SYNDICATE - SO SHE STOOD IN JANUARY 2012
So it's a new Syndicate thread, with hopefully more judicious posting. Here's a quick summary of Syndicate in Jan 2012, so that we can look back with amusement by summer at how different (or not) things are.
Let me know what I've missed (there will be a lot).
THE OLD POWERBASES
PC9 area: The old fortress of Huzzah, now held by Masquerade and friends. Lots of Drake and BC gangs around here that venture out into 'mainland' Syndicate and also head down to the S-U pocket for fights there. It appears that Flatline have also moved into the area, in T22 (thanks Lexa). Judging from killboards they seem quite capable of fielding decent capital numbers and it'll be interesting to see whether battles over T22's Tech moon arise.
S-U pocket: Hidden deep in the bowels of Syndicate, the S-U pocket is very defensible (long way to get there, easy entry systems to place scouts, etc.) and yet has probably seen the biggest turnover of alliances of any recent times.
The Drake is again the creature of choice here - and they're breeding. Inhabitants include Darkspawn and Moon Warriors. Darkspawn have been up to as many as 60 in local during EU peak time and although so far I've only managed to get engagements via portal/bubble traps, I think there is a lot of promise here, at least given the spike in activity.
SEDITION and Ishuk-Raata also hunt here (attacking Darkspawn and co.), with SEDITION basing in S-U and Ishuk holding fort nearby in DP34. SEDITION seem able to field quite a mix of setups, ranging from armour HACS to sniping Tier3 BCs, which is a welcome relief amid a sea of Drakes. Ishuk-Raata, to my knowledge at least, bias somewhat toward shield.
Completing the roster are the mysterious "Kin.Dza.Dza." and their allies, Anarchy Squad. This duo are neutral to the other groups, too, which ought to create some prickly and anatomically complex situations on gates throughout the pocket. Albeit, with more Drakes.
TXW to D85: Rote Kapelle, long-standing Syndicate residents, live in TXW. They run gangs regularly in US TZ and field a good variety of setups. Usually fast moving stuff although they sometimes bring out what Bacc calls Rooks and Kings Lite, and drop battleships, guardians and capitals. TXW is a very reliable place for US TZ roaming gangs to drop in for action.
The run from TXW to D85 seems less active although there are some local groups camping it. For an entry system, D85 is surprisingly rarely camped, and definitely the most quiet entry system to Sydndicate. Although don't ask me for isk if you're jumping your unscouted freighter in now.
Y9G area: I really must visit Y9G. Firstly, to find out who lives there presently. I believe it still to be Raven Federation, NAP or War and their allies. I am uncertain of their present fleet composition, though in times past they fought Huzzah Federation and could field a sizeable fleet. I recall once hotdropping some 70 of them (in battleships, no less), although I think twenty is a more realistic number these days (and probably more BC-based). They've lost some towers to Solitude power, Psychotic Tendencies, and also have fresh company in the form of Flying Dangerous, who moved in from 6-C.
The second reason to visit Y9G is that I still have a Navy Geddon there. Having once mistakenly taken a ship that was missing half its mods including all its guns (long story), I sheepishly explained to the fleet that I needed a second faction BS carrier jumped in for me, because I'd forgotten some crystals. 'Take my spare set of Crystals, I have every type' the enternally helpful and damnably over-prepared Eldareth, offered. Since of course I knew his generosity would probably not extend to half the mods on his ship, including all eight of his guns, I insisted that I needed an entirely new battleship ferried in for me, for so cavernous was its cargohold and so vast its array of mods for refitting, that adding a handful of crystals would merely sully the organisation at work. He eyed me dubiously as we watched the carrier jump in the replacement, which I patted like a fresh warhorse after having exchanged out the last (and unbeknown to them, a donkey). As a result, to my shame, I still have a half fitted battleship in Y9G station.
THE MAZE
By this we mean the dense web of systems between MHC and M2-.
6-C pocket: After a period of being home to BOB illumini, RKK, the area was very much in the hands of Flying Dangerous, who also kept a tight grasp on the Reblier gate. They can fly anything from battleships to shield-nano, and they usually number around a dozen to twenty. Of late, however, they appear to have moved south to the Y9G pocket, leaving 6-C relatively empty (thanks Collide).
AAS : Clockwork Pineapple base in AAS. They run gangs in US timezone and have recently been involved in POS fighting with Quantum Wipeout, who later became Naschbaerchis. It seems that Naschbaerchis got the upper hand in the structure battles but differing timezones hindered any decisive resolution in the overall conflict. Naschbaerchis have since left Syndicate for fresh pastures but Pineapple forces remain a reliable USTZ entity (thanks to Collide & Tim for the update).
2X-P : The home of Finis Terrae, a well-organised EU timezone group who roam Syndicate with small gangs (up to 20 but usually half that). By request I'm reminded to note that they honour 1v1s, so budding knights should knock on their door with squire and lance.
T-L : Here you will find SPANI who are, perhaps surprisingly in this age of smokescreening and misdirection, Spaniards. For now they keep a fairly low profile but their numbers are rising and if they get the FCs active, we may seem them emerge more often from the maze. And hopefully not in Drakes.
ARES' OLD STOMPING GROUNDS
VSIG pocket: Until fairly recently, this was home to Ares Protectiva, a French alliance who looked North for their action, and regularly hit towers belonging to Dek Coalition (the resulting cacaphony providing us some good fights). Ares have now moved South, and the new residents are Ineluctable alliance. Ineluctable, so far, seem to fly a variety of shield nano setups. But before anyone writes them off as another low-fi Drake group, I think it's worth noting that they count a number of skilled entities like VIRII in their ranks and should provide a good addition to the region. They've also had some tasty looking Tengu & Cynabal outings.
