Lost in Fleet

Hi,

this is Flash Thomson for Caldari-News-Network!

Today I want to talk to you about fleet engagement.
The past weeks I had my first real involvements in a variety of fleets. Yes, yes I have been in fleets before… But usually small ones up to three members tops! Joining a fleet with 20+ ships is a complete different story!

Getting to the fleet was actually my biggest challenge in the beginning. New to this region, unfamiliar with the surrounding systems, I concentrated on getting where the fleet was at the time when I asked about its whereabouts. I did not track the fleets movement on the map which then caused me to lag behind, having trouble catching up.

Once I cough up I had trouble keeping up with the fleet! Trying to decipher the fleet captains commands to align, to warp, trying to figure out abbreviated system names over all the background chatter! Let alone find the right target announced on the fleets communication channels! *whistles* I am still having troubles with that actually! *grinns*

Many of those things strongly depend on the fleet and its FC (Fleet Commander) though, in the few fleets I have participated so far, I have encountered a variety of fleets and commanders. I have tried to categorize them (those i have encountered so far) and nicknamed them.

1. The chaos crew!
Loud and rowdy! People howl and cheer on the team comms, jokes are cracked and nude pictures shared, you laugh and you cry, missing out your FC’s commands. As this was the first fleet I joined, it was a funny disaster for me! I cross jumped the fleet several time and warped into a fight twice seconds before the FC announced retreat. The enemy welcomed me with scrams and and blazing guns.

2. The mumbling FC
I believe it was the second fleet I joined, I couldn’t even understand what the FC said! I guess there was a good chance others didn’t either. Although the experience went smoothly it was still tedious having to reprocess each command through the fleets communication devices.

3. The happy bunch!
I differentiate here between chaos crew and happy bunch, although the atmosphere might have been similar, the happy bunch was more concentrated on the task at hand. When it counted they were professional and effective.

4. The Commander
He can be hard for someone with little love for authority and generally it seems there are quite a few of those around in the militia, but he is focused on getting the job done! If you don’t listen or interrupt you are a danger to his fleet and he will treat exactly that way! With a loyal crew this happened to be a very effective fleet! Only taking the fights they could win and retreating quickly from those that would have been lost. I was starting to get the hang of it!

5. The tense crew
When I joined this fleet, all communication devices where dead silent! I checked my device several time for malfunction until the FC actually wondered about the same thing! „Comms are open crew! Why aren’t you chatting away?“ Everybody was just so focused and determined to deal a lesson to the enemy that they did not feel like talking. Needless to say with everyone so focused, plus a FC who knew what he was doing, we got plenty of kills!

What would be my advice for someone new to flying in fleets?

1. Listen to your FC
This role usually is filled by someone with a great deal more experience then you. His commands should be your guide! Don’t get distracted! Only what he says is relevant! Will he make wrong calls? Yes most definitely! Would you have made better ones? Probably not!

2. Block out noisy distractions
Someone is distracting you with chatter? Block him! If he says something important the FC will give the orders.
Don’t be shy to ask in fleet for commands to be repeated, If you did not understand a command ask for it to be repeated! Yes, people might think you are a noob, which is true, but doing the wrong thing might get you and others killed.

3. Plan ahead
This is something I like to do for emergencies, I set my destination to a space station where I have other ships waiting for me to reship. Optimally this is also the space station the fleet will regroup to. When you try to catch up with a fleet, don’t ask where they are, ask where they are going, this way you don’t have to repeatedly ask about their location. By flying straight to the fleets destination, you might get there before them and can possibly scout the area, giving important intel to your fleet.

4. Be prepared
This can be a little tough! A fleet might want to reship between engagements. Possibly the enemy fleet is at an advantage because of the ship they are using, this means the fleet will have to get into a different kind of ship to counter that advantage! As a mercenary I was specialized on shields and missiles. But this is not always the doctrine that is flown by a fleet. They might still take you on, if you can’t fly the doctrine, but you will be at an disadvantage! Try to broaden your spectrum, so you can fly a variety of ships and have ships ready in case the fleet reships. Logistic support is always welcome in any fleet! Being able to use armor, shield, guns, missiles, snipy ships or brawlers, basicly all variation of ships is an advantage! This way you can be most effective for any fleet.

So what are you waiting for? Get a pilots license and enlist in the Caldari Militia! Become a member and start recapturing what is rightfully ours!

This was Flash Thomson for Caldari-News-Network on the nicks and nacks of fleeting up!

