Combat Philosophy: Minmatar Ingenuity

This will be the third in my Combat Philosophy series, having covered both Amarr and Gallente already. Thank you to those that have passed on comments to me (although why you don't post them on the blog is beyond me).

The Combat Philosophy of the Minmatar Race

 

The underdogs. The downtrodden. The survivalists. Also the wanderers and the nomads. Many are the ways in which the Minmatar are described, a heavily tribalistic but at the same time highly cohesive and unified power in New Eden. They are ostensibly the smallest of the empires, both in terms of number of corporate entities as well as controlled star systems, however, this does tell the whole truth about the potency of the Minmatar. For a long time now, certainly as long as I've been playing Eve, Minmatar ships have been upheld as some of the most enduringly popular and effective ships in the game, despite all the jokes about being clogged with rust and held together with nothing more than duct tape and the willpower of their pilots. But what willpower the Minmatar have. They are portrayed as some of the most persistant, most disciplined, and most cunning of the peoples of New Eden. The Minmatar way is to pull stunning victory using limited resources and being able to adapt to a variety of circumstances and opponents, even if this means that on paper, their capabilities appear to pale in comparison to that of the other three races. The fundamentals of the Minmatar are so:

1) Persistence, struggle and opposition to oppressive authorities defines the Minmatar as a people.

2) Flexibility and adaptability are the greatest tools of the tribes. They will whatever is on hand meld into ways that can be employed to defeat their enemies and defend their freedom

3) The Minmatar are insular within their tribes, even amongst each other. While they cooperate with others, they will never wholeheartedly embrace any universal unifying principles, and will stay dedicated to their hearth and home before all

These fundamentals form the the basis of Minmatar combat philosophy. Their persistence is represented in the way their ships are built. The combination of their speed and the tendency to focus on the application of firepower allow them to stay on their opponents consistently. They are not, as a rule ships that you simply aim towards the enemy ship and open fire, but will tend to progressively wear down their opponents through their fast tracking speed and the high rate of fire of autocannons. This also leads into the principles of flexibility and adaptability. Minmatar ships are generally known for their wide range of possibilities regarding fitting options, being able to mount shield or armour tanks, being able to select from a variety of different ammunition to take advantage of their enemies defensive weaknesses, and all manner of electronic warfare options. Their speed emphasises this, providing Minmatar ships with the advantage of being able to choose the circumstances of a fight, knowing where to fight and how close or far to be from the enemy. This does result in Minmatar ships, as a general rule, being weak when it comes to pitched battles, they lack the sheer tanks and firepower that the other races can bring to the table, their fighting style being more akin to a hit-and-run style of fighting, as prolonged engagements are rarely in the interest of a Minmatar pilot. With the advent of the Retribution Expansion, this is becoming even more evident, as the Tiericide initiative has nerfed a few key aspects of the Minmatar ship lineup, mostly notable with the changes to the Hurricane, which loses utility and fitting options and is slowed down, partly in an attempt to crush the massive Hurricane and fleets of null-sec warfare, which succeeded largely through sheer numbers rather than the flying skills of their pilots (trust me, when 100 Hurricans land shots on a single target, it hurts). This would seem to be not in the spirit of Minmatar warfare, which has generally favoured small-gang style warfare (Caldari and Amarr do the the big fleet thing), and the need to be a slightly better pilot of really get all the potential out of a Minmatar ship.

