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Appetite 4 Destruction - Quality over Quantity

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Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#421 - 2012-12-10 17:30:47 UTC
Better but not perfect.

Although we strive to get better, we succeed for the most part because we typically know what we are supposed to do when we are supposed to do it, and we know what the FC wants before he calls for it; for the most part. Last time we faced Northern Coalition dot we had 7 drakes and 3 Basilisks, and we ran into what seemed like 600 Talos and 40 Basilisks (15, 4). Needless to say we didn’t win that battle, had we known that they had THAT much we wouldn’t have considered it.

This time we had two Basilisks, and a collection of shield battle cruisers.
Our Gang: 13 Drake x 4, Ferox, Harbinger, 4 Hurricanes, Myrmidon, Stabber Fleet Issue, Enyo.
ND Dot Gang: 15 Vagabond, Falcon, Hurricane, Tornado x2, Scimitar x2, Cynabal x4, Male, Sabre x2
Brushie Brushie Brushie: (unknown)

Although we had more firepower, we were scattered around system trying to figure out who was who and where these gangs were, and who was fighting whom or if anyone. The FC called us to roll safes until we could get a handle on things and sort out this information. In retrospect it was a perhaps not the best call, but we did as ordered. The NC gang had the lion’s share of the ships we had on scan and they had a prober. They probed out one of our Hurricanes and we then had to re-organize for the fight.

Due to us not sticking together, our Basilisks were separated and we had people all over the system. By the time we were able to warp to our tackled Cane he was dead. The fight started out rough; we lost a second cane then a Ferox. Our Basilisk had not arrived and it was not going well for the good guys. After the Ferox went down, we managed a tackle on the Falcon taking him out of the fight. Our third Hurricane went next.

By this time we had lost half of our DPS, but then our Logi was finally in play. I had managed to tackle a Scimitar, but the orders were to put the DPS on a Cynabal. We overpowered their Logi reps and he went down shortly thereafter, we next applied pain to their Hurricane, went balls deep on a Vagabond who had gotten too close. Finally we then came back to kill the Scimitar that I had scrambled and webbed the entire fight; for good measure we killed a Talos as they fleeing the battlefield.

Although we had won the isk battle, we lost a couple pods worth more than enough to make the fight a draw. On a bright note, we did hold the field and have more than enough loot to pay back our guys for their losses. Another thing is that I doubt seriously we would have gotten as many kills as we did unless the OUCH guys came over and did some tackling for us. Thanks to Bren and his boys for being some badass tacklers.

Thanks to Bren Genzan, Roi Defensetre, Gaius Plantagenet, Yozudin, Kurotage, Jak Reacher for their quick thinking. In retrospect we should have simply stuck together as we had more than enough to handle their gang, it’s just that we were too scattered. Live and learn.

http://killboard.appetite4destruction.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=42145
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#422 - 2012-12-10 20:09:05 UTC
What constitutes a bada$$ in Eve?

I have been trying to figure this out for years. Some people like to make movies and tell everyone how awesome they are (Prom Exe…) some people are just awesome. (Gods Coldblood). I on the other hand have never claimed to be awesome. I am just a guy who likes to blow things up, I got my first kill in February of 2006. I had joined Xetic alliance and was way out of my element; I soon moved to hang out with some friends in Genesis region.

We joined up with a corp. of all Sharza Emeralds a mostly all Norwegian corp. It was then that I was introduced to PVP. We shot pirates, and I had finally found what I had been missing. When that group moved on from the region I ran into a nice bunch of pirates…Gods Unwanted. This was my first time doing pirating and it was FUN. We rolled around in Megathron’s, Tempests, Armageddon’s, and me and my friend Phloyd in Thorax’s.

We had pretty much dominated Genesis region fairly easily, so it was time to move on. We wanted to make some money and we were told we could make tons of it in 0.0 so we joined Veritas Immortalis. It was fun for a while but we didn’t have the tactics down for 0.0 at this time, we were belt pirates at heart. After that brief run in Great Wildlands I ended up in my own corp. doing a merc contract. Pretty soon, our corp. merged with the corp. we were contracting with….and that corp. was A4D.

Since I have been in A4D, I have made roughly 3-4000 kills. Battleclinic has me at roughly 5500 kills, so does this make me awesome? Nope. I may never be Gods Coldblood (whom I have ultimate respect for), but I hold my own. I may not be number one, but I refuse to be number two. In A4D we all have a similar philosophy. We may be humble, we may not be better than you, but when you least expect it, we will send you to your cloning facility. But remember these words: No matter how good you are, no matter what your opinion is of yourself, you can be killed and we are the guys who will try and do it.

P.S. I am not even the top killer in my own corp. That honor belongs to Bullmastiff whom is a true Bada$$! I am however catching up slowly.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#423 - 2012-12-11 16:29:58 UTC
Yesterdays Roam


So we decided to head to Scalding Pass, we had been running the same people as Logistics Pilots and decided to switch them around so we all have knowledge of the T1 Logi capabilities. We undocked with 2 Augoror’s, 1 Stabber Fleet, 4 Vexors, 1 Omen, 1 Rupture. We wanted to find a new hunting spot so we went 26 jumps to Immensea. It is dead by the way.