PS: “Do not shoot the Target” means do not engage it in anyway! Scamming is a hostile action! *grinn*

Interview with Ylein Kashuken

Hi,

this is Flash Thomson for Caldari-News-Network!
This is my second week in the contested territories, I have seen violence, drama and blood, mostly my own, but I am still here fighting the war, so you can live a carefree life and watch Caldari-News-Network! Here with me today Ylein Kashuken of the SQUIDS. [IBLOB] corporation. She has a quick tongue and the reputation of being a really hard badass! She has an impressive amount of kills and most importantly a great ISK ratio and for this, she deserves your respect!

Flash Thomson:
Let us maybe start by telling our readers a little more about yourself! People in New Caldari crave for information about the Heroes of the Militia! For how long have you been a pilot? When did you join the militia? What did you do before that?

Ylein Kashuken:
Hello there, my eve life is quite stale. I began my life as poor noob in 2011 and wanted to join null corporation, because there is all the action no? hahaha therefore my path went to null after just four days of trial. Well I think there is no reason to say how hard null space is for a four day old pilot, but it sharpened my senses and honed my skills.
I joined alliance The Ronin because there are a lot of guys from my country and the best elite pilots I knew from videos. After two months I came to realization that null space was not as funny as I was thought. I started to look for something else and the ongoing war caught my eyes. I met my current corporation SQUIDS and I’ve been fighting the war for the caldari militia ever since.

Flash Thomson:
Ylein, you called my article on General Shogun a nice troll and high sec ganker.
So you believe engaging the enemy outside of the contested territories is wrong?

Ylein Kashuken:
Well I said this after I read the first lines of your article, but when I finally docked and had time to read it all, I changed my mind about him. He is doing what he has time to do. I do have almost the same problem, I have to run away from PC every 5-10 minutes, but I still manage to fight on our front lines and dock to POS when I have to go! *she smiles broadly* I’m not fan of gate camping nor H sec camping, it looks just so badly boring! Hahaha.

Flash Thomson:
Since I got here, I noticed a lot of pirates and profiteers roam this sector. Naturally pirates feel safer here due to the lower security status of these sectors and reduced Concord enforcement. The profiteers, that’s what I call the opportunistic traders selling to both Caldari and Gallente forces try to maximise their profits! I would go so far as saying some might not be neutral at all, buying cheap supplies for militia at one station and selling it back to militia for big ISK at another station.

Ylein Kashuken:
Yup there is a lot of such pilots/corporation/alliances and I know few. Some are here just to enjoy low sec, do roams and kill everything they want, a lot of former faction war pilots actually belong to this group! There are also mercenaries and many traders that sells to both sides. Mercenaries are the worst to had around you, they fly with links, with expensive ships and usually good tactics, so many new pilots will get killed by them.

Flash Thomson:
Now this could be a dangerous detail to reveal Ylein, but which ship is dearest to you?
For me for example I love my Raven, but I would never bring it out here. I simply could not afford buying a new one, being a reporter. So I mostly fly a Condor or a Corax.

Ylein Kashuken:
It’s not a secret! I love my Vagabond, but also the Navy Scythe and the Navy Stabber are fine ships. I fly cruisers mostly because they can handle one vs many without a problem!

Flash Thomson:
So what is your preferred way of engagement? Do you roam solo, roll in a squad, camp gates or do you plex? (Plexing is what Pilots call capturing enemy complexes)

Ylein Kashuken:
My favorite has always been and will be solo plexing/roaming in active tanked ships. My null space alliance taught me to use active tank and it does work in FW. You can fight four to five ships at one time alone. My Killboard is full of such kills! You can work as a “tank” for your fleet and fool the enemy. Once the enemy sticks on you, your gang comes and plays with them.
I can not forget this one fight! We went in four vs. seven Navy Vexors. My friends on Teamspeak were yelling:“We cannot make it, just leave and let them have this complex”! My response was quite nice I believe! I said “I am holding this plex, just come!” He just replied:“Fuck it! This will be glorious!” … and it was! All rushed in and we killed 5 of them without losses, thanks to my active tanked Vagabond! *she grins*

Sadly it’s getting harder and harder to solo, because the dirty Gallente pilots learned that they need to fleet up to kill caldari pilots. It’s getting quite bad, groups of seven to ten Gallante in 3m ships can kill our expensive ships. It’s quite problematic for me to stay in one area for long time.
For example my last fight in my home system was me in a Navy Scythe and 12 Gallente in mix of ships few cruisers, frigates and arazu, no need to say that I won, but I will take some time before going there again 😀

Biggest problem is that this Gallente tactic is demotivating even for us “veterans” and now imagine how this must feel for some new guy! He gets blobbed like that every day. It does scare out new guys, we do believe that the Federation does it to scare away not so loyal pilots, and it’s sick.

