Warfare & Tactics

Cheers folks,

Im a 6-weeks old player whos already growing tired of mission runing and would love to start running some faction warfare to learn the basics.

I started off as Amarr, but many people told me that at low skill / ISK level, neither Amarr ships nor milita are a good choice for a newbie PvP. I realized I like Minmatar ships much more, so I headed over to Minmatar and trained into their frigates and cruisers. Right now I can fly a lot of t1 ships, I may be able to finish the core skills in the next month or two and start training into some t2 sutff.

Id like to join either Minmatar or Gallente militia, but there are few things Im not sure how to handle best:
1) standings - while missioning for Amarr, my standings with Minmatar and Gallente dropped a bit (1-3 and -1,8). Do I have to grind them to 0 or will I be able to join FW in a FW corp regardless of my standings?
2) fleets - is it possible to get into fleets and learn in npc militia corp? Or do I have to find a player run FW corp? I havent found any Minmatar or Gallente FW corps that would accept players below 10m SP - am I doing it wrong or am I bound to suck and be bored for a few more months?
3) home systems - I heard its not a good idea to enter trade hub systems while in FW - what should I do before I join FW? I cant really stack hundreds of ships at the moment, neither am I willing to create a bazzilion of accounts of logistics alts
4) minmatar fw - I heard there are almost no Amarr to fight - will I lack fights or is it a myth? Should I join Gallente instead?
5) ships to fly solo - I imagine Ill by flying solo a lot - should I stick to t1 frigates when looking for PvP or should I focus on cruisers instead?

Thank you for your input.

P.S.: any tips on newbie friendly and somewhat mature (Im 29 and kind of dont like playing with 16y/o or younger children) FW corps are highly appreciated.

1) You need standings at 0.0 with a faction to join their militia. Otherwise, to circumvent this restriction, you can find a player corp in either militia to join.
2) It is possible, but not a sure thing. Being in the NPC militia immediately subjects you to the possibility of being a spy/badkid/newb which a lot of FCs don't want (or have the patience) to deal with. There are some saints out there who take it upon themselves to "herd the cats" of general militia, however. Finding a good player corp (there are plenty out there who accept players of low SP) is the best way to get access to fleets.
3) Trade hub systems are fine, as long as they are not in enemy highsec. Rens or Hek or Dodixie would be A-OK for you in Minmatar or Gallente militia.
4) Minmatar are outnumbered heavily in the USTZ. It is even or leaning towards Minmatar superiority in the EUTZ (or so I am told).
5) T1 frigates are excellent, Rupture, etc.

In Minmatar, you could try any number of corps, but T.R.I.A.D. is a safe bet, although I'm not sure what their recruiting policy is like now-a-days.

It might be a little one dimensional seeming - but it is valuable experience in FLYING in PVP. Many of the things you learn in RvB will be applicable to faction wars and general PVP.

Just because they have 'set encounters' and such, does not detract from the experience you will receive in controlling your ship, activating the appropriate modules and maneuvering.

I'd urge you to try it. If you hate it, you can always do something else. Besides, while you're LOOKING for a FW corp, you'll be getting experience in fighting other humans.

That and any corp looking at you will look and see "oh, RvB... he at least has some PVP experience."
Corps like to see they won't be starting from scratch on training you.
(I know I sure dislike training people who know nothing of pvp.)

Like others have said join rvb. You can come and go as you want. The time I have spent there in the past has been great for. Learning pvp. I'm actually about to stick this account in blue. The jita this is easy just do not go to jita.

Gallente Militia War College is a training corp we have in Gall mil to help new players (new to PVP and FW, but mostly new to PVP) adjust into the warzone and learn, if nothing else, how to not die so freaking often. We're very lenient recruiters, but because of that we keep it separate from more sensitive militia operations. Don't expect instant permissions on TS and to be invited to armor hac gangs or whatever.

That said, we can help you get your feet wet if you're willing to take the initiative and ask questions, ask for invites to gangs and generally participate. There are a fair few people who take out public militia fleets in Gall mil atm, so you're not up **** creek if you come unaffiliated, though I wouldn't join the NPC corp if you don't have to.

I think that's more on the character of the pilot. For instance, you could put you or me in RvB and we wouldn't put rails on just to killmail whore. But I see what you're saying.

Could you point me in some specific direction for Minmatar / Gallente PvP? I checked TRIAD, but they dont seem to be recruiting newbies for active FW PvP.

I went through a bazillion of corps in the corp recruitment tab looking for a newbie friendly + faction warfare + EU TZ + at least 10 members, havent found any. Tried browsing the forums, but its mostly "looking for more 25m+ SP for 0.0 PvP, need to be able to fly at least t3 death star farting jedis".

Iron Oxide, and particularly Angry Mustellid don't care about SP. There is only a no d!ckheads rule, but even that is often waived if you are amusing. Suicide attacks are a speciality, as we often are roaming and too impatient to reship into something suitable once we smell amarr fleets. Also, we are a very small corp, so we don't have huge fleets.

Oh, and we also have a don't leave someone to die rule (unless it is funny)

Speak to Annah Kitheran, but be warned, you will need to name at least 4 different Mustelid species.

We do take new guys although we've just kicked all inactives and taken on a few new guys, so we might have our hands full teaching the guys we've taken on. Join "triad agency" and speak to the blokes.

On the other hand angry mustellid, iron oxide alliance are pro so they are a good choice.

Also if you want to stay in amarr fweddit seem to be a nice bunch of blokes, had a few lol convo's with a director, explore your options. Personally triad is my home and I love it so I'd be biased and tell you to join us :)