This points to the third fundamental of Minmatar warfare, that their ships thrive on small-scale warfare. In large fleets, the Minmatar have at best been underwhelming, at worst, the laughing stock of large fleet combat. Evidence of this can be seen in popular opinions of Minmatar ships larger than battlecruisers: Typhoons and Tempests are relatively rare to see vs. other racial battlships (Maelstroms, with their outstanding potential for alpha dps, are perhaps another story) and are rarely seen in large numbers. The carriers, the Nidhoggur and the Hel, are even rarer. When inquiring about training paths, I have personally been discouraged by just about every FC and CEO I've ever flown under, overwhelmingly preferring the Gallente and Amarr instead. And am aware of only one pilot in recently memory that could even fly a Hel. The Naglfar, the Minmatar dreadnought, appears once in while, but usually in fleets that are laden with Revelations and Moros', and is frequently joked about. This may change with some changes to its currently rather poor fitting options, which will see the abolition of its split weapon system to turrets only and a buff to its damage output. The racial Titan, the Ragnarok, is rarer still, and this pilot has never seen one, although is aware that they are out there. The reality is that Minmatar excellence is generally found in smaller ships and smaller numbers. Indeed, one of the bonuses of the aforementioned Ragnarok is providing its fleet with bonuses to signature radius reduction, a benefit that is largely to the advantage of smaller ships. This also points to the relative flexibility the Minmatar have at the small-scale level, they excel in fleets up to a certain size, but are also quite capable soloists, and will never have a problem fitting in whatever fleet comp they find themselves in (with the exception of the capital lineup, which are mostly favoured toward shield tanking).

So what is Minmatar combat philosophy? It's to flight fast and light, and use these to shape the battlefield to your advantage, rather that just wading through it. It means being able to adapt to changing circumstances in different scenarios, fleets, enemies, and locations, with the emphasis on the continual applications of dps while doing everything to mitigate incoming damage. It is to resist and persist through injustice, and to keep the people around you alive and fighting through whatever means are necessary. It means being a jack-of-all-trades while being a master of none, and it means to outfit and out-will your enemies

Signing off,

Ed

Reawakening

Edna gasped and coughed, hacking up the preservation fluids of the clone vat, breathing her first breath of fresh air in months.

She remained on her hands knees, trying to get a grip on her body. When she was certain her lungs were clear she stood up. She stumbled toward the bench in front of her, unable to keep balance at first. When she could finally stand, she moved to locker to her right. Opening it, she found her clothes, still fresh and folded the way she had left them 6 months ago.

She had been gone sometime.

Now dressed, moved out of the cloning chamber into her captain's quarters.

"Computer, what is my present location?"

"zzzk... You are in Cabin 457, Deck 47, True Power Logistical Support Station, L-A9FS star system, in the region of Stain ...zzzk"

"What is the current traffic in system?" She hoped that some of her old corporation mates were around at this hour.

"zzzk... system is empty ...zzzk."

Edna was perplexed. Where had everyone gone?

She left her quarters for the station's central data banks. She summoned up the noted activity in the star system for the last 6 months. It had appeared that her corporation had undergone a downsizing, and shed off many of its capsuleer agents, and returned to space in the Minmatar Republic.

"Well then" she thought, "it's a long way to empire."

Back in her quarters, she linked for the main channel of the Eve shipping company, Black Frog Freight.

A smiling blond man appeared on the interlink screen.

"Good day Edna Ironsides" he spoke warmly, "how may we help you today?"

"I need a jump freighter to pick up personal effects here in Stain, I'll send you the coordinates. Standard contract terms?"

"That will do nicely Miss. Expect the shipment to be completed in about a week."

"Thank you." said Edna, closing the link.

She walked out to the flight deck, and keyed engineering to bring up her Anathema-class covert ops frigate out of the storage hangars.

She looked at the shining golden hull of the ship. She smiled. Her second expedition into null-security space had ended, infinitely more pleasant than the first, but it was time, once again, to return back to the core worlds.

Some hours later, the Anathema slipped out of the docking ring of the unremarkable station in Stain. Edna set the navigation computer to Rens, the hub system of the Republic. She then activated the ship's cloak and vanished into the darkness.

Combat Philosophy: Gallentean Valour

Late last year I wrote an article on this blog covering the governing philosophy of the Amarr and their warships. I really enjoyed writing it (and for whatever reason, it remains one of the most viewed articles I've posted), as it provides basic principles that I wish I'd understood when I was starting out and identifying the particular strengths of a specific race.