Flash Thomson:
Haha! I hear you! My Killboard is looking worse from day to day! I lost two manticore in the last 24 hours! I am so broke I hardly know how to continue! But each time I hit rock bottom, there has been a helping hand so far! So thank you Subsparx, thank you Erik Kalkoken and thank you Xsag!!!
I would be fighting in a shuttle, if it wasn’t for you!
Thank you Ylein Kashuken for this great interview! I hope to see you around soon and don’t get shot!

Stay tuned in, at Caldari-News-Network for more interesting stories from the battlelines as they develop!

First Steps

Hi,
this is Flash Thomson for Caldari-News-Network!

Oh Boy! Talk about learning to walk before running, seems i have to learn to crawl first!

In my first week I have managed to lose 12 ships! All in all amounting to a sum of approximately 190 million ISK.
Many would probably shrug of this amount, for me these are considerable losses!
Unfortunately this isn’t strictly due to warfare engagements, but also due to my own stupidity, being very rusty after four years of retirement, overconfidence and a little bit due to just having a bad setup. The two more expensive ships a Caracal and a Corax were actually lost in some accident involving sentry guns and plain and simple Guristas pirates… Yea you can laugh now!

In my first draft I actually intended to tell you:
“The good thing is I have been lucky not to get poded so far! I am sure this is about to change!”

Well what can I say…I was right!
I even managed to fly out in an standard alpha clone which, according to my clone history log, lead me to forget something about cruise missiles…
Well I won’t be needing them anyway any time soon!

But let us take a look on how I have lost those ships!
zkillboard

Let’s start with the more interesting part. What where my mistakes during elite pilot encounters?

1. If he is not your friend, shoot it!
Excited as I was to have arrived in low sec, I wanted to put my knowledge, yes the ones from watching plexing videos, right into action. I grabbed a Condor flew to the closest defense complex and started… A vessel with low security warped into the plex, neither being a war target not part of the militia, I wasn’t sure what to expect… Needless to say, my ship was gone pretty fast, but I got my pod out. Maybe he had pity and let me go…

2. Wait for your fleet members before you engage!
After my first defeat I teamed up, first plex was a piece of cake. On the second plex war targets or pirates kept trying to join us and we warped in and out several times. At one point my fleet member told me we could take the enemy. Anxious to get my first kill I warped to the plex and activated the gate. I should have waited for my fleet member to bounce back and warp in with me. He arrived just as I exploded but made the kill.

3. Get to a “safe” spot first!
So I joined my first fleet and let me tell you: Just getting there, can be a challenge! So much was going on! People talking, fleet captain giving directions to locations you have never been before, dirty jokes… I got lost several times just on my way there… While studying the map, trying to figure out where to go, enemies caught up to me and once again, my ship was destroyed.

4. Know what to engage!
So I decided to solo-plex once more. Everything was going great until an enemy showed up on D-Scan… It was Steur in a Tristan. Should I stay or should I go now? I decided to stay! I was prepared right? I knew he was coming and I would instantly target and destroy him. Well guess what… A Tristan is not a good fit for a Condor Brawler… (Most people actually told me Condor Brawler WTF dude? But it seemed a good idea and once again I had seen this training video that made it look so easy.) Needless to say he owned me…

5. Join your Fleets Teamspeak channel!
This one is really stupid! After a nice roam with a fleet led by Chichou, I decided to join another fleet. But I had way too much fun in the channel I was at. Following my fleet was difficult and of course I did not hear anything the Fleet Captain ordered… I got stuck on an acceleration gate once untangled I warped to the last known location. No one there… While I investigated a band of pirates blew me to smithereens and popped my pod cherry! 70 mil ISK gone because I was fooling around!

6. Upgrade your Clone!
The night was not over! Fired up by the cheering of my fleet members, who I had finally joined on the fleet comms. I rushed back in a Corax. Not fast enough to escape a gate camp, I lost my ship and another clone… An Alpha Clone… Shit you have to upgrade your clone each time you die? Yep…

7. Warp to planet!
I have been told over and over again: once you see your ship is close to destruction, select an orbital object, spam warp to it and bounce quickly until your aggression timer runs out! Then get back an refit. Still… I have managed twice to try to jump through a gate, in a capsule with aggression timer… A great opportunity for the enemy to log on my capsule and sent me to a new clone.

8. Shit happens!
Sometimes you do everything right and will still be sent home in a capsule! I was flying an instant lock Condor and did a great job at tackling an enemy as I was one of the first to arrive, I got locked and killed very quick. But my fleet won the engagement! So I was still happy I had done a good job!

As much as I mourn each lost vessel, so long there is a lesson to be learned, it needs to be taught!

