What? Marcus is on Coms?

[Marcus Arilia]

What? Marcus is on Coms?
This a cumulative AAR of a few FC’ing experiences over the week. Wife was out of town, so I had a mic and thought I’d give FC’ing over coms a try.

Engagement 1
In true form this was still typey FC’ing, but maybe half an hour before my wife left. I was roaming around in my Proteus and found a Tengu at a low sec anom. There was no one else in system so I thought I’d rally the troops. I called for DPS but also for neuts, and luckily one of the Strats was on. I had my reinforcements wait on the other side of the hole and went for initial tackle. The cavalry came in, and after a couple minutes and some neut pressure he finally went down. Lucky for us he also dropped his X-type.
Tengu 1,245.13 m

Engagement 2
Now we start with the Coms stuff. One of our guys scouting down the chain found an Ishtar. We went ahead and formed up small ships. I had the Jag go in and get primary tackle. This was an interesting one because it was a C3 black hole, so with our ABs on we were going crazy fast and combined with his rep we were having trouble breaking him. About mid-way through the fight I called for everyone to slow themselves down to about 200 m/s and if he sent his drones back out to pick up their speed. That helped and combined with some overheating we finally broke him. There were a couple other Ishtars flying around but our scouts were unable to pin them down unfortunately.
Ishtar 464.24 m

Engagement 3
We had eyes on a couple of Ravens bouncing back and forth between a hole in Bacon. Because there were multiple (up to 3 at one point) I had us form up LA and asked for a bubbler. We had our eyes on the hole it looked like they were rolling, but they were staggering their rolls so at any one point only one person was polarized. I waited until one of the Ravens came back that I knew would be polarized and sent the bubbler in followed by the fleet. There ended up also being an Abaddon on grid but he was pretty close to the hole. We had logi and they didn’t, so even with it being a pulsar I called the Raven primary. We burnt him down extremely quickly, but the Abaddon jumped while in hull. After the kill I had the fleet retreat to Bacon to rep heat, and had the bubbler stay cloaked on grid. We got lucky and they did the exact same thing again, and we killed the Raven the exact same way. So with the Abaddon on the other side we tried to think of a way to provoke him back through. I had Shiz pull out a rolling Praxis and we grabbed a couple anchorable bubbles for the hole. The Praxis went out and the hole went crit. He and the Abaddon sat on the hole but the Abaddon wouldn’t budge. My plan was to try and roll the Abaddon in with Shiz coming right behind him so that we could kill him in the bubble. Since the Abaddon wouldn’t move though I had Shiz dock, and then log and prep to log right back in. That was enough, and the Abaddon jumped. Unfortunately, though Shiz had his client crash while trying to log back in. That was enough time that the Abaddon killed our Flycatcher as he burned back to the hole, and he was still able to jump it. We still rolled him out once Shiz got back on, so that felt nice at least.
Raven 192.56 m
Raven 182.23 m
Capsule 104.64 m

Flycatcher 82.32 m

Engagement 4
We had word of some Dreks and bombers finishing up a citadel bash. We came in LA and tried to catch one of the lone Dreks on a hanger container. Unfortunately, they warped off to a hole. We took the opportunity to try to loot some of the containers (only a few hundred mil) We engaged on the hole once the Occator was safe. We engaged the Dreks however the Deacons started to break, so they jumped. The rest of us scattered off. Nothing was killed or lost, but we got some of the loot from the structure with an Occator.

Engagement 5
Conci had an Orca and some miners on D off the Eggs chain. We formed up SS and got ready to pew. The Orca ended up rolling the hole, but we were lucky and Conci found their static was only 2 jumps away. We waited on the gate till the Orca jumped and came in. The Orca quickly cloaked so we started to try and grab it. We eventually decloaked it and started to burn it down. A Typhoon and Strat landed at range and I sent one of the Jags to grab the Typhoon since I knew the Strat could just cloak on us. We burnt down the Orca (turns out it was a rolling Orca), and moved to the phoon. The Strat cloaked and bailed. After the phoon was down Conci said a Retriever accidently burned out of tether off their Astra. We went and killed it, however after it went down, they launched a bubble and fighters. All of us got off eventually, though Hannah was close to death. We gf’d in local and extracted out.
Orca 833.25 m
Capsule 16.47 m
Typhoon 201.41 m
Capsule .01 m
Retriever 30.07 m
Capsule .01 m

