I haven’t had the time to put down an article and there’s been so much happening since my last piece. As usual I enjoy opening up possibilities to discussions concerning the events of Eve warfare and what implications they may have. The quite literally monumental battle of B-R has changed the war drastically.
I never thought that Archons were perfectly balanced to say the least. My largest complaint would probably be that it renders the other carriers irrelevant for in large part. If anything I would like to see the other carriers being given boosts in ways that make them competitors fo the Archon. Alas, many, especially from the CFC side had complained about their effectiveness. I leveled the criticism that the issue wasn’t the Archons themselves. but the fact that they wanted to accomplish equal effects by using a cheaper alternative using sub cap ships to attempt to emulate what the Archon did. Either put in the risk to get the result or shut up.
Guess somebody was listening. Surprisingly that is exactly what the CFC did. They actually went ahead and took the gamble. They took what they learned in their defeat in HED-GP and deployed their forces on grid first taking the “high ground.”PL’s mistake in B-R cost them and their allies hundreds of billions of isk both during the battle and the assets locked down in the station. Few if any “headshot” attempts manage to work and this is going to be as close as it gets.
Worse than the material loss may be the loss of momentum. As PL’s Elise Randolph said, “The lost momentum in the Soutnern conflict due to the B-R fight is a far greater loss than the isk assets. Because try as you might, you cannot buy swagger.”
Even though I stubbornly refuse the term “swagger” to enter the English language, I must agree with the sentiment Elise presents. HED-GP was suppose to be one of the turning points in this conflict where the CFC cuts their losses and begins to distance themselves from the RUS block spouting “didn’t want that anyway” and “we’re just being honorable third parties” along with “How’s Vale going for you?” Instead, we have very favorable terms for the CFC.
The might of the N3PL Capital Armada shattered by the combined might of CFC and RUS in one major spectacular battle. Most importantly the CFC showed that they could bring to bare their capital assets, including Titans and defeat the “veterans of Titan warfare.” There were several key components that should be recognized.
No this isn’t an attempt at giving N3PL some sort of excuse or way out. They lost the battle no questions about that. I’m not of the mind set that “blobbing” is a bad thing. I myself prefer flying in smaller numbers, skirmishing and harassing, etc. Even so, you cannot fall into the trap of whining about numbers. People will bring whatever resources they can to win this war and one of those resources is people. Now to ignore the fact that numbers played a role in the battle is an attempt from the other side to legitimize themselves because THEY feel inadequate about that fact. They shouldn’t. In Eve, results matter. Save the tears for your pillows.
The most obvious way in which numbers affected the outcome was simply by who had more bodies in system. CFC/RUS took the “high ground” AKA loading on grid first which also helped. The second way numbers affected the outcome was by having CFC forces blockade the N3 staging system and making reinforcement into B-R by the N3 side a hassle to say the least. A very smart call was made to make use of subcapitals in this manner rather than just piling everything into B-R and it really paid off.
This feels particularly strange to write considering my often repeated criticism of how Vince had handled the Tribute War. I was disappointed but that sentiment is slowly being shed as I hear more and more about his leadership. As far as B-R goes, it has been credited to him that he was the one that got the N3PL to stop shooting dreads and counter Doomsdaying (yes it’s a word) CFC/RUS Titans. This call made N3PL’s catastrophic defeat somewhat more digestible considering how much worse it could have been had this call not been made. Vince’s choice to commit to the fight and help PL out has also further strengthened the bond between the two coalitions. I’ve also been told that Vince and Grath enjoy long walks on the beach together and late night chats in order to better assess the other’s interests.
Another particularly devastating factor was when N3PL mistakenly thought that Sort Dragon’s Avatar had gone offline having its hardeners shut down. Doomsday after doomsday was blasted away into his ship and by the time he went down, N3PL had lost several of their Titans already. This gave the CFC/RUS side a further numerical advantage allowing them to continue their onslaught of N3PL Titans. As always, many of the greatest victories in battle are not “according to plan” but simply chance mistakes such as this one.
The Mittani should name some stations in Laz’s name. His decision to commit to the fight in B-R has single highhandedly changed the face of the Eve Online Universe both in the terms of this war, as well as providing for us a very nice monument in the system of the fight. This sort of thing is exactly what draws players to Eve. Before this battle things were a bit unsure for the CFC. Strain with their Russian allies of convenience, if left to ferment, may have broken the southern front for the CFC/RUS and we may have seen another retreat to Stain by -A- and allies. Instead we have Grath ejecting WhySoSerious from their space, EMP blaming their allies for “losing the war” and then closing down, and the N3PL side pretty much giving up control of large portions of the south in favor of the RUS block. Most importantly Laz has also brought redemption to the CFC for the Massacre at Asakai. Like a devoted Roman soldier, he’s wrestled Rome’s banner and redeemed his Empire. Laz, by chance, by design, you’ve sculpted the landscape of Eve and for that you have all my respect.