We decided to see if there was anything in the old Legio Astartes space, which of course there wasn’t. We traveled without a single contact until we hit the OSHT gate in Curse. I jumped through being the good scout I am and there was a Talos, Naga, Tornado, Huginn, Sabre, Rapier.


To get them aggressed I pretended to run back to the gate, they all aggressed on me, and my tank was holding fairly well, I went in for a tackle. Before I could get one locked I was webbed so much that I couldn’t get in scramble range. I called in the gang bug the enemy fleet was in full kiting mode. Instead of chasing, we motored on back to the gate.


Once the enemies found out that we weren’t going to chase, they came in for the tackle on us, which in turn allowed us to get a scramble on the Rapier. A couple of them came in to save the tackled rapier, which allowed us to get a tackle on the Naga and Talos. Without the Logi it would have been a different fight.


We realized that we should have went to J2 after all but had loot in the cargo, so we went back to K-Q dropped off loot, grabbed some beers. We set waypoint this time with 3 Ruptures, 2 Augorors, Omen, Stabber Fleet Issue, 4 x Vexors. As we jumped into 9PX, some buddies of ours called us over to help them with a gang that was on the other side.


After finding out there were about seven ships on the other side, we figured we could take the enemy gang out with our 8 T1 Cruisers fairly easily. I jumped in and ran back to the gate once again. Just like our last fight the Sabre bubbled up the gate and everyone red boxed me. I called in my fleet and let the carnage begin.

Although they had a Scimitar, the Scimitar was on the gate and got scrambled as he tried to get out of range. The Scimitar was primary, followed by the Eagle, then Loki, then Sabre then Stabber Fleet whom I had pointed and webbed the entire fight. Although there were times where I thought my tank was going to fail, our two Augoror’s did an admirable job keeping me alive.


We eventually did go to J2, but it was dead. We derped a Vexor into a 300 man AAA blob on the way home…but for the most part we were incredibly successful.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#424 - 2012-12-12 15:10:32 UTC  |  Edited by: Sygma
Queue the song: Wipe Out

We had been experimenting with multiple T1 builds rotating between shields and armor with various degrees of success. Our goal was to attack much more formidable gangs to find the capabilities of these new builds. Unfortunately, any gangs that we encountered recently were either WAY too big, or much too inept to be formidable. So we decided to force fights that we shouldn’t take; but were going to take anyway.

Tonight’s T1 Cruiser theme was: Caldari. Moa’s, Caracals, Osprey’s, and a Blackbird’s were the flavor of the day. Although our theme was fun, and sound, we needed an Ace in the hole, that Ace was our Blackbird. We knew he would always be primary so we fitted him up with a high resistance buffer thinking that he would be called primary first, we also fitted him with a Multi-spectral just in case. We figured that 3 Osprey’s would do the trick to keep him alive in a typical brawl.

To test these ships, we decided to go to J2-/RNM area, where the Doubly Predictabe Unforgetables live, This starts out with our scout poking around until he found some schmuck ratting in a plex with a carrier, although the carrier warped off, we accomplished our mission, we were on their radar. Never engaging without knowing they could win, they jumped in a covert ops scout to make sure they brought more than enough.

Their original gang of a Devoter, 2 Guardians, and a Harbinger, were not enough to insure victory so they buggered off until they could get more to join their fleet. We knew what we came for, so we loitered around until they could form up. Local jumped by 13, it was on. The order came in to warp to the S1 gate…we landed in their Devoters bubble. Instead of simply motoring out and spreading them thin, we decided to fight in RNM.

It was time to see what this Caldari fleet of DOOM could do (and couldn’t). We primaried the only ship on the field, the Devoter. We all knew we would switch to the Guardians when they arrived. The Devoter was in 75% armor when the Guardian arrived, we took him down to 20% armor when the second arrived. We applied as much pain as we could but it wasn’t enough. As expected our Blackbird was primary, he managed one Jam cycle on the 2nd Guardian but vaporized as our 3 Ospreys were NOT enough to keep him alive…the writing was on the wall.

We switched targets to the two squishies, the Talwar, and the Stabber and were able to kill both. We couldn’t break the Guardians tank and in hindsight we should have went back to the Devoter as his bubble was up the entire fight and was unable to receive remote repairs. Those were the only ships we had the capability of killing as the Guardians were simply too strong for our gang once we started losing DPS.

Our gang: (11) 3 Caracals, 1 Blackbird, 4 Moa’s, 3 Ospreys.
Their gang: (14) 2 Guardians, 2 Loki, Legion, Proteus, Devoter, Harbinger, 3 Hurricane, Brutix, Stabber, Talwar

As you can tell by just looking at what the two gangs had, we truly had little chance to win this fight. Perhaps if we had had one more Osprey we could have kept our blackbird alive long enough to jam out one of the Guardians which would have shifted things to our favor, but it was evident quickly that we just didn’t have enough firepower to overwhelm a single Guardian’s repairing power without the Blackbird intact.

