[AAR] Merlins Duex 01/08/2019 @ 19:00

[Dexyr Sulvara]

Roam members (21)

Spoiler

Ares Dodekatheon - Merlin
Asuka Rossi - Griffin
Dagga Purplehaze - Merlin
Dexyr Sulvara - Merlin
Farthinder - Merlin
Fetch Jargon - Merlin
Gramad Aideron - Merlin
Iam Nota Bot
Jack Heck - Merlin
Jehoshaphat Ambraelle - Merlin
Ky Hanomaa - Slasher
Loron Garns - Merlin
Max Tsero - Merlin
Mike Kingswell - Vigil Fleet Issue
Rouqaren Volant - Merlin
Shauny Tsero - Bantam
Ssenir Shouna - Merlin
Sydanten Taksikuski - Merlin
Yto Itinen - Bantam, Burst
Zeerse Solaris - Merlin
Zokr McLan - Merlin

Kills and Losses

(19:38:02) Agoze
Vigil Fleet Issue -24.26m
Federation Navy Comet +26.32m
Federation Navy Comet +38.68m

Scout reported single Fed Comets in a large & novice. Initial attack failed as Comet inside the Plex warped off. Scout then reported 3 Fed Navy Comets & a Magus, gave the green & we all warped to scout, due to long warp he died. Magus & 3 Fed Navy Comets managed to warp off, but we caught 2 Comets.

(19:51:42) Oicx, Aldranette
Vigil Fleet Issue -24.26m
Capsule -0.01m

Scout went for a Merlin in a Novice, then reported Hecate landing, went for tackle but due to relatively long warp died before we landed.
In this region we were 'lazily' followed by a Malediction & Loki for about 3 jumps, increased pressure to move faster til our suspect timers ran out.

(20:03:21) Kinakka
Algos +12.67m
Capsule +0.01m

Scout went for tackle on an Algos in a Plex, I sent vanguard in, but once they'd jumped the Algos was off. Scout then found him in another Plex, this time he was on the outside. Scout went for tackle & vanguard jumped, followed by the fleet. Vanguard was on the ball, considering they became FCs personal Yo-Yo.

This kill seemed to poke a bear that followed us in 2 Stillettos til I warped us to a safe in Aivonen. I was concerned they'd just pick us off on gates as we were suspects. Once in Akidagi scout called that a large fleet (T2 destroyers) was following the Stilettos. We headed straight for bio break dock-up.

(20:12:58) Ichoriya
Bantam -4.94m

In chat it was called we could use a Citadel in Akidagi, I should have opted to take the bio break there rather than jump into Ichoriya, where the destroyer fleet caught one of our Logi.

(20:25:05) Akidagi
Tristan +26m

After the break, scouts found a Tristan outside a Plex. Navy Slicer also landed just before the fleet landed. Tristan was secured but Slicer managed to warp off.

(20:30:24) Nennamaila
Phobos +1248.78m
Capsule +0.01m

Scouts reported a Phobos on the Medium. I was hesitant at 1st but once scout called nothing else on D-Scan I called for tackle. Phobos was sitting outside, point was called & fleet jumped in. I called orbit 500m with prop mods off. During the fight Dominix NI on D was called, I held as we were breaking the Phobos slowly. Once the Phobos was destroyed the Dominix NI landed. I instinctively warped the fleet off, quickly realising I didn't have too, I got scouts to go back & a confessor had joined the Dominix NI. A mistake to be so careful but in this case it worked out.

Also had confusion on my navigation commands 'Crash the gate' - I should cover these commands pre-undock in future.

(20:53:14) Tama, Nisuwa
Capsule +0.01m
Merlin -18.35m
Merlin -7.02m
Slasher -5.27m

We popped into Tama but nothing except capitals camping the Nourv gate (made for some good sightseeing) & a Wolf that didn't want to play outside a Plex.

In Kedama there was a Leshak, Armageddon, Nightmare & Hyperion sitting on the Nisuwa gate. I initially warped us to a safe in system before scout confirmed it was just them, then had scout +1 & fleet warp & jump on contact.

