WIP: Starting Out as a Fleet Commander

What you can learn in this guide:

• Practical tips and a learning path to become an FC.
• Overall considerations before you take out a fleet.
• Basic fleet tactics for upcoming FCs.
• Some general tips & tricks to get you started.
• An overview on the Military Command Structure and basic administration.

Difficulty: Beginners

As a Fleet Commander (FC) myself, I can totally understand the anxiety behind it. It's somewhat similar to giving a presentation: you're in charge of showing people what you know and what to do, and if you make a mistake it can be very embarrassing (unless of course, you're so experienced/talented that even your mistakes seem like calculated decisions; also, it's not entirely true if you make a decision fast and confidently). That being said, you're here, that means you probably thought about FC'ing and want to know a few things before whelping taking out your very first fleet. So, check your ships, insure your pods, and undock undock undock.

Disclaimers:

• This guide has a few personal experiences sprinkled in for more relatability.
• These are not hard and fast rules, merely simple suggestions. Adapt as you see fit.
• There is no better way to learn than to:
  • Join fleets and observe other FCs.
  • Command a fleet yourself and learn from it. To quote Top Gun: "Don't think, just do".
• After reading this guide, I expect to see a ping and an AAR from you (no pressure).

Someone once said "Being an FC means being the person that brings fun/hour to others". Think for a minute, what kind of FC would you like to see as a fleet member?

Would you prefer the FC:

• Yelling at you for no reason.
• Being totally confused and can't make a decision, or hesitating to do something.
• Who is quiet and/or does not communicate what they want to see from their fleet and peers.

Or would you like to see the FC:

• Who is calm and/or gives clear instructions on what to do.
• Who seems to have a masterful plan in motion (even though they might not have one in mind).
• That analyzes situations and dictate fights.

And so on. An FC is only as good as the fleet they have after all. A hard truth is that reputation matters in the FC world. You will most likely start out small, but if you give people the impression that you know what you're doing (or at the very least pretend to) people might have a good time and maybe join your next fleets with friends. Vice versa, if you didn't try your best to have fun, people will see that and you might have a harder time climbing the ladder (trust me, I know). You will make mistakes, you will whelp, but the best FCs in Brave and in EVE do too. What matters is how you present yourself and how you lead.

Personal experience: I'm an introvert and am not that good at socializing. My first fleet, I literally said "Okay, how to do small talk?" out loud for everyone to hear. In my mind, that was embarrassing as hell but I always tend to interact with my fleet mates and keep them entertained. My type of FC is the nice guy that everyone can count on, after all.

There are people who have played the game for decades and have "mastered" the art of FC'ing. You might think: "How am I gonna turn this into the Dragon Warrior an amazing FC, huh?", and I totally understand that. You might feel like compared to the greats you're absolutely tiny, but don't forget that they also started out somewhere. They also once commanded their first fleet (and probably died) and they might've felt the same way you are now, but they kept going. I can't promise you'll be great (I can't say that of myself either), but you'll be better as long as you just keep trying (and learning from it).

Something that's also worth mentioning (and I learned the hard way) is that in a fight, it's better to make a "wrong decision" immediately than a "right decision" later. Of course, before a fight you can analyze doctrines and the field, and after the fight you can reflect on what you did, but during a fight things need to move fast. To quote The Martian: "…You solve one problem, and you solve the next one. And if you solve enough problems, you get to come home". It's not easy to see the right decision in the heat of the moment (and this skill improves with practice), but the worst option for you is to stay still and not do anything.

Personal experience: I second-guessed every decision I made before becoming an FC, and was so anxious about pinging my first fleet that my mentor had to pre-ping a fleet to force me to take action (lol). I had so much fun that first fleet that I knew this was what I wanted to do in EVE; despite me taking a lot of fleets to stop second-guessing myself I still kept pinging and I can say my reaction time is much better now than before.

If you didn't read all of the above, here's a few bullet points:

• Reputation matters in the FC world. Present your best self and your fleets will grow as you grow.
• Just keep trying. Keep pinging, keep learning, and one day you will see yourself improve.
• It's better to make a "wrong decision" immediately than a "right decision" later. Don't hesitate, trust in yourself, and learn from the process.

