Swinging Lucifer's Hammer

The following work of fiction is my entry into Mord Fiddle's Lives in Low Sec writing contest. It is based on several true stories.


The wrench slipped from his gloved hand and tumbled, end over end, down into the bowels of the Station dock. He sighed, and pulled another one from the tool-belt laced around his hips. Fourteen hours straight on the Secondary Plasma Coil Relays and still no blue light on the monitor. Once again, he cursed Muppets and the exodus from Osti that brought them to Lisbo.  He banged the wrench into the side armor plate and watched the little flecks of Minmatar rust sparkle in the docking lights. A touch of sweat stung his left eye and he couldn't scratch it.


"Are you still pissed about Itsme and that blue freighter?"  His wife's voice crackled in his CommLink and he reflexively glanced up into the gloom, he could barely make out the outline of the Archon above him.  "I was never 'pissed' and you know it," he growled back.  "Uh huh," She said and laughed, "Tell everyone else you planned it, but don't lie to me."


He sat in the Manticore cloaked off the hi-sec Gate, watching.  They had talked about this, planned it - as much as anything was planned with Itsme - and now it was only a matter of things playing out.  He watched the collected gate campers buzzing around the Gate. If he could spit, he would've. But the spit might pierce the hull of the stealth bomber. Fresh out of Syndicate and Curse, the Corporation needed an "incident" to spark things. This would be it. The freighter popped into local, blue as the balls on the Caldari Citadel... the freighter was already aligning. And then, like fucking Muppets, they took the bait. Blue on blue aggression. They both protested in channels. And Rixx watched two of his cargo'd ships explode. A small price to pay for being famous. He even figured he could get the ships back, they were clearly still viable on his scanner.


Blue light on monitor three. Just a few more tweaks and he could get out of the monkey suit. The CorpLink buzzed in his ear, "This is me."  He held onto the wrench tightly, it might be the last one in his belt.  "Carrier tackled, you coming or not!?", it was Itsme of course.  He sighed and smiled all at the same time, "Where are you?"  "Fleet is up, undock and warp to me, I can't hold him forever in this thing!", he sounded slightly less mad than usual.  "On my way", he clicked out, already jetting back to the gantry and his Pod. "Was that Itsme?", Ana asked in his ear.  "Fire up the Archon baby and get into fleet, he's got another one."  He wasn't sweating now as he watched the Station crew pulling his Megathron into position.


Like a well-oiled machine the pieces fell into place almost immediately. Well practiced and maintained, the 'machine' was the Corp and the pilots that had joined since he started it back up again. Rogues, scoundrels, dregs, pirates, whatever the bastards in Empire decided to call them, each one was a proud, honorable in their own way, independent minded fighter. Wrangling them all into a cohesive machine, well that was his job. And in typical Lucifer's Hammer fashion, well, they were all drunk.


His mind felt the Megathron power up and start swinging into alignment, already the power of the Battleship coursed thru his veins. His muscles flexed and the beast responded. "The rest of the Corp is sleeping one off.", he said to Itsme as he waited to align. "No worries, Invicta is here with me."  His "eyes" told him Jakkul was undocking next to him in his Baddon. "Well Jak's here and we're in warp."


He didn't trust Invicta as far as he could throw them. Itsme might be insane, but the man knew everyone. He could put a gang together faster than a Dramiel could get point, so it didn't surprise Rixx that he already had one on the Thanatos. They'd been killing Carriers at a steady pace since arriving in Lisbo, Itsme had the nose for it, and so far his nose hadn't let them down.


"You want me undocked?", his wife asked on their private channel. "No. Keep our retirement fund parked for the time being.", he tried to say it as nicely as the Megathron would let him. But flying Gal ships always put him on edge. "I know the drill", she said wistfully, "you hate it when I fight."  "That's not it and you know it... hold on."


The fight had drifted since he entered warp and the Mega landed far from the desperate hulk of the Thanny. He only had one choice, so he pointed the beast towards the Carrier and unleashed some EC Drones in its direction. Hopefully he'd get close enough before the damn thing... exploded.  Oh well, one less Spiritus Draconis carrier in system.


