[LSC] Merlins and Friends fight Megoste and Friends
Posted: 2017.04.28 21:57
Fleet Doctrine: Magic Merlins and Friends
Looking at the calendar for this evening, there wasn't anything planned in the calendar, so I decided to offer an easy Magic Merlin roam, to generate some content. We struggled initially to get enough Logi pilots, but got there eventually. Xana 'volunteered' to give the newbro speach, since he hadn't done it before There were several Merlins available on contract, as well as a few other fits for Alpha clones, as well as several ewar ships to round out the mix. Overall the formup wasn't tooo bad, given the complete lack of advance preparation. We also had several pilots from the HSC come join us, since their usual Fight Club wasn't in the calendar for this week.
Command:
Decklin Quark Reiger (FC)
Xana McBash (2IC)
Scouts:
Lexara Ellecon
Xana McBash
Logi:
Laser Skaron (LC)
Anus Corpis (First-time logibro)
Zeerse Solaris ... deadspace NOS logi ... just kidding
Mainline DPS:
BatFC
Chagrin Case
Dark Lancelot Erkkinen
DustDevil Purrhey
Eddie Dante
Felix Jugo
Jamal Trident (first-ever pvp engagement, aside from getting ganked)
Kyrrant
Ronnie Wellings
Serendipity Wolfson
Trillian Ituin
Ewar:
Orillion Maxwell
Shizuka Shinano
Burak Oz
DustDevil Purrhey
As we headed out, we saw Megoste around in a ratting VNI. He wasn't flashy, and neither were we. We followed him to a gate, to see if we could get a fight with him. He waited on the gate instead of jumping through, to see if he could take advantage of the Uni's well-known Achilles' heel ... gate guns!
On comms, I quickly arranged the plan: I would pre-align out, engage Megoste and bounce. Possibly he would jump through at that point. If he did, then the fleet would follow, and engage him on the other side, broadcasting for reps immediately, so logi could hold the gate gun damage. The first part of the plan was fine - I engaged and warped off. However, Megoste didn't jump through the gate, and additional fleet members also aggressed Megoste. Seeing the message, I quickly called for Burak to warp off. He did manage to escape. I warped back down the the gate, and resumed shooting Megoste. He decided to engage me at that point (much to my relief). If he had jumped through, our fleet would have been split, and probably some logi would have had weapons timers, so we wouldn't be able to grab him. Seeing Megoste's red box, I called for the fleet to shoot him as well. Logi did a great job of holding each other, and myself up. I called for anyone who hadn't yet to warp off, and come back, to make life easier for the logi. In the end, we lost 2 Griffins and 3 Merlins (entirely to gate gun damage).
Griffin -1.04m
Griffin -8.62m
Merlin -5.53m
Merlin -6.79m
Vexor Navy Issue +113.38m
Merlin -7.68m
These pilots went to reship, and we carried on our way to Jufvitte to meet up with the people coming from HSC.
However, Megoste decided he wasn't done - he wanted revenge! (and who can blame him.. he had to deal with the hated ECM)
Megoste put together a band of allies, and came after us. They had Megoste in the Osprey Navy Issue, two Stay Frosty pilots in a Caracal and Sentinel, and a Shadow Cartel pilot in a Succubus. Quite a lot to try to take on at once. So, I tried to separate them. First, by trying to draw the Succubus into a novice plex (but he didn't fall for it). Then, by trying to warping at range to a medium plex, hoping they would also warp at range and land on top of us.. That didn't work either. They waited at a large plex.. There was a Hurricane nearby, in the next system... I thought for a minute... and decided to go for the large, relying on sheer numbers, and the Merlin's resist bonuses to survive long enough to get tackle on one of their kitey ships.