It's easy to imagine yourself like the experienced Stratop and Full FCs, who seem to know the ins and out of every grid and every doctrine. However, when you're starting out, it's better to keep it simple and build up your fundamentals. Here's a few tips:

• Choose a doctrine you like (that you're allowed to call SRP for) and learn how to fly it effectively. Don't try to do complicated things in multiple doctrines.
• Have an objective in mind every time you ping a fleet, whether it be catching ratters in Havens or defending an Astrahus.
• Have a few tactics/strategies in mind that you can use to complete this objective (detailed later).

The idea is to reduce the complexity of the fleet so you can focus on the basics and make good decisions. The rest you will learn as you go along.

"Know thy enemy, know thyself, and in a hundred battles thou shall never be defeated". Half the battle is won before you call for your first primary, so it helps a lot that you are prepared and do your homework.

This guide should give you a basic understanding of the doctrines we have available in Brave, and this page will give you a list of doctrines you're able to ping for. As a general idea, these are the things you should know about your desired doctrine:

• What are the possible engagement ranges?
• What is the alpha/volley damage and DPS characteristic of this doctrine?
• What is the survivability of this doctrine with and without Logistics?
• What is the maneuverability of this doctrine?

Now, analyze the engagement profiles that you wish to see from this doctrine:

• What this doctrine is good against and how to utilize the advantages of it against the enemy.
• What this doctrine is countered by and how to engage/disengage on the field.
• More advanced: how this doctrine works in conjecture with other friendly fleets and how to synergise with them.

You can simulate the ships using PYFA and check what other FCs use this doctrine for using zkill. Afterwards, you can write these down or keep them in your head as you fly. Using the information your scouts give you, you can then decide whether or not to take that fight.

We'll take a look at one of the doctrines I started out with, the Beamfleet. This doctrine features Afterburner (AB) fitted Harbingers and Omens supported by armor Logistics and EWAR.

• Engagement ranges: Preferably mid-to-close range, switching mid-slots for EWAR modules if necessary. Designed to fight in the ESS. Can suffer against fast doctrines due to losing range dictation, which is negated by fighting in the ESS.
• Damage characteristic: Energy Weapons pack a good punch given sufficient numbers, and also deal EM/Thermal damage that is optimal against any non-Minmatar shield doctrine. The damage lock may result in less advantageous fights against opponents without the resistance hole.
• Survivability: This doctrine has heavy buffer and is less dependent on capacitor for tanking, but has a few drawbacks by using armor Logistics.
• Maneuverability: This doctrine is very slow, being both armor and AB ships.
• Good against: Non-Minmatar shield doctrines of similar class, preferably in a static grid where range dictation matters less (like the ESS).
• Countered by: Very fast doctrines (which are usually Minmatar), due to possibly losing range and engagement dictation in a more dynamic grid.
• Synergise with: Possibly other doctrines that feature heavy tackling (like Flycatchers, Avro Arrows or Harpies). The friendly fleet will hold the enemy on grid till my weapons can effectively get on them.

As an FC, if you're going on a roam or defending our space, you should have an idea of how you're going to navigate the space you're going to operate in. Fun fact: most of our official FCs have the map of our space somewhat memorized, so they can visualize where they're going and plan accordingly. Also cool, everyone in the FC team knows the system O-IOAI but no one ever (intentionally) gets the name right, always using a random combination of the letters O, I, A and sometimes E.

There are multiple tools you can use for navigating space. Prime examples include dotlan, or intel tools like SMT or RIFT. They feature a map of every region within New Eden, as well as lots of information you can use offensively or defensively. Once you've chosen a navigation tool, here are a few things you can note down:

• The staging and market systems of the region and alliance owning it.
• The Ansiblex Jump Bridge map of the target alliance.
• The chokepoints/pipes of the region.

After identifying these landmarks on the map, if you're roaming a few more things come into play:

• What timezone the people in your target region are most active in.
• Where the ratting and mining pockets of the region are.
• What the most common enemy response will be.
• If there was a fight nearby.
• More advanced: who their FCs and their alts are, as well as who're the most experienced PVPers. This ties with identifying cyno, bubble and probing characters.

If you want, you can also do this for more convenience:

• Fly around in an Interceptor/ship with Combat Probes and create bookmarks (safe spots, gate and station tacticals, etc.).
• Ask other people for knowledge and experience.

It's worth noting that you should also decide how much you want to invest in gathering intel. It's easy to fall into the rabbit hole of gathering so much information you forget to actually utilize it. It will help you run fleets more smoothly, but your purpose in doing this is to run fleets, not just for the sake of gathering information.

