By Submission

U-QVWD, a stationless border system between Curse and Catch, has been the site of much back-and-forth action between HERO Coalition and PL. The IHUB was put into armor reinforce on Wednesday to avoid a Friday night timer, and with no station this would be the final timer for U-Q. HERO Coalition chose this venue to unveil their touted new armor doctrine – Dominixes. Although HERO Coalition had very strong numbers for the previous fights, they strangely put a strong emphasis on saving the system.

Pl has reinforced our IHUB in U-Q It is coming out of armor reinforce at 2014-11-07 00:28:19 UTC (about a day from when this mail/ping was sent)
If we lose this system, we lose a jump bridge, we lose our nearby entrance system to Curse and we give PL a staging point inside catch. We cannot let them have this system.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we will be forming up at 23.30 and the doctrine will be DOMIS
Ship to GE and fit up Dominix If you can fly Navy apoc, apoc, loki, proteus, celestis and armor logi ships then make sure you have those too. https://wiki.braveineve.com/doctrine/fatfleet[1]
Armor fleet hype! See you then.

With the hype around saving the system combined with the first showing of Dominixes, HERO Coalition had a massive turnout for a Thursday night timer. Combined, HERO Coalition had around 400 in system including 140 BS hulls, 80 Logistics, 3 Triage, and a comically frustrating 70 Maulses. Quite the haul for a first time fleet. As HERO were doing fleet maneuvers in GE and organizing their fleets, PL started to form by getting people into fleet and deciding which doctrine to take. With limited numbers, and given the disgusting number of damps on the side of HERO, PL dusted off their Rokhs for a good ‘ol fashioned brawl. Not nearly as effective as a T3 doctrine, though always good for a bloody fight. HERO would not be able to build a castle out of all the Rokhs that were about to throw at them, but PL were up to the challenge. With ~110 in fleet and only minutes before the timer came out, PL moved out and raced HERO into system.

The paltry three-jump trek from HERO’s main staging was agonizingly slow for the already lumbering space potatoes – jumping the gates caused a noticeable amount of TiDi for the poor HERO fleets. PL, meanwhile, were able to bridge next-door to the system, along with and handful of Triage and Blapdreads, and take the gate into the cyno-jammed system before HERO could get in and secure the gate. A few minutes after getting safe, HERO arrived at the gate PL had come through and began setting up their various fleets. After about five minutes of posturing, PL warped in on the HERO Domi fleet and the two began to exchange blows. In spite of the Phoebe power projection changes, HERO and PL were not alone. They were joined by a 70 man Nulli Ishtar fleet, and a 40 man CFC bomber fleet.

As a result of the HERO Dominix fit, which traded DPS for tank, PL were winning the early fight making ridiculous ten-to-one trades. Even with friendly triage on grid, the initial positioning of the fleets was disastrous for HERO. Correctly identifying the problem, the HERO fleet went for a very brave maneuver: they abandoned their second set of drones and MJD’d straight into the PL fleet. This tactic left the HERO Triage carriers out of range, and crucially made HERO trade their only escape – an MJD – for better positioning. The gamble paid off, and HERO fleet managed to apply their ewar and neuts to the numerically inferior PL fleet. The trades were getting better, though HERO were feeling the pain of ditching their Triage. Still, they were in it for the long haul. The PL Rokhs were beginning to feel the cap strain, as were the handful of Triage and Dreads. Slowly but surely, HERO were gaining an upper hand.

Right as the fight had reached this turning point, a new variable was added: CFC bombers. DBRB bombed the PL Rokh fleet, and part of the HERO Domi fleet, causing fires to flash up on both sides. HERO lost a small, but noticeable, chunk of their fleet to these bombs. PL, taking the brunt of the bombs in a ship that is very vulnerable to bombs, were crippled. Having lost most of their DPS to the bomb run, PL no longer had the critical mass of DPS required to exchange blows. Those few who remained MJD’d to safety.

Chaos, by definition, is indiscriminate. While PL were getting ravaged by the bombs, HERO had eaten two of the waves themselves. To avoid a similar crippling loss to a second flight of bombs, HERO MJD’d out of the bubbles and perched on the grid to finish off what was left of the PL fleet. This time the greedy decision to trade an escape for positioning was costly. This time a PL bomb run landed on the HERO fleet and completely decimated what remained of the Dominixes. This left Nulli Ishtars, CFC bombers, and the hero EWAR&Tackle fleet against the PL Triage & Dreads.

PL are quite accustomed to crashing down, though they come back every time. Without panicking, PL brought in the backup of repping carriers and DPS fit super carriers with the intention of reinforcing what was left of their fleet. Since the fight took place on the regional gate between Curse and Catch, these DPS supers would have been deadly in the fight. But where’s the fun in that? After finishing off a PL Dread, the Nulli Ishtars scattered along with the HERO tackle fleet. With four hundred warm bodies still eager to fight on the side of HERO, PL tried to cajole them to reship by threatening the sov of the system. HERO were still licking their wounds and had not yet considered reshipping, and the PL DPS supers did perhaps too good a job on the IHUB, melting it down before HERO had time to catch their breath. Whoops.

Assuming there would be a second fight over the TCU, PL waited out their fatigue and reshipped into a less intimidating skirmish Muninn fleet. HERO had a 90 man Moa fleet, supported by a small FAF (Interceptor) gang, poised to fight – presumably over the lone onlining TCU. Following the theme of the day, HERO Moas – which were being guarded by screen bubbles and interceptors – traded safety for a more aggression position. They perched onto the tail end of the PL Muninn fleet and, predictably, ate bombs to the face. It wasn’t pretty. After a bit of cat and mouse, HERO were spent and PL returned home.

Despite the small changes, when it comes to BS fleets it would seem as though bombs never go out of style.

Fight at U-QVWD – Battleship Graveyard

November 7, 2014

Related links and some fun facts