We learned that 3 Ospreys = 2 Basilisks, 4 Ospreys would have done the trick. We learned that the Blackbird theory would have worked had we had an extra Osprey. Because if the increase in Ospreys, that would leave us with 8 (Other ships), 5 Moa’s, 2 Blackbirds, 4 Osprey’s would have had the ability to actually win that fight….live and learn. Either way we were going to take that fight regardless. In retrospect if we would have killed just one of those Guardians, the outcome possibly MAY have been different.

http://killboard.appetite4destruction.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=42304

Special thanks to Jer'sDaNK for expressing his breathtaking awesomeness “u r suck, we kicked u r a$$”. His brutal honesty is a virtue lost in today’s society; I consider it an honor that he took time out of his schedule to describe in excruciating detail how doleful A4D is. He encouraged us that one day we can aspire to rival his pvp prowess and and join him in his lifetime 1235 kills. (A great month by anyone’s standards!!!) His encouraging words remind us that if we work hard enough, work smart enough, and if we engage smaller fleets and or vastly inferior fleets, we can one day be true PVP’ers.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#425 - 2012-12-13 14:44:45 UTC
Tech 1 Wipeout Experiment Part 2

We were trying a different tactic, we decided on fitting Thorax’s with 1 800 plate and 3 trimarks. We figured that this would be plenty of buffer with two Exequrors remote repairing us. Instead of calling primaries, we decided on using EC-600 drones and sensor dampeners to limit their relock time. The theory was to find your own target, lock it down and pound it with blasters. That would eliminate enough DPS to keep us alive….in theory.

Our theory came to fruition sooner rather than later. Local went up by 12(Visible), so we went to investigate. Broken Toys were sitting on the CL gate with a fleet of mostly Stabbers. Our FC du jour made the call to warp our little gang to pay them a visit. We knew that if we got separated we would be in deep trouble so we all agressed their blackbird; they all jumped out. We waited out our agro timer out and jumped into their waiting fleet.

We entered the system to see that they had a few more than we expected. There was no backing out of this fight, we were outmanned x2, but we committed. Our tactic was once again reiterated, but we had to get their blackbird off the field, once we take down the blackbird we would then go on to our individual targets. The fight was on!

Their Fleet: (16) 1 Blackbird, 1 Rupture, 11 Stabbers, Wolf, Crow, Heretic
Our Fleet: (10) 1 Rupture, 7 Thorax, 2 Exequror

We were spread around the gate. As we approached the Blackbird, they called Kogel primary first. Although our Exequrors were overheated, the 800 buffer fit was insufficient. DarMatter was primaried next, and died in a ball of fire just as quick as Kogel. We had lost 20% of our total DPS, and our Exequrors were jammed. We finally managed to get all of our DPS on the blackbird finally knocking him out of the fight. Our Exequrors could now do their jobs and the Thoraxes could now engage in solo fights.

The Stabbers were close range fit which played into our strength; we webbed and scrambled anything close and started brawling. We took down two of their stabbers, but we lost yet another Thorax. As our five remaining Thoraxes jammed out their Stabbers, their DPS started to wane. They were down to 13, and we were down to 7 with 5 Damage dealers. We continued with the plan, and knocked down a Stabber, then two, then three, then the Rupture, then another Stabber. They knew that they were no longer able to win, they started to GTFO; they had enough. GF’s were given all around. By this time we were down to the following.

Their Fleet: Heretic, Wolf, 5 Stabbers
Our Fleet: 2 Exequrors, 5 Thoraxes

We won but learned that our build needed some major lovin’. We decided that we should go to Electron blasters and 2x 800 plates. We rebuilt, reshipped and decided to find a gang to test this on. Northern Coalition Dot had just jumped 50 in 8G so that was a giant NO, AAA had 65 ACTIVE in Doril….they were out of consideration. We decided that we should once again go visit D Tap Alliance in J2-PZX.

We knew we would be out gunned, we knew we would be out manned; we knew we would be out ECM’s, and ISK’ed. But alas, we were going for a fight so we were going to do our best regardless. Our scout got caught on the station in a Hictor bubble so we were unfortunately down one Thorax from the beginning. We decided that they wouldn’t leave the confines of their station (Pro eh). We gave our best William Wallace speech and warped to station.

They didn’t have much out, but they DID have a Machariel on station. We laid into him with all the DPS we could muster. We bumped him, we webbed him, we ripped his shields off, we ripped his armor off, we had him into 10% Structure….then they undocked a Scimitar and a Guardian. We dampened what we could; we used our drones to jam out what we could and kept after it. We overheated, doing our best Scotty impersonation “Given er’ all she’s got Capn”. And then….Jammed by Falcons.

Eventually we came to the same conclusion as we came to yesterday, but with slightly better results. We held our own but simply didn’t have enough DPS to overcome 3 Logi, and two Falcons. It was a fun fight and I would happily try it again. We eventually lost 4 Thoraxes, but it wasn’t as bad as you might think. It was a good ten minute fight that ended with a near Machariel kill. Grrrrrr. If we would have had that 1 extra Thorax…it would have been glorious.

