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Covert Ops Gang
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Zanar Noud
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#1 - 2013-02-13 01:26:59 UTC
Hi i have been brainstorming recently on forming a gang of around 8-12 ships to form a Covert Ops Cloak Gang. I have never been in or saw a gang like this so its pretty new to me. I want the gang to have a large portion of SBs ( i love flying those little bastards) but need help filling out the rest of the squad. I obviously want the squad to be pretty quick so nothing larger than a cruiser. I was thinking something like....



6 - Nemesis

4 - Arazu

2 - Helios


Seems to me this would give us plenty of DPS and tackle. Anything small would be taken care of by the Arazu and the Helios would obviously be for scanning down people. Like i said i don't have much experience with covert ops, my main just finished training for SB so any advice would be helpful thank you.
Ohishi
Apocalypse Reign
#2 - 2013-02-13 04:56:02 UTC
Falcon

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.

Speedy McSpeed
Galactic Exploration and Mining Corporation
#3 - 2013-02-13 09:57:32 UTC  |  Edited by: Speedy McSpeed
You need a Falcon to provide ECM support to keep your bombers alive against tougher opponents and longer engagements.

Then, a rapier would be very handy to have to slow down any of the the faster targets you engage, torps aren't the fastest armaments you can use.

Both the above ships can be used to scan down opponents in system, replacing the helios and giving you another stealth bomber.

Stealth Bomber gangs are an incredible amount of fun!
Neshani Otomeya
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#4 - 2013-02-13 14:34:04 UTC
1. Join in game channel: Bombers Bar
2. X up for bomber ops.
3. See what covops gangs can do.

Check out: http://www.griefedgaming.com/?cat=7 for more info, killboards, and videos.
Zanar Noud
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#5 - 2013-02-13 15:27:38 UTC
Speedy McSpeed wrote:
You need a Falcon to provide ECM support to keep your bombers alive against tougher opponents and longer engagements.

Then, a rapier would be very handy to have to slow down any of the the faster targets you engage, torps aren't the fastest armaments you can use.

Both the above ships can be used to scan down opponents in system, replacing the helios and giving you another stealth bomber.

Stealth Bomber gangs are an incredible amount of fun!




Thank you great suggestions. I will definitely add those into the mix and add a bomber like you said
Seraph IX Basarab
Outer Path
Seraphim Division
#6 - 2013-02-13 17:46:54 UTC
It isn't a bad idea to have variety in the types of bombers you fly. As a rule of thumb if you aren't sure, use thermal damage, it's usually the least tanked...then kinetic and go from there. As for recon support, try to get a combination of Rapier/Falcon. Arazu is a nice addition as well.

As has been suggested, find chatroom "bombers bar" join the public TS, x up, have fun.
Substantia Nigra
Polaris Rising
Goonswarm Federation
#7 - 2013-02-14 01:44:36 UTC  |  Edited by: Substantia Nigra
Depends on what you’re wanting to achieve but a covops gang could be made up of:

  1. Stealth Bombers. Ya, I know, it’s obvious. But still. Not necessarily fitted with bomb-launchers, that depends on what you’re doing. Racial bonused torpedoes and a consistent bomb-type across your gang (either the bomb type bonused by most of your bombers, or thermal, or another if you have good reason for that). Otherwise bomber fit depends on what you’re doing and how you plan to engage … where do you do you want MSEs, RSDs, points, webs etc?
  2. Force recons for the fight. Falcons and rapiers are, IMO, number 1 and 2. Arazus next and poor old pilgrims kinda last (except that a pilgrim as repair logi ship can be very useful … use that drone bay and those slots to keep others alive and well). These recons are usually fitted with a greater emphasis on their main EW role (e.g. ECM, webs etc) and tank taking second place.
  3. Scouts. If you’re simple-roaming then a bomber or two is prolly adequate. If you’re BLOPSing then you want a scout that can drop a cov cyno for you … and you often also want them to be able to stop someone running away (tackle) and to be able to survive the onslaught of their target long enough for your fleet to be bridged-in. Recons are good for this. Tank-wise the falcon probably tops the heap, but the range bonused points of the arazu can make it a good contender despite less tank. These ships are usually fitted differently to your fighting recons … buffer, resists, cov-cyno, and point.
  4. BLOPS. They can be setup to play a part in the actual fight but with a decent bomber gang there’s usually little need, and they are pretty expensive and damn useful for the bridging role. Mine are dedicated to bridging / jumping, hiding, and carrying as much isotope fuel as possible … and always have a cov-cyno fitted themselves, just in case.
  5. Fuel truck(s). For a decent sized fleet on a reasonable distance engagement you will probably need the support of a dedicated fuel truck or two (lest you endup jumping a carrier in to refuel and rescue like we did last night). The fuel truck is a blockade runner fitted for cargo volume.


I understand that strategic cruisers (T3s) can also be used in BLOPS fleets, altho I have no experience with that. I’d be reticent to do so, except possibly a booster loki, mainly because of the huge cost differential between a T3 and the other combat ships used.

If the planned game dynamics changes go ahead this fleet concept will be boosted in the near future. Your BLOPS will have titanesque bridge / jump range, your blockade runner will also be able to use a cov cyno, you will also be able to use T3 tackle-scouts fitted with cov cyno.

Other posters have said it, and I’ll say it again … go get involved with the Bombers Bar so you can get some first hand experience with all this stuff. You will almost certainly enjoy and you will learn ehaps if you hang around there for a while.

I guess I am almost a 'vet' by now. Hopefully not too bitter and managing to help more than I hinder. I build and sell many things, including large collections of bookmarks.
Solomar Espersei
Quality Assurance
#8 - 2013-02-14 19:41:26 UTC
Join Bombers Bar and go on some runs with those guys. You'll learn a lot and have some fun along the way.

While the Falcon is always the first recon to be mentioned, I think that for SB gangs, I'd rather see a Rapier and an Arazu. If your SBs each fit a Damp along with the Arazu, you will simply shut down your opponents opportunity to target you. Load Scan Res Str Script during initial tackle, switching to Targeting Range Script once the Arazu has latched on. In this way, you'll never have to depend on the RNG which can be quite annoying for your Falcon pilot at times. Rapier and Arazu can both be on drone killing defense as well and they add some degree of DPS (which you need really) which the Falcon will not.

Arazu + Rapier= play defense a bit while holding targets firmly in place. Falcon is handy as well and I know Temp loves his, but I think the other 2 are more beneficial and make the gang stronger.

Quality Assurance Recruiting intrepid explorers and BlOps/Cov Ops combat enthusiasts