Putting November Behind Us

November was horrible for me (3 kills, one of which was an arranged duel and another that was a cyno Velator, and 3 losses including a low grade snake pod) and was especially disappointing after the awesome October I had. I was logging in and looking for fights, they just did not come as expected. I was beginning to worry that the faction warfare and plexing changes had changed the warzone to be less friendly to my playstyle.

Well, last night changed that opinion in a hurry.

I logged in and noticed in teamspeak a whack of people in a channel. "A fleet!" I cried, "let's see if I can join."

I get in and discover that they are roaming around in Tech 1 frigates and destroyers. Not my favourite ship types for gang warfare but beggars can't be choosers. I hope into an arty Thrasher and head out to join the fleet in Black Rise region. The fleet is heading back towards Heydieles but is not standing down. Excellent.

Right after I join the fleet, we come across a Diemos and quickly dispatch it, and I accidently killed the pod (so used to flying solo!). Sorry FC.

Already December is better than October!

We continued on and ran into some Shadow Cartel pirates in Old Man Star (aka OMS). A Hurricane, Stabber Fleet Issue, Federation Navy Comet and Slepnir command ship. Our advance wing engaged and forced them through. The SFI was too fast to catch and the Comet warped off too, but the battlecruisers were caught and we piled in to the command ship. He boosted like a champ but in the end our large fleet (aka blob) proved too much. A few minutes later our scouting wing caught the Comet and killed it too.

We started plexing in several systems as things had died down and I decided to switch to my Dramiel.
Skipping over an uninteresting Thorax kill, we got reports of a Caldari militia gang composed of Crucifer, two Thrashers, and a Cormorant. We gave chase and fought them in a plex in Vifrevaert. I got an inital tackle and allowed us to kill teh tech 1 frigate and one Thrasher as I warped out in deep armour. I came back and found ourselves in a stand off with the two remaining destroyers 150 km off and our group of 9 frigates at the button. One of our cagey Incursus pilots loitered around a wreck 60 km off and lured them into approaching. The FC gave the order for fast tackle and despite still having armour damage I charged in close and hit the afterburner for transversal. I lost my shields and rest of my around, but the gamble paid off as the arty fit Thrasher and rail fit Cormorant could not track me and we dispatched him.

As we headed back to OMS intel reported a small battlecruiser gang headed our way from Pynekostah (pirates or War Targets, I don't remember). As the fleet rushed towards the Abune gate in Heydieles, I chose to upgrade firepower to my Hurricane. We engaged in Abune and I helped kill an Arazu and Hurricane.

But wait! THERE'S MORE!

That Caldari militia destroyer gang we busted up in Vifvaraert? They were in the alliance Happy Endings and we got reports that they were coming back in Drakes and a Huginn. Now fully in our bloodlust, we moved to engage. As we were setting up a Happy Endings Falcon jumped into our fleet and we obliterated it. A few minutes later the 4 Drakes, Bellicose (!), and Huginn warped in at 100 km off the gate. The FC, the always enthusiastic Marcel Devereux, gave the order to attack the Huginn.

Now I admit some hesitation on my part. It seemed unlikely we could catch the Tech 2 Recon with its long ranged webs before the Drakes picked off our frigates and destroyers, leaving our two or three battlecruisers hanging in the wind, so I stayed close to the gate. But Marcel made the right call and caught the recon long enough for the pile on to do its work. With their tackle gone the Drakes made a fight of it but ultimately were overpowered.

With that, and my Hurricane having several perilously overheated modules, I decided to log off. A total of 12 killmails with my name on them, all from decent PvP encounters and not a single noobship amoung them. Best night of PvP for me ever. This calls for Octo-hat and goggles.

Rise of the Provi-Abaddon

Last night I logged in and saw there was some hostiles in local, mostly pirates and no wartargets. I undocked in my Rifter to look around and had a pirate in an Incursus undock behind me. "1v1?" he offered in local and I said "sure" as I approached and locked.

