Monday, January 19, 2026
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Reflecting on the Downfall of Pandemic Horde


Bear in mind, keep in mind the fifth of November,
When Horde packed their luggage and fled in give up.
The skies burned shiny with Goonswarm’s would possibly,
As citadels cracked at the hours of darkness

-The Goonpowder plot opening

I’ve been watching the final little bit of life go away the corpse that was as soon as Pandemic Horde, the core alliance in what was the PanFam coalition, questioning how one can sum this up.  I checked on DOTLAN the opposite day to see that the entire alliance right down to 26 firms and with a mixed complete of 219 members.

Pandemic Horde Standing – Jan 13, 2026

Most of these are in all probability place holder alts, there to anchor the final bits of organizational framework collectively.  The core firms have already fled to new houses or, within the case of Pandemic Horde Inc, probably the most spy infested company seemingly within the historical past of New Eden, kicked to the curb and left to wither and die by itself.

So the collapse is all however full.  The previous couple of bits of sovereignty the alliance holds can be gone quickly sufficient.  I think that no one is paying the sov payments… however who is aware of.  Perhaps they’re.  Perhaps anyone left auto-pay on and cash in the proper account.  The entire issues has been that form of shambles.

So I’m left nonetheless attempting to digest what even occurred.  I imply, that is the place issues stood nearly three months in the past.

Prime 10 Sov Holding Alliances by Member – Oct 11, 2025

Pandemic Horde had greater than 48K pilots on its rolls, held sovereignty in 414 techniques, and was a part of a coalition with alliances that had stood by them for years.  They and their coalition dominated the Drone areas, a phase of null sec famous for having few methods in and no NPC area inside which an attacker may stage.  It’s a place with a fame of being each laborious to get into and laborious to get out of.

Then, after a pair years of taunting the Imperium, dismissing us as afraid to assault, and branding themselves as “The Horde that Wins,” the Imperium pushed as much as their southern border and, listening to rumors that we had been going to invade, threw within the towel and tried to run away from each us and its allies.  I nonetheless have bother getting my head round that.

A part of my drawback is that I don’t have the angle of getting been concerned with that degree of fail cascade, with that degree of management betrayal.

It isn’t that I haven’t been on the dropping aspect of issues earlier than.  I used to be there in the course of the On line casino Struggle when the Imperium misplaced all of its area, when a number of alliances deserted the coalition and one outright betrayed us for the promise of a free move.

I’ve needed to evacuate my stuff from one aspect of New Eden to the opposite, my Archon making the leap out of a number of places in Tribute and Pure Blind simply hours earlier than they grew to become the entrance line in a struggle.  However even when management was squabbling amongst themselves and a few had been leaking issues to r/eve as a result of they had been pissed about one factor or one other, they one way or the other managed to maintain issues collectively to shepherd line members out of the struggle zone and alongside the path of tears to Delve the place we needed to conquer a area with no matter we had managed to haul with us right down to Sakht.

There’s a specific amount of the cussed to the purpose of pigheadedness of Goons refusing to surrender in all of that.  It’s a level of satisfaction that we are going to go to better lengths and endure extra hardship to win.

However I feel it’s primarily a matter of how management of the Imperium and the GSF alliance is organized and run.

For many of its run Pandemic Horde seemed superficially like a mirror picture of Goonswarm Federation.  It was The Mittani and Gobbins, two autocrats on the head of enormous alliances that had been the anchors of even bigger coalitions.

Besides that Mittens typically admitted he didn’t need to do all of the issues, so the group was run by delegation by means of a coalition of administrators and sub teams, many who had fairly a little bit of autonomy.  Sufficient autonomy that when Mittens was pushed to step down the alliance and the coalition saved on operating.  A brand new chief was discovered and most issues continued as earlier than.

There was some drama.  Folks had been leaking issues after they didn’t like one thing Asher did.  However they had been doing that below Mittens as effectively.  There proved to me a minimum of some degree of abstraction between the chief and the group such that there could possibly be a transition of management.

I don’t have any first hand data about Gobbins and Pandemic Horde.  However the vibe I get from the discourse on r/eve is that he held all of the levers of energy and there was some separation between him and his insurance policies and the constructions inside the alliance that saved issues operating.

And as soon as issues fell aside, it began to sound like some 2007 WoW raiding guild drama.  There was the chief who wouldn’t delegate sufficient who ended up getting burnt out and eager to take a break, however who additionally couldn’t carry themselves to relinquish management till it was far too late.  Been there, accomplished that, have the tales.

That, nonetheless, if simply an outsider view. I don’t know what actually occurred and can’t give even a line member perspective.

What I can do, nonetheless, is piece collectively all the posts I’ve accomplished involving our interplay with Pandemic Horde that grew to become the chain of occasions that led to this consequence.

After a while spent regrouping and recovering from World Struggle Bee we lastly turned east.

The Southeast Settlement had collapsed and the world was largely dominated by PanFam, their allies, and teams they bullied into making them blue so PanFam may use their constructions.

We spent the summer season of 2024 clearing PanFam and WinterCo out of Catch and Tenerifis after which, when that was full and our foes anticipated us to get bored and return to Delve, it was introduced that GSF was shifting to UALX-3 in Tenerifis.  Shock!

From Delve to the east… all that japanese yellow area was taken

This was adopted up in Could of 2025 with a declared invasion of Insmother, which was once more met with token resistance, the area being declared flood plains by Gobbins who as soon as once more introduced that he anticipated them be retaken after we acquired bored and went house.

As soon as once more, we pulled up stakes and moved ahead, with the entire of the Imperium this time shifting, abandoning Delve and Querious, whereas GSF moved ahead into Insmother to setup store in C-J6MT, only a leap bridge and a gate from PanFam area.