The Auto-Cannons thrummed under him, above him, all around him. The bastards were coming one by one into their gang. Two Drakes were already getting hammered and then the Claymore arrived.  Immediately it started turning and aligning out, as if it had mistakenly landed in a social party for which it hadn't been invited. Itsme, Mtitus, Angor, Atro, Angor, Jushin and Dismo worked their magic like always and pinned the Claymore down. Nothing was getting away today. Rixx actually laughed as his projectiles tore thru the ships in front of them. He watched his friends, the Canes, Pests, and Ruptures firing into the night and he felt it. That thing he rarely felt in Null. This wasn't combat for God, or for ownership, or industrial might, or lining the pockets of the already rich, this was personal. These were his men, his friends, wronged by one Empire or another, tossed aside, stomped on, pummeled and forgotten. And as the Empire's Militia paid for their own arrogance with one ship after another he laughed like he had once long ago. It wasn't a happy laugh, it was madness.


The guns on the Megathron hadn't even been fired when the call came over Comms. "Rixx, you still around?", it was Jak. "I'm docked, but what'cha need?"  "Remember that Rattlesnake that was with the Carrier and ran off? I've got him on scan."


The Tempest was already sliding into position and he just knew it would... "I took the liberty of fitting a Disruptor... so no worries.", as usual his wife had taken care of things just as he was thinking them. "I still think you can read my mind", he replied as his Pod entered the ship. It unfolded on the bridge and he blinked, "God knows what is going on in there!" She said laughing.


God knows. 


He ran into the Parlor, out of breath, his heart pounding in his chest. Even in the gloom he knew something wasn't right. His Father's shape against the writhing shadows of the chair, slumped, in his mind he already formed the heart-attack... but reality wasn't kind this day. He threw up his stomach, he felt ashamed, but it wasn't something he could control. His eyes betrayed him and he slipped on the insides of his Father. His ears betrayed him next, his Mother's screams pierced the night. He skidded across the room and ripped open the forbidden cabinet, his little boy hands grasping at the large, heavy, weighted blackness of the Brommel 820 his Father once used to kill a thundering Teradon. The mounted beast loomed above him as he dashed upstairs. His imagination wouldn't stop but he couldn't think. All he saw was red against the flashes of lightning thru the open windows. Six of them, Gal every single one. One of them was on top, moving, his Mother was strangely silent. He braced himself against the walnut wall and unleashed his madness. He killed every living thing in that room that night. The fire burned out his eye and ripped open his face. He went on living, but he was dead on the inside.


He settled into the couch and mindlessly watched the scrolling news. She sat down behind him and rubbed his shoulders. They didn't talk. They didn't need to. 


After awhile he leaned back into her softness and barely above a whisper he said, "Fuck God"  She kissed his shoulder and he could feel her smile on his skin, "Who needs him."  The thought that they shared at that moment went unspoken, but they both knew what the other one was thinking. They always did.

Gang Tactics: Part Three - Travel

Gang Tactics is a new on-going series in which we explore the fine art of death dealing in small gang warfare.  This series is not intended as a technical exploration, but as more of a guide to the fundamental basics involved in small gang warfare in New Eden. And hopefully, one that is enjoyable and educational.

Part One: The Basics

Part Two: DPS

Now that we've covered the basics of small gang formation and the various types of damage your small gang should be doing, it is time to head out of your home system and find some good fights. Which is the whole purpose of getting your friends together in space in the first place.

For the sake of the post let us give you some ships. You have a Taranis, 2 Hurricanes, a Drake, and that other ship that always shows up. ( It doesn't matter what it is, someone always brings it. For the sake of argument let's call it a Caracal.) This is a good small gang, five ships ready to rumble. You have the bases covered, tackle with the Ranis ( not the fastest tackle, but a strong choice for survivability ), solid DPS with 2 Arty fit Canes and the Drake.  Even the Caracal doesn't break our formation rules, since he'll be firing from the same range bubble as the other three. The Caracal also helps us get good fights. Cause it is excellent bait.

