More Magic Merlins

[SketchyManDan Williams]

Thanks all for coming on the roam. It turned out to be a much much bigger fleet than i expected .
We had awesome scout, DD, and logi saved the day multiple times! We managed to more than make up for the losses we had!

The doctrine was Magic Merlins using a Burst for shield logi and cruise from Stacmon, down through Black Rise and back.

DD/Tackle

Spoiler

[Merlin, Magic Merlin]

Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium Shield Extender II
X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier
J5b Enduring Warp Scrambler

Light Ion Blaster II, Void S
Light Ion Blaster II, Void S
Light Ion Blaster II, Void S

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

Void S x400
Null S x400
Federation Navy Antimatter Charge S x600

Logi (Shields)

Spoiler

[Burst, Fast Merlin Support]

Damage Control II
Type-D Restrained Overdrive Injector
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

5MN Cold-Gas Enduring Microwarpdrive
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Small Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I

Small S95a Scoped Remote Shield Booster
Small S95a Scoped Remote Shield Booster
Small S95a Scoped Remote Shield Booster

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

Light Shield Maintenance Bot I x1

Power Diagnostic System I x1
Navy Cap Booster 400 x15

Roam members (49)

Spoiler

Ailise Thellere
Akiri Senso
Akiro Shikkoken
Alto DeRaqwar
Arbee Trage
Archemide
Ardes Atavuli
Atticus Vex
Barbara Blast
BatFC
Bill Achasse
Brandon Greystone
Burak Oz
Caliban Ohmiras
Cyus Erata
DeanSherman
Decklin Quark Reiger
DonBasuno Ichosira
DonkeyPunch Udan
Felix Jugo
Fiver Kashov
Gandar Thiesant
Gatt2111
Goose Bradshaw
Hespire Malneant
Ismaroo
Kirsi Isrik
Laser Skaron
Malayeka
Maximus Hert
Oh' Leeador
Questlove
Rebulah Conundrum
Rider Isleman
Shiro Neutronica
SketchyManDan Williams
Sludgu
Sone Eto
Space Warfare Development
Strontium Bob Bobbins
Tlymphocyte
Tom Endares
Union Pivo
Veever Yvormes
Wokum
Xenopha Cadelanne
Zeerse Solaris
ashahara
gaheris Anninen

Kills and Losses

We had a great start with the scouts both finding some nice ships straight away!
Raven and Muninn Killed, but we lost a scout, quick reship needed
(21:32:25) Vlillirier
Raven +277.35m
Ares -31.05m
Muninn +192.66m
Capsule -0.01m


We made our way through Nen, taking a few kills on the way. I think here was where we had a cruiser fleet start following us.
(21:42:38) Nennamaila
Merlin -2.99m
Kestrel +4.99m
Capsule +0.01m

(21:56:23) Pynekastoh
Caldari Navy Hookbill +31.42m
Condor +1.87m


Hmmm... Smart bombs are not very nice to frigates... It was reported to me that this Rokh had them, but I had never taken on one of these ships before. Lesson learned, stay away from smart bombs in a T1 frigate, or at least some range.
Here is a video from Laser Skaron around this part of the roam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvlRkgyE5Vo
(22:12:51) Reitsato, Pynekastoh
Merlin -6.92m
Vexor +44.55m
Merlin -0.59m
Burst -16.81m
Capsule -0.01m
Merlin -4.44m
Capsule -43.14m
Merlin -20.12m
Merlin -6.75m
Merlin -2.19m
Merlin -5.64m
Capsule -17.3m
Capsule -96.45m
Bantam -3.12m
Capsule -0.01m
Merlin -5m
Merlin -2.09m
Merlin -5.36m
Capsule -0.01m


Some nice kills were made here, with minor losses in comparison.
(22:36:11) Okkamon, Asakai
Merlin -0.81m
Merlin -9.84m
Scythe Fleet Issue +74.28m
Burst -15.12m
Ares -49.65m
Cruor +203.6m


At this point I had managed to leave some of the fleet in a different system, I lost the position of some of the fleet during the fights, and had forgotton to tell the fleet when to jump. We had some pilots trying to play with us on the gate. Made a few kills and regrouped to make our way home!
(22:50:37) Ikoskio
Burst -4.85m
Stabber +38.37m

(23:08:00) Akidagi
Merlin -3.09m
Ares -31.89m
Svipul +77.99m


Onwars to Stacmon!
The scouts found a small cruiser fleet, we warp in for the kill and manage to take down the majority with only the faster ships managing to escape. Minor losses and very nice set of kills to finish on!
(23:20:03) Nennamaila
Merlin -1.25m
Merlin +8.25m
Vigilant +235.61m
Merlin -5.38m
Vexor Navy Issue +116.01m
Vigilant +235.05m
Cynabal +214.18m
Vexor Navy Issue +156.93m

(23:30:30) Nennamaila
Merlin -9.83m

(23:48:44) Vlillirier
Ares -31.86m


Stats
ISK Destroyed: 1,913,099,208.87
ISK Lost: 433,545,825.12
ISK Delta: 1,479,553,383.75
Efficiency: 81.525%

Epic job everyone, see you all on the next 1!

