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In order to give combat activities some areas on which to focus, and get all the relevant features tied up into a nice, consistent system, we designated two main theatres of combat for the two main conflicts. These sit in lowsec space between the Caldari and Gallente, and between the Amarr and Minmatar. The first one starts in central Metropolis, down through the Amamake area of Heimatar, and extends through into The Bleak Lands and Devoid. The second starts in Black Rise and parts of The Citadel, and stretches across into eastern Placid and the northern lowsec areas around Old Man Star. These are the systems that are "up for grabs," as it were.

Militia Missions

One of the results of our general brainstorming are the new sets of missions we've knocked together, using some new tools we've been given. These are issued by new agents, located in the new Militia stations and available only to Militia members, and stretch from level 1 to level 4. Each level has a different limit on the types of ship that can enter:

• Level 1 – Tech I frigates and destroyers
• Level 2 – Tech I frigates, destroyers and cruisers, Tech II frigates
• Level 3 – Tech I frigates, destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers, Tech II frigates, destroyers and cruisers
• Level 4 – All ships not requiring "Capital Ships" skill

These missions will send you to complete objectives deep inside enemy territory. You'll have to make your way into a system within the enemy's combat area, avoiding or killing enemy pilots. There you'll find a mission site, which as you arrive will place a celestial beacon that can be seen anywhere in the system. From here it's a race against time to complete your objective and get out before the locals show up to ruin your day. Obviously, bringing friends will increase your chances of success, as will playing smart and being ready for just about anything!

The mission sites themselves will be easier than usual for each level, as the main obstacle is other capsuleers rather than NPCs. We've also got a couple of new tricks up our sleeve here, which let us do some rather cool stuff that you'll no doubt discover for yourselves!

Combat Sites

In addition to the missions, we also have discrete combat sites available for your pew-pewing pleasure.

These sites are distributed throughout the theatres of war, much like normal exploration sites. They're classified as "Cosmic Anomalies," and are tuned to be findable with the on-board scanner.

Once you locate one, it'll pop up a beacon in local in a similar manner as the missions. They also have similar ship restrictions – sites exist which match up to Level 1, 2 and 3 missions, plus a couple with no acceleration gates, which any ship can enter. These sites are deadspace-enabled, but specially configured to allow MWDs – this means you don't have to compromise your favorite PvP fit in order to be able to move around inside.

The focal point of each site is the tactical objective found within. These use proximity sensors to detect who's nearby, and react accordingly; the mechanics end up being similar to those used by a wide range of other territory-based games, from tactical FPS to tabletop wargames. Your "side" needs to stay close to the objective and keep the bad guys away for a certain amount of time (in the ten to twenty minute range – you won't be sitting around for hours!), after which you'll secure the site, score points for your faction and earn a little personal glory (manifested as standings increases). If the enemy manages to chase you away, they have to undo the progress you've made before capturing it themselves.

This translates into a violent back-and-forth struggle in contested sites as both teams try to beat back the opposition. With ship restrictions adding a little variety to the mix, fights can range from protracted to extremely intense. The rate of capturing is not affected by the number of ships present on each side, so achieving the correct balance between defending individual sites and having as many being conquered as possible at the same time becomes an interesting balancing act.

The Bigger Picture

Once an objective is conquered, two things happen. First, it's thrown back into the pool of available missions, and placed elsewhere in the theatre of war as a new objective. This means that available objectives will constantly be shifting around the map – you can't just sit in one system and grind it, you have to roam around looking for new objectives.

Second, as mentioned earlier, it gains points for your faction in that system, either adding to your points pool as an attacker, or subtracting from the attacker's pool as a defender. If the attackers' points reach a certain threshold, the system becomes vulnerable. At this point the system's Control Bunker becomes vulnerable to attack, and it's a race for the attackers to try and knock it out as quickly as possible while the defenders try to keep it safe and complete enough additional objectives to make it invulnerable again. There're no restrictions on what can show up at the bunker's location –it's a no-holds-barred, winner-takes-all affair. If the attackers succeed in their assault, the system changes hands at the next downtime, which is reflected in one of the new map modes.

For now, this produces no effects outside of the warfare mechanics, but once the system settles down and we get a good handle on the way things play out in the real world, we have the opportunity to give it more significant impact without risking seriously unbalancing other areas of the game.
Source: myeve.eve-online.com

Federal Defence Union Responds to Heydieles Carrier Loss
Tama - Approximately three days ago, a Federal Defence Union carrier was destroyed in Heydieles. On the evening of the 28th, the FDU returned the favour by destroying six State Protectorate carriers in a little over thirty minutes in the Tama system.

Two State carriers were sighted smartbombing everything in range at the station in Tama. Some speculate as to whether this was a baiting tactic, as the carriers warped to the Nourvukaiken gate when a Federal fleet moved to engage them. The Federal fleet, mostly made up of Invicta and Einherjar Rising corporation members, followed the carriers and engaged them at the gate.

