Corvette Fleet, 14 March, 1500 (EVE)

[Rathe Gardson]

OBJECTIVE: My objectives were to
a) get back to leading fleets after being out sick for awhile;
b) demonstrate that a pack of corvettes was a potent weapon and nothing to sneeze at; and
c) provide some inexpensive, fun content. We ended up having ten (10) pilots participate.

WHAT HAPPENED:
a) tried to demonstrate the function of a DRONE BUNNY. However though the fleets drones followed the drone bunny, only the drone bunny's own drones attacked the target. I'm still trying to figure that out.
b) We searched out and cleared a Serpentis Refuge as a tactical warm up.
c) We traveled through LowSec FW space (Ouelletta - Loes - Agoze - Vey) looking for PvP targets in the FW sites, but discovered that we could not enter the sites for two reasons: incorrect ship type (corvettes don't qualify) and the fleet members were not enrolled in FW. So, we camped the Acceleration Gate and caught a destroyer trying to get into the site. We almost got him, but he managed to warp off with the last bit of his structure. We had failed to lock him down. We lost three (3) corvettes. We returned to Stacmon, dodging a Never Regrets gate camp in Ostingele by using some gate safes that I had previously set up. Didn't lose anyone else.
d) On return, we voted four (4) MVPs: three (3) logi and a member who helped provide ships. mrbah Chieve, Tron401, Alex Maillar, and Korr'Tanas each received an ISK 1M MVP reward. The fleet donated approx ISK 10M is loot from the PvE site to the Donations Can in Stacmon - Karpinski Forge.
e) Hopefully, several folks will complete the E-Uni Fleet Feedback Form. I THINK participants had fun. Hopefully, I'll get some constructive feedback.

LESSONS LEARNED:
1. I need to do better recon and better understand FW before I again use that as a target hunting tool.
2. Having been out for awhile, I need a warm up training fleet. I accidently warped myself three times instead of the whole fleet.
3. A trained, dedicated scout really would have helped a lot. I probably should apprentice to an experienced scout in a couple of fleets so I would be able to use a scout efficiently.
4. Likewise, I've got to think about the best ways to find PvP targets in LowSec/NullSec.
5. Doctrine: My doctrine was simple, any corvette. Most brought their own. Korr'Tanas and I assembled a fleet of loaner corvettes (all four empires). KISS: I probably should limit provided ships. It took a lot of time to hand out ships for individual preferences. The loaners were variously equipped with blasters, railguns, RAR, RSB, missiles. It took too much time, especially when several of the people who needed/wanted loaners docked at the wrong station. Need to limit variety to simplify ship issue.