Their Fleet: (10) 1 Guardian, 1 Oneiros, 1 Scimitar, 1 Machariel, 1 Absolution, 2 x Falcons, Harbinger, 2x Hurricane’s.
Our Gang: (8) 2 Exequror, 6 Thoraxes.

And once again, thank you all in D Tap for your assessment of our abilities (in local). Yes, we are horrible, yes we are pathetic, and of course we are giant “puXXies” for warping off your home station when not pointed (and called primary). Perhaps one day we can Titan bridge into a gang 1/4 our size, kill 200 Lokis with 500 Tengus, or even attack a T1 cruiser fleet with Faction Battleships. You have shown us the way, and we choose to walk the other direction.

See you on our overview.
Pleniers
Appetite 4 Destruction
#426 - 2012-12-16 19:18:17 UTC
Blog Updated

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/normal-0-21-false-false-false-pt-x-none.html
Ganking 2 15Bil Navy Apocs on a Jump Bridge!

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/pos-tale-n-4-is-that-jump-bridge.html
How a bad warp in on a POS can ruin your day

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/pos-tale-n-3-is-that-titan-on-your.html
Curse residents bring down an Avatar

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/pos-tale-n-2-fleet-coming-this-way.html
How a POS defence can become a whelp without proper intel

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/pos-tale-n-1-no-more-fuel-for-ya.html
Ganking a indy ship just outside a POS

___________________________________________________________________________


A4D recruiting:
• Small Gang warfare. Fleets go from 1 to 10;
• No Sov Warfare. No Structure Bashing. No CTAs;
• NPC Curse Space
• Busy pipe on home system for occasional gate camp;
• Large alliances nearby for hunting grounds
• You undock and you go kill
• If there is no fleet up, you make one and go kill
• Always outnumbred and prolly outgunned. Need to fight smart!

Join in-game channel "A4D Bar" and ask for a recruiter!
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#427 - 2012-12-17 13:19:16 UTC
Saturday Nights all right for fighting (Part 1)

For the past two weeks we have pretty much solely flowing T1 Cruisers. We are heavy on using themes, some months we will fly SFI’s, some months we fly Basilisk Drake Fleets, others we go on Frigate roams. The key is that we learn to fly a certain theme that maximizes the people we have at any moment. We are not like a large alliance that can crap out 30 zealots and be awesome by default. We have to maximize efficiency.

Our Gang: (10) Maller, 4x Vexor’s, Enyo, Ishkur, Heretic, 2 Exequrors. In a nutshell, we had a bait ship, 4 damage dealers, 3 Tacklers, and 2 Logi. We decided to travel to Great Wildlands which we haven’t visited for a while. We went to the usual places, 7Q, E02, and found mostly pos’ed up or docked up. Since we couldn’t find anything to fight, we decided to head to scalding pass. On our first jump that direction we ran directly into a HashHashin gang that had been stalking us…unknowingly to us.

Hashhashin Gang: (10) Proteus, Tengu, Vagabond, Drake, Tornado, Stabber Fleet Issue, Enyo, Apocalypse (sniper), Scimitar, Falcon. The Tengu was called primary, he was AB fit but with the four Vexors webbing him he went down quickly. The Falcon started jamming our Logi, but quick thinking by our Frigates made him leave the field. Our reps stabilized as our second Exequror became unjammed. Although a lot of Drones were off toward the falcon, we called the Tornado next.

We started spreading around points, and managed to get scrambles and webs on the Proteus, Drake, Vagabond, Stabber Fleet Issue, Enyo; systematically taking them out in that order. Their single Scimitar ran from the action as soon as our tacklers got into range, the Falcon never came back, and the Apoc warped out as soon as our Enyo approached. I am sure they were wondering what the hell happened…A4D the hell happened.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#428 - 2012-12-17 13:49:00 UTC
Saturday Night Fights (Part 2)

Still giggling madly over the Tech 3 a$$kicking, we decided to visit our old friends in J2…finding nothing there, no one willing to fight we decided to travel to our backup plan(HJ-BCH). These are mostly industrialist renters of Red Alliance. It is an alliance called “The Union of Free Worlds”, although our name describes what we do…”Destroy Chit”, they obviously unify uninhabited worlds of sorts….I guess. To be honest, I shouldn’t pick on these guys, they bring it and I respect that.

We had some turnover in our fleet, we had some members leave and some members join. Our fleet now consisted of: (11) Blackbird, 2x Maller, Omen, Rupture, 3x Vexor’s, 2 Exequrors. It was a superior gang to the one we had just fought with. We decided on sending in two to poke the hive. Although we knew they would fight, it would take them about 15 minutes to organize…time well spent.