Let's look at our own space in Delve for simplicity and follow the points listed above, using dotlan as our navigation tool.

• Brave stages out of E3OI-U, which is where the market is located and where there is a high number of jumps into and out of. Usually the knowledge of staging systems come with experience, or you can ask other people if they know.
• Brave's Ansiblex network connects several chokepoints and pockets. For example, the AJI-MA - A-BO4V and V-3U8T - G-3BOG Ansiblexes connect between E3OI-U in Delve and K7D-II in Querious.
• Brave space is centered in Northern Delve and Fake Querious. Several major pockets and pipes can be identified. The major pocket is Helm's Deep, a pocket of four constellations with one entrance defended by E3OI-U. This pocket is connected to other parts of Brave space by the AJI-MA - 1DQ1-A pipe. From there, you can move South towards the Fake Querious pipe or North towards the JP4-AA/ZXB-VC pockets.
• Brave has activity throughout the day but is strongest in EUTZ.
• Use NPC kills delta to quickly identify major ratting pockets in Brave space. Mining comes more with experience but quickly note down the presence of mining fleets/mining anomalies.
• Brave is known for bringing "even fights" but will not hesitate to upship if needed.

After working out the external factors of a fleet, let's look into the internal factors. A fleet consists of multiple roles, and you as an FC are expected to have basic knowledge of how they function in order to utilize the people in said roles effectively. This section will give a brief overview on them.

Obviously, you're the main FC of your fleet. The FC has full discretion on how to run the fleet. While other members can advise on the best course of action, the decision of the main FC is final. On the field, unless delegated, you act as both the target caller and anchor.

These will be your fellow or senior FCs in the FC team. While their job is to support you as the main FC, there are a few differences between the roles of secondary and backseat FC.

• The secondary FC (or 2IC) is functionally your right hand (or left if you're left-handed like me). They are responsible for directly assisting you in running the fleet, whether it be by providing cynos, having a scouting alt, advising you on possible engagement profiles, calling targets, anchoring, and so on. If needed (for example, when you're scrammed/dead), the 2IC will take over the fleet.
• The backseat FC is your shadow. They play less of a functional role and will act in a more observational capacity. They will be evaluating your performance and giving you advice on how to improve your performance after the fleet is wrapped up. If needed or if you request so, the backseat FC will take over the fleet.

This will make up the bulk of your fleet. They are the soldiers, the damage, the core of the fleet. I personally dislike the term F1 monkey though, it doesn't feel like a nice thing to say to others, but it's true that of the roles of a fleet the DPS mainline is the easiest to perform outside Links (unless you're an FC flying a Command Ship).

"Medic!" Technically speaking you can have a fleet without the Logistics wing (as is evident with some doctrines like the Avro Arrows and Talwars), this part of your fleet makes it so you can sustain the fleet and sustain the fight. The ratio of Logistics/DPS is variable and can depend on the field and yourself as an FC, with the common rate being 1/3 or 1/4.

An important role worth mentioning in bigger fleets with slower doctrines is the Logistics Commander (LC). This page can help you understand the intricacies of that role, but in essence, the LC functions to keep the Logistics wing further away from the enemy fleet while being in range to assist your mainline. Usually, this role will be taken by a fellow FC or by someone with extensive experience as a Logistics pilot.

And finally, most fleets will feature ships capable of using Command Bursts or Links. These modules provide a fleet-wide bonus to several important characteristics, and in larger fleets the ships that can use them (Command Destroyers and Command Ships) are usually piloted by fellow FCs. They can also be viable FC platforms for you to consider.

Since these roles can be filled by similar ships and similar pilots, I've decided to group them into one section.

• Scouting works in both directions: they can move ahead or behind your fleet. They provide information about enemy movements, the situation on the field, the location of ratters, etc. These people are crucial in allowing the FC to make a more informed decision in less time. A good FC with a good fleet should always have a network of scouts relaying information to them at all times.
• Scouts usually fly Interceptors or similar ships, meaning they serve the role of tackle. This can be done both offensively and defensively: offensively, they lock down enemy ships so the fleet can arrive to engage; defensively, they can act as a screening force preventing enemy tackle or bombers from effectively harassing the fleet.
• Pilots flying Interdictors (dictors) and Heavy Interdiction Cruisers (HICTORs) have the capability of massively disrupting enemy movements via preventing warp with their Interdiction Spheres (bubbles). As with tackle, this can be used offensively to prevent the enemy from escaping, or to screen the enemy from landing on the fleet. They are more effective in screening larger fleets, with a common example being the waterboarding tactic (dictors bubbling every gate to significantly slow down the enemy).
• Cynos are completely different from tackle and dictors, but they can also serve the role of scout. Cynosural Field Generators can be mounted on Force Recons or HICTORs (among other things), meaning they can enable a fleet to quickly move across large distances and be on-field immediately. As such, cyno pilots are extremely valuable.