The Combat Philosophy of the Gallentean race

The Gallenteans are the Western market liberals of New Eden. Seriously, reading through their introductory description, this is basically some kind of distorted notion of capitalism and multiculturalism in action together (as a Canadian in real life, I hear this verbatim a lot in domestic politics). I would hestitate to refer to the Gallente Federation as a true democracy, it is a liberal democratic capitalist state, which means that personal autonomy is promoted, but political participation is limited in order that those in power may still filthy rich and no serious challenge to the dominant ideology of the Federation is forthcoming, which probably goes a long way to explain why the Caldari, an illiberal, collectivist group, felt the impulse to secede. To be Gallente is to revel in the ostentatious, the heroic, and generally being ingenious, flexible and resourceful. Some would also include foolhardy in that list. In short, being space cowboys. Their basic motivation is to spread the fire of freedom to the autocratic, nasty places of Eve. A Gallentean genuinely believes he is just a little bit better than everyone else because he/she lives in the most wonderful empire in the cluster, and wants to share their freedom, and Quafe, with everyone else, either diplomatically or with the barrel of a neutron blaster. The fundamentals for the Gallente are thus:

1) Personal autonomy and glory are paramount. It is through the ingenuity and heroism of individuals that victory is acheived.

2) The Gallente will use their flexibility, cunning, and genius to overcome their enemies, as well as by having tough, well-built ships that use the best of Gallentean technology


These are the basic principles that guide Gallentean starship design and combat essentials. The 'cowboy' tendency of the Gallente has tended to lend itself a balls-deep approach to warfare. This manifests itself in a large part of the ship lineup having a do-or-die combat style, epitomised by the wonderous blaster turret. Blasters have, unequivocally, the highest damage output of any weapon system in New Eden, surpassing lasers, projectiles, missiles, and railguns in sheer firepower. This, however, does not come without costs. First, as is the nature of hybrid weapons, they are limited to a varying split between Thermal and Kinetic damage (although, in practice, one or both of these are usually reasonably effective against most targets, Thermal vs. shields, Kinetic vs. armour). The second, is that blasters have an effective range of "up-in-your-face." Although usually some range is possible with most turret setups, pulling range is rarely ever a priority. In a Gallente gunboat, you want to get in as close as possible (blasters have superior tracking, giving them the capability to fight at zero with minimal consideration for angular velocity) and melt the face of your enemy. However, at that close range, there isn't really an option for disengaging, so when you do go in, one way or another, someone's going to die. This also leads a rather popular misconception that some Gallente ships are terrible (Brutix, Deimos, Hyperion). This simply isn't true, it's just that because of their fighting style; if you misjudge the strength of your opponent, you are unlikely to survive such an error. Futhermore, because you tend to be the highest dps ship on field and you're likely to be within the optimals of the enemy, you're more than likely going to be called primary.

Another factor that plays into the individualistic streak of the Gallente, is that, for the most part, and with obvious exceptions, the Gallente ship lineup is not very fleet-oriented. This is demonstrated by the use of active armour tanks (and in fleet setups buffered tanks are usually prefered), heavy drone use (again unwieldy in many fleet situation barring capital fleets), and usually an even balance between tank and gank, rather than the tendency of Caldari or Amarr ships to lean more heavily one way or the other. All these traits however, can generally stand you in good stead in solo and small gang combat situations, where the aggregate dps of your enemy is relatively low, and possibilities for support ships are more limited. An excellent example of this, in fact, can found in one particular Gallente support ship, the Oneiros. It is based on the principle of providing reps without the benefit of cap chains (which would be highly recommended if you were using Guardians), and thus acts as a soloist, limiting its capabilities in larger fleets. I would generally recommend Gallente ships for solo or small gang PvP, but would probably elect for something else for fleet combat, although this does not mean that the Gallente cannot be effective fleet ships. On the contrary, in large pitched battles, having a Thanatos, with its obscene dps output, remains a mainstay of capital fleets throughout the star cluster, but that, by and large, most Gallente ships are superior solo/small gang performers.

