At first glance, Rapid Withdrawal (RDRAW) doesn’t seem that different from the myriad of Gallente forces spattered across the War Zone. Sure, their killboard numbers are impressive, but there’s nothing glaringly obvious that says they should be the ones causing the most (quantitatively speaking) carnage in our area of New Eden. To really get a firm grasp on the RDRAW ethos that brands their culture and thus their killboards, you have to a) be a member of Galmil and b) actually speak to the guys running the show. Fortunately, I did both of these things and now feel I have a firm grasp on how they led the entirety of EVE in kills last month, sending over 7,000 ships to the scrap heap. It’s a story of fortuitous circumstance, strong leadership, and expertise honed over months and year.

As with many wartime struggles, RDRAW initially benefited from forces outside of their direct control. Snuff Box’s struggle with northern Gallente militia and pirate forces drew the capital-heavy pirate corporation out of Sujarento and into their current home of Rakapas, just a few critical jumps to the North. Taking advantage of Snuff’s withdrawal, RDRAW moved into Sujarento, a key staging system surrounded by Caldari forces in Tama and Hasmijaala. From this vantage point and without the looming threat of Snuff dropping in at any given moment, they were able to bring the fight to areas like Tama and Hasmijaala with ease.

Just before Snuff evacuated for Rakapas, a new Caldari corporation named, rather appropriately, Operation Meatshield [OM], moved into Tama. Though they wrested Tama from Galmil’s grasp, RDRAW seized this opportunity to further their own ends, specifically shooting people in the face.

“We haven’t really tried to take Tama since then. We’ve found that if you plex the system up far enough, say 30%, [OM] will put out a call to all the other Squid groups, and they’ll all come to Tama to fight,” said RDRAW CEO Tek Stalker.

The effect has been a vicious and almost constant plex war in that system, already infamous for the amount of carnage it produces.

Another factor in the boon of fights has been a proportional increase in the soldiers RDRAW can muster. Earlier in the year, the Galmil corp set out to grow their organization and has done so, allowing for excellent coverage across multiple Time Zones. Nowhere is this more evident than in the list of fleets Galmil has running at any given time. It seems that RDRAW always has a fleet running from EU prime to late in the USTZ. They provide this coverage through a rotation of homegrown FCs all experienced in dealing with the battles and scenarios present in lowsec.

This brings us to yet another element that has put RDRAW on the map: the experience of its core players. As of December of last year, many of RDRAWs members were just starting their EVE careers. I know this because I spent my first campaigns fighting with RDRAW in Oto and Hasmijaala in late December. It seemed each fleet had to have someone teach basic mechanics such as aligning and following primaries. Since that point, its members have had their mettle tested and shaped by the constant struggle against Caldari and pirate forces in the region. Now with those same newbies beginning to reach higher levels of SP, RDRAW has seen a concurrent rise in their abilities, and it shows on the killboards.

And finally, RDRAW used a classic and simple motivational tool that allowed their corporation to reach such lofty heights: they set a goal. In June, RDRAW leadership told its members they wanted to reach 6,000 kills.

“We were almost there, too. We got into the high 5,000s with 3 days left to go in the month. I don’t know whether the Squids knew about it and wanted to stop us, but all of a sudden, they were just gone,” said BigDaddy Toothbrush, RDRAW’s PR manager.

Undaunted, they set out to do the same in July but blew past the 6,000 mark with a week to go.

“At that point, we were just like ‘well, let’s see how far we can take this thing,’” said Toothbrush.

That they did, eventually passing 7,000 kills and becoming the top PvP corporation in EVE for the month, at least for number of kills.

“We promise our members only one thing when they join RDRAW: PvP. We don’t go for PoSes or Pocos or grinding. We’re here simply to shoot people and blow ships up,” said Stalker.

It seems RDRAW has been rewarded for their simple goal with limitless content, and the satisfaction of seeing their name atop Zkillboards corporations. Regardless of what goals other corporations attempt to accomplish, whether it be territorial conquest or making ISK, they should take note of RDRAW’s example of single-minded focus and determination. With enough grit, determination and know-how, you can accomplish whatever your EVE end-goal might be.

RDRAW’s Golden Month was last modified: by