The EWAR wing is probably the most under-appreciated of the fleet roles but is also important. EWAR serves to either decrease the enemy's or increase your combat capability. This can be done in multiple ways and an effective EWAR wing can make a difference, but you should prioritize the core of your fleet before moving on to more specialized roles. Similar to the Logistics wing, in larger fleets with slower doctrines someone will usually step up as EWAR FC (EC). Their role is similar to that of the LC but operate independently from them.

Here are some other roles that are less relevant to you as a new FC but are available later on.

• Bombers: An effective bomber wing can create significant pressure on the enemy fleet besides the presence of your own by delivering AOE weapons on the field. Utilize them tactically and strategically to achieve victory.
• Bridgers: Depending on what you're flying, bridging pilots will either be in a Black Ops battleship, Carrier or Titan. Utilizing cyno characters as mentioned above, they can quickly deliver your fleet into action.

Even the most experienced FCs can't and shouldn't be expected to perform every single fleet role. That's why during larger fleets you often see multiple people in the FC team, each of them taking care of a specific task. As a new FC, and for the purposes of this guide, you should make your job as simple as possible by delegating work to capable people. This includes scouting, anchoring, target calling, LA'ing, and so on. You should decide how much work you want to take on, then leave the rest to people you trust. All you have to do is ask.

You've prepared yourself mentally, you've done your homework, now it's time to make a fleet. Here's a checklist I use in fleets in order to smooth out the paperwork:

1. Identify the objective of the fleet.
2. If there are enemies already present, gather information about their location, numbers, fleet composition, what they are doing and who the FC is. This can be done using your own alt or by a fellow FC/fleet member.
3. Choose a doctrine of choice and destination, then identify how to reach this destination (gating, wormholes, bridge, etc.).
4. Set up your fleet and fleet advert. A good fleet advert should have the following characteristics:
   • The fleet name should be identical to the name mentioned in the ping.
   • These boxes should be ticked in the left column: Hide details in advert; Automatically update Fleet Advert on Boss Change. All other boxes can be ignored.
   • These boxes should be ticked in the right column to open fleet to: My Corporation, My Alliance, Based on Standings (Minimum Standing Excellent for a Brave-only fleet, Good for a fleet accessible to the coalition). All other boxes can be ignored.
5. Set up tracking for your fleet using Brave Overseer. This will allow you to quickly check your fleet composition (and while off fleets, check your fleet participation statistics). Note: This tool might not work if you're not an official FC, so if that happens use the in-game tool (in the Fleet window in-game, click the triple dot menu, then Check fleet composition).
6. Set up your Message of the Day (MOTD). A good MOTD should include:
   • The form-up location (likely E3OI-U).
   • The comms channel on Mumble that you're using.
   • Names of the anchoring pilots. This can be you or another person of your choice.
   • The fleet doctrine and corresponding fits.
   • Links to the Logistics, Links and EWAR channels if needed.
7. Ping your fleet using the pingboard. You can ping a multitude of things, but in regards to you as a new FC, you will be pinging #pings-casual. There should be a template, but a good ping will include:
   • The fleet name.
   • Name of the FC (which is you).
   • Comms channel on Mumble.
   • Ship types.
   • Location.
   • Duration.
   • SRP type, click here for further details on what SRP you're entitled to ping.
   • The reason for the fleet.
8. Once you've got enough people for a fleet, begin to check your fleet composition and tell people to reship to whatever is needed.
9. Assign roles to your fleet members if necessary.
10. And finally, undock.

Just to make sure you get the main idea, here are a few bullet points

• Do your research beforehand: understand what you're flying, what the enemy is flying and what the space around the field is.
• Understand the various fleet roles and decide how much work you want to take on.
• Make sure everything is set before undocking.

This will likely be the part you spend most of your time on. This is when you're out in space, where anything can happen, and where you have the potential to shine bright. Because of that, what you do from here is very important.