In conclusion, what is Gallentean combat philosophy? It is the confidence that you are the burning light of freedom and happiness for New Eden, and will pwn your enemies with your unsurpassed firepower and adaptability. You are a space cowboy, and the bandits are scum that you wipe off your windshield as you cruise through. For you, when you arrive on the field, someone is going to die, and if its not them, you will make them hurt before you take them down. Your heroism and testicular fortitude will overcome your foes, and you will be the most ostentatious mofo this universe has ever seen.

Signing off,

Ed

Life away from New Eden

My vacation from Eve has dragged on longer than I expected.

It's not that I have become disinterested with the game, I actually still check other people's blogs from time to time and check the latest patch notes. Part of me imagines eventually returning.

 Oddly though, I may not return as Edna. While I realise this will cue comments from the peanut gallery pointing out the loss of all the time, work and SP that I've put in going to waste because of my vanity, and they do have a point. Edna represents the culmination of nearly two years of play, and in light of that, to start anew does seem really silly. However, playing Eve for me was never, at a fundamental level, a matter of skills and ships, but of the shaping of a personality, a being in the world of cyberspace. Edna is, representatively, a copy of my own personality in real life, as is the case most of the time when forming virtual identities. Edna isn't me, but a reconstituted conception of how I wished to represent myself in playing the game. Edna has a personality, ideas and attitudes, that are at once my own, but also Edna is in a sense autonomous from myself in that she is different from me and is unique.

However, in considering a return to Eve, I feel like the virtual identity that I built around Edna is no longer one that I identify with. Things have changed for me in real life that fundamentally change the way I would choose to represent myself online. One way I know this is through a game that I have been playing a lot of lately, Planetside 2. PS2 is great, not least because it's the first time I have been able to play a first-person shooter that runs smoothly on my somewhat meagre rig. For any interested in finding me, my primary alias is GreenTitan - playing as the Vanu Sovereignty on Helios server. However, GreenTitan, another virtual identity I have made, is ostensibly not of the same kind of personality as Edna Ironsides. I talk less on comms, I take a more responsible, leadership role when I'm out in field with others, and I downplay my subtle love for trolling, as well as my excitability in large combat situations. However, I am far more vindictive, exacting, and cautious. I also find myself more concerned with in-game logistics rather than the full frontal combat that was emphasised as Edna. PS2 has actually made me more carefully consider how I interact with others online, not least because PS2 mechanics demand more cooperation among players than Eve Online - it virtually punishes you for playing alone.

I feel that now, if I were to return to the world of New Eden, I will need a new persona to represent the new way in which I choose to produce and reproduce my virtual identity in-game, and the associations I want to build with other players. Sure, I will be set back tens of millions of SP, but in the end, it is more important to have a virtual identity that I can invest in than it is to have T2 autocannons.

On vacation

In case it is not evident by my lack of posting, it is essay writing season in real life, and have not had time to write anything on here.

Be back in a few weeks!

Happy Halloween to the people of Eve Online

Harbinger: The Special Ed Guide

Following my previous post on Amarrian combat philosophy, I have been feeling the compulsion to expand on these fundamentals and how they apply to specific ships.

So, I decided I would begin with one of my favourite ships in the game, both to fly and for pure aesthetics, the Harbinger.

For research, I've trawled (and trolled) my way through a variety of different fittings, from both Battleclinic and Failheap. I've consulted with pilots in-game who I trust to know what the fuck they're doing when they undock, and of course I've done a fair amount of flying in the ship itself. One particular site that I do recommend for anyone looking into trying out any new ships and wants to learn about engagement strategies in PvP is Azual Skoll's blog The Altruist. Azual is a member of the famed Tuskers corporation, known for their expertise in the field of small-gang PvP, and has a series of posts called Know Your Enemy, which provide brief analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of a wide range of ships in Eve Online. Azual's analysis for the Harbinger is fairly general, and is geared toward the low-sec pilot, so this post will be a more in-depth look at the particular nuances of the Amarr's iconic battlecruiser, as well as its usage in and around my current home in null-sec.