In this set-up we don't have a typical tipping ship, a Falcon, or Curse, or something else that will tip the battle in our favor. Which is ok, with the Drake along, it will fill that role for us. Remember, the tipping ship doesn't always have to be the usual, usual. In fact, this set-up will get you more good fights than bringing along a Falcon or Curse will anyway. If you happen to be in Null space a good tipping ship is the Sabre, for example.

Speaking of Null space for a moment. In this series so far I've been talking about space as a generic all-encompassing entity. I'm going to continue doing that for awhile. While we are learning the basics, the type of space is less important than how you think. 

So basic gang protocol. Send your Ranis pilot ahead of the main gang. Tackle is also going to serve as Scout until contact with potential targets is obtained. Your gang will be traveling in three pieces from system to system. The first piece is the Scout/Tackle, who will be staying one jump ahead of you. The second piece is the DPS, the Canes/Drake, which will travel together. The last piece is the Caracal, which you will have one (ish) jump behind you as a following Scout.  Why? If you do get into a fight, the Caracal should be the last ship on the field. So, in the meantime, he should be watching your flank. Enemies come from behind just as often as they come from in front. And if someone is following you, it would be nice to know about it.

Each pilot in this small gang needs to understand their role and what is expected of them. The Scout will be reporting conditions in the system he jumps into, based on that information the DPS will be deciding the course of action they will be following. Small gang movement is a constantly evolving and fluid organism, the smarter each piece is, the more likely you will achieve Op Success. And bring everyone home alive.

The Ranis pilot reports one potential target in system. The D-Scan reveals nothing from the Gate and the Scout warps off to a point further towards the center of the system. In warp he detects a Cane. At this point we can assume several things, the Cane is in a belt ratting, the Cane is on a Station, the Cane is running a Plex/Mission, or the Cane is in a POS. But he is alone in system, so potentially he could also be bait. A good Scout would already have linked the pilot's name in fleet chat. Why? The targets Show Info can tell you a lot about him, how old is he? What Corp/Alliance does he belong to? Is he negative or positive standing? Is he in a NPC Corp? All of these factors add up to Intelligence about your enemy, and even while your Scout is still in warp, you are learning things about him.

This guy is about seven month old and in a three person Corp. He is also, believe it or not, actually ratting in a belt. Your DPS is at zero on the other side of the Gate, you already told your Caracal pilot to get on the Gate. The Ranis is now Tackle and already in warp to the belt. Sure enough, he lands, gets point and starts holding. The DPS jumps and warps to the Tackle at their point range. The Ranis pilot is already screaming about entering structure when the boys land and start hammering the Cane. The Ranis warps off if he can. The Caracal pilot notices that local has spiked by two. As the enemy Cane explodes, a Tempest and a Curse land amid your gang...

Eve is cool huh?  You might think the arrival of his buddies is bad news, but it isn't. In that case you'd still win the fight. You might lose one of the Canes and maybe the Caracal, but you could take the Tempest and the Curse. How? Well you are smart remember? The poor Cane ratting alone was dead the moment the Ranis got point on him, as a smart FC you knew this. So while you were killing him you already had your gang aligning to the Sun. Smart man. So now your options are run away or stand and fight. The Curse/Pest won't get point fast enough, so you could run. But you shouldn't because the enemy made a huge mistake that plays right into your hands. They landed right on top of you when they warped in to save their buddy. Already the Pest is at a disadvantage, because he is well inside his damage bubble with those big guns. The Curse is tough, but fortunately you have three non-Amarr DPS ships with you. Get points on both ships, primary the Curse and then torture the poor Pest until he explodes. If the Ranis can come back, have him focus on killing their drones. (If he was smart and has a Web fitted.)

That is probably the most straight-forward scenario of small gang fighting that you could ask for in Eve. It is always pretty rare. Things are rarely that simple. There are usually multiple people around, ships behind you, ships coming and going, and the Cane was more than likely a Tengu running a mission. And you didn't bring a Prober, did you?  

In the next post we will learn more about getting good fights, baiting, probing, and staying away from blobs. We'll also start adding more complications, and eventually get to the point where our small gang can kill enemy fleets that actually out-number ours. Cool huh?

