As a member of the Minmatar Militia, the sight of the quintessential drone carrier of the Gallente is a relatively rare sight for me. The 'Minmatar Rush' has meant that Matari vessels are used disproportionately both by on my side and by the Amarr (see the composition of most Fweddit fleets). The fact that for PvP, there is considered to be a relatively small range of effective ships that more often rely on a philosophy of face-rolling your enemy (Drakes, Hurricanes, Harbingers, Abaddons, Thrashers, Wolfs, Ruptures and to a lesser extent Stabber Fleet Issues) are all guilty of this particular quality. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's an uncomplicated play style and for fleet commanders its easier to coordinate fleets that have a singular method of fighting (and chances are you'll see a lot of fleets made this way for the upcoming Alliance Tournament X). For myself though, I felt the desire to try something new, if for no other reason than I'm getting bored of seeing the same ships in my hangar day after day and need some occasional changes to keep my play interesting. A secondary consideration has to been to find ships that are able to effectively counter the kitchen sinks that Fweddit are gaining a reputation for fielding. Most surprisingly, I've been hearing whining (actual whining) from within the militia for this at once most endearing and irritating quality of Fweddit, their signature "lack" of fleet organisation, and how this spoils good fights. The fact is that Fweddit's swarm tactics tend to ruin the more carefully arrayed forces of more experienced players.
Like this.
And this.
This entire engagement.
And also this because it just looks funny. It made sense that you need ships that are more durable and better able to sit through swarm engagements (which Matari ships, with their requirements for pulling range and kiting, are not really optimal.). As Fweddit's favourite ship seems to be the Thrasher, it makes sense you want a ship big enough to withstand little bits of projectile bouncing into it while still have to bring effective dps to bear on smaller ships. It seems then that the effective answer to this was go for drone carriers, which are known for being dangerous for smaller ships, and can adjust damage types with different drone swarms. They also give no fucks about range, as they are quite happy fighting at 0 or at 20km. With weaponry decentralised, it means that onboard you can concentrate on build a heavy tank (1600 plate or active tank) that can wipe thrasher ammo off its hull. Drones of course, do suffer from the weakness of being destructible, but if can field of fleet of even just 2 or 3 of these, you could easily take on 6 or 7 Thrashers and have obliterated them while only losing perhaps half the drone swarm of the cruisers, assuming the Vexor pilots are competent and have good drone skills.
This is the basic idea anyway. Eve remains tricky like that as any counter always has a reply, and I'm sure that experts in the field could say what is precisely wrong with my theory. But hey, everything is worth trying once, and my killboard will tell the story of how well it actually works.
Signing off,
Ed
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