GXK-7F system, Immensea region. On the 2nd of October at 18:15 EVE Standard Time, forces belonging to Gentlemen’s.Club [GCLUB] and Stain-Wagon Coalition (SMC) clashed in the system over a tower in a fight that quickly escalated into a confusing brawl as Providence Bloc and Northern Coalition. [NC] joined the fray.
The battle began after SWC forces again deployed an offensive tower in Gentlemen’s.Club’s staging system. Gentlemen’s.Club reinforced the tower and was forming up to destroy it only to find SWC forces already in the system and camping the undock in a 220 pilot Cerberus Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet.
However, SWC left the undock area in an attempt to intercept Test Alliance Please Ignore [TEST] reinforcements that were coming to help the besieged Gentlemen’s.Club fleet. This gave ample opportunity for Gentlemen’s.Club’s fleet to undock, leaving SWC no option but to set up on the tower itself, effecting repairs while waiting for their opponents to engage. Gentlemen’s.Club and its allies linked forces in a 160 pilot Tengu Strategic Cruiser\Cerberus Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet and warped in range of the tower, starting the actual battle.
The first engagement went badly for Gentlemen’s.Club. SWC forces sheer damage output proved overwhelming. The missile barrages of the Cerberus simply volleyed any targeted ship, leaving the Gentlemen’s.Club’s Logistics wing unable to respond. Also, defying common logic, SWC chose to drive its fleet straight into the Gentlemen’s.Club’s fleet instead of keeping range as is the usual practice with Heavy Missile fleets. This was done in order to reduce the flight time of the missiles, thus making the application of damage faster which further made the job of the Gentlemen’s.Club’s Logistics wing futile.
At such close proximity, SWC chose to target all known Gentlemen’s.Club Fleet Commanders, leaving their fleet leaderless. Without guidance, the Gentlemen’s.Club fleet was decimated by the unrelenting barrages of the SWC Cerberus, necessitating a hasty withdrawal to the station in order to re-organize the fleet.
SWC chose to resume their camp of the undock and were further bolstered by the arrival of Providence Bloc, which brought a 100 pilot Naga Attack Battlecruiser fleet. Providence Bloc and SWC have maintained good relations ever since the latter helped the former in the Northern Catch war against HERO Coalition and other conflicts since. SWC forces requested aid from Providence Bloc as they believed Gentlemen’s.Club originally planned to use a Capital fleet to remove the tower, a notion that was dispelled later.
The two fleets maintained their vigil on the station grid when a fourth force made its presence known. Northern Coalition. had knowledge of the timer and watched the preceding fight. Deciding to third party, it mustered a 100 pilot Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet and using wormholes arrived to the system. With the arrival of Northern Coalition. on the field, Gentlemen’s.Club forces felt emboldened again and undocked as well.
At this point the fight descended into utter chaos as the four fleets engaged each other while maneuvering on the station grid. It seems that Northern Coalition. forces first engaged the SWC forces who quickly regrouped, before warping on top of the Providence Bloc fleet and quickly annihilating a good chunk of it. Providence Bloc, having lost nearly half its fleet, retreated, leaving Northern Coalition. to engage Test Alliance Please Ignore forces and the SWC fleet. Gentlemen’s.Club focused mainly on the SWC fleet, but having its allies shot by Northern Coalition. and constantly warping out meant it lacked critical damage at times, allowing SWC to ignore it as it focused mainly on Northern Coalition.
While Northern Coalition. was busy once more shooting Test Alliance Please Ignore forces, SWC chose to unleash devastating volleys upon the Ishtars. One by one Northern Coalition. Ishtars exploded, their Logistics unable to cope with the terrible damage the Cerberus were pumping out. Gentlemen’s.Club attempted to use the opportunity to engage the SWC fleet at close range but was mostly ignored.
Finally, SWC forces left the grid, bouncing around system before finally landing into the midst of the Northern Coalition. fleet. In rapid succession, Northern Coalition. lost mainline and Logistics ships as the missiles quite literally flew all over, destroying ships left and right and forcing the Ishtars to withdraw. However Northern Coalition. forces quickly re-grouped and remained in the system, hoping for an opportunity to engage the SWC forces when they are preoccupied with Gentlemen’s.Club forces.
Gentlemen’s.Club used the opportunity of SWC leaving the grid to warp to the tower and finally remove it. SWC attempted to intercept them and force another fight, but having secured the strategic objective, Gentlemen’s.Club decided to dock, conceding the field to SWC. With Gentlemen’s.Club out of the picture, Northern Coalition. quickly retreated, leaving SWC to safely extract from the system.
The Battle from the PoV of Stain-Wagon Coalition’s Recon
Battle report for the GXK-7F system can be found here.
All told the battle lasted 75 minutes and saw 660 pilots in system at the peak of the fighting. Time Dilation was a constant factor, varying between 80% to 40% during the entire exchange.
Gentlemen’s.Club and its allies suffered the brunt of the losses, 102 ships for a total of 25.63 Bil ISK damage. SWC lost 50 ships for 8.63 Bil ISK damage, Northern Coalition. lost 31 ships for 8.45 Bil ISK damage and Providence Bloc lost 47 ships for a total of 5.4 Bil ISK damage.
While Gentlemen’s.Club did manage to secure the strategic objective it was done at a huge cost and a tactical defeat.