The Harbinger is an exemplar of what it means to fly Amarr. It is large, imposing, and expresses a beautiful art deco aesthetic; It is the more damage-focussed platform in the battlecruisers, while its brother the Prophecy is more focussed on putting up a beastly tank, and the Oracle fulfils the niche role of the Tier 3 battlecruisers with its use of large guns. This means that the primary role of a Harbinger pilot is the outpouring of lasery death upon one's enemies, and not really a whole lot else. The standard (cookie-cutter) fit that is used looks something like this (note that for efficiency's sake, these fits are made using the All level V option on EFT, alter accordingly):

[Harbinger, Standard]
1600mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates I
Adaptive Nano Plating II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Damage Control II
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II

Experimental 10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Warp Disruptor II
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 200

Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Focused Medium Pulse Laser II, Imperial Navy Multifrequency M
Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I
Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Hammerhead II x5

This fit will accomplish most goals in PvP that are acheivable with a Harbinger.  With Navy Multifrequency it puts outs 620 dps with drones, with an engagement range of about 6km. It's modest drone bay is a complement to this and gives you the option of two flights of small drones or one flight of mediums  The cap booster ensures that the ship can drag out any engagement as long as necessary and is basically immune to capacitor warfare, which is not unreasonable to expect, as its arch nemesis, the Hurricane, often has a pair of neuts on board. It is also able to answer with a single neut of its own.

It possesses a standard array of tackle, which makes it potentially viable to engage targets alone, and also ensure that anything it does catch will be held down for the duration, and doesn't move too much, as lasers notoriously suffer from relatively poor tracking compared to autocannons and blasters.

 For a damage-focussed ship, it also possesses a fairly formidable tank - this fit has an EHP listed at almost 73k, and has over 18k hp in armor. The tank though, comes at a price: this is not a fast ship. While it can reach 900m/s, not an unreasonable speed for a battlecruiser, the huge plate on it means that it handles like a '53 Buick (pictured left). It has an align time of 14s, which basically means that if you're going down, you probably won't make it out in time. Which is fine, because in the Amarr worldview, they will not run from their inferior foes, and would rather die for their God then scurry home as cowards. It also means that dictating range against virtually anything else will be difficult, so I would recommend two things: carry crystals for all occasions, especially, in this case, the almighty power of T2 Scorch, which extends your reach out to 20km. The other thing is that really, unless you have the truly massive balls required to fly expensive ships in risky situations, you should never be alone. Ideally, I reckon that you should have at least two friends, one in something smaller to provide fast tackle support and protect you from frigates and their ilk (they can and will get under your guns), and another to provide either more damage (and flexible damage at that, seeing as you are only able to deal out EM and thermal) or some kind of electronic warfare that keeps them from engaging you at range (sensor dampeners or ECM). This triad should allow you maximise the benefits that come from having a Harbinger in fleet, namely applying overwhelming force upon a target. The utlity of this kind of fleet covers short-range roaming (if I was going on a major excursion, I'd feel better if there were at least 4 other Harbingers/damage ships with me), gate camping, in which case instead of tackle, bring an interdictor, and defending structures like starbases, where its high durability allows it to endure extended sieges.

With the standard fit enumerated, how else can you fly this ship? The most drastically different, but still viable, fit in common usage is the Shield Harby. The Shield Harby is basically the Amarrian attempt at answering the Shield Hurricane. A battlecruiser that is light, fast, possesses a moderate tank and is good at applying lots and lots of damage, as all your low slots are freed up for damage mods. As an example:

[Harbinger, Shield Harby]
Heat Sink II
Heat Sink II
Tracking Enhancer II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
F85 Peripheral Damage System I

Experimental 10MN MicroWarpdrive I
Large Shield Extender II
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Disruptor II

Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
Heavy Pulse Laser II, Scorch M
[empty high slot]