Once combat was initiated, four more carriers of the State Protectorate were cyno jumped into the combat zone along with a small support fleet following in from Nourvukaiken. The support fleet was easily wiped out and concentration was shifted to the carriers. Members of the FDU fleet called in more pilots from their allies in the Cry Havoc. and Pandemic Legion alliances. This combined force destroyed two carriers and was able to keep the remaining carriers pinned down until reinforcements from a roaming gang led by JLBane arrived. This additional damage helped break the chain of remote repair aid that the carriers were providing each other.

In an example of brilliant tactical thinking, Lucas Avignon led several pod pilots that were being chased by enemy fighters back to the station, where the sentry guns destroyed the fighters. Freed of the threat, the pilots were able to return to the battle and aid in the continuing efforts.

With support ships and fighters destroyed, the carriers succumbed in quick succession as the remote repairing chain was broken link by link.
Source: myeve.eve-online.com

New Alliance Forms in Southern Regions - IAC Engages Roaming Gang
A new alliance has recently formed in the southern reaches of the cluster. Members formerly of Triumvirate., Mercenary Coalition and Insurgency. came together in response to an idea put forth by Darknesss, CEO of D00M. corporation, forming The Requiem.

INZi, CEO of one of the nine founding organizations, coracao ardente [CORA.] explained how they came together:

"All the old Triumvirate. CEOs [have been] in a channel since Tri ended, and Darknesss was talking about creating a new alliance. We were interested and so I started to talk to Dark and the other corps involved and we became a founding member.

"Four Triumvirate. corps ([D00M.], [OMEN.], [CORA.], [R A]) three ex-Insurgency. corps ([CELES], [GAME], [NICE1]) and [BDCI] from Mercenary Coalition… The Triumvirate. corps had been in contact with a few Mercenary Coalition corporations earlier about another project and then Seleene wanted in on this one. The Insurgency corporations had approached/been approached by Darknesss about forming a new alliance, as he knew them from Tri's campaign in Branch.

"None of the previous alliance leaders fancied stepping up to a supreme leadership position so [our command structure] is more of a council at the moment, involving all the CEOs. I'm sure it will evolve over time as people get involved more."

Currently listed as having 256 members, the alliance may seem small compared to some in neighbouring regions, but the alliance has drawn attention for two main reasons: power in the supercapital arena, with at least three known titans and a considerable number of motherships, and the combat experience residing in its member corporations.

"Most people will know we have currently three Titans that have been used in combat, one from each respective alliance (BDCI's, OMEN's and Game's). Motherships, I have no idea about, to be honest. Real capital power is in Dreadnought and Titan numbers these days anyway, so to see those full numbers we'll have to wait till our first operation to know.

"We're currently based in Curse, setting up and melding as an alliance. We have a lot of different styles and procedures from our previous alliances, so we need to work together to iron out the problems that may arise. We won't be sitting still for long and only the future will tell you who our target(s) and success with that will be.

"We're roaming across most of the southern areas. The two entities who we've had "medium" size engagements with are TCF [Tau Ceti Federation] and IAC [Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate]. TCF attempted to bait some of our super capitals yesterday and ended up hotdropping about 25 caps and jump bridging in 15 Heavy Interdictors onto 20 assorted support. We've had a few nano and battleship fights with them as well.

 "IAC have been bringing out a lot of numbers when we've been roaming into their space and we have had a lot of fun engaging them."

The Battle of F4R2-Q

The Requiem have had multiple engagements with IAC in Catch, including one on the 27th lasting over 4 hours and causing losses estimated at over 1 billion isk to either side.

Yrigoyen of IAC was present for a large part of the engagement, and described it thus: "The first recorded engangement with the Requiem hostile fleet was at 03:14 followed by small engagements in various systems in the JZV cluster until 05:45. By this time the IAC fleet was comparable in size to the Requiem fleet with more battleships and carrier support against Requiem's fast Tech 2 fleet.

"The fight moved from the F4R2-Q station to various spots around the station… as both fleets warped around attempting to engage or disengage. The fast-moving nature of the battle saw heavy IAC ships isolated at some moments while at other times Requiem ships were caught in optimal range of the defenders and killed with concentrated fire.

"The last major loss for IAC was a Cyclone at 06:28 after which Requiem lost a Claymore, Vagabond and Ishtar. Last casualty was a Requiem trailing scout in a Cheetah on the 1P- gate. Due to losses or pilots leaving the F4R2-Q system we faced a significantly smaller force in the last phase of the engagement."

Yrigoyen, however, claims this is all in a day's work for IAC, despite some of the more notorious names among their enemies.

"Requiem is one of the many alliances hostile to us to have taken residence up in Curse, there is nothing new here for IAC."

He was keen, however, to see one member of his corporation recognised for exemplary service:

"Please mention the excellent salvaging efforts of my fellow corporation member, Apple Boy, that allowed a lot of losses to be replaced."

External GalNet Resources

Battle Summary
Source: myeve.eve-online.com