They started by undocking a Hurricane, we tried to pull it off the station but to no avail, this fight would happen within the confines of their home sweet home…putting our little fleet at a massive tactical disadvantage (in theory). They decide to fight at our game by undocking 3 Exequrors and a bevy of random crap….Blackbird, Rupture, Rapier, Thorax, Hurricane. We start popping them one by one, our single Blackbird jamming out their Logi.

After their first wave dies, they undock an Apocalypses, Hyperion, 2x Dominix, and a Drake. Although we had taken down their first Exequror, they had two more on the field. Our Rupture kept one at bay our blackbird jammed the other. We first took down their Apocalypse whom was barely tanked, then their Exequror who got into range, then a Dominix, a Drake, and finally the second Dominix. The Hyperion docked in structure.

All I can say is these guys fought with whatever they had. They did their best with the skills they had. Isk wise we should have had zero chance, but it was A4D working as a single unit that made the difference. We did hit them again on Sunday, but this time we didn’t get a fight; they just undocked a Deimos (which we killed) and 4 Carriers. They have officially given up fighting and is forever relegated to being a renting carebear.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#429 - 2012-12-17 17:09:20 UTC
Say my name Bit**!

What is in a name? A4D has been in a couple alliances, and to be honest, it is not for us. We simply do better alone. We like who we are, we are comfortable with who we are, and we don’t like getting lost in the shuffle. For instance, I can’t tell you any of the corps names in NC Dot…to me they are just one big massive group of reds…they aren’t individuals. They are a collection of guys who can do things on their own. To A4D, all alliances are a collection of failed corps.

Although I use this one particular alliance in this instance…it is nothing personal but I need an example. Some might consider this little skirmish a fight…I don’t categorize it that way. I would have to put it in the gank category. NC Dot gang came through our system on their way to Doril NC DOT: (From Memory 6-7) 2 Cynabals, Drake, Rook, Vigilant, Tengu (Boosts), something else….I don’t remember, who cares, doesn’t matter. Our gang comprised of 2 Exequrors, Rupture, and 6 Vexors (Claymore and Vulture boosts).

We sent all damage dealers to the gate while the two Exequrors (Logistics) were set up off grid, off scan 16 AU from any celestial (thanks to a fortunate mission bookmark). We knew we were pulling a bait and switch on them but a kill is a kill. The enemy fleet jumped in and started aggressing our fleet. With command ship bonuses and some overheating, we managed to get webs and scrambles on a few of their more expensive ships.

We knew that we wanted to make sure we took out that Vigilant first so two of us tackled it. We sent our drones after the Vigilant and started chasing down the other ships eventually catching the Rook. NC Dot called our two Exequrors (Logistics) primary but had no short points so our Exequrors were able to dictate range with relative ease. After the Vigilant went down it took a few seconds for the Ogres to get to the Rook, but after they arrived, the Rook died in seconds.

Our two Exequrors were being chased by the Drake and Cynabals approached the friendly gang bringing one of the Cynabals into warp scramble range. Once the Cynabal was tackled the NC gang knew the fight was over and called for the remaining fleet to GTFO. Let me clarify things; I hate even writing about this; bragging about a fight we are supposed to win is not our style.


We like fights, we like fights against the odds…but when we arrive, you had better know who we are, because we expect to beat you’re a$$. This brings me that classic film American Pie when Alyson Hannigan says: What’s my name? Say my name Bit**!

A4D
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#430 - 2012-12-18 14:15:42 UTC
Cinderella

For some reason I decided to go to sleep last night at 7:30pm…I had dinner with the wife, watched a show and that was enough to knock me out…thus I didn’t get a single kill yesterday. But alas, that doesn’t mean I can’t write about something. I was thinking that maybe I could help some others not make the mistakes I have, so here are some things that I have fallen for that maybe you should look out for. These are just some of the “Well Sh!t” moments that I have been a part of.

Over near SV5 there is a system called W9P, two jumps out there will be a scout. You jump into W9P it is empty, as you are in warp, you will see local fill up. That is when you think to yourself…I bet there is a bubble on that out gate. As you approach gate in warp, you scan to find out…yes, there is a bubble. Then you think….do you think these guys are waiting on me? Yes, yes they are. LOADING… Thanks AAA pets.

Similarly, I have jumped into a system with one xxx person in it. Clicked D-Scan I see xxx person’s Caldari shuttle. I think hey….it’s just a shuttle. I warp to the outbound gate to be webbed and scrammed by something big and nasty. On top of that, a falcon comes in from the next system over and assists in the defiling of my nether regions…Hats off to Svettlanna.

WRG got me on this one: I was putting around my Rapier looking for a hauler that was on scan near the station. When out of nowhere this hauler opens a CYNO! Without a second thought I warp to that big beautiful kill mail waiting to happen, to land in a bubble, decloak, and have 15 random cloakies uncloak around me…we me, scramble me. Bubble me again for good measure and then send me to my cloning facility….in the same system THEN ON TOP of that they camped me in station. Not very nice.

The D-bagg of the century award goes to Art of War. Those basturds have had a bubble up in 8G for two years. If you make a tactical, they will scan it down, name it after you, and wait for you to come back…then wait for you to land. It is quite genius actually.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#431 - 2012-12-20 03:13:37 UTC
The quest for the Holy Grail!