In Nisuwa scout reported 3 Hookbills, a Coercer, a Caracal & a Megathron on D. Scout warped to the Megathron outside the Novice. On reflection I should have spoken up & got the scouts to go for the Hookbills knowing there are 4 other Battleships sitting just outside the system, but after the Phobos kill I guess my eyes were bigger than my common sense. Tackle was confirmed & I warped the fleet to the Plex. I asked scouts to keep an eye on D-scan (mainly to see if those other BSs do come in).

I called scouts to keep tackle on the Megathron whilst the rest of the fleet could engage the drones. I found the situation somewhat difficult in the moment as I was thinking if I get Merlins to burn off, the Megathrons guns will just wreck them but if I leave the drones they will pick people off. It's a common situation I've flown in many times but not one I've FCed in. In reality I had EWAR & Logi so either approach would have been fine I think.
A Caracal landed 40km off (edge of RLML range) as we were starting to break the Megathrons active tank. With the Caracal present I started preparing to call scatter & asked people to call when the Caracal redboxes. I should have remembered to call overheat guns sooner. The 4 other BS's then landed so I called scatter.

We safed up.

Scouts found a Rifter on a Novice so we went for tackle. When we landed he was already about 100km off. He was faster than all Merlins & only engaged scouts after 150kms. I should have called disengage sooner, we probably wouldn't have lost the scout.

From here we headed to Amy, popping into Old Man Star briefly. No content though.
We briefly chased a Retribution, but couldn't secure tackle. Uneventful few jumps home from here.

Stats
ISK Destroyed: 1,352,479,473.23
ISK Lost: 84,098,278.24
ISK Delta: 1,268,381,194.99
Efficiency: 94.146%

I really enjoyed this fleet! Big thanks to our scouts, as well as our logibro's! Special thanks to Ares for 2IC oversight.

Overall evaluation

• ✔ (Positive stuff)
  - A great fleet, got plenty of different forms of engagements.
  - Fleet kept up with commands & worked well together
  - Scouts found us lots of content
  ✘ (Negative stuff)
  - Being too careful calling scatter with the Dominix NI warped in
  - Should have had bio-break at the Citadel, avoiding another jump whilst being chased.
  
  Minor stuff:
  - Should cover advanced navigation commands with fleet before undock (crash gate / hold cloak) pre-fleet.
  - Always avoid 'key words' when speaking to scouts (jump/warp etc)

[Mike Kingswell]

Lot of fun!we hadvsome great engagements and lots of content!
Thanks to fc and logi

[Ky Hanomaa]

Awesome fleet Dex, laid-back atmosphere and nice kills. Losing a few scouts is part of looking for good content - so just rely on us suiciding for it. Regarding the loss of 1 ship to the gang chasing us: I feel like it really didn't matter where you chose to dock up at. The real issue was the short stop we had at the ingate in Akidagi where people suggested the Citadel. Those 10 seconds of discussion held up the fleet long enough for the gang to catch up to us. I can also imagine that 1 or 2 people didn't align to the Ichoriya Gate (possibly due to typing/talking about the Citadel), which could have cost them another 2-4 seconds of align time. Even if we chose to dock at the Citadel in System, slow docking times may have resulted in a loss as well, so don't beat yourself up over that.

Overall I really enjoyed the fleet and was just as surprised as you at the Phobos just being there alone. Proves that just going for it pays off (I was spamming D while holding tackle and would have suggested warp-off if I felt like we were about to get whelped anyway).

@Mike - German Scout Duo delivered \o/ nice talking to you in our language for once.

[Yto Itinen]

We had been missing a good roam like this in a long time, so thanks Dex for taking us out!

Scouting was very good, finding us fights that overall went very well for us. This also means we attracted unwarranted attention, but we did well navigating away from our pursuers.

As for the decision to jump into hisec while being still flashy, I think Dex has reached the correct conclusion. Ichoriya gate is always camped by people who wait for flashies to jump, so having Rivet City in Akidagi as a base to wait timers might be the best choice in the future. Also, unfortunately, frigate logi has the same align time as a cruiser, so it's always going to get left behind. Considering the numbers of people chasing us, the single loss was inconsequential.

The Phobos fight was nice, almost always our biggest targets call for reinforcements (like it happened in the other fights) so having it on grid alone was a refreshing sight!

Looking forward to another roam like this!

Yto Itinen

[Mike Kingswell]

@Mike - German Scout Duo delivered \o/ nice talking to you in our language for once.

Spoiler