnt a couple of things and have adjusted my Vagabond fit for more tank as opposed to the maneuverability that I had opted for previously. Unfortunately I had to head to bed reasonably early so I missed out on this fantastic piece of hotdropping when an NC fleet tried to attack one of our towers.

In between fleets there is still plenty to do. I am completely new to this area so I am spending my free time in my Dramiel exploring the area and making bookmarks. While this can be fairly boring and repetetive work it does often stir up the locals and I had an adrenaline filled scuffle with a Muninn that resulting in me running away with my tail between my legs. It turns out that 180 mm autocannons on a ship with tracking bonuses are very, very evil when you’re in a frigate, even one as fast as this.

At the time of writing we are still officially in -A- but that should change within the next 24 hours. I am definitely glad that I tried out alliance life but I am sure it is not something I will rush back to. Thanks to all of the leadership and FCs and everyone I flew with in my time there. Here’s to an exciting future, though. Let’s hope its full of explosions and that not too many of them are mine!

The thing I’ve been enjoying most in Eve lately is flying Scimitars. Despite the fact that you don’t get to be on any of the killmails there is a lot of satisfaction to be had flying logistics ships. If nothing else your FC and gang mates will be extremely grateful to you for turning up.

So, what makes logistics so much fun to fly? Well, just like flying interceptors, there is a lot going on when you’re in a Scimitar. Your primary job is obviously to keep your gang mates alive but in order to do this you need to stay alive yourself. During the heat of battle you have keep up with broadcasts for repairs, maintain your position whilst avoiding tacklers, and follow what’s going on so that you can keep up with the fleet.

For those that don’t know anything about flying logistics there are two logistics cruisers that particular stand out. The Scimitar is a shield repairer that follows the Minmatar design philosophy. It is great for skirmishing where speed and positioning are important and can keep up with fast nano gangs. On the other hand the Guardian follows the Amarrian school and is best fitted for large tank and huge repair potential. It is not very fast and relies upon teamwork to repair the incoming damage.

[Scimitar, Scimitar (MWD)]

Large S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Large S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Large S95a Partial Shield Transporter
Small Remote Armor Repair System I

Large Shield Extender II
Invulnerability Field II
Invulnerability Field II
Conjunctive Ladar ECCM Scanning Array I
10MN MicroWarpdrive II

Capacitor Power Relay II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Capacitor Power Relay II
Reactor Control Unit II

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I

Light Shield Maintenance Bot I x4
Light Armor Maintenance Bot I x5

The key thing about the Scimitar is that it is fast (2 km/s) and manoeuvrable. It can keep up with fast nano gangs and by flying it like a Vagabond it can use its speed and signature to stay alive. Once a gang’s tacklers have been removed it can operate with relative impunity and leave the field when it is trouble. The biggest weakness of the Scimitar is, like all Minmatar ships, its capacitor. With the MWD active there is enough capacitor for 56s of repair but with the MWD off the ship is cap stable. Scimitars are mostly seen with nano HAC, sniper HAC, and shield battlecruiser gangs.

[Guardian, Guardian]

Large ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
Large ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
Large ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
Large ‘Solace’ I Remote Bulwark Reconstruction
Large ‘Regard’ I Power Projector
Large ‘Regard’ I Power Projector

Y-S8 Hydrocarbon I Afterburners
Conjunctive Radar ECCM Scanning Array I

Reactor Control Unit II
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
N-Type Thermic Hardener I

Medium Ancillary Current Router I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Light Armor Maintenance Bot I x5

The Guardian is a very different beast to the Scimitar. It is slow and heavy but has the potential for an enormous tank. Because of its lack of speed it is best used fighting on gates and stations. In a running battle it is easy to outpace the Guardian and leave it unable to repair its gang mates. The Guardian relies on teamwork and needs a capacitor buddy in order to maintain its cap stability. Working in teams Guardians can be very effective and groups like Pandemic Legion and Rooks and Kings use them to great effect. Because it uses an afterburner the Guardian has a very low signature radius and when used in armour HAC gangs combined with a Loki and Legion providing gang bonuses they can provide an absolutely beastly tank.

Like many of the T2 cruisers in Eve, logistics ships on really shine when you have trained Logistics V. There is no reason that you can’t be effective with lower skill levels (dropping the ECCM for a Cap Recharger II for example) but if it is something that you enjoy doing I really recommend maximising your skills.

In this post I haven’t really mentioned the Oneiros (Gallente armour repairer) or Basilisk (Caldari shield repairer). Like the Scimitar the Oneiros is best used in skirmishing armour gangs but due to the speed of armour tankers and the current preference for afterburning HACs it is not seen very often. Cry Havoc use them effectively in small gangs, though. The Basilisk is the shield version of the Guardian. Because most shield tanking gangs rely on speed and range it is not often seen in combat although We Form Voltron use them effectively. The Basilisk is often used to help pump the shields of POSes and stations after they have been sieged.

If you want to try something different in a fight I highly recommend flying logistics. Sure, you don’t get the killmails but when you get a good fight you get a huge adrenaline rush as you try and keep up with all the repair requests coming at you. You are also the first people thanked at the end of a successful battle and you can really feel that the fight would probably not have been won without you.