In this case it is not so much a Grail, it is not even holy, it is that elusive top 100 corps in BattleClinic. Our goal was to have top 100 by end of year but when December arrived, we were stuck at number 110. With some hard core flying and some dedicated players, we have snuck all the way up to 105. We still have 12 more days to complete this quest.


The problem is…we really don’t know how Battle Clinic works…lol. What we do know is that you get more battle clinic points for killing ships with cheaper ships. So, the good Doctor suggested that we fly T1 frigates for the next few days to see if we could bump it a few places.


Doc Strangewrench came up with a few builds for a Burst and Merlin that were complementary. I hadn’t flown a Burst Ever, and haven’t flown a Merlin since 2004 so it was a treat for me to get to fit out something new. We started off with RTB finding a Nulli Secunda Sabre and Scythe camping the Hemin gate in Utopia.


We thought this was a good test for our little fleet. We sent in a Moa, as we knew that a Frigate would vaporize with the damage put out by a Sabre. Our Moa aggressed the Sabre, the Sabre jumped out and re-approached gate. Our Moa aggressed on the gate waiting for their return; the Sabre/Scythe pilot jumped back in and started to aggress our Moa, RTB called for the fleet to advance, we jumped into Hemin, warped to Utopia, jumped in tackled and killed both ships.


As we reshipped back into our frigate gang of doom, we waited for a few new gang members to build the ships. We were bored and decided to hang out on the CL gate. A Nulli Hurricane was coming toward us from 8G direction and we were waiting for him. Although he shot us, it was an easy kill for our Merlin heavy fleet. The Hurricane pilot must have been pissed, he purchased a Cyclone and then proceeded to suicide into us.


Finally all 14 of us were on the gate and we were ready to roll. Out of nowhere one of those new mining ships (Venture) landed on the gate…we decided to give chase for fun. CL, 8G, VOL-MI, ARG and that is where we finally caught him. It wasn’t a huge kill or anything but it was fun chasing him. His built in stabs made it a difficult catch.


I know this sounds all boring…it is. The only kills we have had so far was a well-executed gank, an idiot, and an idiot again, and a mining ship chase. Lucky for us however, we would soon find our fight. We received intel that a 5 man nano fleet was heading our way. We didn’t receive ship types, but we thought that we would go find them. We found them: Vagabond, Cynabal, Stabber Fleet, Wolf.



Ok, it wasn’t a fight really, we systematically stalked them and killed them one by one. The Cynabal got a way but overall they had no chance, That gang in a million years could take out the fleet we had. 9 Merlins, 3 Burst, 2 Griffins, Claw, Eris. We did lose one in the fight and did learn some things about tactics regarding these setups. We will change it up.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#432 - 2012-12-20 13:57:05 UTC
How you start is usually how you finish…not this time.

We fitted out a bunch of Bursts and Harpy’s with the intention of having a nice hour long roam where we maul some hapless carebears or maybe a few alliance schmucks that dared to venture out in a gang less than 20. We finally managed to have six guys whom were locked and loaded and ready to go. 2 Bursts, 3 Harpy’s, 1 Merlin. It was GO TIME.

When out of nowhere! 5 people logged in simultaneously and we reshipped into T1 Cruisers. I know, I know. We have been doing this a lot lately, but it is SO FUN, we can’t help it. These ships find fights that their T2 counterparts can’t get. Our final fleet makeup was: (11) 3 Scythe, 3 Moa, Stabber, Vexor, Stabber Fleet Issue, Rupture and Merlin. We could remote rep around 2700 DPS and deal out around 3500.

Our first destination spot was to travel to Great Wildlands to see if we could find those Hash Cartel guys who we fought last week. It was a fairly quiet trip; the only potential targets we saw were in HLW where NC Dawt were camping the VOL-MI gate with a Machariel, Sabre, and Malediction. Since they have engaged us in this gang before they didn’t want anything to do with us.

We made it to Great Wildlands without incident. We jumped into EO2 and there were 18 hostiles n local. Our scout Blythar whom had never scouted before told us the gate was clear, so our FC said warp to the gate. While in Warp, Blythar said…I think I messed up; they are all on the gate (LOL, it happens). Knowing it was a regional gate, we decided to let half of them aggress us allowing us to split them up as best we could.

We fully expected to have them jump to the other side where the fight would ensue. This never happened, they never followed us in. We jumped out of a 15 man BC gang with Scimitar support, into a 25 man cruiser fleet. Lucky for us, they were 50 off the gate waiting for the BC gang to jump into them. We ended up losing one Moa due to the long point on a Lachesis, but all and all we came out of it unscathed; we set waypoint to J2 to visit Double T.

Over the past couple weeks we have found that we can’t bait and hold our tank with a shield tanked Moa…they do have a decent tank but it can’t hold for more than 30 seconds. We decided to break taboo and see what would undock on the station (usually 2x as much as we bring). They would not disappoint 2 battleships, then 4, then 6, then 8, then a Guardian, then two Oneiros. For once we were fighting with even numbers!

