Well it's been a couple of weeks since I left The Tuskers so I've finally decided to talk about my new corp. It's called Black Sail Anarchists [BSAN]. Scary name eh?
We operate out of Otou in Gallente Space. It's conveniently right next to the market hub of Hek so it's very easy to get supplies in and out. The area is fairly active with a mix of ratters, haulers, anti-pirates, and other pirate corps.
Otou itself only seems to have one other pirate corp that calls it home. This is the Screaming Skulls. They tend to operate mostly when I am off so I don't interact with them much. However when they are on, I avoid them since my corp is very small at the moment and I am typically outnumbered by shiny ships. We are close to the infamous system of Rancer. As far as I can tell, The United is still gate camping that system at all times of the day. In fact, one of my corpmates lost a Stabber Fleet while trying to move ships to Otou. Occasionally, United with blob up and gate camp various surrounding systems.
When we aren't looking for fights in our home system, we typically roam the surrounding low-sec routes up to Akkio, over to Egghelende, or down to Bosboger. It's an interesting area with a variety of options. Eve-Uni rolls through sometimes in their 50 man T1 frig gangs. Egghelende has the Python Cartel. There are several systems that seem to be favored by newer players running level 2 and level 3 missions. There is even an isolated yet reachable low-sec system surrounded by high-sec where you can sometimes find miners.
So the area is good. What about the corp? Well it hasn't quite gone as I expected. I was told that there was a core group that was going to join up once it was formed. That didn't happen so we have had to build membership from the ground up. Recruiting is slow going but that is because we don't want to take any 7 day old character that applies. We want to keep it a small group of between 10 and 20 members of decent PVPers. We have gotten a couple of recruits and we have several people flying blue with us with the intent of making them members soon. I think we will hit 10 members pretty soon. Then we may look at raising recruitment requirements.
For the record, the basic requirement is at least 6 million sp and 18+ years of age. This may or may not get you in the door depending on your PvP experience. That will be evaluated on a case by case basis. Now when I say PvP experience, I don't mean you need to be in the top 10 on Battleclinic. I mean that you should have something up on the kill board that shows you know enough not to hull tank your Drake. We're not a training corp so we can't teach you PvP from the ground up. With that being said, we are more than willing to help out with any questions though.
If you are interested in getting into low-sec piracy with small gangs and want to give us a shot, you can join "blacksailpub" in game or you can evemail me about it.
Cheers
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Little Gila That Could
It's been another frustrating day for the Buckster. I haven't been able to get on much lately due to RL things. I finally got on a little bit last night with my corpmate Strikilla. We decided to do a quick roam. He was in his Dramiel and I was in my Stabber Fleet Issue.
It was a really quiet night and it was approaching downtime. We stuck our nose into Todifrauan and I saw a Gila and a stealth bomber on scan. It looked like they were running a mission. I am fairly afraid of Gilas since I have been spanked by them several times. I thought about leaving them along but Strikilla is braver/more reckless than I am and he wanted to go for it. We decided to give it a shot and charge in.
Once we got there the stealth bomber GTFO of there and left the Gila. I started orbiting at optimal and unloaded RF EMP on him. Strikilla said he was getting hit fairly hard by Hammerhead heads but I wasn't taking any damage. He warped out to give his shields a break while I stayed in the fight. I had ECM drones out so they could screw with his targeting and let me have the chance to bail if I needed to.
I noticed that I had gotten his shields down to about 50% but they weren't moving at all past that point. Then BLAM! My shields took a heavy hit. I thought those Hammerheads really weren't screwing around. I kept taking more and more damage and soon I was in half armor. However his shield was still at about 50%. WTF. My guns were hitting solid hits and I was in optimal range. This guy was tanked in a silly way. Finally I decided to give it up as a bad deal and I warped off just as I hit structure.
*sigh*
I don't really understand how I couldn't get close to breaking his tank. I think I am going to finally train all my gunnery skills to V. I reviewed my combat logs afterwards and realized that after Strikilla had pulled out, the Gila had recalled the Hammerheads and put out Ogre IIs. Well that explains the damage. I was a little pissed at myself once I saw that. Those things are so slow I should have had the Dram come back in and take them out. That would have killed the Gila's DPS and I could have stayed around a bit longer.
Another mistake I made was I assumed the Gila was a missile boat so I wasn't using my MWD at all. Turns out it was just slinging rockets at me. I think I could have stayed ahead of those drones if I had pulsed it.
