Spec Ops / Black Ops

Every corp seems to have the idea from time to time that they need a “black ops” group. Typically this amounts to one of your FCs taking a few bombers out and looking for targets of opportunity.

Few groups do the “black ops” thing well. Notably, the Goon blackops who have now mostly broke off and formed Elitist Ops (now in PL) were a huge thorn in the side of Atlas when they locked down Omist for a short time.

-MVN- has had a EU TZ and US TZ blackops group off-and-on throughout our history. Currently we’re pretty active in this regard and the last couple weeks have really shown how effective they can be. For example, behind NC lines we’re popping pimped ratters / plex runners with great regularity:

There are many different ways to form and run a “black ops” gang, most of which do not rely upon the “black ops” ship category (e.g. – Sins or Widows) at all.

We’re currently running a mix of 2-3 styles of black-ops / covert gangs across EU and U.S. timezones with great success. When there is no official “deployment” or war to fight, there is plenty of time to experiment, and I think we may be seeing even greater success as more of our pilots get comfortable flying in this fashion.

Of course, some of it is just the fact that we have really strong pilots operating in the north currently. We’ve been smacked and told we only pop so many t3 / faction BS because we’re “cloaking fags.” The truth is, we have been getting the same good kills without flying in purely blackops gang ships in the same time-frame.

Between Farming Sanctums…

-MVN- is back in Delve making preparations for whatever comes next. We left Catch because -A- is gone, and Init now has more space than they can use.

As we departed from Catch, we caught a few -A-  pilots evacuating. I don’t have pics for every kill but this unlucky hauler had some decent goodies inside:

Of course, it doesn’t even compare to this loot pinata stuffed with two full sets of slave implants. Not the low-grades. We’re talking good ones for crazy low-sec pilots with too much isk.

We also took out an annoying -A- Dramiel pilot who kept following us around the region. It was a particularly satisfying kill for PK who lost a Saber to the same guy earlier.

We moved our assets in Catch back to Delve in a couple days, but it isn’t all sanctums and 10/10 plexes while we wait for our new campaign. For one thing, we’ve grown increasingly creative with our bubble-art. Behold:

Another IT corp got a bit irate, and after making a fuss, they got Molle himself to come and demand we take down this fantastic phallus. We had to comply, but while it lasted this was certainly a useful and stylish way to trap hostiles coming into our space from Fountain.

Small -MVN- gangs have been ganking, whenever possible, anyone who comes into our neighborhood. Most of the kills have been cloakers or fast-movers. To catch a recon or agile frigate you usually need bubbles,  scram + web and pilots who are skilled at de-cloaking. Using all of those skills, we’ve nailed quite a few soloists (including e-famous video makers) and small-gang scouts since coming home. Those are just a couple random killmail examples.

Finally, as a note to everyone who has contacted myself or PK and mentioned how much they enjoy our blogs, please feel free to post comments here or mail me with questions you would like to see addressed in a future post.

I try to focus on personal experiences only, so I don’t necessarily record every interesting event that occurs with -MVN- or IT as a whole, but theory-crafting is well within the realm topics I enjoy writing about and I would be happy to discuss fittings and piloting for various ships.

Drag Bubble Trouble

Bubbles play a huge role in 0.0 combat, and it is not hard to understand why interdictors are so commonly requested by fleet commanders.

However, you don’t need to be in one of these awesome vessels to deploy a bubble!

Mobile warp disruptors can be setup in 1-2 minutes (T2 bubbles anchor more quickly), and these toys open the door to a wide variety of tactics that you might otherwise not have available to you.

While anchored bubbles tend to be used most commonly in traditional large-gang gate camps (like the one pictured above), a small mobile bubble can be a great tool for solo PvP.

One of the best uses for bubbles is catching cloaked ships. By positioning yourself on the edge of your bubble, at the expected landing point, even larger ships can catch cloakers or agile frigates with ease.

Another popular trap involves lighting a cyno in a bubble and waiting for the enemy to warp in out of curiosity. This is sometimes called the “honeypot” tactic and it can be very effective.

One variation on the “honeypot” that I particularly enjoy is lighting the cyno at a well-armed POS where you can rely on anchored modules to help do your dirty work.

Finally, the combination of carefully prepared warp-ins and an in-line drag bubble can also be a great way to slow-down pursuit from hostile gangs or to prepare a devastating bombing run.

I have only recently made it habit to carry a small bubble around with me when traveling in hostile space, and I expect that it will continue to come in handy.

Having a bubble on-hand has already lead to some excellent solo kills, and I will continue posting about my experiences using these oh-so-helpful spheres.