An FC is expected to have a good understanding of the field. While this guide will help give certain tips on how to perform it better, experience will be the best teacher, and these skills can be trained without you being in the FC seat.

Orientation is the ability to understand the directions of movement between you and the various entities on the grid. By having orientation, you know which direction your fleet is traveling and where it can possibly warp to on the fly, you know the same information about the enemy, and you know what your position you are relative to them. There are a few things you can do on the field that can help you improve this skill, both as an FC and a fleet member. These include:

• Having your tactical overlay open (by pressing Ctrl-D). This will show you a circular grid with your ship in the center, allowing you to judge distance and direction quickly like a compass. Additionally, anything moving within your grid will be given a vector which you can see to then judge their direction and velocity.
• Zooming out. While looking at your magnificent ship is tempting, in order to better visualize the field you should be able to see the entire field. Take note of how everything is positioned relative from one another, then you can even try practicing your judgement skills by deciding what you'd do in the given situation.
• Configuring your overview to include brackets for friendly and hostile ships, as well as things you can warp to such as wrecks, corpses and celestials. The reason for this is that as an FC, you should also have a clear control of your fleet, this means having an engagement and disengagement options by warping in/off.

Paying attention to the field is a very important thing, both as an FC and a fleet member. While you're expected to do so as an FC, as a fleet member you can help the fleet by relaying the information to the FCs. The more information FCs have, the better they can command. Remember to keep track of:

• The number and composition of friendly and hostile ships, as well as the number of wrecks to see who has the upper hand.
• The positioning of friendly and enemy Logistics Wings.

And maybe besides anchoring up and performing your role in the fleet, you can also get some second-hand experience by analyzing the grid and see what you would do if you were FC, then see whether the decision of the FC aligns with your theorized one. After all, everything is a learning experience.

Situational awareness doesn't only encompass knowing what's happening on the field, but also predicting the most likely course of events to happen given said events. The more situations you find yourself in, the more you're prepared to deal with the next similar one. Here are some tips to improve your situational awareness:

• Try flying as Scout once in a while, then anticipate where you'd expect the FC to send you to.
• Fly as a Logistics pilot/EWAR pilot in fleet doctrines that allow for an LC/EWAR FC, and see how the wing operates semi-independently from the mainline.
• Basically, be more active in a fleet environment.

Alternatively, you can take a look at solo and small-gang PVP. Since this type of combat is very reliant on your personal piloting skills, it has a much steeper learning curve than simply flying in large fleets (though I'd rate the curve for FC'ing as the steepest). A lot of the best FCs are good solo/small-gang pilots and they perform many small ops to defend our space without pinging a fleet.

Personal experience: I feel that a lot of skills in small-gang can also be learned in the FC seat, but small-gang leaves much less room for error. If you're worried that you might lose but you want to try to take a fight as an FC, consider asking for a 2IC/backseat FC beforehand and take the fight. That way, you can have insurance in case of a headshot or otherwise unfavorable situations, and when the fleet ends you can have peer review.

While a fleet can do basically anything provided you have the composition and numbers for it, your objective in the beginning stages is to build up your fundamentals and get a feel for being in command. Because of that, this part will list some of the most common fleet objectives and strategies to help you achieve that. Disclaimer: as with the rest of this guide, if you feel you want to improve in other areas or do other things, by all means try them out. 1. Gate Camping

Yeah, let's be honest: it is often very boring to do it and no one likes it. But nevertheless it gives you the highest level of control over the situation and is a good way to start as a new FC.

To keep morale high in your fleet, I advise you to do two things:

• don't speak of a 'gate camp'. Just set up your fleet on a gate and make your fleet believe you have intel that something is coming ;)
• never sit on one gate longer than 20-30 minutes. after that just move on, keep the fleet moving and try something else.

How to set up a gatecamp:

• you have a scout in the other system, to know what is coming
• you have one dictor on zero on gate, to launch the bubbles
• fast tackle is orbiting the gate with drones out
• dps and logi are on their anchors
• ewar is at optimal range and aligned

Some remarks for the different roles:

• SCOUT: best is, that he is not visible. He can either cloak or sit in a safespot and uses his directional scanner to see if something is about to jump into your gatecamp
• TACKLE: scram and webs for the win! decloacking by always burning towards a target the second he uncloacks!
• DPS: you should be at your optimal range. If you have a long range doctrine like Talwars I would already anchor up and let the anchor position the fleet perfectly for you
• LOGI: has its own anchor and want to stay in range to the DPS fleet, but as far aways as possible from the gate.
• EWAR: E-War always uses its range, acts independently from the rest of the fleets, is aligned and simple warps out when in trouble

If something comes through your gate you can kill: bubble up, tackle it, kill it
If something comes through your gate, which you don't want to engage: get out fast enough!