The ECM drones were also a mistake. Since the most damage was coming from drones, the ECM jams had zero effect on the damage I was taking.
It was a very frustrating encounter. Even though I didn't lose a ship, I consider it a loss. However I did learn some valuable lessons so at least I can improve next time.
It was a really quiet night and it was approaching downtime. We stuck our nose into Todifrauan and I saw a Gila and a stealth bomber on scan. It looked like they were running a mission. I am fairly afraid of Gilas since I have been spanked by them several times. I thought about leaving them along but Strikilla is braver/more reckless than I am and he wanted to go for it. We decided to give it a shot and charge in.
Once we got there the stealth bomber GTFO of there and left the Gila. I started orbiting at optimal and unloaded RF EMP on him. Strikilla said he was getting hit fairly hard by Hammerhead heads but I wasn't taking any damage. He warped out to give his shields a break while I stayed in the fight. I had ECM drones out so they could screw with his targeting and let me have the chance to bail if I needed to.
I noticed that I had gotten his shields down to about 50% but they weren't moving at all past that point. Then BLAM! My shields took a heavy hit. I thought those Hammerheads really weren't screwing around. I kept taking more and more damage and soon I was in half armor. However his shield was still at about 50%. WTF. My guns were hitting solid hits and I was in optimal range. This guy was tanked in a silly way. Finally I decided to give it up as a bad deal and I warped off just as I hit structure.
*sigh*
I don't really understand how I couldn't get close to breaking his tank. I think I am going to finally train all my gunnery skills to V. I reviewed my combat logs afterwards and realized that after Strikilla had pulled out, the Gila had recalled the Hammerheads and put out Ogre IIs. Well that explains the damage. I was a little pissed at myself once I saw that. Those things are so slow I should have had the Dram come back in and take them out. That would have killed the Gila's DPS and I could have stayed around a bit longer.
Another mistake I made was I assumed the Gila was a missile boat so I wasn't using my MWD at all. Turns out it was just slinging rockets at me. I think I could have stayed ahead of those drones if I had pulsed it.
The ECM drones were also a mistake. Since the most damage was coming from drones, the ECM jams had zero effect on the damage I was taking.
It was a very frustrating encounter. Even though I didn't lose a ship, I consider it a loss. However I did learn some valuable lessons so at least I can improve next time.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
A Big Cup of Frustration
First off, go to my buddy's blog (Planetary Genocide) and read about his most recent corp theft. It is truly an epic tale of epic epicness! That is real piracy boys and girls.
Now back to my story:
I had the most frustrating roam last night. None of my mates were on the other night so I decided on a nice long solo roam. I loaded up the trusty Stabber Fleet Issue (my current favorite ship) and headed out from Otou with no particular destination in mind. I ended up in Hagilur. This system seems to be home of an alliance called The Space Police. They remind me of the old Roughnecks in Aeschee in that the system is always full but they are usually afk.
I noticed three ships ratting together in a belt. It seemed to be a cruiser, destroyer, and a frigate. Since I incredibly overconfident in my abilities and the Stabber, I decided to take them all on. I knew I had to be quick so I could kill them before Space Police start undocking to help. Unfortunately I landed just as they were warping off. I chased them to another belt but they warped to a high sec gate and waited. I noticed a couple of battleships showed up on scan so I realized I missed my chance and I left.
The next system (Aradr) had a harbinger running a mission or plex. I scanned him down but when I warped to the mission, I landed too far off. Even though the Stabber is wicked fast, he warped off and left system before I could get to him.
I decided to check out a little diamond formation of low-sec systems that connects with Frerstorn. My probe ship was able to scan down a Stabber Fleet running a mission. In my excitement, I meant to fleet warp my main to him but I only warped my prober alt. I landed next to a wreck and uncloaked. I quickly warped Buck to the target and unassed my alt from the area. While I landed quick enough to target him, my alt spooked him enough for him to warp out before I could get a point on him. Goddamn it. I left my cloakly alt on that spot for a while while Buck hid in another system hoping the Stabber come back but he never did.
*sigh*
After that I came across a Blackbird running a mission. I probed him down and warped my main to him but I landed 40km off. I overheated my MWD and sped towards him while praying to the gods. Of course he warped off. This was getting ridiculous.
At this point I vowed that I was not going to leave my PC until I either died from exhaustion or I freaking killed something. If I had to fly into high-sec and suicide gank a shuttle in my faction ship, someone was going to die. Hell I was even considering blowing up my alt.
