WIW-X8 system, The Spire region. On the 19th of June, 3:45 EVE Standard Time, The Vanguard and Geminate Coalitions (From here on referred to as GemCo) clashed over the final station timer in the system, with GemCo scoring a victory over Vanguard forces.
The war in the Drone Lands has been raging for weeks now, with both sides making little progress. While both sides continue to clash in Etherium Reach without any clear decisive outcome, GemCo has re-focused its efforts on The Spire region, attacking Intrepid Crossing [IRC] holdings. [IRC] and its allies attempted to defend the region, but have suffered a string of defeats, this battle being no different.
The fight began after GemCo and its various allies including Legion of xXDEATHXx [X.I.X] and Nulli Secunda [S2N] came to the system in order to flip the station, bringing approximately 160 pilots in 3 fleets, with the Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser being the main ship used. The force started to bash the station when Triumvirate. [TRI] bridged in a Rattlesnake Battleship fleet, 40 pilots strong with 2 Triage Chimera Carriers for support.
The two sides immediately engaged each other on the station, [IRC] bringing Dominix Battleships to aid in the defense of their station. The battle became a murderous exchange, with GemCo and its allies losing Ishtars and mainly decimating Dominix Battleships, the Rattlesnakes holding well with their Triage support. The losses for GemCo were further aggravated by the grid around the station being broken, causing their Logistics ships to slip into a different grid altogether, unable to apply remote repairs as a result.
Thus, GemCo forces disengaged and regrouped, in time to see Pandemic Legion [-10.0] forces arrive to the system. [-10.0] used a Wormhole to infiltrate the region, as [-10.0] often intervened in the disputes in the Drone Lands, on behalf of both sides. The force was a 60 pilots Proteus Strategic Cruiser fleet, and came to engage both sides.
With the addition of [-10.0] to the fray, GemCo and allies re-engaged the [TRI] fleet, who decided to disengage in turn and dock up. Angered by the retreat, [-10.0] forces decided to collaborate with GemCo, promising to focus on [TRI] forces. Meanwhile, [TRI] decided to undock and attempt to fight. The three fleets starting to brawl on the station immediately.
[TRI] was able to tank well the incoming damage, while [-10.0] lost a few Logistics ships due to miscommunication between anchors, leading to the Logistics wing sitting at the optimal range of the [TRI] sentry drones. However, the battle tide changed once Advent of Fate [CORD] and Alternate Allegiance [ALTS] dropped Dreadnoughts in order to clear the [TRI] Triage support. One Triage Chimera fell to their onslaught, the other managing to dock. Quickly, the [TRI] Rattlesnakes attempted to dock once more, de-aggressing, however several were lost in the process.
Click for Killmail
Once the [TRI] fleet docked, [-10.0] decided to exit the field, leaving the system and safely extracting back to its staging. GemCo and its allies successfully flipped the station, and then turned their attention to the Territorial Claim Unit. They managed to reduce it to half armor before [TRI] forces came back to interfere. The two sides fought around the Territorial Claim Unit, unable to break each others’ tank. Finally, GemCo dropped 2 suicide Dreadnoughts to quickly take care of the Territorial Claim Unit, thus taking the strategic objective.
With the system lost and unable to break the tank of their enemies, [TRI] forces decided to retreat, extracting from the system and allowing [X.I.X] to take control of the system.
Footage of the Fight from Triumvirate.’s PoV
Battle report for the WIW-X8 system can be found here.
The battle took close to 2 hours, with local staying below 300 pilots and Time Dilation not reported.
The Vanguard Coalition lost 15 Battleships and 1 Carrier, along with assorted ships reaching 8.5 Bil ISK damage. GemCo lost 19 Heavy Assault Cruisers, along with assorted ships the damage received stands at 7.4 Bil ISK. [-10.0] lost 5 Logistics ships, reaching 1.2 Bil ISK damages in total.
While Etherium Reach remains highly contested between Vanguard and GemCo forces, it seems GemCo has managed to make large strides in The Spire, slowly evicting [IRC]. Should The Spire be secured by GemCo forces, it is only logical to assume that GemCo could shift the full weight of its war machine to Etherium Reach, potentially breaking the stalemate there.
Salivan Harddin writes for The EVE Scribe, Providence Bloc’s News Portal. When he isn’t writing articles, he doesn’t have much to do.