Medium Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

Valkyrie II x5

I might personally use this kind of fit if the rest of my fleet were out in canes and I simply didn't have a cane available or didn't feel like flying a rust-coloured phallus. This is not that uncommon, as, barring the nerf that the Cane is destined for this winter, it is a stock ship for most groups operating in null-sec. When fitted using Pulse lasers and Scorch it puts out about the same damage and longer range application than the cane, with it's massive optimal (this fit can hit out to about 30km). This said, because this is an Amarrian bulwark, it is persistently slower than the cane, although its align time is virtually the same (with at least two Nanos, mind you), and you find that in order to keep up you will have to sacrifice your damage potential. Also, Eve is an unrepentantly racist place, and people will pick on you for being a token Harbinger in a Hurricane fleet. In short, while this fit does work, it is probably better, unless the whole fleet is Shield Harbys, if you just use a cane, which accomplishes this kind of role better, and it will save your FC from having to castigate you for falling behind/sucking at delivering damage.

Other kinds of fits? Well, there is the Beam Laser Harbinger - Beams are a relatively unloved weapon for PvP, unless you're sniping, which is a relatively uncommon activity out here null-sec, as close-range combat is currently in vogue. The fit is not that different from the shield harby. Dump the tank, fit beams, and, as the operating range of this ship is now 35km+, sub out tackling equipment for things like sensor boosters and defensive EWAR in the event you encounter something that actually can actually fire back at you. Fit with T2 Aurora, a Harbinger using Heavy Beams has an optimal of 70km, and its alpha will definitely get your attention if it hits you (at least 1000 per volley). I've used this fit on a couple of occasion for things like gate camping, but it relies on having tackle actually down on the gate, and for your alpha to count, there should be several other pilots sniping with you. Lots of fun,  but possesses relatively limited utility.

The other kind of fit that I've encountered is the Neuting Harbinger. This fit isn't technically a true neuting ship, but instead has a 4/4 split in its high slots between lasers and neuts, while the rest of the fit will be an armour tank and tackle complement like the Standard fit. This is most definitely a fleet ship, and provides a surprisingly effective amount of neuting power in a brawl, while still delivering damage of its own and mounting a significant tank. While I've never actually used this fit myself, I have seen it used in fleets I've been in to devastating effect. Perhaps though, I would only recommend this if you've had a lot of experience using the Harbinger, and have an established niche for it in the fleet that you are in.

So there it is, The Special Ed Guide to the Harbinger. Live big, fly safe, shoot all da tings and have fun

Signing off,

Ed

Combat Philosophy: Amarrian Might

Today I'd like to talk about something that is generally referred to in a variety of forums, blogs, fittings and wikis, but is rarely talked about as a singular subject:

The Combat Philosophy of the Amarrian race

A little while ago, after having rotated through all 4 different racial groups, I came back to the Amarr. Having experimented with the fighting tactics and strategies of all the races, I found myself consistently coming back to the Amarr as my preferred race, largely because I find the fighting style of their ships to be my preferred way of playing Eve Online and my favourite engagement style of my enemies.

So then what is Amarrian combat philosophy? And can you, as a potential or current capsuleer of Eve Online use this knowledge to make decisions regarding how you play the game?

The answer is a combination of role-play history and a common traits shared by almost all 53 (soon to be 54) non-unique vessels that constitute the Amarrian ship line-up.

The Amarr are depicted as this monolithic, theocratic, advanced slaveholding master race of the New Eden Cluster. Barring the Jovians, they were the first and thus most advanced of the Eve racial groups. From their belief in the divinity of their emperor they derive their drive to assimilate and dominate all life in New Eden for the glory of their religion. The important bottom line in this is that they are convinced of their absolute supremacy in the universe. They fly gorgeous, sleek, golden, instruments of destruction, tirelessly working for the glory of God. They honestly believe, at all times, that they are the shit, and no corporatist, freedom-loving, or rebellious scum can match the sheer capacity for pwnage that the Amarr are capable of delivering. The two fundamentals that can be taken away from this are:

1) The Amarr are not pussies, they will not run away, they will stare you down and melt your face.

2) Because of a common thread of religion, they place high value in their unity as a race. Thus, the Amarr function of the principle that together they will conquer their enemies.