Engagement 6
One of our scouts had eyes on a Test v. Frat fight a few jumps down one of our null connections, so we brought out a bomber fleet. After burning numerous tacs we finally had a chance for a run. Took down two Caracals and lead to a Vexor KM too. We kept trying to get another run setup, but every time we were close things warped off. We finally tried to bomb a Hyperion as he was jumping out but that didn’t work due to how quickly he jumped. We had been there for a while, so we decided to extract after that run.
Caracal 31.76 m
Caracal 31.25 m
Vexor Navy Issue 102.8 m

Engagement 7
I’d been scouting a Provi hole that we’d been harassing all day. I caught a Maelstrom and Nightmare going back and forth between two systems, and a Sabre occasionally going through too. I acted as bait in my Astero and jumped through with the Sabre and Maelstrom. Sure, enough the bubble went up. I had a fleet of SS on the other side of the WH one system over and called them in. I ended up FCing from scout by watching grid, calling them to leave the Sabre who was getting out to warp off, and had the DPS ships give me intel on how the Maelstrom was doing. He went down, we all went back, and rolled the hole.
Maelstrom 199.24 m

Engagement 8
We setup another bombing run. Pew Pew. We killed a Vexor. Then his capsule came back. Bot. On our way home free-burning. one of our bombers got stuck in a sabre bubble then popped by the Sabre, Astero, and Garmur. Whoops. So, I had the guys still in system keep eyes, an came back in a Hecate. Burned the Sabre as a Garmur, Astero, and Worm landed on grid. Used the insta-align on the Hecate to get out of the bubble and warp before they could get into range, and we made our way home.
Vexor 30.13 m
Capsule .01 m
Sabre 90.74 m

Nemesis 53.56
Capsule .01 m

Engagement 9
One of our scanners found a Tempest rolling. Did a quick SS form up, and got him before he could get back to the hole.
Tempest 188.23 m

Engagement 10
Gila found, Gila killed.
Gila 228.16 m

Engagement 11
Troven found a Drek and 2 Prophecies one out of Innu. Initial plan was to have our Sabre land, the main fleet warp to a ping, then go to the Sabre. Unfortunately, the ping was just a little too close and we were not able to warp. The Sabre went down and we went back to the hole. This time I had the cloaky eyes get to just over 150 and we warped to him at 100. Grabbed the Drek and burned him down. The Prophecys got to range so we let them warp away as we finished the Drek.
Drekavac 295.47 m

Sabre 83.80 m

Engagement 12
Had a report that our Tempest/Gila friends were undocking weird things like probes and slicers, so formed up SS and headed their way. Waited on the hole and a Raven undocked. It jumped, we engaged, and it turned out they intended it to be bait. 2 Aug Navys, a Scythe Fleet, Gnosis, and a Vexor. Once they came in I primaried the Scythe Fleet knowing it had the best chance of burning us down. Once that was gone, we went for the Gnosis since it could be fit so many different ways, after that moved to the Vexor, but he jumped. Once those were down the Augs started to jump so we bumped the Raven and finished him and his pod off too. No losses but one of our guys did have to warp off and come back before 3rd logi came in. After that whole fight our eyes saw one of their Asteros trying to run their relic site. Why, I don’t know. We sent in the Jag and tackled him, and our little mob murdered him.
Scythe Fleet Issue 62.65 m
Gnosis 52.94 m
Raven 212.82 m
Capsule .01 m
Astero 110.10 m
Capsule .01 m

Engagement 13
There was a harvester fleet out that saw a Purifier on D. They bugged out to Innu and I called for a reship to SS even though I was about 4 jumps out. I formed back up with them and had some scouts go in. I had 2 stay in Bacon. One on an MTU we forgot to grab, and another bouncing around. They caught a Thorax on D as well. Savannah saw that 2 B1 was their home so I had another scout go sit on their structure. We orbited around the 2 B1 hole for a bit seeing if they’d come play. The Thorax kept warping around, but weirdly never warped to us. I figured they may have eyes, so I warped us to Bacon (which was off D) to see if they’d use it as an opportunity. Sure enough they undocked a Loki and warped it to their side of the hole. I had the fleet warp back and orbit at 5,000 to try and grab it. We got it, got a few bumps, and with all of the webs quickly burned him down. Knowing we had likely PvP’d out this hole we headed back and grabbed 4 rollers to switch up the chain.
Loki 498.57 m

Engagement 14
I was scouting down a null and found a Rattle. No one voiced up so I decided to FC from the Astero. The Jag couldn’t get to the Rattle in time so we started wandering around. Eventually we came back and one of the other scouts in a bomber found a Proc. After getting a warp in, we brought in the Jag and the fleet, and pew’d down the Proc, then headed home. FCing from a non-tackle scout is quite awkward, especially when you’re a few systems in front and still calling out all their movement commands
Procurer 44.75 m
Capsule .01 m