Any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Part Four: Track & Kill

Gang Tactics: Part Two - DPS

Gang Tactics is a new on-going series in which we explore the fine art of death dealing in small gang warfare.  This series is not intended as a technical exploration, but as more of a guide to the fundamental basics involved in small gang warfare in New Eden. And hopefully, one that is enjoyable and educational.


Part One: The Basics


Now that we've covered the basics of putting three or four ships together from a structure standpoint, it is time to learn the fundamental issues you'll face from a DPS standpoint.  I must warn you up-front, I have never used EFT or any other fitting software. I fit my ships based on two things, 1) Real Combat Experience, and 2) The opinions of those I trust with Real Combat Experience. So when I talk about DPS, I might be talking about it in a way that you are not familiar with. Since it has absolutely nothing to do with Maths.


There are millions of variables involved with any three ships in Eve, variables that only get exponentially more complicated with each additional ship, so trying to keep track of the Maths involved is a fools errand. Any three ships involve not only the skill levels, implants, bonuses and personal skill of the players flying them, but also the ammo types, drones, ranges, distances, deployment of the enemy, transversal... ok, already my head is starting to hurt.


Gang Warfare is about having fun and making things explode, so let's get on with it.  First thing first, in a small gang situation it is important that your ships are fit to their bonuses, in order to maximize their effectiveness, but also to give you some confidence sending them into battle. It does no good to send that Drake thru the Gate to bait when the idiot flying it has armor fit his Drake. That ship go boom. So for goodness sake, leave the tricky fits to solo or large fleet battles, and stick to the strength of the ship bonuses for small gang work. ( For example: The Drake gets a bonus to Kinetic damage, +5% per level. That is a significant damage bonus, so undock with kinetic missiles in the launchers!! Have others ready in the cargo, but load up on the bonus. Unlike Amarr, it takes time to switch, so always, always, always start with your strength.)


So first rule of Derp is: Fit to Bonuses.


The next most important small gang consideration is range. All damage is inflicted from within a certain range bubble.  It is critical that the heart of your DPS is being delivered from the same range bubble. Let's say you have a tackle Frigate, 2 Canes and a Rupture in your gang. Once you undock and start forming up you find out one of the Canes is AC fit and the other is Arty fit.  Not only that, but the Ruppie has Blasters!  Sheesh, you're doomed dood. Fix that right away, get two AC or two Arty fit Canes at the very least. Then slap the guy that put blasters on his Ruppie, but bring him along for the lols. (Kidding, don't bring him, make him go put ACs or Arties on that thing. Or bring something else.)


Mixing damage ranges is not a good idea. Small gangs work best when they are coordinated, traveling together, aligning together, attacking together and generally delivering maximum damage from the same general location. (More on this in a future post in the series.)


So second rule of Derp is: Shoot from the same range (ish).


Every ship in Eve has a hole and your job is to fill that hole as fast as possible with Death. The faster you fill the hole the faster the enemy 'splodes. The cool part is there are really only TWO holes you need to worry about - Shield and Armor. So right away the complication is starting to level out. We can all handle two things to remember right?  Of course we can.


The shield hole is EM. And the Armor hole is typically explosive. ( This varies tremendously, especially since most people tend to patch their natural resist hole. But we'll deal with that issue in a future post in the series.) In other words, I want to shoot bullets that do EM damage at ships that rely on Shields for defense.  It is amazing just how fast their tank will melt when you are shooting the proper type of damage at them. And killing the enemy quickly is critical for your success, you are not a huge fleet, you are vulnerable small gang fighters!


Third rule of Derps: Fire the right damage type!


And really, that is all there is to it. The rest is all common sense, based on those three rules. Fit to the strength of your ship, fire from common distance and fire the right type of damage against the enemy. Everything else is a bonus, neuts, target painters, sensor boosters or dampeners, drones, and anything else that you can bring to bear on the enemy. The key is balance weighted heavily to your gang strengths.


So now that we have you formed up, undocked, and carrying the right type of weapons, next time we'll cover tactics involved in picking a fight and living to tell the tale.


Remember, Evd is a complicated game that involves endless variation. There are tons of exhaustive and horribly detailed guides available for further reading. Like this one on the various types of tanks and resistances. But there are plenty of other ones.


