Warfare & Tactics

Just wondering what people thoughts are on how big a gang can be before it is considered to not be "small" anymore?
Would you class it by fleet numbers i.e a squad or wing or is it comparative to what you are engaging?

Small gang is that magic smallest number of ships, where you got zero losses against the others you just wiped.

As you've already seen there are many interpretations (some people shrug anything over 5 people off as not small anymore, others consider 50 people small).

I've always related to the ingame definitions myself, small to me is what fit in a squad, medium what fit in a wing and large what fit in one or more fleet.

It's usually a solid reference to fall back on, and most of the time it's pretty accurate when you try to explain your points to other people (give or take a few).

After Rothgar's post i'd like to touch on the topic of "Blob" as well...

There are, just as with gang-sizes, alot of different definitions of blob or blobbing. The word is also used pretty interchangably as a measurement of scale and deragotory term so it's not that surprising that the definitions tend to be many and obscure. There are three major points or arguments that define it as i see it:

The first is the one Rothgar already brought up, comparative scale. Some people will cry blob the second you have a couple of ships more or less, but the breaking point is when numbers reaches the point where it becomes increasingly impossible to fight back while undermanned. That also means it's relative, and specificly relative to the overall performance of a given group. A good group will blob at a lower comparative scale. If you want some more concrete examples i'd say the line is crossed somewhere between 1:2 to 1:4, those are usually breaking points assuming you fight someone who are as well composed, prepared and experienced as yourself, to someone you may have advantages over in the same regard.

The second definition is my personal favourite. It's relative to organisation. You become a blob when you begin to bring numbers over your chosen tactic and concept simply because numbers are good and more is better. You have no specific use for adding those extra ships beyond weight and when weight is more important than role or objective, then you are a blob. That means that also by this definition of "blob" is relative. Certain concepts are built around larger numbers than others, but the definition apply to all.

The last definition, which i always considered a good one, was the one brought up by Marlona Sky (as far as i can remember) in an earlier discussion on the topic. What he said was that "a blobber is not someone who fight you with superior numbers, it's someone who refuse to fight you without them". It chimes in with the points i've made before about relativity. If you roam, in particular, its difficult adapting your size and concept to deal with all potential interactions. Rothgar touched on that as well. If you don't respond to the environment around you, and instead move around to create content, it's become quite customary to try to find a good average weight-balance and composition that can deal with a variety of different situations. It's how most well-composed, often undermanned (roaming-) PvP groups tend to build their concepts.

Somewhere inbetween all those definitions you'd probably find a common ground, that's somewhat accurate.

the losing side is a small gang

the winning side is a blob

numbers are irrevelant

This is relative. It's like asking if a mile is a long distance or a short distance.

For me small group pvp is when you sign on see a anywhere from 1-5 friends that you decide to fleet and roam with.

So you bring x4 and it's Warfare, they bring under x2 and they are Blobbers.

Tricksy rabbit.

Self indulgent moral superiority, or in little words = subjective.

Pretty sure that was hugely sarcastic.

I like Noisrevbus' post the best so far... this is more of a "how you do things" topic than a straight-up body count. I'd personally even go further to differentiate between "small gang" and "small fleet" based on how (dis)orderly the group is, but I don't think that's a common distinction. (also, to me, disorderly doesn't mean disorganized and certainly doesn't mean ineffective... I just would consider a "small gang" to be the type of group where organization/coordination is inherent because everyone knows how everyone does stuff)

Likewise, "blobbing" is IMO different from old-fashioned "overwhelming force" again based on how (dis)orderly the group is... even a smallish group of "pile on the ships and use the fleet like a wrecking ball" would be a "blob," just probably not a terribly successful one. It's the lack of subtlety that counts.

Small is 1-5 pilots

interchange words "you" and "they" and you get my idea