[Rider Isleman]

Dude, awesome fleet! The fleet was great fun and a lot of action. Scouts and logi did an awesome job as well as the FC. That last cruiser brawl was great. What more could you ask for on a Saturday afternoon than maybe......i won't say it but it has to do with bikinis. Great fleet!!

[Zora Razorblade]

nice job done out there .... really motivates to participate also the next time

[Gandar Thiesant]

Really fun fleet FC, the last fight especially was great. And also the Rokh was just poor luck

[Laser Skaron]

Great fleet, good job! You did GREAT for your first official run as e-uni FC! Now, I got 2 points to discuss.

There's a lot more nuance for that smartbomb engagement, and there will be a video on the fights that lead to it (whenever I get to edit the audio and cut it properly). There were actually several different fights that took place around that time, many of which we abandoned to regroup. Both good and bad calls took place there, and you stayed calm and did a great job overall, but chucking it to "smart bombing got us" skips a ton of learning oportunities from that. I'll get that video rolling so we can paint a picture of everything that happened leading up to that fight - the main problem was there were at least 3-4 other parties around, and we kinda wanted to go for all of them at virtually the same time (ScyFI on the gate with us, Stabber on the other side, a Merlin in a novice plex, and ONI + ScyFI in a large plex, a small gang that collapsed on us, and then the smartbomber).

Beyond that, I like trigger happy scouts, that is super cool and fun. But going out and just calling point without the FC being ready to act is not a great idea. About a third of our isk loss comes from 4 ceptors that died to gate guns. If logi is not ready to come in and have your back you will not last long on a gate if you're the first to pull aggro. At least once we had to warp to a gate and jump through it to get to you, no way we're going to reach that before the gate takes you out :(.

EDIT: The isk part is really not important... rather taking gate agro without backup and not knowing how fast backup can arrive :)

[SketchyManDan Williams]

Cheers all!

Laser, I would love to see the video once it's done! There was definitly a lot happening around the smartbomb engagement, a lot of info from everyone too which was cool, but I made the wrong call trying to take him on.

One of the reasons I had stayed to fight him was partly the thought that some of our fleet may get caught while we were trying to leave from the other ships on grid, along with some curiosity of how much damage could we put on this thing compared to how quick he could take us down. I had never actually encountered a ship that size with smartbombs before, and it was quite an interesting engagement . It looked like we took a fair bit of shield off him which made me want to stay for a little longer, but as soon as more smartbombs came down, the losses started racking up.
I would love to hear everyones thoughts on how they would've approached this situation, like would you have jumped the gate, docked, warped to a celestial earlier? .

For the scouts, I think I might have been calling to early at times too. I remember being asked if i wanted a target, and saying yes before checking if the target was flashy. I think next time before calling to take them, I need to confirm with the scout locations/distances and to confirm the targets status.

[Decklin Quark Reiger]

Very good job at making quick and clearly communicated decisions, Sketchy

Looking forward to seeing you excel as an FC, as you gain experience.

As a logi pilot, it was a pleasure to rep the Merlins - in that cruiser fight at the end we caught at least one of them in very low structure, and he held.

I *still* need to remember that I'm not as agile as usual though. I died when trying to quickly nab some loot, and wasn't able to warp off in time when an omen navy started burning to me. Silly mistakes on my part.

[Adrien Claremont]

When fighting a smart bombing battleship it's a very simple equation in my eyes. Can you project damage out past smartbombing range, which I think is 7.5km off the top of my head. Regardless of what the actual number is, I'd imagine most people would struggle without using Null ammo in a Magic Merlin, and I'm not entirely sure you could even reach with Null (I'm on my phone so I can't check the exact numbers, sorry.) if you can project out past smartbomb range, he is a sitting duck that cant do anything to you. Inside smartbomb range you will quickly lose ships.

Looks like you did a great job. Sorry I couldn't make it but I'll certainly be around for future fleets.

[BatFC]

Very good FCing and your ability to keep your calm under stressful situation is great! Is there any plan to run more of this fleets? I enjoyed the fleet tremendously and can't wait for the next one.