Thank you for staying with me up to this point! Tuning in again soon! This was Flash Thomson for Caldari-News-Network!

Addendum:

This is more a reminder to myself then to the experienced pilots out there, but it might be interesting for our readers at home who are unfamiliar with running missions:

1. Don’t get distracted!
Your comm rings? Let it ring! No enemies present, does not mean it is safe to leave your cockpit! I had forgotten my comm unit in my backpack in the back of my ship, while I went to pick it, 4 Battleships appeared which tore my Corax apart before I could flee.

2. Make sure anything dangerous to you is displayed in your overview!
I ran a level III mission in my Caracal. Everything started out fine, the enemy was hitting me hard, so I warped out a few times to let my shields recharge. In the end, there was one enemy left, anxious to finish the mission I let myself drop into structure fighting him. I got him down and started celebrating, popped a beer and got ready to destroy that telescope I was being payed for. I suddenly noticed I was still receiving damage. I could not figure out from what source and initiated warp. Unfortunately due to the amount of damage I had already received, my ship was destroyed before I warped to safety. It turns out Sentry were not displayed in my overview.
Yes Sentry guns will kill you too! You need to be aware of them!

Join the militia!

Interview with General Shogun

Hi,

General Shogun

This is Flash Thomson with General Shogun here, reporting live for Caldari News Network!

General let me start by saying, it is a great honor to talk to you! Your name alone strikes fear into the heart of our enemies!

Flash Thomson:
For how long have you been a pilot and since when are you part of the militia?

General Shogun:
Thanks, it’s a true honor to be here and be interviewed by such a quality Network as Caldari News!

I became a pilot approximate seven years ago and joined the militia in January of this year.

Flash Thomson:
Did you hear, that you are some sort of boogie man in the Gallente Federation? It is said, that kids that stay up late will be stolen by General Shogun and eaten alive! How do you feel about such stories?

General Shogun:
While it is true that I like my Gallente and Minmatar served with fresh beating hearts, I take no joy in killing the inexperienced/young…but I still do.

Flash Thomson:
Not only have you fought out here in the contested territories but your crusade has led you to the heart of the Gallente Federation!
What motivates you to such reckless deeds?

General Shogun:
My big weakness is also my biggest strength; I try very hard to throw caution to the wind and engage in fights I technically should not win. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going to engage a Myrmidon in a destroyer, but I will take on larger and smaller ships quite often that should kill me. It’s made me a better pilot for it.

Also, although I will go out in a shiny ship (~120 mil ISK) once in a while, the vast majority of my fighting is focused towards encounters in a ship of less than 8 or 9 million in value. When I finally joined the militia, I already had losses of 4 billion ISK from years of hauling losses during wormhole living. I wanted desperately to “right” my kill record, and here I am =)

Flash Thomson:
The tales of your spoils of war are countless! What is your most memorable encounter?

General Shogun:
I have two…the most memorable is when I got my butt kicked by a Republic Fleet Firetail with me in a Tornado (which I don’t fly very often). I was trying out a “special” fit and got tangled up with the Firetail. I overheated my top and mid racks and we went back-and-forth for quite awhile with me getting him to less than 20% hull three times. Well, like the genius I am, I didn’t pay attention to my heat damage and burnt out all my guns AND mid slots. The Firetail and enemy Gallente Police slowly finished me off. It was a fantastic lesson.

The other great fight I had was getting jumped by two guys in Hek that had been after me for a few days; sometimes you make enemies that just cannot let a loss go. They were in a Federation Navy Comet and a Stabber. I was in a Catalyst at the time. No way I should beat either, but after an extended encounter and some cat-and-mouse play, I was able to kill both with no paint left on my ship and flames pouring out of my hull. It was a moment I’ll always remember.

Flash Thomson:
What motivated you to go so deep into Gallente and Minmatar space alone?

General Shogun:
That has an interesting answer that is probably unique to me! I am old and have kids that are 16 and 13 years of age…*laughs out loudly*. I cannot spend my time uninterrupted in fleet encounters. While in space important family matters can come up of which I have to take care of. So, I “almost” have to roll solo all the time. I also found that “frontline” fighting was extremely difficult because I was constantly being jumped by 4+ ships. I love a good fight, but 3 or 4+ vs. 1 does no one any good. Even though deep high sec fighting is tough, since you cannot cloak and you cannot stay in any particular grid for more than 15 seconds without being jumped by the Police, it matches my unusual playstyle.

I would actually have more fun and get more kills flying with one or two corpmates in frontline lowsec space. In fact, I recommend it for aspiring elite pilots. It just doesn’t work for me because of the reasons I mentioned.