The new Incursus is a tough opponent for an autocannon Rifter but I gave it my best shot with overheated guns a-blazing. I would get him into armour but his repper (confirmed afterwards its a single rep) always kept up. I dipped into low armour but my Nosferatu kept giving me the energy to pulse it on to try and keep in the fight. We were both in deep structure but mine gave out first. He traded my loot back to me in station as we chatted. (Suddenly I'm struck by the thought that I never looked for his drone... that could have been the difference.)

He left and I decided to look for trouble, so I got into my looking-for-trouble Dramiel and set off.

I love the Dramiel. Its great for jumping into plexes and catching things. But its not so great against hardened targets.

Over in Aldranette I found a Rote Kapelle Thrasher guarding a plex entrance. I was able to easily keep range and send my drones in and was considering diving in to finish him off with autocannons when he was weakened from the drones, but he had some shield repper installed and was back at 100% as my drones died. We declared draw and I took off to get more drones.

Later in Nemmallia there was a fleet of war targets including a Slasher frigate. Forewarned by Anabaric on the deadliness of the new upgraded Slasher, I tried to lure him into a minor plex where I could fight him without his bigger gangmates interfering, but militia member Eldaerin in a Comet was running the timer down and the Slasher thought better of an impromptu two on one.

I moved on and tried to separate a Harpy from a gang and succeeded in Oinasiken, and even had a Taranis in local come over to help, but the Harpy easily dispatched my drones and the interceptor and I was forced once more to leave the scene of the crime.

Frustrated, I went back to Heydieles to upgrade to something bigger. A Hurricane, I thought, before it gets its upcoming nerf. I went out and saw that the Harpy and gang (including two Thrashers and a Hawk) were in local. I tried to find them but they fought someone else in the militia and left to get repairs. I floated around Heydieles looking for another war target when they came back. More dancing, then I waited for them at the Abune gate. The Harpy came first so I jumped through and started to burn off.

The Harpy came at me and I was hitting him pretty hard as the rest of the gang came in. I figured I was going to die but I wanted that Harpy. However I went the wrong direction and he escaped my point. Oh well, I thought, I'll try a Thrasher. A militia mate in a Ferox landed at the gate about 50 klicks off now... and the hostiles up and left. A found out another minute later as to why: there was a big militia fleet on the other side of the gate. Oh my!

I joined that fleet and we swung around to face a large war target fleet in Old Man Star. I didn't know until after we engaged that I was in a fleet with ~50km weapons and my ~2km ranged autocannons were going to be a problem. So I played heavy tackle and helped the fleet kill a Tornado while they got a few other targets with their longer guns.

The fleet regrouped and I docked up to find a better ship for the composition. It was at this point I discovered that the ships I had that were ideal for this adventure required a powergrid implant in my skull that I did not have at this time. GAH! Desperate I grabbed an old faithful friend: A plated pulse Abaddon that I bought back in the days of Paxton Federation in Provi 1.0. But I've got tech II skills now and Amarr Battleship V. Sure, it may not jive with the rest of the fleet (slower and armour plated compared to faster nano and shields) but I was willing to play sacrificial lamb.

We met up with the enemy fleet again on the Abune gate in Heydieles. Our cloaky Loki pilot was asked to try and lure them out so we could pounce. A Taranis burned for the Loki and tackled him; we warped and the enemy fleet warped to bounce spot and came down on the Loki. The battle was joined as we fell out of warp.

We burned down a Hurricane and Drake but we failed to save the Loki and also lost a Naga battlecruiser that misheard the instructions and warped to the gate instead of the Loki pilot.

The slow moving Abaddon was never targeted over the battlecruisers in fleet. Sure it was easy to catch me but my tank was going to be tough to burn through while the rest of the fleet was shooting. I counted myself lucky, docked, and vowed to clean up my hanger for the next time.