Fighting the Furry

Daniel Jackson...

The admitted Furry FC, formerly of the Caldari Militia. A perfect target to get back into the swing of empire wardecs. So with our target in mind, we start doing our homework on the intended victim. Now Sunday night, I'm at work so Govry, one of our resident Mass-holes, decides to run a ping on DJ, turning up a hit in Kylmabe with him in space. My boys check out the situation and low and behold he is offlining and unachoring his Large Dread Guristas research pos. The game is now afoot.

After hours of stalking their prey, Kain, Govy, Carth, and Cham time the intrusion perfectly. With mere moments left before the tower unanchors and is lost to us, the four Legionnaires move in, bump DJ's Charon out of range of the tower and scoop it to the sound of many tears in local. To put icing on the cake, I pop on moments later to put in the wardec.

We mostly call it a night at that point and wait for the wardec to go live as there isn't much else to do at that point. Over 24 hrs pass for the war to go live and DJ does nothing.

Minutes after the war goes live, we get word from our scout that DJ is on the move...and not just in a regular ship, but in his Charon...on his way to Jita. Well now we just have to move...oh shit...we're still in Irjunen 6 jumps away in a straight line...and DJ is only 4. We scramble with whatever ships we have at hand and haul ass. I land in Jita on the Maurasi gate in a Broadsword and jump through to push the freighter into Jita as Govy is landing in his Proteus. Charon and Condor escort pop up in Jita. Chamberlain darn near insta-pops the condor with his Ishkur.

Knowing that he is royally screwed, DJ tries to self destruct his ship to deny us the goodies. He, of course, fails and is summarily popped. Being the benevolent killers that we are, we offered reasonable terms of the insurance from his freighter loss and a youtube video, since he is renown for making them, of him surrendering to our corp. Said offer was unfortunately rejected at the war continues. Had he accepted, NRW's retriever and pod would not have needlessly died during the writing of this blog.

Back to the grind

Hey all, long time no write. Shortly after my last post back in January, XII Legion joined up with a number of our former REPO alliance mates in the Snatch Victory mercenary alliance. There were many kills to be had and awesome times by all. Unfortunately in mid-April, a fair amount of drama and burnout combined to make us decide to part ways with Snatch.

Having heard good reviews of Noir., a number of our core members took a two week trip into Noir. during their part in the conquest of Providence. Don't get me wrong, there are some pretty damned nice people in Noir., but their hype is definitely pumped up in my opinion. The biggest factor in Noir. planning is killboard efficiency. Now while I can understand the importance of showing good returns for a client's investment, Noir. leadership goes so far as to threaten the boot if a member flies an 'expensive' ship and looses it.

Most of their veteran membership also tends to be very 'groupy'. If you're not 'in' then you're not given too much assistance getting situated. They look down on setups that are outside of their 'think box', tactics that aren't safe, and basically anything that makes them uncomfortable.
Frankly it equated to shenanigans that just could not stand...Fighting to not lose, like Noir.'s style is centered on, doesn't sit well with those used to fighting to win...no matter the cost.

After a frustrating two weeks most Legion members took a 4 month sabbatical from merc/grief work and went to Querious as renters. Cabin fever tends to not let us relax long like that so now we're back in empire and working on new wars. Our first victim? You know him...you hate him...he was the Caldari Militia's furry FC of doom...Daniel Jackson.

A Random Idea

Greetings once again faithful and new readers. I must say, I am quite honored and amused to have three new subscribers within the last week. When I started this thing, it was more a place for random thoughts and I never imagined I'd have any real readers.

Anywho, I'm stuck indoors tonight due to lots of snow and really bad road conditions...for anyone who knows me, boredom is bad, m'kay? It did allow for me to toss around an old idea that I have considered from time to time, but have never attempted. Anyone who either reads Crime and Punishment regularly or knows any of the basics about the Battletech Universe knows of or has heard of the Mercenary Review Board (MRB) or the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission (MRBC). This concept has been brought to Eve by a few roleplayers and a handful of trolls to attempt to stir up trouble against various mercenary organizations.

I wish to use this blog, and perspective as someone who has been a member of the mercenary community and continues to actively take and pursue contracts to attempt to give as unbiased and relevant review of some of Eve-Online's mercenary units, both past and present.

This will be a long-term project and in all likelihood I expect some people to take offense at what I post here in terms of analysis and ranking. While it not my intent to offend anyone with this, it may happen. I would greatly appreciate feedback on my reviews in order to help me refine the system and rankings to give as accurate a picture of those I profile as possible.

I will be rating the organizations that I profile based on a number of catagories:

Experience:
How long has the unit been in the game?
How long have the members/member corps been together, or how long were they together?
How long has the unit been involved in mercenary work?

Combat Record:
How successful is the unit at completing contracts to the clients' satisfaction?
What does the unit's K:D ratio in ships and ISK look like?
How effectively can the unit apply its firepower?

Transport/Logistics/Mobility:
Where does the unit tend to operate? (Highsec/Lowsec/Nullsec)
How effectively can they supply themselves? (Replace losses)
Do their logistics capabilities permit them to move enough personnel and material to continue prolonged operations?
How far can/will the unit be able to move itself and its resources to pursue the completion of a contract?

Technology/Equipment:
What ship types are used most? (t1, t2, t3)
Does the unit have access to Capital Ships?
How much firepower is typically brought to fights?

Financial:
Is the unit in the Red (losing money) or in the Black (showing profit)?
Are they causing more damage in ISK than they are receiving?

The first profile/ranking of a mercenary unit (which should be up relatively soon) will focus on the unit that, in large part, was the progenitor for today's mercenary business and the roll-model for the modern nullsec alliance. Everyone aspired to their prowess and their firepower. Mercenaries wanted to be them. Alliances wanted to hire them. Coalitions feared them and were broken by them. I am, of course, referring to Mercenary Coalition.