Engagement 15
Led a nullsec bombing run. Originally, I had a couple of Hulks in a system with Rorqs, but they swapped to Skiffs. Turns out there was a separate bombing run a few systems over that likely scared them. We kept looking around and found three Praxis and a Gnosis. We took down a Gnosis and one Praxis before the others MJD’d off. We were unfortunately bombing into their resist, so a different bomb type based on the local rats would have been smarter. On the way back Conci found a lone Skiff jetcan mining, so we took him out as well.
Gnosis 43.15 m
Praxis 142.40 m
Capsule .01 m
Skiff 272.03 m


Totals
Isk Killed: 5,907.77 m
Isk Lost: 226.69 m

[Laethe Fooswa]

So I have been waiting a long time for this... a solid stretch of time where Marcus can FC on coms for a while
Long time "listener", first time "caller"

Engagement #1
I like this line... sometimes you don't have to call a doctrine, just call for what you need and trust your team.

I called for DPS but also for neuts,

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Engagement #2
Really wonderful to hear your thought process here. Recognizing what your environment is doing to your application and making the necessary adjustment.

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Engagement #3
Love this line. As long as there are actives in your chain... the fight is still in progress, it just might not be progressing the way you expected.

After the kill I had the fleet retreat to Bacon to rep heat, and had the bubbler stay cloaked on grid.

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Engagement #4
So I assume this was Small Ships, and anyone who knows me has heard me go on and on about how good the Small Ships Doctrine is every time I look at a WHC BR. It's so damn versatile and provides so much flexibility of engagement profile and adjustment on the fly. I wish in my time there I hadn't bother trying to always figure out the right doctrine for the engagement... and just undocked Small Ships all the time.

Also this comment applies to Engagements #5, #9, #10, #12, #13, #14

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Engagement #6
Bombers are small ships too!!! The general attitude of sneaking around and the flexibility to escape when needed is so suited to wormhole life. I love that you are doubling down on the content that works for your team and environment instead of trying to force something.

Also this comment applies to Engagements #8, #15

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Engagement #7
I've often watched fight videos taken from a vantage point of a scout and wondered what kind of flexibility that would give the FC in seeing the overall battlefield. I'm sure every FC has heard or said it is horribly hard to FC from Logi, and fly F1 DPS while FCing to reduce the mental strain. Sometimes I think this might be the best way to FC... not practical most of the time, but totally doable.

I ended up FCing from scout by watching grid, calling them to leave the Sabre who was getting out to warp off, and had the DPS ships give me intel on how the Maelstrom was doing.

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Engagement #11
I've always wondered why more FCs don't use this tactic when position. Either in gates in low sec or null... or generally anywhere in Wormhole space. Positioning your fleet for the start of the battle has been, from what I've seen, such a massive thing to how the battle will go, FCs should really spend more time focused on it... as well as try more tricks and such. I've seen FCs sacrifice a ceptor just to get a wreck warp-in for the fleet. And warping your fleet to 100km off a cloaky who is 120km off the target fleet is just sexy.

This time I had the cloaky eyes get to just over 150 and we warped to him at 100.

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Engagement #12
This just sounds like a damn fun fight you had here... Great target calling on getting their swatter off the grid fast. I get the decision to go Gnosis next but I probably would have gone for the lower hanging fruit like Vexor and Augs assuming the Gnosis was their tankyboi.

Also not sure exactly the positioning this fight took on the hole... but a call to spread webs onto a few separate targets might have saved 1 or 2 jumpers? I hear FCs call for spreading tackle a lot during the end of an engagement... but not so often spreading webs. Webs are powah!

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Engagement #14
Love that you decided to FC from an Astero. But don't forget as an FC you can give orders to other people to... give orders.
"Sone I'm not grid, call targets please."
"Tarkin, call primary on whoever you are webbing please."

We have an old FC who is a bit of a meme because he is known for saying...
1. Player 1 - form the fleet and make sure we have the right composition of doctrine
2. Player 2 - Go scout me warpins and set tacs
3. Player 3 - call targets
Then just sitting back and chillin. Followed by... GJ team.

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So this was a real pleasure for me to read Marcus. So happy you got the full experience of being a leader on the field, as you have always had it in you. I learned a lot from reading your AAR just thinking about some of the choices you made. Never stop learning from each other <3