Part Three: Travel
Part Four: Track & Kill

Blog Banter 30: Stalemate Unleashed

"With the Winter expansion possibly being named 'Crucible', it certainly is a melting pot of refinements and tweaks aimed at making the EVE experience smoother and more wholesome. If the developers suddenly found themselves some spare resources and approached you for an additional feature to include before release, what single concept would you pitch them and how would you implement it?


For bonus points, the one thing lacking from this "patchwork" of iterations is a cohesive storyline to package "The Crucible" together. How could this expansion be marketed to potential new customers?"

The news from Empire was not good. The buzz was everywhere in station, the Cantina, the Lounge, the Corporate Work-rooms, even the mechanics were buzzing about it. Rixx arrived back in quarters after his morning routine and switched on the news, flipping thru the various Empirical propaganda machines until a cohesive picture finally emerged. And there he was, the bastard leader of CONCORD, running his pie hole in the comfort of the Amarrian home worlds. The stalemate is over.

For years the Empires were content to play the "game", to bump heads over border territories, to rely on militia forces to push and pull. But the rumors lately, well, it seemed a new generation of middle-managers had become the next generation of higher level executives unwilling to continue playing the same old-same old.  And while it had started with the Amarrians, as it so often did, the other Empires were forced to match their moves step by step. Escalation meets escalation and new lines are drawn.

Rixx laughed as he dried his hair. He knew what it all meant... bullshit. But his eyebrow raised when he heard about the new ships of the line. New ships?  And that wasn't all, the wiener from CONCORD was talking about system wide changes to basic configurations.  Rixx buzzed his wife and opened the Corp channel, just to make sure the rest of the Tuskers were watching.  Of course they were, he expected half the known... and changes to Super Capital production runs?  Ok then, maybe the entire universe was watching.

In the Corp Lounge later that morning the general consensus was extremely positive. The system wide changes would take some getting used to, but generally it meant little to the pirates. The introduction of a new ship class stirred the pot in just the right ways and new specs on existing ships meant more power in their hands. More options, more loot, more beer. Everyone wondered when CONCORD would stop paying out on ships that they destroyed, the whole idea being ludicrous to common sense anyway, so those Empire changes meant little if anything. Empire incursions were mostly for fun and extra bling.

So why was the mood somewhat... what exactly? Grumpy? Was that it? It was hard to pinpoint, but the news that started the morning as 'not good' wasn't getting that much better. Because it didn't make any sense, why now?  The status quo, while certainly stupid and meaningless, had served everyone for years. The Empire coffers were full, Null Sec was thriving - if anything it was thriving... so that was it then?  This wasn't about centuries old Amarr Gal Cal Minnie bullshit, this was about the border lands. This was a thinly disguised attempt to neuter any possible menace from the hinterlands.  They just cut the balls off that horse of the apocalypse so the fat-cats in Jita could sleep easier.

Now it started to make sense. But where was the expected counter?  The tightening of Empire nut crackers and null sec boundaries only had one effective counter... the rogues. The shackles need to come off the pit bull. Rixx scrolled through the incoming transmissions but he didn't see anything about Criminal markers, from CONCORD or the Empire.  Didn't those fools realize that it would be pirate incursions into Null and the borderlands that would keep the frontier Alliances in check?  The Militia wouldn't be enough.  Not nearly.

But not a word. You can't cut off the hand that feeds you and expect them to take it lying down, not without an answer. Not without a Big Fucking Hammer. Especially when that hammer is locked away inside your tool box.

Russell, his contact in the Hevirce station buzzed in his ear. The first Tornado had just been delivered. Time to go check out this new ship and raise some Hell.  If CONCORD and the Empires won't help, then goddamn it we'll just help ourselves!

Yarr.

Freebooted

The State of Commissions

Man, what a week.


I was actually catching up on my project list when the week started. Then all Hell broke lose. Just so you know how serious it has been, I've been in-game the past week a total of one hour. Baring Holidays I don't think I've ever logged less time in Eve than I have this last week.