@lasor Is it possible to post the fleet recording in its entirety or is that asking too much? (only if it does not require more work on your side )

[Barbara Blast]

When fighting a smart bombing battleship it's a very simple equation in my eyes. Can you project damage out past smartbombing range, which I think is 7.5km off the top of my head. Regardless of what the actual number is, I'd imagine most people would struggle without using Null ammo in a Magic Merlin, and I'm not entirely sure you could even reach with Null (I'm on my phone so I can't check the exact numbers, sorry.)

T2 large smartbombs have a range of 6 km. According to pyfa, a Magic Merlin does less than 40 dps unheated with Null at 7 km, and that's assuming perfect skills. That sounds meagre. If the Merlin was using Neutron Blasters instead, it would do about 70 dps under the same conditions. (Neutrons are harder to fit though.)

[Adrien Claremont]

That's why shotgun interceptor roams use rails over blasters.

[Analiese Aubernet]

The more popular inteceptors for combat roams are beam/pulse crusaders and arty claws, both of which are easily capable of projecting past smartbomb range.

[Raido Kudonen]

T2 large smartbombs have a range of 6 km. According to pyfa, a Magic Merlin does less than 40 dps unheated with Null at 7 km, and that's assuming perfect skills. That sounds meagre. If the Merlin was using Neutron Blasters instead, it would do about 70 dps under the same conditions. (Neutrons are harder to fit though.)

In fact, that fitting cost makes you give up quite a lot in exchange for your projection increase. Consider the following:

Spoiler

[Merlin, Magic Merlin neutrons]

Damage Control II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core I
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
Initiated Compact Warp Scrambler

Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Void S

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer II
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I


X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier x1
Void S x2000
Null S x2000
Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S x2000

Spoiler

[Merlin, Magic Merlin best fitting]

Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II

5MN Y-T8 Compact Microwarpdrive
Medium F-S9 Regolith Compact Shield Extender
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
Faint Epsilon Scoped Warp Scrambler

Light Electron Blaster II, Void S
Light Electron Blaster II, Void S
Light Electron Blaster II, Void S

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I


X5 Enduring Stasis Webifier x1
Void S x2000
Null S x2000
Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S x2000

The fits have identical tank and speed, and both readily refit for a web and are similarly tight on fitting. The first fit, with neutrons, has better projection with Null (140 DPS, 3.15km+4.38km compared to 147 DPS, 2.1km+2.63km) but does slightly less DPS with all ammo types compared to the second fit, with electrons. This is because you save so much fitting from the electrons that you can fit prop mod + tank without a power core, and still have enough CPU left over to fill that third lowslot with an extra magstab.

The electrons' low fitting cost have another interesting side benefit in terms of newbie-friendliness: you get less of a benefit in raw fitting numbers for every level of Weapon Upgrades/Advanced Weapon Upgrades, which means that somewhat-new players (very common in the Uni) who've trained the Magic 14 but haven't got WU, AWU, or both to V can make the fit work more readily. In concrete terms, the above fits require WU V/AWU IV for the neutron fit and WU IV/AWU III for the electron fit, assuming you've got Power Grid Management, CPU Management, and Shield Upgrades each to V.

You can also solve fitting problems nicely by switching to ABs (which have other significant advantages in lowsec, since your fast tackle should usually be able to hold down bad guys enough for AB frigates to catch up, and because ABing Merlins can both sig tank and speed tank when you're fighting bigger bad guys). But here, again, the electrons have a slight advantage - they have enough CPU free that folks who've trained Weapon Upgrades to V can upgrade their invuls to T2, getting a nice increase in tank.

[Laser Skaron]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvlRkgyE5Vo Aaaaand we have footage of the moments before the smartbomb fight. There's no video of the actual smartbomb, was killed during an extraction right before that (hoped to hold reps on the fleet a bit longer and payed for it).

TL;DR things that were around us before the smartbomb fight:
- A merlin at a novice.
- ScyFI on grid with fleet.
- Stabber + Fed Navy Commet with vanguard.
- ScyFI + ONI at a large.
- Confessor with fleet started the fight later.
- A few other ships around...

There were many good/bad decisions there, and as a young FC you did reallly good! But my biggest concern on grid was I had absolutely no idea what you were going to engage. We started fights or wanted to start fights on pretty much everything. Every new ship that was mentioned on comms had a green light to engage. I don't think that's ok as it makes is very difficult to follow what the FCs plan is, what are we actually going to commit to?

PS. I originally wanted to annotate the video and collect all the intel that was being shared over time. Build a map of sorts... Scraped the idea at the end as it didn't particularly help.