Our headquarters is Kamio. The Dotlan map indicates the security status of the systems around us. Ganking opportunities abound. (See the Maps page for easy reference in the future.)
Our gank fleet returned to station after deliberately suiciding a bunch of rookie ships in the middle of nowhere. Locals complained about the bumping crew.
Our fleet of Catalysts reassembled at the planet near the ice field. Top Lad was in the ice field, looking around for an AFK target. My own ganker alt, Currin Trading, commanded the fleet. Everyone was eager to make a good first impression on the miners.
We had a big advantage: By simultaneously suiciding a bunch of rookie ships, we had spawned tons of Concord squads in the middle of nowhere. This way, Concord would move pre-existing squads to respond to our gank, as opposed to responding by spawning new Concord on top of us. It takes Concord 12 seconds to spawn in Kamio; it takes 18 seconds to move Concord. Our rookie ship trick would therefore increase our destructive potential by 50%.
Our warp-in was slightly off, so we rushed to get within optimal range of the target.
The Mackinaw burst into flames almost immediately; I didn't even get a chance to lock! I almost locked the pod, but Top Lad beat me to it.
The fleet's first gank and I didn't get to fire a shot. Since my Catalyst was unharmed and Currin Trading did not yet have negative sec status, I casually looted the Mackinaw's mods.
It all happened so fast. Only three of our crew got on the killmail. Agent PinkOboe's tech II guns did two-thirds of the damage.
Suicide ganking is a rare thing in the ice fields these days, but the New Order is bringing it back.
Every successful gank is a teachable moment for the non-compliant miners in local.
So far, the locals didn't get the message. More ganks are needed!
Concord was still milling around in the ice field, so we had our scout give us a warp-in on a target in an asteroid belt.
This time everyone got in on the action. No one caught the pod, however, so Daf Ook went to the asteroid belt and sacrificed some security status by one-volleying it. The miner's pod was just sitting there, AFK.
I got top damage! I was using tech I guns, but if enough gankers are in on the attack, it comes down to luck of the volley. It was a great feeling to give something back to the Kamio community by ridding it of a Code violator.
Kamio residents still weren't sure what to think of us. Was this a one-time ganking spree, or the sign of a darker future for the rebels in our fair system?
Saede Riordan bought a permit from me after one bump when we arrived. She was baffled by her fellow miners' reluctance to pay. (Let me guess... "Principle"?)
But with enough time and ganks, the miners of Kamio will learn...
James I suggest you put an ISK destroyed counter somewhere on this blog. Just for the kills we get in Kamio/Halaima.
ReplyDeleteI would be mad if I didn't buy a mining permit now one before the price increased and they become more expensive. A mining permit is now more valuable since it protects against ganks by the New Order.
ReplyDeleteIs it true James is an alt of the Mittani?
A Mackinaw, while well built for mining ice and minerals, does not have the strong sensors of a combat ship. Has anyone had any luck with using sensor dampeners (using scripts to lower a rebel's targeting range), or ECM/jamming modules against other rebels in a belt while executing a gank?
ReplyDeleteDo you mean trying to jam/dampen/disrupt ships that are not the gank target? It seems rather pointless against other barges/exhumers, as they are often not even paying attention, and they can only use their drones anyways.
DeleteAgainst combat ships that are in belt to defend against a gank, non-bonused ECM being carried on a few catalysts can't be relied on. Dampening/Tracking disruption might be useful, but it would probably depend very much on the particular situation. How many tracking disruptors/sensor dampeners would it take to neutralize a sebo-ed artillery tornado sitting at whatever distance he happens to be at? I don't know if it would be worth the effort to work out all the variables. Also, a gank attempt only lasts about 15 seconds - asking the gankers to target other ships and apply ewar will only increase the chances of making a mistake and failing a gank.
I'm interested to hear other opinions on this.
I wonder if a destroyer fitted with 8 small neuts would be at all effective. It can cap out any barge/exhumer in 5 seconds (overheated cycle time). Unfortunately, invuln field cycle time is 10-12 seconds long, so even being capped out may not make much difference.
DeleteMaybe a suicide griffin fit for max ecm strength?
DeleteI mean using sensor dampening or jamming to turn off the mining lasers of Mackinaws, which do not have strong sensor suites and cannot target very far - consider it a form of chance-based bumping, allowing us to use a single gank to disrupt the bot-aspiration cycles of many miners at once.
DeleteWhat I'm really curious is how many will rather switch to Skiffs decreasing yield out of principle than paying
ReplyDelete0
DeleteI have seen at least one miner who has switched all 7 of his alts to flying Skiffs. He knows that as long as he makes himself a more difficult to attack than the others in the ice field, he has nothing to worry about. He can just sit back and laugh.
ReplyDeleteminerbumping.killboard.com
ReplyDeleteIt should be a thing.
While your specialty is miner bumping, miniluv of goonswarm invites you to Uedama for freighter bumping. It can be quite entertaining.
ReplyDeleteWe are the righteous sword of the Savior. We smite anarchist miners in the name of law and order.
ReplyDeleteMany will resist, all will pay.
-Pig
come gather round miners, please hear my call... and admit that the gankers around here have grown.. and if we're not carefull, we'll be ganked to the bone... so please if your ships are worth savin...
ReplyDeletethen lets coalition and destroy them all, for the times they are a changin...
a storm is coming. expect us.
Princess Minmitan
You cannot destroy an idea.
DeleteMore afk nullsec fleets of death?
ReplyDeleteThat never appear?
If the miners can actually get together, organise and execute a strike against the new order and what we stand for, then kudos to them, they will have finally discovered what Eve is about, unfortunately it'll never happen because there is effort, teamwork and planning involved..
ReplyDeletePlus they will have to be at the keyboard.
DeleteHey wasn't 4th December supposed to be the date this all changed for the miners? How's that working out?
ReplyDeleteMiners are placing bounties, but tbh, who is going to hunt me down for a measly 1M isk? Miners, they think to small.
DeleteBill Murray, just wanted a quick shoutout to you since your name alone was making a few of my fleetmates laugh when we were on a lowsec roam the other day.
ReplyDelete0/
Oh, and James, I have a special edition Catalyst I got from raptr.com that I can't fly if you want it as some sort of flagship (don't sacrifice it! ) since it's the yellow variant.
And dince I'm in Gallente space, I think I will make a gallente alt and check out the fun. I did wave as I went through from an incursion site in minmatar space but didn't see any familiar names at the time.
This much fun should be illegal.
ReplyDeleteI flew through Kamio and said hello. Perhaps I'll see you there again soon.