I had left my alt at the mission site and Buck left system. The Blackbird came back and resumed killing rats. I bookmarked a wreck right next to him and warped my alt to the gate. Buck jumped in and I fleet warped him to zero. This time I was finally able to seal the deal.
While I don't consider this noob cruiser an epic kill, it was enough to let me log off and finally go to bed. Hopefully next time I will have an easier time of it. God I wish I had caught that Stabber Fleet Issue.
Now back to my story:
I had the most frustrating roam last night. None of my mates were on the other night so I decided on a nice long solo roam. I loaded up the trusty Stabber Fleet Issue (my current favorite ship) and headed out from Otou with no particular destination in mind. I ended up in Hagilur. This system seems to be home of an alliance called The Space Police. They remind me of the old Roughnecks in Aeschee in that the system is always full but they are usually afk.
I noticed three ships ratting together in a belt. It seemed to be a cruiser, destroyer, and a frigate. Since I incredibly overconfident in my abilities and the Stabber, I decided to take them all on. I knew I had to be quick so I could kill them before Space Police start undocking to help. Unfortunately I landed just as they were warping off. I chased them to another belt but they warped to a high sec gate and waited. I noticed a couple of battleships showed up on scan so I realized I missed my chance and I left.
The next system (Aradr) had a harbinger running a mission or plex. I scanned him down but when I warped to the mission, I landed too far off. Even though the Stabber is wicked fast, he warped off and left system before I could get to him.
I decided to check out a little diamond formation of low-sec systems that connects with Frerstorn. My probe ship was able to scan down a Stabber Fleet running a mission. In my excitement, I meant to fleet warp my main to him but I only warped my prober alt. I landed next to a wreck and uncloaked. I quickly warped Buck to the target and unassed my alt from the area. While I landed quick enough to target him, my alt spooked him enough for him to warp out before I could get a point on him. Goddamn it. I left my cloakly alt on that spot for a while while Buck hid in another system hoping the Stabber come back but he never did.
*sigh*
After that I came across a Blackbird running a mission. I probed him down and warped my main to him but I landed 40km off. I overheated my MWD and sped towards him while praying to the gods. Of course he warped off. This was getting ridiculous.
At this point I vowed that I was not going to leave my PC until I either died from exhaustion or I freaking killed something. If I had to fly into high-sec and suicide gank a shuttle in my faction ship, someone was going to die. Hell I was even considering blowing up my alt.
I had left my alt at the mission site and Buck left system. The Blackbird came back and resumed killing rats. I bookmarked a wreck right next to him and warped my alt to the gate. Buck jumped in and I fleet warped him to zero. This time I was finally able to seal the deal.
While I don't consider this noob cruiser an epic kill, it was enough to let me log off and finally go to bed. Hopefully next time I will have an easier time of it. God I wish I had caught that Stabber Fleet Issue.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Time for a change
Well I am leaving The Tuskers. It isn't something I have decided on easily. There isn't anything negative about my desire to leave. I've just been feeling a little restless lately and I recently got an offer to become a director with a new low sec pirate corp that is about to be created.
I've dropped my roles and started shuttling ships to my new home in Otou. It's a bit like coming home again because that is where I really started exploring low sec. It's great to be in a new region but still have a bunch of safespots already made. I'm really gonna miss The Tuskers but I hope this will be a great new start. There will be more details posted about the new corp once we get everything up and running. I'm well aware of the difficulties in starting from the ground up but you never know until you try.
I've dropped my roles and started shuttling ships to my new home in Otou. It's a bit like coming home again because that is where I really started exploring low sec. It's great to be in a new region but still have a bunch of safespots already made. I'm really gonna miss The Tuskers but I hope this will be a great new start. There will be more details posted about the new corp once we get everything up and running. I'm well aware of the difficulties in starting from the ground up but you never know until you try.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Low Sec Mining Op = Great fun
Last night it was so dead around Hevrice that I decided to go on a 30+ roam to my old stomping ground in Otou. I loaded up my Jag and headed out. While enroute, I got tackled on a gate by a Ruppie. Now normally I don't like fighting Ruppies in frig ships but I decided to give it a shot. The fight was going pretty well and I was doing a good job of staying under his guns when a Dramiel showed up and started laying into me. I decided that was a bad deal and deagressed. I love my Jag. The tank on it was more than enough to wait out my aggro timer and jump through. Actually in looking back on how easily I tanked them, I probably should have continued the fight.
