Hog Hitmen tried to ruin Uni's day, but we got the better kill.
The Backstory:
Spoiler
Starting around 1400 EVE time Sunday (06OCT2019) Benevolentia Calamitas, Sam Eto, and Krafty One began camping Jufvitte. Over the next several hours, they played docking games, bounced around to mess with us, and played gate games. We formed and stood down several times, we tried baiting them, and otherwise tried to engage them. What should be no real surprise is that they were not looking for a fight, and appeared to be there just to disrupt life at HSC.
As the day progressed, many Unistas logged on and off, FC passed amongst several members, with myself having taken control on 2 separate occasions throughout the day, and Rogue Ozran at least once. We were able to get a ship scan of the Sam Eto's Cynabal and Benevolentia Calamitas' Brutix (they later swapped into a Thorax). At one point Rogue Ozran was even able to use 102 to engage the Cynabol, but we were unable to get to the Cynabol to tackle with ship. We tried bating them, Rogue tried downshipping to make the fight more appealing, and we even tried just docking up to bore them. Still, they disrupted the campus for hours on end.
Ares Dodekatheon joined us sometime around 2000-2045 EVE. He provided some advise (which while I knew was valid, my inexperience made it take longer than perhaps a more experience FC would have to parse out and put into action). His suggestion led the events that secured the kill.
As the day progressed, many Unistas logged on and off, FC passed amongst several members, with myself having taken control on 2 separate occasions throughout the day, and Rogue Ozran at least once. We were able to get a ship scan of the Sam Eto's Cynabal and Benevolentia Calamitas' Brutix (they later swapped into a Thorax). At one point Rogue Ozran was even able to use 102 to engage the Cynabol, but we were unable to get to the Cynabol to tackle with ship. We tried bating them, Rogue tried downshipping to make the fight more appealing, and we even tried just docking up to bore them. Still, they disrupted the campus for hours on end.
Ares Dodekatheon joined us sometime around 2000-2045 EVE. He provided some advise (which while I knew was valid, my inexperience made it take longer than perhaps a more experience FC would have to parse out and put into action). His suggestion led the events that secured the kill.
The Fight:
QRF Members (20)
Spoiler
Ares Dodekatheon
Avrin Dennard
Christoffer Arthie
Dynamo Crash
Devola Gestalt
Ergan Eto
Feras Dawod
Ievos
Jason Eoner
Kordun Naskingar
Knight Hippaforalkus
Oh Spaceghost
Randrick Miromme
shadow farts
Space Warfare Development
Squin Ti
Tokumei Kumiai
Valeria Rammstein
Vybez Kartel
Yto Itinen
*If I missed anyone, please let me know*
Avrin Dennard
Christoffer Arthie
Dynamo Crash
Devola Gestalt
Ergan Eto
Feras Dawod
Ievos
Jason Eoner
Kordun Naskingar
Knight Hippaforalkus
Oh Spaceghost
Randrick Miromme
shadow farts
Space Warfare Development
Squin Ti
Tokumei Kumiai
Valeria Rammstein
Vybez Kartel
Yto Itinen
*If I missed anyone, please let me know*
As if the Hitment just wanted to torment me for not acting on Ares' advise sooner, Sam Eto took off through through Ansalle. Now there was only (2) in Juf, and your FC was kicking himself for not acting on Ares' advice quicker.
We shuffled a few people around, added some Logi, and split the QRF into (2) main groups, DD1 and DD2. I kept control of DD1, moving to Ansalle. I gave Ares control of DD2, to wait in Amygnon. We had tackle with both groups, 2 logi with DD1, and 1 logi with DD2.
Not long after setting up, Krafty One tried to leave in his Drekavac. He jumped into Ansalle, and was met with our rush to tackle him down. I called for DD2 to jump int Juf and move on to Ansalle. Unfortunately, Krafty One burned off and was able to break tackle, warp to the Gisleres gate, and jump through. That is when he messed up.
I called for those who could jump to do so. We got enough through to Gis and he was sitting there, waiting for us. He aggressed, we tackled, and it went downhill for him from there. Not long after we had him talked in Gis, DD2 was landing and engaging. It went fast from there. We focused fire on the Drekavac, though I called for some to de-fang at one point due to drones hammering some faster moving targets (I know drone damage is secondary, but we needed the tackle that his big gun was having a hard time with hitting). We destroyed the Krafty One just as Sam Eto jumped into system.
I was concerned with the state of the fleet, not really knowing how damaged everyone was. I saw some people moving to scoop the loot, and once it looked picked clean (thank you Yto), I called to exit Gis and make best speed back to Amy 101.
Kills and Losses
(21:11)
Merlin -4.84m
21:12
Merlin -5.84m
21:14
Merlin -6.78m
21:14
Merlin -6.21m
21:16
Caracal -33.88m
21:16
Drekavac 1.593b
Stats
Battle Report: Report
ISK Destroyed: 1,593,108,892
ISK Lost: 57,547,445
ISK Delta: 1,535,561,447
Efficiency: 96.5%
Loot: 376,592,755
I want to thank everyone for your patience, for your participation in the multiple QRF's, and for your hanging in there through the long hours of the (3) War Targets semi-camping Juf. I know everyone was frustrated by their presence and lack of willingness to engage us. I also know that sitting around, docked or waiting tethered is less than fun. That so many stuck it out is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank you to Ares Dodekatheon.
Overall Evaluation
The Good:
-An excellent kill was had, and the gap in the ISK war was closed.
-We finally caught one of them and got the fight we had been working towards all day.
-We kept people safe, including the roaming fleet that transited through Juf.
-We had eyes out and I kept ensuring I understood the bigger picture in the systems surrounding Amy
-We didn't lose miners or expensive PVE ships, and TRIED to limit the impact to HSC life as much as possible (this last part I will leave to everyone to decide if those of us FC'd throughout the day achieved or failed at accomplishing).
The Bad:
-I should have acted on Ares's advice sooner. This is something I knew “I should do” but took a bit to sort out the “how to do so” within what was happening.
-We had people tied up and docked up for much of a Sunday.
-We were unable to capitalize at 102. I believe we should have have tactical's around the various structures we own.
-There was some difficulties at certain points with maintaining fleet comms when needed and fleet discipline. (I am keeping this under "The Bad" for simplicity of organization, but I want to be clear I understand everyone was aggravated with their disruption caused by Hitmen camping Juf, and that the frustration may have led to these lapses.)
The Ugly:
-I don't know if being camped like that, and continuing how we have been (forming QRF and trying to fight them), is sustainable for HSC. We have seen a fair number of days recently where HSC's day-to-day operations have been interrupted, and I believe it is beginning to drain people.
And another thing:
-So, did you know this was my first successful fleet as FC, that I ran from start to finish? Yeah.
-I've ran a few small gangs and some side groups (i.e. a wormhole daytrip), I've 2IC'd for multiple fleets, and 3IC'd others. I've scouted for many, and I've pulled together people to respond to threats. But this, this was the first fleet I brought into combat form “let's do this” to “there's the kill boys and girls”. I don't expect future fleets to end with a 1.5 Billion isk win, but it's a great thing to put down for your first formal AAR!