These fundamentals thus form the basis for understanding how Amarrian starships are designed and the particular goals they are built to acheive. Their supremacy complex is manifested as a doctrine for the the projection of a massive, overwhelming show of force. Thus, their racial weapon, lasers, are built to accomplish this. So they only do EM/Thermal damage, who the hell cares when you have some of the highest damage modifiers of any weapon in the game that can be adjusted instantly to almost whatever range you want (with only the longest ranges being beyond engagement). Kiting? Who needs kiting when you can just put your lasery fist through the front window of that Hurricane? (though it should be noted that if it weren't for the huge plates the ships carry, Amarrian ships are in fact quite fast). Speaking of Hurricanes, it could be argued that the Amarr and Minmatar represent a dichotomy in Eve, whereby the style of fighting of each is built around neutralising the advantage of the other. The dotrine of overwhelming power is also evident in the defensive style of the Amarr. The use of staggering amounts of armor plating, coupled with the largest capacitors to power both the lasers and the damage hardeners, is used to absorb anything you throw at it, at the same time demoralising the enemy by showing how slowly they can burn through that tank. Even relatively small ships in the Amarrian line tend to work best with huge amount of buff armour (leave active tanks for the Gallente swine). T2 variants in the Amarrian line reflect generally a preference for either overwhelming firepower or overwhelming tank (though with the tiercide of the T1 line, this is beginning to show in all of the ship classes now).

The second fundamental is manifested through the increased effectiveness of the Amarr in fleets. When trawling through the forums, you tend to notice that it is relatively uncommon for someone to cite an Amarrian ship as a good solo combat ship (generally eschewing them for the Minmatar or Gallente, which do solo/small gang rather more effectively). The Amarr are a generally fleet-style race. For instance, I find being solo in a Harbinger to be rather underwhelming. I'm a flying brick with lasers. Everyone can run away from me and my damage output is not terribly frightening. Now take ten Harbingers and you have a singular monolith of force, with excellent damage projection and an aggregate amount of armour approaching 200 000 hp. The reality is that a horde of Amarrian ships presents a nearly unstoppable force, only really overcome by an even larger oppoosing force (and to be fair, that's not terrible difficult to do in null-sec).

In conclusion, what is Amarrian combat philosophy? It is the unshakeable belief that you have balls given to you by the Divine and that your enemies are weak and feeble so when you show up on field, you use the threatening reach of your powerful weapons to commit them to dust while laughing at whatever crap is bouncing off your hull. At the same time, you place faith in those around you that together, the heresy of your opposition will be burned into the abyss, and tarnish the glory of the Empire no more.

Signing off,

Ed

Report from the Docking Ring: October 2012

Captain's Log of Edna Ironsides
Aboard CS Gatekeeper (Harbinger-Class Battlecruiser)
Outside docking ring of TransStellar Shipping Storage, in orbit above the 11th moon of Sagain VIII

The day has come. After weeks of preparation and squeezing the last dregs of LP from faction warfare, I, along with my corp, are leaving our home in Dal for the frontier of Stain.

The run-up to our move has been a dramatic and often hilarious series of events. Our last Tier 5 push involved us all running around like headless chickens trying to get everything onto market and make all the ISK needed to move our resources south. It would seem that we've left a good mark on the war zone, as we are aware that some Amarr corps are under standing orders not to engage us in space. Meanwhile, after some time and effort on the part of Stoogie and the directors to negotiate with our new neighbours has largely failed, as it would appear we'll be dropping in hot on everyone.

They will probably live to regret that attitude.

Jump freighters have been mobilising a staggering number of ships and weapons down, and we fully intend to clear out the carebearing riff-raff. The last week has been characterised by watching the freighters come and go as a collection of us gate camp here in Sagain and generally make life unpleasant for the locals. Already bubbles and gamps are up in Stain, although rather anti-climatically, Carrion made himself the first casualty of our endeavour in this Drake. Hopefully though, the rest of the alliance can resist this rather embarrassing kind of behaviour, at least to begin with.

With some work, we hope to have established ourselves as terrible nuisance in Stain by the end of November.

Yarrrrrr!