Where is the cloaky, patient, calculating, submarine like narrative gone? The answer is simple: PvP shakes The shakes are something that I had explained in my last blog post. Suffice it to say, its the rush you get when PvPing in eve. For a long time, the stalk plus instapop I got while flying bombers did it for me. But after awhile it stopped. Hence why I was flying north in my Nano Drake, I was in search for green pastures that provided me with more shakes. After looking at nano (For a long, long while), I had determined that it was in fact a superior play style than to the one I was currently practicing. Nano is, and always has been the one and only way to wage proper guerrilla warfare. Oddly enough my EvE character (Chessur) is named after such an event, but more on that later. So lets get talking about Nano.
The first to truly discover the art (In my mind at least) are the men comprising the 'Golden Horde' lead by none other than the infamous Genghis Khan. Their horsemen, riding multiple horses into battle (Yes you read that correctly) had perfected the art of horse back archery. These riders made great use of excellent horseman ship, along with great accuracy. The archers were able to control range easily with their horses, and also project damage well when used against standard infantry man / cavalry. The mounted archer was indeed the end all in skirmishing, and kiting inside the iron / bronze age. Only with the advent of massed foot soldier archery squads did Mounted archery truly decline. There, long bowmen could use their superior numbers + projection to bat away mounted archers, and force them from the field of battle. Another historical reference that I am more keenly interested in, is that of naval warfare. In particular the war of 1812, which if you didn't already know- was fought between a fledgling America and Great Britan. Because it is within this theater that we can truly start making some better parallels to EvE (and also explain where my character name comes from.)
The war of 1812 was long, vicious, and on paper- one sided. Speaking briefly from a naval point of view, the British empire (at the time) had with out a doubt the most superior naval fight force the world had ever seen. The Americans on the other hand, could hardly muster more than a squadron of Frigates, as most American 'Ships of the Line' had near the later stages of the war- been pushed far inland, off the coast, or destroyed/captured. Because of this the Americans at the time began using what is known as 'Privateers'. These guns for hire, were given special letters of marque, which allowed them to 'legally' pirate other ships on the sea- with the blessing of the United States. Privateers were non enlisted men, willing to fight in behalf of the US. At the time, there were extremely large amounts of money to be made doing this, along with extreme risk. All american shipping was blockaded into port / shoot on site from the royal navy. With British ships blockading / Camping port entrances, American ship builders started working on a different kind of sailing vessel. Their ultimate creation would become the pinnicle of sail: The Clippers. In particular, one has always caught my eye, and I have read many books regarding her exploits. The Clipper 'Chasseur' was a 'Boston' Clipper- and for her time, was with out question the fastest thing on the sea. Captained by a Mr. Thomas Boyle, Chasseur was the scourge of the British fleet. Working alone, Mr. Boyle was able to (one a single cruise) Capture or sink over 17 vessels. Chasseurs ability to out sail anything on the water allowed her to perform jaw dropping feats of skirmish warfare.
My personal favorite- is a small battle that took place in the Caribbean. There, Boyle took a ship within 3 miles of a British Stronghold / Port. If that is not impressive enough, he did so while being chased by 2 British Brigs. The brigs, not being fast enough to catch the nimble clipper, could do little to stop it from stealing the merchant ships cargo, and then burning the ship, and sending her to the deep. Coming in a close second, is when Chasseur sent a message to King George III, with a letter to be pinned to the nearest coffee shops. In short it read something to the effect of: British waters are now being blockaded, by Chassuer alone! This caused an uproar, and forced British shipping to travel in convoys, herded by no less than 3 warships.
Again the reason why Chassuer was so successful in harassing, and taking down British ships- was because of its use of extreme speed, and in the case of gunnery- the use of the latest long range / accurate guns available in the period. EvE PvP in my mind, mirrors the american naval situation during the war of 1812. With the advent of blobs, ECM, and all of the risk averse faggatory that goes on in this game, I sternly believe that the Nano play style lends itself very well as the only valid tactic. It was this 'Mastery of Nano' that originally drew me to fly up and into Hatchery fleets. Because talking with / reading some of their exploits- sounded just like the heroes I had read about while growing up.
Hatchery flew outnumbered, and used superior FCing, pilot skill, fittings, and a sound understanding of nano to compile jaw dropping BR's.
For the first time in a long time, I felt completely out of my element. Suddenly there was so much more for me to learn, to do, and to get me feeling the rush all over again.