Their Logi was not on the ball, they were avoiding aggression, docking and undocking to regain cap. We would lock up their battleships, and wait for one to aggress placing most of our DPS on the BS, we sent a couple of our less DPS ships on their Oneiros to make them have to rep each other. It seemed to work, we took down a Scorpion (fitted for our gang), and a Tempest. Once those two went down, the rest docked; they were unable to kill any of our cruisers with their battleships.
Skelee VI
Appetite 4 Destruction
#433 - 2012-12-20 19:13:30 UTC
Great bunch of guys, flown with them and against them. Prefer with them!
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#434 - 2012-12-21 14:12:31 UTC
The cult of personality

The cult of personality happens when a group of people flock to a single person based on charisma and or title. When that person ceases to participate, many an organization will fail. That is why you have companies flounder when the CEO retires or steps down (Steve Jobs). The same thing happens in EVE all the time, it is the main reason why corporations and alliances fail. We had a similar issue when our Original CEO Necro went dormant in 2008.

This is one of the things that Bullmastiff, SuXaR ad I tried to eliminate when we reformed the A4D after our brief 4 month hiatus. It started with the principle that if we form an A4D personality and got members that identified with that philosophy, and then we could create a group that was singly focused on doing things the same way. Although we’ve had some bumps along the way, we have become a single unit of like-minded individuals that work together to complete a task.

It has taken a year or so to perfect what we do, but don’t really have Fleet Commanders as much as we do scouts, information gatherers, and tacticians. We all have input, everyone’s ideas are considered, and although we may have a single guy that may have final say, all ideas are important. It is that sounding board that allows us to process information as a team regardless if we have titled leader in fleet or not.

Yesterday, I was not able to log in as it was sparring night at the dojo and I never miss an opportunity to beat someone’s a$$ without going to jail. We had a small group of A4D members active but they just happen to be guys that know what each other is thinking and don’t require anyone holding their hand. The first fight was in our home system, Rtb, Boom, Mac, Cal 7, Green, Caloon, Kogel and Musty were in gang and ready to rumble.

Final Admontion jumped in with a sizable fleet and was subsequently dispatched by our 8 man fleet. We managed to kill a Curse, Sleipnir, Harbinger, Vexor, 2x Moas before the rest of their gang bugged out. As the A4D gang had finished looting, our scouts picked up a Broken Toys gang of >15 in RMOC with 4 logistics. It was our 3 Logistics ships vs. their 4 Logistics ships, who would win this epic battle? Us of course, from what I gather, we had some really good target calling. We managed to kill 2 Hurricanes, 1 Bellicose, 2 Stabbers, Heretic, Flycatcher, Retribution and Harpy and had zero losses.

Not settling for two fights, A4D members formed up a T1 gang and headed to Scalding Pass to see whose buttons we could push and whose faces we could smash. Our gang consisted of 2 Exequrors, Maller, Rupture, 4 Vexors, and a Stiletto. After tormenting the Union of Free Worlds for a while, they engaged us in WVOD. Our T1 gang held up to 2x Drakes, 3x Hurricanes, 2x Scimitars and a Blackbird…with of course…zero losses.

On a side note: I realize that we keep pommeling The Union of Free worlds alliance but I have the utmost respect for them to continue fighting, they are getting a lot better and I respect them for that. They don’t hide, they don’t blob and they just do their best to win. Unlike the big lemming blob alliances they don’t rely on numbers and I respect that.

Thanks again to all the A4D members who get things done.
Like a boss
Sygma
Pleniers
Appetite 4 Destruction
#435 - 2012-12-23 21:56:04 UTC
Blog Updated

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/ecm-and-strong-feelings-again.html
AAA engaging our gang, knowing we had 2 kitsunes...

http://curses-im-in-my-pod.blogspot.pt/2012/12/stagnant-00.html
How Curse it NOT a stagnant place

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

A4D recruiting:
• Small Gang warfare. Fleets go from 1 to 10;
• No Sov Warfare. No Structure Bashing. No CTAs;
• NPC Curse Space
• Busy pipe on home system for occasional gate camp;
• Large alliances nearby for hunting grounds
• You undock and you go kill
• If there is no fleet up, you make one and go kill
• Always outnumbred and prolly outgunned. Need to fight smart!

Join in-game channel "A4D Bar" and ask for a recruiter!

Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#436 - 2012-12-24 16:50:42 UTC  |  Edited by: Sygma
Another bait and switch.

We saw an NCdot fleet coming by (8) 2 Drakes, 2 Scimitars, 2 Vagabonds, Cerberus, Cynabal. Although we were mostly afk; we managed to get a fleet active. We started out with 4 Vexors and 3 Scimitars, + Tengu bonuses...but once the afkers came back we added 3 ruptures and two Vexors(12). What would have been a fair fight was overwhelmingly in our favor now.