I warped us in at 50km to the large, to see that all 4 of the other ships were spread out in all directions from us. The Caracal pilot was positioned in such a way that by burning the fleet towards him, we would isolate him from the other three. We got within web range, but he managed to warp off. Meanwhile, the Sentinel was doing a very good job of harassing us with neuts from very far away (40-50 km) and was positioning himself very well. The Succubus and then the Osprey Navy started to burn in towards us. I called for the fleet to burn to the succubus, but as soon as he saw us coming, he reversed direction and pulled away. The Osprey Navy did not, however. Hey kept coming at us full speed (probably overheated). He wasn't able to change direction in time, and we caught him. At this point, our Logi were starting to get out of position - the Succubus and Sentinel were able to attack them while staying away from the Merlins. I called for the logi to warp off, if they could, and bounce back. However, we did lose one burst at that point. The other logi escaped and rejoined us. The Caracal landed back on grid, and harassed us from range, but we were able to keep the fleet together, within logi range. They held us up while we killed the Osprey Navy, grabbed loot, and disengaged. Overall, this engagement went very well, considering the ships we were up against. Positioning was really key in this fight.
Burst -5.68m
Osprey Navy Issue +86.3m
Merlin -2.39m
For the next fight, however, positioning was... not so good. The fleet was waiting on the Heydieles gate in Indregulle, when our scout called out that there was a flashy Omen and Gnosis landing on our gate. I saw that there was also an Stiletto shadowing us, and that he was from the Russian alliance 1917 (REVOLUTION). I asked what corp the flashy pilots were - they were also Revolution. We were all flashy from our previous fight. I didn't want the Stiletto to get tackle on one of us, so I called for the fleet to lock him up, hoping to force him through the gate away from us, or else to quickly blap him. However, I forgot about just how short range our Merlins are, and that we were spread out around the gate. So, pulled range and warped off as soon as we had red boxed him. Knowing that we could no longer escape through the gate, I warped the fleet up to a ping, expecting the Omen and Gnosis to jump into us. Meanwhile, our scout called that they had been joined by an Osprey Navy Issue. A couple of our ships were a bit slower to align than the others, probably to do with having their prop mods on, and burning in a different direction than my ping. They unfortunately got caught. However, one of our pilots was non-flashy at this point, because I saw a message saying that the Osprey Navy pilot was taking gate guns. I saw an opportunity to warp the fleet down nearly on top of him, by warping to a gate gun at 30km. Unfortunately, I mis-judged the distance, and we landed too far off of him. The Osprey Navy was able to warp away. From here, I saw that we were closer to the Omen, so tried to burn for him. Unfortunately, we quickly lost two of our logi, and the Osprey Navy was landing back on grid, so I warped the fleet away to our ping again. Unfortunately a few more people got caught, and their stiletto was able to get a warp in on to the fleet, so we lost a couple more before I warped the fleet away fully.
Burst -6.21m
Griffin -7.91m
Burst -6.48m
Griffin -0.82m
Crucifier -7.08m
Merlin -8.42m
Atron -4.05m
Capsule -0.01m
Having only 1 logi left, and knowing that Magic Merlins' effectiveness depends heavily on logi, I decided to call an end to the fleet, and we travelled back home.
ISK Destroyed: 199,681,336.57
ISK Lost: 78,714,656.49
ISK Delta: 120,966,680.08
Efficiency: 71.726%
So... lessons for this one?
1. When there's nothing in the calendar, there are still going to be a load of people looking for something to do.
2. Megoste was a good sport, and gave us a good fight - twice - It's good to have Frenemies we can fight with and learn with.
3. Positioning matters sooooo much. Being able to keep the fleet together within range of logi, and keep our logi out of harm's way is incredibly important. In the fight at the large in Oulletta, we were able to separate their gang because they were very spread out, and so we could effectively fight 1 or 2 of them at a time, because of the deadspace mechanic.
4. I made a mistake by agressing the stiletto at the Heydieles gate in Indregulle. There was no need for me to engage. By doing so, I gave a portion of the fleet a weapons timer, and eliminated one possible direction of movement (jumping the gate) for our fleet. The remaining direction of movement (warping away meant that some of our fleet got caught) I further compounded the problem by mis-judging a warp in, and missed the Osprey Navy Issue. Not only that, but even if I *had* landed us on top of him, there's a very strong chance we would have lost our logi quickly anyway, from the combined damage of the Omen, Osprey Navy, and Gnosis. In this scenario, they were together, and also on comms with each other (unlike the 4 pilots from 3 corporations in the preivous fight), and were able to combine their efforts much more effectively.