I could tell you about the long days, the death of an associate, the complete and utter collapse of my hard drive on Thursday and all the other elements that went into making this an extremely difficult week. But those are normal things that happen in real life, just been more of them lately.


The point is, I should be back to a normal schedule again tomorrow and starting back on the list of projects. As always, my apologies for those waiting. 

The Individual Story

There was another post here earlier. I deleted it because it was leading to some misunderstandings between myself and my good friend Mord Fiddle. I don't enjoy misunderstandings.


So let me be clear. In almost every meaningful way possible, I agree with his post. ( Which you can read here if you want to be bothered, it's mostly tripe. I kid of course. )


No one could argue that more stories are written about the goings on in Null sec than anywhere else in New Eden. You'd have to be an idiot to make that argument. And, by their very nature, such stories get more attention.


My original post was intended to expand on that idea. Mord used an argument in his post that I disagree with. He uses a metaphor to illustrate his point regarding a battle on a spit of sand. And while I totally understand his point in doing so, the argument is fundamentally invalid. A good story exists outside of context. A good story involves people, individuals, characters, engaged in small, medium and large conflicts. But at its heart, all good stories are about people. A good writer can make a compelling story about two soldiers fighting over a spit of sand just as easily as another could make one about the two armies that surround those two soldiers. They might be equally well written and compelling, but just because more people read the one about the two armies doesn't make it better. Just more popular.


So if all good stories are about people, there should be no inherent bias in the QUALITY of stories told about Null sec or Low sec or Worm-Hole space or anything else in New Eden. A good story is, by its very definition, a good story. The only difference then is in the POPULARITY of the different stories.


I look at the Blog Pack and I see a majority of bloggers involved in Low-Sec, NPC Space and other non-sov holding activities. Is that a fluke then? Are all of those bloggers bad at telling stories? Of course not. And while I understand the intent of challenging us to write more good stories about our adventures, I did take some umbrage at the assertion that we're not already doing so. Because I think we are. In fact, I enjoy many of the stories my fellow non-important, less consequence low-sec, worm-hole, npc space dwelling friends tell already.


Heck, to me, most stories about Null sec sound like I'm reading a story on a news channel like the BBC or CNN. While most stories I read about Low sec seem more compelling, interesting and engaging. We can all have our favorites, but I prefer the stories about individuals. People. In whatever part of space they call home.


More good stories? On that point, Mr. Fiddle and I agree.

Gang Tactics: Part One - The Basics

Gang Tactics is a new on-going series in which we explore the fine art of death dealing in small gang warfare.  This series is not intended as a technical exploration, but as more of a guide to the fundamental basics involved in small gang warfare in New Eden. And hopefully, one that is enjoyable and educational.


Small Gang warfare is, in my humble opinion, one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing Eve. Hanging out with your Corp mates, friends, and blowing up enemy ships. It can be very rewarding no matter your skill points or experience level. New players and veterans alike can quickly form up to go on a roam, form a defense, or plunge into the unknown.


So let's start with the basics. What I like to call Catch, Hold and Destroy. This is the basic fundamental tenant of any small gang and you only need three ships to get started.  For lesson one we'll start with just these three ships. The great thing about small gang tactics is the expandability of each lesson, once you master the fundamentals, adding more ships becomes easier and easier.


Catch:  What good is the hunt unless you can catch your prey?  This role is easily filled by a Frigate or Interceptor. The perfect catch ship for your small three man gang depends on where you are, in low sec, null sec or wherever. But there are basic considerations that should be addressed and those mostly concern speed - both in velocity and in locking. A good catch ship has velocity on its side - it is very fast. But it also needs to be able to lock the enemy quickly before he can escape. Two points in the mids are preferred, a long point disruptor to catch the enemy from a distance, and either a Scram or Web to hold him down once you get closer.


Rifters, Crows, Taranis, Ares, Lachesis, Arazu - there are many, many ships that can fill this role depending on your own skill level and where you are in space.


Hold:  Once the enemy is caught, living thru the fight is critical. If you catch him and then explode, this does no one any good. You might think it odd that this is a separate category, once the enemy is caught shouldn't we skip right to Destroy?  That is asking a lot from your Catch ship isn't it?  The role of the Heavy Tackler is something we'll discuss later on, but for now expecting your Catch ship to survive past the tackle is asking for it to achieve more than its role allows.


