Had a plan to move quickly, shotgun most systems, kill some ratters and get out before they catch us.
Roam members (8)
Spoiler
Alex Hide - Republic Fleet Firetail
Ana'ander Lamora - Jaguar
Archemide - Republic Fleet Firetail
Neemo Beer - Enyo
Nicholas Pilger - Retribution
Norgette Audier - Enyo
Penelore - Enyo
Urban Oxide - Deacon
Zako Maken - Deacon
Ana'ander Lamora - Jaguar
Archemide - Republic Fleet Firetail
Neemo Beer - Enyo
Nicholas Pilger - Retribution
Norgette Audier - Enyo
Penelore - Enyo
Urban Oxide - Deacon
Zako Maken - Deacon
(02:42:22) WT-2J9
Vexor Navy Issue +66m
Capsule +107.58m
Didn't take long for another small team to take up the mantel of catching us in a nice pipe. Rattler, Paladin, Daredevil and Confessor were waiting for us along I route I very much wished to go. I looked at a few options for running around them, but those options took me deeper into TEST primary ratting systems where my targets were more likely to be Caps instead of VNIs so I really didn't see the point of that. I asked the fleet if they would prefer a long run for safety or a push through to where I hoped would be easier targets. Killing VNIs was the vote and we decided to push through this small camp and make a break for it... once again no bubblers on d-scan. A Firetail was lost... RIP
(02:54:02) R-ARKN
Republic Fleet Firetail -16.88m
Capsule -0.01m
Per usual we were on intel within a few systems and had to break through a quick response fleet. I now had a small response fleet of 3 Leshaks and some other random stuff. We pushed through a gate camp and one of our deacons had to crash and got separated. I very much wanted to go back for him, and we still did not have a bubbler against us so I gathered up the fleet at a safe, warped us back to the camped Leshak gate, jumped back through and quickly got back to the missing deacon who was bouncing to safes on the other side. Then we took a fast detour around a triangle of systems to avoid them. Scouts told me that the Leshak team had given up trying to catch us a few system down and taken a jump bridge off to their probable isk-farming activities. On we moved...
Props go out here to our newbro Firetail pilot, out on his first fleet with us, one day into membership in WHC. Who managed to get back to Innuendo, reship into a new firetail, find the chain back to our dive-hole in PK-PHZ, and meet back up with us before we even left the pocket.
Off we headed to an area of Esoteria that was potentially isolated from Intel because we would cross into Paragon Soul before moving back into Esoteria space. It was a small pocket that I had had luck in before, yet small enough not to be filled with ratting caps. it was also a great pocket to do ALOT of shotgunning and move very quickly around harrassing the locals.
Although Bob provided tons of potential kills in the area, our group was small, so our shotgun attacks were weak... and only one fuzzy bear was unable to escape.
(03:29:00) 2R-KLH
Vexor Navy Issue +70.99m
Capsule +87.22m
At this point, although success had been limited, the original game plan was working quite well. We had moved quickly out of the choke point, avoided being caught twice and escaped to a relatively safe area to harass our targets. Now came the return trip. Once again speed and intel was key... as well as a hope that we had burned enough time (30m) and crossed intel so any potential camp would be chasing us rather then in advance of us.
Here is where i believe my biggest mistake came. On the way back home we were moving fast and scouts in front had good intel. I had skipped some things on purpose to keep up speed, but I got lured into the honeytrap that was this pocket.
Looking back going in here was just silliness. I could see from a NPC kill-per-hour the ratting going on in here was significantly higher rate then anywhere else in the region. The area was bound to be full of caps. Not to mention this is the pipe I previously encountered a response fleet. I went down the first arm of the pocket to see a HEL on D and a Confessor undock and I immediately realized my mistake. I turned the fleet around hoping I could escape before that confessor (undoubtedly the same guy from the previous firetail kill) had caught up with us... but alas. Jumping into 02V we were greeted by the camp... and this time they brought the HIC they were missing the first go.
So I decided to fight... gulp. Truthfully, I could hardly see what was going on on my overview. We were bubbled up, but I thought we could possibly kill the Daredevil and Confessor. I called primary on the Daredevil and locked up the Confessor and started calling targets. The Daredevil was repping hard so I was looking around for logistics on field without luck. I realized later they were self-repped which looking back made my target-calling also a mistake. I was moving back and forth between the Daredevil and the Confessor but I should have just called overheat and burned hard on the Daredevil until he broke. At least we could have gotten one kill... and possibly then focused the Confessor.
After enough of a wipe, scatter was called... the one Logi we saved in the beginning and the newbro-firetail-that-could were the only survivors. Cheers boys... o7
(03:50:24) 02V-BK
Enyo -48.77m
Enyo -55.14m
Republic Fleet Firetail -16.46m
Jaguar -50.33m
Retribution -64.13m
Enyo -49.38m
Deacon -48.09m
Capsule -15.51m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Stats
ISK Destroyed: 331,793,878.09
ISK Lost: 364,723,176.14
ISK Delta: -32,929,298.05
Efficiency: 47.636%
In Summary:
1. A small fleet can move faster and will also occasionally drop interest. Those Leshaks in the beginning gave up on us and went back to their iskies because we were not worth their time.
2. Sexy pockets with tons of kills near choke points are a honeytrap.
3. Calling a target even if you are screwing up is better then freezing up and calling nothing.
4. Just cause I normally fly Logi doesnt mean every response fleet does. If there are no logi on field, don't overthink it... go for the fast kills.