Flash Thomson:
What other recommendations would you make to aspiring elite pilots?

General Shogun:
Don’t fly shiny, don’t be cautious and really try and learn the deeper mechanics. I just really started to engage elite pilots recently after years of playing the game. Understanding range, transverse velocity, munitions and how it all interacts with each class of ship is simply critical. Notice I said class of ship, not every ship. Start with frigates as a class. What makes it strong and what defeats it. Later on, you can delve into the myriad of frigate ships individually and explore each strength and weakness. My best fights are presenting a ship to an experienced enemy/pilot that isn’t expecting a specialized fit I have designed just for his ship class =)

Flash Thomson:
Final question, besides the great fights and lessons you’ve learned, what else have you taken away from the intense fighting and hunting you’ve experienced.

General Shogun:
Hands down it is the friends I’ve made. And, I mean Gallente and Minmatar friends mostly! It is so much fun to get my butt kicked (or kick someone else’s) and develop a friendship out of respect. Spar Multendor is an example. Even though he is a MUCH better pilot than me, I got lucky and killed him in Hek one day in a fit he wasn’t expecting. Since we’ve developed a great friendship. He is simply an amazing talent. I would also like to give a shout out to a few pilots that simply humble me: trigger99, Subsparx and Unreal! Thanks for all you guys have taught me; you’ve forgotten more about “The Game” than I will ever know.

Thanks again for having me. It is a true honor to be part of such a great site!
That’s it folks! Thank you General Shogun for the interview! This was Flash Thomson, for Caldari News Network! Stay tuned and tune in again soon!

Preparations

Hi,

this is Flash Thomson for Caldari News Network!

How do you prepare when you go to war?
What do you need to know? What do you take with you?

On the knowledge side I found quite a few helpful resources!
There are quite a few guides about Faction Warfare.
(You can find some of them in the link collection in the top menu of the Caldari News Network)

What to bring with me, was a far more difficult question for me.
At the time I retired I had stocked up on so much modules, salvage, resources and crap…
(Yes I am a little bit of a hoarder!) I just did not know what to do with it!
I knew leaving it where it was, would mean I wouldn’t be able to access it easy once I joined the Militia. Bringing all the junk along would be way to costly or dangerous!

After some thought, I decided to travel as light as possible.

I consolidated all my items in as little stations as possible and started to sell them.
As I am not much of a tradesman, I of course ran out of orders fast, so I sold only the most expensive items in my possession, that I could not put to use anyway.

What I had left I seperated into two groups.
Group one the keepers, are items I want to either use at some point or sell it later.
Group two got reprocessed. I am still sitting on the resources at this time as I was unsure about selling them or produce ammunition for my need and the need of the market.

After a few days at war I will probably sell them to make up for the ships I lost recently.
Lets say my skills in producing ammunition don’t get close to what I would like to use in battle and I will have to buy more ships soon I fear!

If I had to do it again?

1. I would probably watch more training videos.
2. Knowing the enemy is probably the best idea!
To do: List of ship names, class and strategy for ship I am using to hang in my
capsule!
3. Start a few friendly duels with cheap ships.
This will help you get a feeling for it!
4. Tweak your overview the way you feel is right!
5. Make contracts for the sell worthy items.
6. Reprocess the other and make a contracts for the resources.
7. Make a contract to have the rest delivered to my destination.

In the end, if you never have been at war, nothing will really prepare you, but every little bit might make things easier!

About

Johna Jameson Chief Editor for Caldari-News-Network

Greetings,

this is Johna Jameson Chief Editor of the Caldari-News-Network!
Caldari-Network-News is dedicated to bring YOU the latest news from the Battle Lines!

Due to recent events in the ongoing war with the Gallente Federation, I have decided to bring a veteran back from retirement.
During his active time Flash Thomson had mostly worked as mercenary for a variety of Caldari and Amarr corporation offering security missions.

He felt it was time to participate in the war effort of the Caldari State and agreed to that as a front fighting reporter!

But how?
I started to look around for a corporation that would be willing to take on a rusty veteran.
Someone willing to guide him in his effort to bring you the latest news from the contested systems.
In the Crimson Serpent Syndicate I have found such a corporation and his training has begun.

I invite you to follow us on our travels and adventures in the war troubled regions of our universe.
Follow, like and bookmark this page!

You feel you have something to say?
You want me to Cover your Event live?
Contact us for an interview or live coverage!
We will gladly talk to you and hear your opinion on the ongoing war.

You want to participate? –> Great!
We would love to include your articles, videos and tutorials!

Hope to see you soon on Caldari-News-Network.

Yours sincerely

Johna Jameson