I wanted to go over some of the events of the B-R battle highlighting some of the more important points that stuck out to me but I didn’t want to re-write yet another battle report. Enough people have done that and some of us can pretty much recite the timeline of the battle itself by heart already. But what happens now?
One of the most relevant matters that people often over look is what happens after a great victory such as B-R. The enemy retreats and the winning side is left to grind sov for hours. After riding high on their victory, this sort of task can lead to idleness and frustration. When TEST’s HBC, with the help of the CFC, crushed -A- and their allies, their relationship became strained further during the sov grind. CFC members felt that they did too much work for too few of the benefits. TEST felt that their autonomy was obstructed by some of the actions of the CFC. The end result was a massive conflict that saw the CFC take control of the entire western portion of 0.0 and the ejection of TEST from their ancestral home of Fountain.
How will this play out now? The CFC made a hug investment in helping RUS block fight in the south. It is no secret that -A- has no love for “the Goons” and that the alliance is more out of convenience than anything else. If the CFC makes too many demands, we may see a reverse of the current situation. It is true that most casualties in battle happen during the rout, but most turn arounds in battles likewise happen during that time. Pursue your enemy too carelessly and you may snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Most recently the alliance of WhySoSerious has been given the boot by PL’s Grath for lack of participation in the war effort. I have to be thankful to WSS for letting my corp and small number of remnants crash on their couch for a couple of months last year when real life got the better of me. Rots was by all accounts a respectable individual and there were a few people in that alliance that truly seemed like decent people. However, I cannot disagree with Grath’s decision. Even last year WSS seemed like an alliance that just sort of did “meh.” A lot of planning and strong intentions but they really lacked the grass roots level initiative. They were very active when they started out early in Wicked Creek but their lack of a consistent narrative mitigated that early progress.
I had some pretty high hopes for EMP. They didn’t exactly wow anybody when they went to Provi but their surprisingly good cohesion saw them over turn the GENTS incursion into the north. Just as surprisingly they fell flat on their face when they attempted to return the favor to GENTS by attacking Vale. This was almost as bad as their embarrassing deployment to Delve that saw their numbers spread out across the span of the Eve universe and gaining yet another defeat. My impression is that while Phreeze is a decent leader, his talents shine more so on a smaller scale rather than a large alliance. There also seemed to be a lack of structure and organization as well as redundancy in the leadership itself. Phreeze made a smart move to shut EMP down rather than have it fall apart at a catastrophic time when the enemy could better benefit.
The Teutonic Knights were a Crusader Order that were founded in the Middle East during the Crusades. However most of their relevance comes not from what they did in the Middle East but what they did in Central and Eastern Europe. They had a reputation of sort of disregarding practical diplomatic considerations in exchange for doing whatever they wanted. While this may be admirable to some, and few if any reasonable person would deny the fighting prowess of the Teutonic Order, OR Black Legion, the latter, much like the former has maneuvered themselves into a bit of a corner. While initially holding a “cool edgy outsider” image, since working for the CFC, some of their former admirers (such as Mordus Angels) have lost that respect for them. This choice may also come at a bad time considering Elo Knight has stepped down from leadership. One has to ask, how do you end up on the winning side of B-R, yet step down as leader and alienate your allies? There’s no question about BL’s capability however and the CFC will have to deal with “Young Legion’s” northern antics while “Old Legion” (PL) rebuilds.
There’s always someone championing the sentiment of “lol provibloc” yet I think the notion is sorely misplaced. NRDS does not make you a carebear and acting like Provibloc is the only coalition that makes extensive use of industry is just dishonest. Here’s the truth, you bring a fleet to Provi that does not outnumber the locals too greatly and I promise you there will be a defense fleet up ASAP. Severence and Yulai especially are up to task for this as I witnessed in the past and as recently as last night. While I think Provibloc leadership lacks some ambition, there’s nothing to scoff at about a 0.0 holding entity that’s not part of either of the two major coalitions. Their actions in HED-GP gained N3PL a system of arguable importance and earned Provibloc a threat from The Mittani. If they interfered in this war, they would be next. To that I say, I bet you won’t do anything Mittens. At least not until N3PL poses absolutely no threat. Regardless it’s a fairly big compliment for Provibloc to be threatened by The Mittani considering he’s the leader of the most powerful coalition in Eve and Provibloc are just a bunch of “carebears” right?
Eve continues to be entertaining and I couldn’t be happier with the vantage point on certain things at play. I cannot wait to see how they unfold. Will there be another major offensive in the war or are things fizzling out? How will the CFC plan to deal with BL’s maverick diplomatic policies? Will N3PL continue to eject members from their coalition? Will the CFC’s alliance with the RUS falter in the wake of their success? These are all factors that contribute to the story we all help write in our own way bit by bit. Every moment, every action, we’re pushing or pulling for one outcome or another and this, as I’ve always said, is what makes Eve a great game.
– Seraph IX Basarab
