I'm sorry we don't play your game

I log on and I'm up in my manufacturing center. I also have some RL stuff to do so I pop some module jobs in (to get another thrasher fitted out so that my hauler will have a full load). Then I take my Rifter - the Expendable and autopilot way out to the other end of Gallente space to get a new Research agent. I know I know, should have done it in a shuttle - but it was an implant-less clone and an insured Rifter so...

After getting back online for a sec, I find out I've survived my trip (25-30 odd jumps) , get my new agent researching, and set my autopilot destination to my forward base and go off and do more RL stuff.

After I get back I find out I'm 3 jumps out and the ship is fine. So I check coms and find out that stuff is heating up, I indicate to the person trying to form up that I'm on my way and put a burn on for the Amamake system. We've got an open Minmatar plex to defend. After trying to find the concentration point (as various people are flying around with their heads cut off) I eventually end up with at a station and Ignoring smack in local showing the purported FC of the Amarr side making like he's miss-telling local the orders he's supposed to say in fleet to go to the Osoggur gate, I figure it's a ruse so I head to the warp in gate of the plex. Just as I hit warp the FC orders a warp to the Osoggur gate... Wonderful. I now know I won't have backup for a while. Sure enough I land smack on the Amarr fleet and start dumping intel in the fleet voice coms as my Rifter is pretty much insta-gibbed.

After warping my pod out I head for a Rupture I've got in system. This one is named "Office Chair" after the well known saying that flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs in an office chair firing an Uzi. As I try to get back to the fleet I managed to get a momentary tackle on a jag and both fleets warp to that fight, with the Amarr arriving first. This time I manage to get my Rupture out at about 25% armor. Thank matar for the toughness of the Rupture. After some more bouncing around while my rupture repairs itself we end up getting the instructions to dock up. After I dock up I learn over voice coms that a Moros has joined the fun.

What proceeds is a classic example of how not to organize a response fleet (Sorry FC but it's true). Between the enemy fleet shaping up nicely and our fleet not really up-shipping with alacrity. Between our fleet getting possibly infiltrated and the enemy FC smacking about it in local (I must point out the fact that it's entirely possible he was just smacking to psych the FC out). Eventually due to the fact that we a) weren't concentrated properly, b) lack of BS and c) loosing the supporting capitals to being dis-organized and cyno-less. It was smartly decided that trying to fight from Angelonico's play book was stupid and the fleet was dissolved.

Basically I took over and stated that anyone staying had better ship down and we were going plexing because we weren't going to play their game and get our ships killed no good reason. At that point the fleet shrunk massively. But one of the pilots was out in Amarr low sec in a plex (he'd obviously been ahead of the curve). So off the few of us go and get to the plex. It's a min plex in an un-contested system but what the heck, might as well close it do deny it to the enemy. One of my pilots with enormous voice coms and attention problems seems to have lost a rupture trying to get to us. Once again someone is short on attention. I had specifically requested that we down ship to frigates. Why don't they listen? Anyways, a war target in a hauler goes by while we're in the last 16 seconds of the plex and we then spread out trying to see if we get lucky and find out where he's gone. We don't' do that, but in doing so I find an open plex in an un-contested amar system.

So in I go to do my speed tanking thing, and eventually we cap the plex. With no one to disturb us the whole time. As we're finishing this plex we get a call for help from a mission runner that got abandoned by his guys for a militia mission. More speed tanking ensues. Rather tough little mission but that's cool, we loose no ships and he's able to get the mission completed (going to have to go back and get that loot out at some point). Then we hit the jackpot. We're in an un-contested amarr system and a quick scan finds 5 plexes.

What follows is tedious but necessary. A lot of speed tanking later and we've buttoned 5 more plexes, putting this system solidly into contested state.

I'm getting better at this speed tanking thing. thank god for the ability to perma-run my MWD. Just watch out you dont' get too close to any Amarr npc concentrations as they will neut you.

Once we capped the last of those 5 plexes (there were probably more but it was getting late) I thank the guys for the fleet and head off to my forward base and dock up for the night.

One of the points here is that the measure of success in FW is not, at the end of the day, how many big kills you get. It's your isk based damage inflicted vs damage recieved ratio. It's also how frustrated you can get the enemy. The smartest move the FC did last night once it became obvious that the fight wasn't going to be worth doing was to can the fleet. If we had engaged they would simply have gotten more kills for relatively light losses. When that's the case, it's not worth engaging their main fleet. But if most of their best pilots are at location A, that means most other locations are "uncovered" and its a great time to go with a small strike force into the hinterland and either kill stragglers or cap some plexes. Remember - don't play their game, play your game (it's a lot easier on your blood pressure and the enemy smack becomes amusing).