The Bringer of Dawn

The guys were up to their usual tricks when I logged in. They’d spotted some movement in a C4 and asked me to bring some dps in case it kicked off. And kick off it did. Oddic and Gab had caught an Unsettled Oracle and in response, they were massing a fleet while I moved a Loki and Legion down the chain. I was glad it was Unsettled. We’d happened across them a week or so before in a C4 chain, but one of the connections was a 1bil hole that was well into stage 2 mass, so we couldn’t meet them with a fleet. That, and the fact that Unsettled was Roime’s new home.

Before he quit Jay-Space, he made quite a lot of noise on the forums. Plus, I always took notice of corporations that bumped their recruitment ads at similar times as I did, and Shiva Furnace not only did that, but also had a particularly pretentious advert to boot. So, I happened to sneak an alt into his corp to see if they were any good. It didn’t take long to find out that they weren’t and the last straw was blaming a bad fleet loss on the lack of support from the now defunct Dead on Arrival alliance. He signed off from WH’s by cursing it on the forums as “cloaky proteus” online and boring, which predictably provoked much derision. Now he’s back, he cleverly posts on his alt, King Fu Hostile (a family friendly reference to Pantera’s classic - “Fucking Hostile”) instead.

Anyway, the fight was on, but it was looking like our fleet was on the small side and not fantastically balanced in terms of reps and EWAR. Halfway through the chain, I turned the Legion back for home. To their credit, Unsettled had formed up very quickly and in decent numbers. Our own guys were eager to get brawling with them. Perhaps a little too eager, though. We jumped in, with a few reinforcements still moving through the chain. Unsettled didn’t have too much in the way of logistics on grid. A couple of Onieros’ out at 60km from the hole, but what they did have was too much for our logi to handle. The jams and neuts told early and before we could drop any of their ships, our own logi was forced to jump out while we lost Utari’s Legion and Gab’s Stratios. The rest of the fleet executed a tactical withdrawal to the other side of the WH, where we were doubtful they would follow immediately since their logi were so far off the hole, giving us time to bring in the rest of the fleet.

I have always considered that you can break down PvP engagements into simple one-upmanship. In the most basic terms, if your enemy brings a frigate, bring a destroyer. If he brings two ships, bring three. Applying this literally is often impractical – and I tend not to look at things in the most basic terms anyway! In a fair, balance fight between two ships, the one-upmanship will likely manifest in a bit of module overheating or clever manoeuvring.

This still applies to fighting outnumbered – which I love to do. The trick if you’re outnumbered is not to be outgunned. There’s a reason some ships are known as force-multipliers, but adding these to a fleet is a real balancing act. Too many Logistics ships in lieu of dps will keep your fleet up, but you won’t be able to break anything either. My favoured force-multiplier for our WH engagements is the on-grid links Eos. Not only does the armour links boost the staying power of the fleet but can be set up to be as versatile as a Swiss army knife while still being able to apply a decent amount of damage.

I won’t rant on Greek mythology, but I think it’s quite apt that the Command Ship is named after the Titaness daughter of Hyperion, the Goddess of Dawn. A quick check of my killboard will show I lost something like this a little while back:    

[Eos – Bringer of Dawn]

Armored Warfare Link – Passive Defence II

Armored Warfare Link – Rapid Repair II

Skirmish Warfare Link – Interdiction Maneuvers II

Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I

Medium Unstable Power Fluctuator I

Experimental 10MN Microwarpdrive I

Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I

Phased Muon Sensor Disruptor I

Small Capacitor Booster II

Damage Control II

Armor Explosive Hardener II

Drone Damage Amplifier II

Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II

1600mm Reinforced Steel Plates II

Medium Anti-Explosive Pump II

Medium Trimark Armor Pump I

Gecko x2

Valkyrie x2

Warrior x1

579 dps,

108k EHP, EM 75.1%/THERM 83.8%/KIN 91.9%/EXP 80.9%

I don’t think that’s too bad for something that doesn’t cost the Earth. Modules can be juggled around to suit. I initially flew this with a point and web, but as I pretty much always fly this on a second screen, those became largely redundant. My attention would be mainly focused on my Loki, so switching over to the second screen to point something afterwards was often slower than leaving it to other fleet members. The sensor dampeners are a handy, low maintenance alternative and has proved extremely useful as our fleets are generally light on this kind of EWAR. Switching in a second DDA brings it to 694dps and you can spend more money on the tank, if you like shiny.

I’ll usually have this orbiting a WH or anchored on a fleet member, with drones on assist. This way, the ship can make a huge difference to an engagement with very little piloting input. And in this instance, it’s what I had my Legion pilot fly home to get.

With extra logi and links on grid with the rest of the fleet, we ought to have had enough staying power for round 2. Galmas ordered the fleet to jump and called primary on a Vexor. Targetting the both of the Oneiros’ with the Eos, I set a damp on each while putting neuts on a nearby Proteus and setting the drones onto the Vexor, which just didn’t stand a chance. As Unsettled’s logi burned in closer, I dropped the damp I had on Roime’s Oneiros to put both on Squelch, forcing him to burn further in. With their logi impotent, we continued to down the softer targets, which in hindsight may have not been the best choice. A Brutix navy popped before I made the fleet aware the second Oneiros had burned in to point blank with the fleet. Galmas directed our fleets’ firepower in his direction before he could realize his mistake. Despite taking out those ships, as well as a cheap-ass Loki, we hardly seemed to be making a dent in their fleet.

Glancing around the field, I could see Unsettled still had a significant number of their own force multipliers on grid in the form of neuts and ECM. I may have neglected to mention that this was Unsettled’s home system. They were throwing everything they had at us. The guys who we popped reshipped as quick as they could and rejoined the fight. They even had a squad from Dracos Dozen (the fellas who helped give Barny a good sendoff - FYI a dozen is only meant to be 12) landed 100 clicks away in sniping Oracles and laying down additional fire – too far for the Eos to target and damp out.

Still, I had spotted another mistake from an Armageddon pilot who had drifted into close range. I knew ECM was directed towards our Guardians as well as my Eos and I knew we couldn’t hold under the combination of that EWAR and energy neuts. I recommended we hit the Geddon next as a second appeared on grid. By now, Roime’s Oneiros had approached close enough for us to apply damage. Not many people fight on once their logistics have been neutralized, but fair play to Unsettled. They stood their ground while their pilots went to get replacement ships, even if they were losing more ships in the process. A Prophecy and a Hurricane went down before they could field more logi, even if it was an Exequror and not an Oneiros.

Hanging in there paid off for them. Our Teamspeak had a minor hiccup, kicking half the fleet, but crucially, Utari. This meant no one understood how badly the cap chain was failing and that he had to warp away because polarization meant he couldn’t jump out. An incredulous Myst lost his own Guardian as a result, forcing the rest of the fleet to jump out. Utari rejoined comms to appraise us of the situation. And that his Guardian was in warp back to the hole. And that it was still polarized for another 30 seconds. 20 seconds. Down.

Surely a pod can’t last for 20 seconds amidst a hostile gang. Actually, if they are all trying to whore on the killmail, it can. He managed to jump out and head back home with the rest of the fleet. On the way back, Sherpa mentioned that he’d received a convo from one of them, thanking us for the fight. What did leave me with a certain feeling of self-satisfaction was their mention in particular of the EWAR that messed them up. Electronic warfare is a broad term in eve and does encompass things like target painting, weapon disruption and of course, sensor damping – which is why I chose to ignore the fact we had two Tengu’s in the fleet. That way, I was smug enough to ignore my annoyance at accidentally leaving my Geckos behind.

Thanks for the content, Unsettled.