Great fleet, thanks CMore.
I wanted to post this here because it was a question asked later in the fleet (a question regarding gate sizes), and while I answered it then, I don't think it was a very complete answer, and by that time a lot of the students had left. This was the part of the fleet when we took a Rattlesnake into Low-Sec to provoke BNI, and they responded with 50+ ships with BS and logi.
Back to the point -
Before we got to Barleguet (Brave home systems), the fleet was playing around with some ships in TXW near the Vestouve gate. This Vestouve is the first hop into low-sec from Syndicate and therefore the TXW gate in Vestouve and the Vestouve gate in TXW are both "Regional Gates." While playing around trying to grab ships, it was brought up that the gate was a Regional one so tackle should be prepared. The question was asked, "Why does it matter that it is a Regional Gate."
The short answer, which I provided during the Roam is that Regional Gates are larger, making it more difficult to tackle.
The long answer. First see this for the basics: http://www.agony-unl...for_Gate_Tackle
Now the next step:
Eve Stargates come in 5 sizes and also with different models depending on faction
1. Standard - Basic and most common gate found between 2 systems in the same constellation. Is the smallest gate, and gate models matters the least because they are all roughly the same size and shape
2. Constellation - Gate between two constellations - larger than Standard, but the actual size depends on faction type. Biggest variation in shape and actual size probably occurs with these gates.
3. Regional - Gates between regions (the Vestouve gate in TXW is an example) - caveat, not all inter region gates are regional gates. If they are not a regional gate, they will usually be a constellation gate. This is especially true in 0.0. I would say most of gates between 0.0 regions are just constellation gates (the exception being smuggler gates). The Regional Gates in 0.0 are mostly in systems connecting 0.0 to empire (they may be exclusively for 0.0 to empire, but I haven't checked every gate in Eve, so I can't say for sure).
4. Border - Borders between empires, and the largest gates
5. Smuggler - Gates in 0.0 that link systems in two different regions that are separated by a vast amount of space. Roughly the same size as a regional gate but with slightly different models.
Why does size matter? Read the wiki article.
The basics - a ship decloaking after hopping in a system will generally decloak between 10-12KM off the edge of a stargate's model (not from its centerpoint). Therefore if you are at or near zero on a standard gate with a long point, any ship decloaking will be within in your point range. This makes tackling on standard gates easier.
As you move up the list, the size of the gates increase. I don't believe that CCP has ever released the exact sizes for the gates.
So with a regional gate, if you sit at the geometric center of the gate, it is likely that a ship decloaking 10-12km off the edge of the model may decloak outside your point range, or at least very close to your range. The other issue with large gate models is that it becomes easier for ships to reapproach gates because in order to jump (meaning be at 0) is for them to reach the edge of the model. So two ships could both be at 0 on the gate, but be many kms apart, especially on a regional gate.
The other issue that pops is that there is degree of variation on the constellation gates, making some harder to tackle at than others. Namely many people will complain about the Minmatar one that looks like a long tube. The model being long and narrow can create wide variations in where a ship will decloak. This tends to be a very easy model to burn back to in my opinion.
Remember, that all of this information can also be used to help you escape as well by knowing when it may be easier to burn back, or alternatively overheat your MWD and align to quickly exit point range.