This is a role that needs to be considered. What is the next ship to arrive on the scene?  Typically this role is filled by Cruisers/Battlecruisers.  For example the Thrasher or the Rupture is a good ship for this role. They can deal damage from a tank that should be able to survive long enough to see the enemy explode. The Drake or Hurricane also fill this role exceptionally well for the more advanced pilot.


Destroy:  The Destroy role can be filled by the Hold ships, you could have a Catch ship and two Canes for example. But it would be wrong to not consider the Destroy ship its own category, because "destroy" can take on many different meanings.  For example, the role of the Destroy ship could be filled by a Falcon or Curse. In that example the destroy ship arrives on the scene last and is the tipping point of the battle. Let's say your Catch ship has tackled a Dominix in a belt. He is holding him down, but his cap is drained and he won't last long. The Cane arrives and starts delivering the DPS, but not fast enough against the tank of the Domi. The Catch ship warps off and now it is the Cane Vs. Domi. The Cane, if he can stay out of neut range and destroy the Domi's drones, might eventually win. But he might not. This is when the Destroy ship arrives. Certainly another Drake or Cane would help tip the balance, but the arrival of a Falcon or Curse (or other role player) would do the job as well.


The CHD is a thought-process that helps you determine the basic make-up of your Small Gang. If you have three Canes available, applying CHD would make you think that at least one of those Canes should probably have a Sensor Booster in his mids, for faster locking speed. It might also make you canvas your pilots regarding the types of points they have, to make sure you have the bases covered. At the very least the SeBo Cane should have a long point.


So it isn't always about the types of ships, but more about the roles each of those ships will be playing in your three man gang.  This is the basic underlying logic behind ALL gangs and fleets in New Eden. From three to three-hundred, once you start thinking CHD the rest becomes only a matter of scalability.


So, now that we've mastered the basics, let's add one more ship:


Hunt:  While you are forming up another Corp mate logs on and wants to join your gang. You already have your CHD bases covered, you have a Taranis, an Arty Nano Cane and a young player in a Blaster Harpy.  So what role do you still need to fill?  You need a Hunter.  Now the Hunter/Scout role is one that can be filled by a lot of different ships and depends on the skill level of the individual pilot. It could be as basic as yet another Frigate or as complex as a cloaking T3 Cruiser.  The perfect Hunter for your small gang would be a cloaking ship with Probes. But beggars can't be choosers and your Corp mate can't fly T3 yet, but he does have a Buzzard. And he'd like to learn to Probe better.  How better to learn than on the field of battle?


Now we're talking. Our small gang is starting to be pretty awesome.  With just FOUR ships your gang can take on just about anything New Eden has to offer, by being smart and picking your targets carefully, you should be able to kill just about any one or two man gangs you happen upon. And brawl with anything your own size. No matter your skill level.


So good three man or four man gang set-ups:
1x Frigate (long point, scram or web, maybe Sensor Boosted or Nano fit for speed)
1x Cruiser (DPS but good solid tank)
1x Cruiser 2 (DPS, with surprise - like a sensor damper, or ECM, or EC Drones, etc.)


+ Tipper = Electronic Frigate, Neut fitted Cruiser, Falcon, Curse, Blaster Thorax, anything that can specifically fill a role that tips the battle to your favor.


For more experienced pilots a good fleet comp could be:
1x Interceptor (Fast speed and lock, long point or Scram depending on how fast)
1x Battlecruiser (DPS and tank)
1x Falcon
(This is a nasty three man gang set-up. Make sure your BC is nano fit or at the very least is carrying EC Drones. In case he gets caught the Falcon is his escape clause.)


The role of the Falcon can be played by many ships, including an additional BC class or even Cruiser. The Falcon choice right now is the obvious one, but choosing something that isn't obvious (or a Falcon!) will probably get you more good fights.


Next time we'll cover small gang DPS, making the most of various types of DPS delivery in a small gang setting.


Fly safe.


Part Two: DPS
Part Three: Travel
Part Four: Track & Kill