[HSC] FOB Assault Fleet II (2018-04-17)

[Ersin Oghuz]

AAR of Fleet I : [HSC] FOB Assault Fleet II (2018-04-14)

So we had a second go for this content and I am writing this AAR in order to add more information to our current knowledge about FOBs.

Marn and I formed a fleet of 4 RR-Dominix with the same fit shown in the first fleet AAR (Link), Jeremy Joringer and Avern Darkwinter joined us with Fast Decoy Frigate and Hauler respectively and we began moving to Vay which has the first target FOB. Our tactic stays same as before, finding pirate mining fleet and pinging it with Decoy Frigate in order to pull Mining Response Fleet and while Decoy Frigate running away from that fleet, RR-Dominix fleet begins hitting FOB and its Defense Fleet.

Jeremy located the Mining Fleet, pulled the Mining Response Fleet, and then we warped to FOB at range (100km) to pull FOB Defense Fleet and immediatly warped to 400km away from FOB in order to shake the EWAR from FOB itself. Moments later 4 Raven and 4 Condors launched as defense fleet and we quickly eliminated the Condors that warped on us. Ravens were different story. We used to destroy Caracals in closer ranges but Ravens orbit our fleet at +110 km range and hitting us from there and we could not approach them. Here we used our Emergency MJDs to get closer to them. I decided on a collision trajectory and aligned there while the rest of the fleet anchoring on me. Then we counted down and hit MJD at the same time. It took us two trials but we managed to get inn range with Ravens and we began hitting them hard. After they went down we warped to FOB and killed it without further complications since there was no more response fleet and mining response fleets was being kept busy by Jeremy's decoy frigate.

Here, we discussed having MWD instead of MJD due to this kind of situation but I believe having MJD is still more viable option then MWD in order to catch & Approach targets since it also provides emergency escape option in case we are geting overwhelmed or ambushed by mining response fleet. Also having a better range sentry drones would be better. We had Gardes but I believe having Wardens would be better.

1st Guristas FOB

Second we moved to Aidart where the second FOB established. Jeremy left the fleet due to time constraints so Avern now also responsible for flying decoy frigate. He bought the ship and modules from Stacmon and pinged the mining fleet but got quickly destroyed since he was not cycling his MWD to escape so he get caught and tackled by mining response fleet. So, always use your propulsion module (MWD) to escape that fleet. He reshipped again and pinged the fleet again and this time succesfully baited the response fleet to chase him. In the meantime we warped to FOB and start fighting. There was similar Raven + Condor response as before and we managed to kill them by using similar tactics. When we began fighting against FOB itself, Avern also reported that he needs to go AFK due to Real Life. Here we took the risk and continue shooting FOB even there is the risk of getting Mining Response Fleet on grid. It took some time without any further complications. However at some point I spotted Mining Fleet Hauler on D-Scan so that was a sign of hauler warping to FOB and then he would call response fleet with Kinetic damage. We kept shooting the FOB but aligned to a on-grid ping bookmark away from the FOB. Hauler warped in and moments later Response fleet was spotted on d-scan. 2 Condors, 4-5 Caracals and 3 Ospreys. That was not much but still risky so we pulled our drones and seconds later the fleet began to land on top of us. I used fleet warped to BM and since we was already aligned we were all now 300km away from the structure and fleet. And we began aligning out to a station. However while we were aligning I saw that the response fleet was not bouncing between bookmarks to warp on top of us. They were chasing us and not warping around. I know that mining response fleet does not bounce around at belts but I was assuming they inherit the FOB fleet bouncing attribute while defending the FOB but they were not. So we used this into our advantage. We waited until Frigates within our drone range and killed them quickly while their Caracals and Ospreys are still far from us. Then Caracals and Ospreys get in range and began engaging us. It took a while before our Reactive Armor Hardeners adjust to new damage type but after a while the incoming damage stabilized to a point that we can manage easily.

Caracal fleet was orbiting us at +65-70km while Ospreys are chasing them at 10-15km away. We tried to use our MJDs to relocate ourselves closer to them but since we were not well synchronized this time we jumped 10-20km far from each other. And since we could not cap chain and land reps that further we began warping out to a celestial to regroup. We grouped again and get ready to warp to FOB again and this time we use MJD much better with specific plan (warp to 400km to FOB) let Caracal fleet align to us, we align to them and while they are at 120km we microjump same time. But we saw that response fleet was gone when we landed on FOB. So we finished the FOB while they were gone.

2nd Guristas FOB

So here some points;

- MJD is still viable module for both offensive and defensive tactics
- Having Wardens instead of Gardes could help us to engage both Raven fleet and Caracal (Guristas Production) fleet far from us. So the drones in Dominix needs to be modified such as; 5 Warden, 5 Ogre (to hit FOB), 5 Wasp, 5 Vespa, 5 Hornet.
- Mining Response fleet does not bounce but chase the fleet to catch.