Skip ahead three years and I haven't tried hi-sec ganking since that early embarrassing moment. Oh sure, back in the day I fought can-flippers and station camping war-deccers in hi-sec - but that early taste of CONCORD justice was enough. Until yesterday.
No sooner had I logged in than someone in the Corp channel was asking if anyone was interested in some suicide ganking. Of course I am always up for trying something new and we started forming up. The idea was to fit up a nice small gang of cheap Thrashers, fully insured, and then find some unsuspecting Hulks mining in ( they think ) safe old hi-sec. The Thrasher fit is extremely simple, T1 Arties in the high, 2 SeBos, T1 Scram, 2 Gyro and 3 Bullets! You'll be lucky to get more than one shot off before the Coppers find you.
Key to the operation is coordination and a scouting alt. ( I'm not stupid about ganking, having been a reader of many great Ninja blogs over the years! ) I should also mention that things had already started off on the wrong foot, my comms dropped just as everyone warped off and ganked a Manticore. So already missed out on one kill.
It wasn't long before our first victim was located. Seven Thrashers warped in on top of the poor sod in the Hulk and opened fire! "Are you sure you want to do this?" Oh man, stoopid warning window!! YES! And I got my one shot off and then BOOM I exploded. Sadly the Hulk did not and I watched from my Pod as he warped off in extremely low structure, but very much alive.
Let's try this again. Eight Thrashers now and after waiting out GCC we find some more victims this time even deeper into hi-sec. A bunch of 'em, Orca, couple Hulks, and assorted other ships blissfully unaware of impending DOOM! Muhahahaha!
Rinse and repeat. Land among the sheep and lock up the primary Hulk... "Are you sure you want to do this?" What?!? Not again, I thought I told you to go away? Oh man, the Hulk exploded already. Lock up the Osprey, cause the others had warped away and the Orca is just a silly thing. Boom! Osprey dead and someone even one-shotted his pod. At least I got in on one killmail. And then back in my own pod again.
By this time a regular gang was forming up to fight some Militia peeps, so that was it for the Suicide Ganking portion of the evening. It isn't a playstyle that I see myself enjoying very often, but I have to admit that it was a lot of fun and I wouldn't mind being completely retarded every so often.
It isn't as easy as you'd think and takes some coordination and good fortune to pull off perfectly. But the rush is worth the risk, and with loots and insurance, well worth the investment.
Yee. Now I can check yet another thing off the list.