Any other thoughts, guys?
Looking at the calendar for this evening, there wasn't anything planned in the calendar, so I decided to offer an easy Magic Merlin roam, to generate some content. We struggled initially to get enough Logi pilots, but got there eventually. Xana 'volunteered' to give the newbro speach, since he hadn't done it before There were several Merlins available on contract, as well as a few other fits for Alpha clones, as well as several ewar ships to round out the mix. Overall the formup wasn't tooo bad, given the complete lack of advance preparation. We also had several pilots from the HSC come join us, since their usual Fight Club wasn't in the calendar for this week.
Command:
Decklin Quark Reiger (FC)
Xana McBash (2IC)
Scouts:
Lexara Ellecon
Xana McBash
Logi:
Laser Skaron (LC)
Anus Corpis (First-time logibro)
Zeerse Solaris ... deadspace NOS logi ... just kidding
Mainline DPS:
BatFC
Chagrin Case
Dark Lancelot Erkkinen
DustDevil Purrhey
Eddie Dante
Felix Jugo
Jamal Trident (first-ever pvp engagement, aside from getting ganked)
Kyrrant
Ronnie Wellings
Serendipity Wolfson
Trillian Ituin
Ewar:
Orillion Maxwell
Shizuka Shinano
Burak Oz
DustDevil Purrhey
As we headed out, we saw Megoste around in a ratting VNI. He wasn't flashy, and neither were we. We followed him to a gate, to see if we could get a fight with him. He waited on the gate instead of jumping through, to see if he could take advantage of the Uni's well-known Achilles' heel ... gate guns!
On comms, I quickly arranged the plan: I would pre-align out, engage Megoste and bounce. Possibly he would jump through at that point. If he did, then the fleet would follow, and engage him on the other side, broadcasting for reps immediately, so logi could hold the gate gun damage. The first part of the plan was fine - I engaged and warped off. However, Megoste didn't jump through the gate, and additional fleet members also aggressed Megoste. Seeing the message, I quickly called for Burak to warp off. He did manage to escape. I warped back down the the gate, and resumed shooting Megoste. He decided to engage me at that point (much to my relief). If he had jumped through, our fleet would have been split, and probably some logi would have had weapons timers, so we wouldn't be able to grab him. Seeing Megoste's red box, I called for the fleet to shoot him as well. Logi did a great job of holding each other, and myself up. I called for anyone who hadn't yet to warp off, and come back, to make life easier for the logi. In the end, we lost 2 Griffins and 3 Merlins (entirely to gate gun damage).
Griffin -1.04m
Griffin -8.62m
Merlin -5.53m
Merlin -6.79m
Vexor Navy Issue +113.38m
Merlin -7.68m
These pilots went to reship, and we carried on our way to Jufvitte to meet up with the people coming from HSC.
However, Megoste decided he wasn't done - he wanted revenge! (and who can blame him.. he had to deal with the hated ECM)
Megoste put together a band of allies, and came after us. They had Megoste in the Osprey Navy Issue, two Stay Frosty pilots in a Caracal and Sentinel, and a Shadow Cartel pilot in a Succubus. Quite a lot to try to take on at once. So, I tried to separate them. First, by trying to draw the Succubus into a novice plex (but he didn't fall for it). Then, by trying to warping at range to a medium plex, hoping they would also warp at range and land on top of us.. That didn't work either. They waited at a large plex.. There was a Hurricane nearby, in the next system... I thought for a minute... and decided to go for the large, relying on sheer numbers, and the Merlin's resist bonuses to survive long enough to get tackle on one of their kitey ships.