So I continued my roam and noticed a single system low sec pocket that was just two jumps away. I thought maybe I might catch a ratter off guard so I decided to check it out quickly. I jumped in system and hit D-scan finding nothing. However the stargate was far center of system and there were a few people in local. So I warped to the top belt with the intent of doing a quick scan once I got in the middle of the cluster.
This was all done kinda half-hearted because I wanted to get back to my long roam and was only about half-way done. Imagine my surprise when I landed right smack in the middle of a mining op being put on by the 101st E Company! My overview showed a Retriever, Mammoth, Ferox, Hurricane, and Prophecy. The shock of it made me freeze up a second. Then I had to double check to make sure I actually was in low-sec and didn't just mis-read the map.
With that confirmed, I locked the Retriever and started my orbit. The BCs started targeting me but I was steady beating down the Retriever. Then suddenly I lost my lock. Damn they were using ECM drones. With my kill being thwarted, there was no reason to stick around so I overheated my AB and started spamming my warp button. Soon I was safely across system and trying to catch my breath. It had all happened so fast I was still processing stuff. I realized that I had very little damage from being shot at by three BCs. I did a little research on Battleclinic and noticed that all three pilots were about a year old but had horrible kill stats. Hmm...
I sent my cloaky alt to check on the op and to my surprise they were all still there and were jetcan mining. I guess they thought that they were safe since I had run out of there like a scalded dog. My alt bookmarked the jet can and warped me to it. I was prepared this time and had overheated my guns prior to landing. I went in a quick orbit and the mining barge died before they could really even react. Once again I overheated my AB and lit out.
I figured they would call the op at that point but apparently they really need that ore. The Mammoth bailed along with the Ferox and Prophecy. They then returned in a Drake, a Keres, and another Retriever. Hmm....I guess they figured the Keres would jam my pants off and put an end to my silly game. Unfortunately for them, the Keres has a horrible tank. My alt watched for a while to find the best warp in point. When the timing was right, I landed on top of the Keres and shredded it. I warped back off but my alt noticed that the Retriever, Drake, and Cane didn't leave. I warped back in and had a sense of deja vu.
That pretty much ended the op. Thank you 101st E Company for a wonderful night. There is nothing like picking off ships out from under their escorts and getting away without a scratch. Makes me love this game.
So I continued my roam and noticed a single system low sec pocket that was just two jumps away. I thought maybe I might catch a ratter off guard so I decided to check it out quickly. I jumped in system and hit D-scan finding nothing. However the stargate was far center of system and there were a few people in local. So I warped to the top belt with the intent of doing a quick scan once I got in the middle of the cluster.
This was all done kinda half-hearted because I wanted to get back to my long roam and was only about half-way done. Imagine my surprise when I landed right smack in the middle of a mining op being put on by the 101st E Company! My overview showed a Retriever, Mammoth, Ferox, Hurricane, and Prophecy. The shock of it made me freeze up a second. Then I had to double check to make sure I actually was in low-sec and didn't just mis-read the map.
With that confirmed, I locked the Retriever and started my orbit. The BCs started targeting me but I was steady beating down the Retriever. Then suddenly I lost my lock. Damn they were using ECM drones. With my kill being thwarted, there was no reason to stick around so I overheated my AB and started spamming my warp button. Soon I was safely across system and trying to catch my breath. It had all happened so fast I was still processing stuff. I realized that I had very little damage from being shot at by three BCs. I did a little research on Battleclinic and noticed that all three pilots were about a year old but had horrible kill stats. Hmm...
I sent my cloaky alt to check on the op and to my surprise they were all still there and were jetcan mining. I guess they thought that they were safe since I had run out of there like a scalded dog. My alt bookmarked the jet can and warped me to it. I was prepared this time and had overheated my guns prior to landing. I went in a quick orbit and the mining barge died before they could really even react. Once again I overheated my AB and lit out.
I figured they would call the op at that point but apparently they really need that ore. The Mammoth bailed along with the Ferox and Prophecy. They then returned in a Drake, a Keres, and another Retriever. Hmm....I guess they figured the Keres would jam my pants off and put an end to my silly game. Unfortunately for them, the Keres has a horrible tank. My alt watched for a while to find the best warp in point. When the timing was right, I landed on top of the Keres and shredded it. I warped back off but my alt noticed that the Retriever, Drake, and Cane didn't leave. I warped back in and had a sense of deja vu.
That pretty much ended the op. Thank you 101st E Company for a wonderful night. There is nothing like picking off ships out from under their escorts and getting away without a scratch. Makes me love this game.
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