Back when Ares lived in VSIG, their allies BPLAN used to live in the neighbouring pocket of 0T-. When one group was camped in, the other would form up and block the hostile's retreat at the neck of the pocket, trapping them between the fleets. This area is now held by Avaricious Cartel and also home to Damned Nation and Vanguard. I am unsure if these groups mirror the Ares/BPLAN arrangement or whether they are hostile to each other.
THE WALL(S) - GATEKEEPERS TO NORTH AND WEST
31/A-S area: Once the home of Ev0ke, a Pure Madness flag now flutters above the battlements. They are a German group who bridge around Syndicate in EU timezone, with anything from Abaddons to shield canes. In their prime time they can number as many as forty. I suspect they have a fine capfleet as well (to which we personally added an ejected Phoenix as spoils of victory after a sov 0.0 group attacked their towers ). Although they have no blues that I know of, they sometimes seem to work with Agony (when not clashing horns with them).
Agony live in 31- and roam across the region in a variety of timezones. They are well known for their tutorial gangs, which bring them respect throughout Eve. Any new member reading this would do well to sign up for an Agony class. However, don't infer from it that they are all tweed jackets, pipes and chalk - when school's out they can bring a heavy fleet too, if they need to.
3KNK/COT: The long, lonely descent to COT gate feels like a plunge and so it should - if you don't have a spy spot, it's usually into a bubble. This gateway to Outer Ring has usually been controlled by The Ronin. Of late their numbers seem to be growing and, from what I've seen, the tier3 battlecruiser often their weapon of choice. Since this bottleneck also controls access to the VSIG pocket, they've been fighting Ineluctable's gangs. If they win a lot, it would restrict the VSIG roaming access to central Syndicate, so this has the potential to build up to a nice local conflict.
LOW SEC ENTRY SYSTEMS
Fd/PF- : The true intended target of Mr. Guinness' hive of scum and villainy address. The unwary traveller will find a swift demise amid a multitude of bubbles, skilled dictors and Falcons.
A new entity seems to have moved in, too, promisingly named Free Beer (thanks to Vasponger for the reminder). Given how many fleets from East and West criss-cross FD-, it will be interesting to see whether they can make impact and occasionally pounce on those, or whether they stick to the travelling folk to and from Orvolle as targets. It will certainly be a busy place to call as home, given the traffic moving through.
MHC : A variety of entities camp here (in small numbers) on the Harroule gate, though the wary traveller would have a better chance here than via Orvolle. Harroule gate does, though, usually boast a good number of anchored bubbles.
6-C : Until recently, the Reblier gate was well manned by Flying Dangerous. However, with their move South, there has probably never been a better time for holidaymakers to venture in from Reblier.
D85 : Rarely even bubbled and probably the easiest entry system.
THE WILDS
Like little local legends, tales of told of smaller groups who lurk under the radar. As soon as DaDutchDude, providing input for the post, described Tlak Chilk in much the manner as one speaks of Robin Hood, I realised we need a section for them. So without further ado, and to quote Dutch:
RF-GFF: "I believe this is the home of Tlak Chilk and his band of Center for Advanced Studies NPC corp buddies. Don't underestimate them, they wield their mostly Gallente drone boats very well, and even when things go south, they almost always manage to win the Isk war."
LSC4-P: "Here lives Freelancers Union, or at least they used to when Agony moved in. Their activety was kinda ebbing and flowing. They used to work with Avaricious Cartel that used to live in the dead-end pocket behind it. They fly a mix of stuff, from Thrashers to Machs, but mostly either realy small gang, or in a throw back to 2009 a RR Domi heavy gang. I've also seen them throw around a 8 man BlackOps battleship gang on occasion. "
In addition to these contributions, I feel we should also add:
F67: This is home to some genuine old school camping from Bipolar Stability. In this age of titan bridging, jump portalling and Black Ops dropping, the F67 affair is decidedly traditional: scouts in system either side and a gang warping in from safe spots. It's low-fi but they make it work for them. Some will write off the devotion to one system as madness and others will champion it as resilience. Either way, I can speak from experience that when they assign fighters to the camp from a POS shield edge, their pilots are on the ball and ever eyeing the horizon for a cyno.
Outside entities:
Dek Coalition/CFC: The A-S area has traditionally been used as a base to hit into Cloud Ring (e.g. as Ev0ke did) and this tradition generally continues, with Pure Madness picking fights on towers north of 1-3. In some ways they've inherited this role from Ares Protectiva. In turn, those 0.0 entities strike back into Syndicate, on occasions.
Rooks and Kings: We try and jump on big action, especially capital action, when we see it around Syndicate. We also sometimes weigh in when sov 0.0 entities hit Syndicate residents and their assets.
Outer Ring: There is surprisingly little interaction here, from what I've seen. Outer Ring is generally quiet and most Syndicate groups roam toward Cloud Ring instead (to my knowledge, anyway). The Korean group, Privateers of Virtue, still make their base in 4C- but prefer to remain in their home area (and fair enough, every fantasy novel has some group or other walled up in a strong castle and content with it).
Roaming gangs from LS: Tuskers, Muppet Ninjas and Shadow Cartel have all been known to roam Synd in EU TZ, usually entering from MHC and striking South for S-U and PC9, or West for FD-.
Shamelessly stealing LM's post from the other thread because doing otherwise would be a ton of effort.
Originally Posted by TimNeilson
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