I warped us in at 50km to the large, to see that all 4 of the other ships were spread out in all directions from us. The Caracal pilot was positioned in such a way that by burning the fleet towards him, we would isolate him from the other three. We got within web range, but he managed to warp off. Meanwhile, the Sentinel was doing a very good job of harassing us with neuts from very far away (40-50 km) and was positioning himself very well. The Succubus and then the Osprey Navy started to burn in towards us. I called for the fleet to burn to the succubus, but as soon as he saw us coming, he reversed direction and pulled away. The Osprey Navy did not, however. Hey kept coming at us full speed (probably overheated). He wasn't able to change direction in time, and we caught him. At this point, our Logi were starting to get out of position - the Succubus and Sentinel were able to attack them while staying away from the Merlins. I called for the logi to warp off, if they could, and bounce back. However, we did lose one burst at that point. The other logi escaped and rejoined us. The Caracal landed back on grid, and harassed us from range, but we were able to keep the fleet together, within logi range. They held us up while we killed the Osprey Navy, grabbed loot, and disengaged. Overall, this engagement went very well, considering the ships we were up against. Positioning was really key in this fight.
Burst -5.68m
Osprey Navy Issue +86.3m
Merlin -2.39m
For the next fight, however, positioning was... not so good. The fleet was waiting on the Heydieles gate in Indregulle, when our scout called out that there was a flashy Omen and Gnosis landing on our gate. I saw that there was also an Stiletto shadowing us, and that he was from the Russian alliance 1917 (REVOLUTION). I asked what corp the flashy pilots were - they were also Revolution. We were all flashy from our previous fight. I didn't want the Stiletto to get tackle on one of us, so I called for the fleet to lock him up, hoping to force him through the gate away from us, or else to quickly blap him. However, I forgot about just how short range our Merlins are, and that we were spread out around the gate. So, pulled range and warped off as soon as we had red boxed him. Knowing that we could no longer escape through the gate, I warped the fleet up to a ping, expecting the Omen and Gnosis to jump into us. Meanwhile, our scout called that they had been joined by an Osprey Navy Issue. A couple of our ships were a bit slower to align than the others, probably to do with having their prop mods on, and burning in a different direction than my ping. They unfortunately got caught. However, one of our pilots was non-flashy at this point, because I saw a message saying that the Osprey Navy pilot was taking gate guns. I saw an opportunity to warp the fleet down nearly on top of him, by warping to a gate gun at 30km. Unfortunately, I mis-judged the distance, and we landed too far off of him. The Osprey Navy was able to warp away. From here, I saw that we were closer to the Omen, so tried to burn for him. Unfortunately, we quickly lost two of our logi, and the Osprey Navy was landing back on grid, so I warped the fleet away to our ping again. Unfortunately a few more people got caught, and their stiletto was able to get a warp in on to the fleet, so we lost a couple more before I warped the fleet away fully.
Burst -6.21m
Griffin -7.91m
Burst -6.48m
Griffin -0.82m
Crucifier -7.08m
Merlin -8.42m
Atron -4.05m
Capsule -0.01m
Having only 1 logi left, and knowing that Magic Merlins' effectiveness depends heavily on logi, I decided to call an end to the fleet, and we travelled back home.
ISK Destroyed: 199,681,336.57
ISK Lost: 78,714,656.49
ISK Delta: 120,966,680.08
Efficiency: 71.726%
So... lessons for this one?
1. When there's nothing in the calendar, there are still going to be a load of people looking for something to do.
2. Megoste was a good sport, and gave us a good fight - twice - It's good to have Frenemies we can fight with and learn with.
3. Positioning matters sooooo much. Being able to keep the fleet together within range of logi, and keep our logi out of harm's way is incredibly important. In the fight at the large in Oulletta, we were able to separate their gang because they were very spread out, and so we could effectively fight 1 or 2 of them at a time, because of the deadspace mechanic.
4. I made a mistake by agressing the stiletto at the Heydieles gate in Indregulle. There was no need for me to engage. By doing so, I gave a portion of the fleet a weapons timer, and eliminated one possible direction of movement (jumping the gate) for our fleet. The remaining direction of movement (warping away meant that some of our fleet got caught) I further compounded the problem by mis-judging a warp in, and missed the Osprey Navy Issue. Not only that, but even if I *had* landed us on top of him, there's a very strong chance we would have lost our logi quickly anyway, from the combined damage of the Omen, Osprey Navy, and Gnosis. In this scenario, they were together, and also on comms with each other (unlike the 4 pilots from 3 corporations in the preivous fight), and were able to combine their efforts much more effectively.
Any other thoughts, guys?