You should know way in advance by your scout if something is coming, which you do not want to fight. For this case you want to have a clear plan, how to get away quickly from this position.

Let's be clear about this tactic: you can only catch, what is stupid enough to jump into you. A small gang with a scout, should most likely not run directly into your trap. Everything which does: they will most likely try to burn back to the gate. Therefore its so important that you have tackle with scrams and web.

There are a lot of more advanced tactics related to gate camps - you can do some things to increase the chance to get a fight with a smaller gangs than yours - but those I will explain in another guide.

2. Station Trap

Roaming in hostile space, which has systems with stations in it, is a great place to execute the 'station trap'. You will be surprised how man pilots still warp their ratting ships or mining barges to stations to get safe, instead of a POS or bouncing between safespots.

The great news is, that with Providence next door (which has a station in nearly every system) you have a great training ground only a few jumps out.

How to set up the station trap:

• your scout jumps into a system and checks if the gate is clear
• if gate is clear your dictor jumps aswell, while the rest of the fleets holds on the gate
• the dictor directly warps to the station and covers it with bubbles
• as soon the bubble is up the rest of fleet jumps into system
• at least one, better two tacklers with scram and webs warp to the station
• all DPS, Logi and E-War warp at optimal range to the station
• if you have more tackle to spare send them to random anomalies in the system

You have to execute this really fast to quickly bubble up the station. When hostiles land on the station caught at the edge of the bubble, it is key to get a scram and web on him, as they will try to get in docking range or warp off.

If you have a prober with you, he should start probing as soon the bubbles are up. He might find someone in a safespot and it increases the pressure for people in safespots, so that they might try to warp to the station.

If you are in a system where the enemy has a jump-bridge, its worth camping the station for up to 15 minutes, as people who are not paying attention might bridge into the system and warp straight to the station.

If you are in ships with a high volley damage (like Talwars) you might even try to instap-pop ships who try to undock, get vulnerable and not dock up quick enough.

3. Hit and Run

Another popular tactic is to 'hit and run'. This works extremely well with long range fleets, who have a high volley damage. (i.e. Talwars) If you have a enemy fleet location, for example because:

• you come back from a roam and a station in Fountain is camped
• you arrive at an ongoing fight as support fleet or as a third party

How to execute a hit and run:

• move your fleet towards a safe position first within the system (i.e. a tactical above a gate)
• send one scout towards a planet in system to create a safespot near this planet as warp-out
• send a covert-ops or interceptor to get a close position as warp-in to the enemy fleet
• align your fleet towards the position of the enemy fleet
• warp in at an maximized optimal range to the enemy fleet (do the math at which range you have to warp towards your warp-in)
• try to get in tackle close to the enemy fleet only if they are not in a bubble already
• everybody directly aligns on land to the planet of your warp-out
• kill just a couple of ships and then leave the field again
• as soon something comes in range to you, get out!
• don't spend to much time at one position, as you could get probed, bombed etc.

After that get a warp-in at another position, move your warp-out to a different planet and start over again. If there are already two fleets fighting each other, you will probably have a very easy time to do this and can stay at your position killing ships a little longer.

If not: your main challenge will be to get tackle on the enemy fleet. If you can get a decent prober in your fleet to scan down enemies and provide warp-ins its perfect!

What is important: after every run make sure, that you really kill more ISK than you lose!

Target Calling

There is only one simple rule for target calling, which is always right: it's better to call any ship, than none
If you have no clue for the first seconds what to do: sort by range and call the closest target to you and work your way up, until you might have a better overview of the situation.

Apart from that it really always depends on the situation and therefore I want to give you just a few things to think about, to make your own decisions:

Logistics

I would only primary logistics if it needs to be. You should have a rough idea of how much damage your fleet can apply and you should be able to roughly estimate how much EHP your targets have and how much a single T1 and T2 logistics can repp.