Knowing we had the advantage we had to sell the fight. So when their Tengu jumped in we couldn't show all we had. We put 4 Vexors on the gate with the rest of the fleet off scan. The standing orders were simple, as soon as local popped, backup fleet would warp and the bait fleet would grab what they could.

Since our fleet had Claymore and Damnation bonuses we were able to get a scram on their Cerberus, both drakes and a scimitar pilot. We systemically took them down but their fast ships got away. Our tactic is simple, vexors overheat with bonuses out to 16k, get on top of the tacked ship with blasters spreading out damage...effectively confusing their logistics. Then the Vexors put all their drones on the primary doing more dps than their logi can handle.

It seems counter intuitive, but it works by spreading out the reps.. since most logi pilots don't have drones on their overview the don't even notice the incoming swarm of doom.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#437 - 2012-12-24 18:30:09 UTC  |  Edited by: Sygma
Double post
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#438 - 2012-12-24 18:30:30 UTC  |  Edited by: Sygma
Hot dropped by Red Alliance.

We like to torture their pets daily, we waited for them to undock like they usually do but they titan bridged us instead. Nothing says skill like dropping 34 (+ 5 scimitars) on a 10 man fleet, then only kiling 5 ships. The apoc we took out cost as much as our fleet.

http://killboard.appetite4destruction.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=42910

All we want is a fight, fights that are winable on both sides. Sov alliances are not capable of such things.
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#439 - 2012-12-25 15:38:36 UTC  |  Edited by: Sygma
Those of us in A4D would like to wish you a merry day....but don't think we won't smash your face in with a cruiser sized brick. We have our limitations.

We went 59 jumps yesterday in a 4 man fleet consisting of a Cynabal, Curse, Scimitar, Slicer. We got in three fights. 4 of us against 6 double taps...they had logi also. We killed two and they ran....something about even numbers that these guys cant handle. They do like to yap about their awesomeness in local....they just don't have the skillset to suceed on even terms.

Second fight was against Pangu, our same fleet vs Tengu, Proteus and 3 other cruisers. We called the Proteus primary because he jumped in first. We just didn't have the DPS to knock him down before he could deagress and jump out. The others just ran....damn regional gates. WORST CCP decision ever.

Third fight we happened into. Flycatcher, Hawk, Harpy, Rifter, Drake. With them focusing DPS on our Cynabal and not our Scimitar...they had no chance. All of them were at 0 except for the Flycatcher and Pleniers hawked him down easily.

4th fight was a gank on a Drake....
Sygma
Appetite 4 Destruction
#440 - 2012-12-26 13:38:10 UTC  |  Edited by: Sygma
All I want for Christmas…


If any has actually read any of my posts you will know I have zero respect for most alliances. I have been in quite a few…including Xetic, Veritas Immortalis, Forsaken Empire and Against ALL Authorities. Other than Forsaken Empire, I don’t recall those stints as being a positive experience. CTA’s, Jabber, POS Bashing, 400 man fleets, none of which I want anything to do with.


I remember being in AAA and was going to take out a small fleet, since not many knew who I was, I couldn’t get a gang started with 40 active people. For suggesting a tactic, I was scoffed at, and ridiculed more than once mostly because the FC du jour had zero idea how to fly in a gang of less than 50. I remember being talked down to by someone who had less than half of my lifetime kills, and I remember being forbidden to fight because we didn’t have 2x the opponents’ numbers.


With this in mind, we typically don’t fly too many pimped out fleets. For us a pimped out fleet may consist of T2 Ships. The reason being is that if we bring cruisers, an alliance will bring battle cruisers, if we bring battle cruisers our opponents will bring battleships. It is in their DNA, they are IN alliances because they want to be guided like sheep. For the most part they simply do not have the skill set to fight in an even fight.

http://killboard.appetite4destruction.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=43024


Due to it being the end of the year, and December’s corp. efficiency being through the roof, we decided to undock some pimped out ships. Our Gang: (15) Absolution, Damnation, Ishtar, Falcon, 3 Oracles, 2 Hurricanes, Vexor, Keres, 3x Guardians, Talwar (don’t ask). We decided to go back to RNM to see if they still wanted to play with even numbers. They did not.


All dressed up with nowhere to go, we meet up with an old corp. mate of Boom EZ that is now flying with AQUILA INC. He had found a few carriers in GRHS-B running anomalies and mentioned that he didn’t have the DPS to take one out, since he saw us he knew that together we could. So we headed that way. 8 jumps in armor seemed to take a while but for a carrier kill that is worth it.


It all starts out when the scout gets a Chimera tackled, we start ripping into him but when he gets to structure we were ordered to remove damage so as to escalate this fight further. As hoped, the lemming start popping in…Sabre, Tornado, Taos, Naga, Drake…pop pop pop pop. A second carrier arrives and we kill the Chimera.


We take our only fatality of the evening as we lose our Talwar; we promptly rebounded and took down an Oracle, Moa, Naga, Scimitar Drake and Hurricane. We took them down the Archon, then the Nidhoggur, and then the last two Chimera’s. At this point they were done, no more kills to be had.


http://killboard.appetite4destruction.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=43060