Wormhole cruiser death squad
12th October 2009 – 5.13 pmA non-aggression policy can be quickly modified when everyone starts shooting at you. The corporation maintains such a policy, which generally suits all members. By staying mostly in high-sec and avoiding annoying other pilots directly we can operate with little interference or worries about security standings. But the null-sec equivalence of w-space, where we have already lost ships to pirates, provides problems for this non-aggression policy.
Luckily, 'non-aggression' doesn't mean we can't shoot back, only that we shouldn't initiate combat. The only issue under consideration is what constitutes hostile activity. On the one hand, we need to defend our w-space territory actively, or we risk losing the rich resources available. On the other hand, we can't use this null-sec space as an excuse to attack anything that wanders through a wormhole.
There is also the concern about what ships should form the fleet when capsuleers in our wormhole operations are threatened. I suggest using cheap Tech I cruisers, or similar. In my experience, kill boards are balanced according to the ISK value of ships lost on both sides. The idea is that piloting a whole fleet worth only a paltry twenty million or so ISK will act as a minor deterrent to glory-seekers, whilst focussed PvP set-ups will still be relatively effective in the cheap boats.
If we can get dedicated point, ECM and DPS boats out in space and concentrate on a main threat we should be able to get a quick kill, whilst presenting such a low-value target in return that we probably won't be worth wasting the cost of ammunition on. At least, that's my theory. It must be better than retreating to and hiding in the tower's shield every time an unknown ship is seen on the directional scanner, letting Sleeper loot and exotic ore be taken from under our noses, and less costly than trying to field expensive Tech II PvP ships which will likely act more as a lure.
The war machine rolls in to action. Cruisers are churned off the production line and cheap modules are bought and fitted. A few experimental duels are attempted, gauging the effectiveness of each dedicated set-up, and it looks good. The wormhole engineers death squad is born. Rather than actively attacking anything that enters the system, in consideration of the non-aggression policy, the idea is to retreat from the current operation and launch the death squad cruisers. What happens after that is down to the actions of the encroaching ships.
One Response to “Wormhole cruiser death squad”
We have always operated as NBSI in W space to discourage visitors. I agree that using cheap ships is smart. I prefer my Ishkur over a cruiser for PVP, personally.