Imperium transfer plans

By the center of July the south of null sec was largely reconfigured.

South Null – July 15, 2025

There have been nonetheless transfer ops and modifications in who owned what and loads of infrastructure to be laid down, however for probably the most half we had been left alone to do it.  There have been some battles up entrance and the occasional token resistance, however for probably the most half pulled again to their aspect of the regional gates.

Which isn’t to say the frontier was peaceable or something.  Each side enterprise by means of to shoot issues up, decide fights, gank ratters, and all the standard low depth battle actions which can be regular when there isn’t an energetic invasion in progress.  We weren’t buddies with PanFam, however there was no actual struggle.  Asher declared the “Struggle of the Ruses” over again in August.  And even PanFam appeared to be settle right into a long run equilibrium, pulling its essential staging level again from the entrance line in Etherium Attain to a location in Perrigren Falls, the higher to cowl its again discipline and be a little bit extra insulated from Imperium cross board raiding.

All in all, very a lot not a state of struggle by any measure in null sec.  WinterCo and The Initiative, they wereat struggle, brawling over Fortizars in Fade, trying to take issues from the opposite aspect, however within the southeast there was simply the standard friction of that comes with being subsequent door to hostile area neighbors.

So it raised an eyebrow after we acquired pings about what Gobbins is telling PanFam.  Asher despatched out a duplicate of a struggle replace, despatched simply earlier than the collapse.

Struggle replace November 2nd 2025

We at the moment are coming as much as 5 months of struggle updates. 🎉

Final week hostiles took benefit of the very fact we had been busy with transfer ops to make partitions of timers. We had a very busy night time with a number of Fortizars popping out, one overlapping with a Tatara in construction. All had been saved. On our Easters border, most motion occurred in Outer Passage. Hostiles had managed to seize a number of allied planets/skyhooks however we took them again this week. Most EUtz motion continues to be centered on this area, whereas later timezones are inclined to see exercise in Geminate and ER.

Transfer ops
Transfer ops are nonetheless operating for stragglers. It has now been two weekends since we introduced our new staging in R-AG and most are relocated, however please assist the individuals that also want it by providing SMB, Cynos and many others. Solely transfer in trusted transfer fleets!

Pankrab stronk
Shoutout to the pankrab workforce, a number of makes an attempt made by the bads this week however none the place they noticed a gap for dreadbombs. Nice uptime too.

Infrastructure
We’re getting loads of requests for including constructions on the new staging. We’re nonetheless catching up based mostly on priorities. Do report back to @woodiusmiles any techniques with none place to tether although as that may be a huge oversight on our half that we want to repair asap.

CSM voting
We’re midway with 1 week left to vote on the CSM. Nice prove thus far!! Bear in mind to vote with all of your omega accounts and to make sure the web page offers you the affirmation that your vote has been registered. Our poll should you missed it:‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ their poll right here>

5 months of struggle?  Or, 5 months of struggle updates I suppose… however what struggle?  There hadn’t been something like a struggle for ages.

Then issues grew to become clear.  The claims of a pending Imperium invasion (which turned out to be true based on Asher), pulling again their staging, knocking down their oldest keepstar… all whereas Gobbins and the remainder of the Pandemic Horde management had been planning the run away but once more.  Their supers and belongings had been mentioned to be away and secure within the midst of all of this.

Then got here the general public announcement.  Allies had been shocked, line members had been left within the lurch, and the Imperium surged ahead to camp their staging Keepstar and the collapse was in full swing.

Beneath is the timeline, put collectively a timeline of my weblog posts concerning the run as much as the PH evacuation.  The Equinox growth appeared to set the ultimate context, however two summers of pushing towards them, taking their area… after Gobbins and others in PAPI mentioned throughout World Struggle Bee that defenders had all the benefits in an effort to clarify the survival of the Imperium…

That covers my observations from the launch of the Equinox growth, which modified how null sec needed to set up itself, although to the shut down of Pandemic Horde.  That isn’t all that went on, however it’s what feels associated to the story.

Now after all, there may be the small matter of “what subsequent?”

WinterCo and The Initiative are nonetheless at struggle, each having been bolstered by teams fleeing the PanFam debacle.

Should you go and take a look at the Pandemic Horde pages over at DOTLAN and go to the Companies tab, you possibly can type by “Alliance Now” and see who ended up the place after the autumn.

Fraternity, the chief of WinterCo, is beginning to counsel that null sec is now arrayed 3 to 1 towards them as a result of they began a struggle with The Initiative after which PanFam imploded, leaving the Imperium unopposed on their southern flank, so now any time Init and the Imperium are capturing them on the similar time they begin attempting to match it to the domination of null sec by one entity on Serenity, the Chinese language mainland server.

Personally, I’m not impressed by that line of reasoning… having lived by means of a few wars that pitted most of null sec towards the Imperium.  If the PAPI line about defenders having all the benefits was true, then they need to haven’t any issues.

However that’s the nature of null sec politics and the accompanying propaganda.  How the three present energy blocs evolve stays to be seen.

Then there are the Drone areas and the teams attempting to stake a declare there.

The Drone Areas – Jan 17, 2026

I’ll be watching that on the new sov visualization instrument that popped up.  I think that there can be fewer teams there by the tip of the yr.  However we will see.

I don’t have a lot in the way in which of conclusions.  Simply observations and a few hypothesis. (Additionally, I’ve began this submit about 5 occasions now, so I’m eager to lastly push publish.)  However there are not often any easy solutions with regards to participant politics New Eden.

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