It's also a question of your own E-War. With a few E-Wars ships in your back and not a massive logistics support on the other side, I would at first ignore them. If you see, that they repps are holding, or that it simply takes to long to kill something, you can switch back to them at any point during the fight.

E-War

Same thinking as with the logistics. If you can ignore them, ignore them. I would always start the fight and reconsider your situation after the first 60 seconds. Ask you logistics if they have a lot of issues with jamming and dampening.

If you have a good amount of support ships: order them to go after E-War. They will most likely warp off, if a few frigates start chasing them. Another tactic is to just order everyone to lock the E-War ships without shooting them. Massive yellow boxing should make most E-War pilots to warp off.

The only exception I would make: if you fight ships with turrets and they have Vigils or Bellicose ships in fleet: take them down first. Getting them off the field will cut down their DPS by quite a lot.

EAFs, Recons & T3s

Hyenas, Rapiers, Huginns & Lokis have long range webs. Keres, Arazus, Lachesis & Proteus have long range points. Both groups are a high threats for you. Webs more than points, as they will maximize the damage application. Points are relevant in fights, where there is actually a chance to warp of when called primary. (for example if you fight missile ships, which give you time to warp off) The T3 will have a massive amount of EHP, the EAFs are paper thin.

If you are for example in Talwars, all you have is your range and speed. If this is compromised by these ships on the field, they have to go down first!

If you think you can win the fight: ignore the long points and kill the long webs first. If you can't kill them and if you notice that you lose the fight: get out of the fight and while doing that primary the long points.

Interdictors

Hostile Interdictors should always be high on your list if you are in a situation where you don't want to get bubbled. It would not say they are top of the list in every situation, but prolly in most.

DPS

If everything else is fine you call the hostile DPS ships as primaries. You want to focus first on the highest DPS ships. If there is no difference between the ships left on the field I recommend you to have at least the column 'Velocity' active in your overview. ('Transversal Velocity' if you fly turret ships) and to start with the slowest ships in your range for the best damage application.

Talwars, Talwars, Talwars

As its quite likely at the current situation, that you start your career as a FC with Talwars, I just want to say two things about them.

1. all I described here can be executed with Talwars quite well. But they have a big weakness: they are paper thin and go boom super fast. Don't start brawling with them at a closer range, stick to the three tactics, always operate at the edge of your optimal range and your fine with them.
2. if you put a Talwar fleet together make sure during form-up that everyone has the same minimum skills for them. If really new players jump into a Talwar without the required skills trained up to Level 4 their range will be much lower and their signature radius way to high.

Ask your pilots to have:

• Minmatar Destroyer at Level 4
• Missile Bombardment at Level 4
• Missile Projection at Level 4

If they don't: your fleet might not be as good as you think. So its better to put them in another ships than the Talwar. Maybe use the MOTD of your fleet to make this very clear.

Tips and Tricks

Some general things I wanted to address:

• make use of your overview and configure it for different situations, to quickly see what you need
• only broadcast the primaries! otherwise your secondary will be top in the list and the fleet will start to spread damage
• always ask only once for a volunteer. The second time its an order and you directly approach someone to just do it
• always stay calm. Say 'please' and 'thank you' and make clear how important things are
• keep your comms clear right from the start. allow people to chat in fleet, but tell them to keep comms clear
• it doesn't hurt to tell people that they have done a great job. keep people motivated.
• keep moving, keep doing things, don't stand still
• standing a fleet down if there is nothing left to do is a good idea
• avoiding a fight you simply can not win is a good idea
• disengaging when something goes wrong is not a shame, but a good move
• telling people what they did wrong in a polite ways helps them to become better pilots
• during the fleet you are in charge and no one else! ask people to address their critics after the fleet

Let's warp it up

So that's it for this guide. I hope I could give you a better idea and some practical advise on how to get started as a FC. Remember that you can already train a lot, by simply joining fleets yourself and having in mind, that you might want to FC a fleet by your own in the future. Learn from others and already start thinking as a FC.

Do your homework. Get to know different ship fittings, make notes on their strength and weaknesses. Go out and start gathering intel, create your own little knowledge-base, have a lot of bookmarks for safespots and tacticals and be well prepared.

Keep it simple. Delegate what you can, focus on just one simple doctrine like Talwars and get familiar with this three simple tactics I told you and try to become really good in executing them.

I will write a guide about more advanced tactics in the future.
If you have any questions or feedback: let's discuss them in this post on reddit about this guide.

7o
Rikta Garemoko