[AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Locked
User avatar
Talenelat Stonesinew
Member
Member
Posts: 65
Joined: 2016.07.21 00:04

[AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Post by Talenelat Stonesinew »

Members, Kill, Loss Etc.

https://br.inyour.space/?s=1001023&b=8923380&e=90&t=b

Note: All comms have been mutated with the "extra drama" plasmid. Similarity to real events is intended, but not guaranteed!

Chapter 1: Offense taken

It'd been a slow start to the day. We'd scouted some wormholes, found some residents, a few spooky T3Cs showing up on d-scan here and there. Even 3-something residents of an Athanor that quickly packed it up and logged off after just a glimpse of a stratios scout antenna.

Finally comms came to life with our first actionable intel of the day:
Willuw: I've got an astero here in 3B1, looks like he's got 1 2 3 4 5 6 cans left to run. Anyone want to shoot at stuff?
He continued to promote the op with superb marketing skill:
Willuw: I saw some T3C's earlier ... I'm probably going to get dropped by his Legion, Loki friends when I tackle this. This Stratios is dirt cheap too, and bought with imaginary isk. What could go wrong? YOLOOOOOOOOOOOOOO friends! Who wants on the kill mail?!
Our intrepid (not bored, no, never) pilots were not deterred.
Zembala: Willuw shush, you had me at "shoot".
(OK, he didn't use exactly these words but w/e)

Team assembled (Stratios, Omen Navy Issue, Loki), they bravely decloaked to meet the astero in honorable combat. Pew pew, pop, astero dead. Here's a photo of the action. 70m in cargo. (That's 'wormhole ratting' for you!)(https://zkillboard.com/kill/80533707)

And then ... nothing? No decloak, no five T3C. Much disappoint.

Which brings us to our 1st theme of the day ... fly dangerous! You are not your ship (repeat after me: I am not my ship), ships are ammo, fly what you can afford, then take some risks ... it makes the game more fun. Listen to this guy from 2012.


Chapter 2: Tremor

For those un-familiar with the WHC style of chain labels:
- Dot is the side of a WH near to home
- Star is the side of a WH further from home
- I'll show the current location as green

------ Innu system ------ . WH (B) * ------ Bacon system ------ . WH (2 B3) * ------ 2B3 sys ------ . WH (3 B1) * ------ Relic site

30 seconds later ...
Here they come!! I have Cynabal on D-scan (hmmmm didn't those just get a good buff?!). Another Cynabal. Here comes a Gila and a Caracal too. Time to get out. Repeat, friends, NOW is the time to get the [fuzzy buunny] out of there!
Zembala: I'm away. Jumping 2B3. Looks like they are trying to follow. Coming back to ALI with 4-5 in hot pursuit.
... bet they're a bit angry about their dead Astero friend
Chapter 3: Calm

At this point I was finishing up the last wave of my Abyss run.
Tal: Hmm, we've got quite a few pilots online, I wonder if Light Armor doctrine could take that?
Willuw: Yeah, I'm still out here in 3B1 trying to keep eyes. If only there was someone back at ALI *cough* Tal *cough* that could organize a form-up.
Tal: Ouch, nasty cough you've got there. Are you sick? Oh, that was MY name. Hmmm, you must be sick, not thinking clearly? Only a delusional person would ask ME to FC a light armor fleet. I have exp running all of ... 0 ... PVP fleets, you know this right?
(OK, I didn't say this either, but I was certainly thinking it!

Ah well, what could possibly go wrong?! Theme #1 HERE WE GO ...

Some minutes (5?) passed while I organized the form up. In my mind, comp was looking to be 2 logi cruiser, 5 dps battle cruiser. I've put myself in one of the logi slots. Everyone un-docks and I ask for an align to .Bacon.
Tal: Fleet, take this warp
Helpful member #321: Uh, Tal, you're in Logi wing ... you only warped the logi
Ah fantastic. Great start ... no one panic, I assure you, I have no all confidence that I know what I'm doing!!

Learning: On un-dock, actually count/check your fleet comp ... you know, instead of frantically trying to fix your watch list.
Learning: I forgot ... pre un-dock, ask the fleet to go through the checklist ... clean clone + (R)epair, (A)mmo, (P)aste, (I)nsure, (D)rugs
Learning: Do a special FC checklist as well. Have I delegated everything possible? Did I chose a 2IC? Did I move everyone to the right squad positions? Etc.
Learning: If you have the option ... as FC ... don't assign yourself to Logi ... just don't.

We sat on .Bacon for another few minutes while getting information.

------ Innu system ------ . WH(B) * ------ Bacon system ------ . WH (2 B3) * ------ 2B3 sys ------ . WH (3 B1) *

By now, we've lost track of where the enemy is. Also unclear: where did they come from? Further down the 3B1 chain? Or off another WH connected to Bacon? I'd usually like to know these things. It's not great to get stuck with the enemy between you and home base. 2nd theme of the day ... information is power!

Unfortunately, boredom is strong. And coupled with Theme #1 downright un-stoppable.
Tal: Alright everyone, we have no idea where they went. Doesn't matter, let's go sit on 3B2, and see what happens.
I called for jump Bacon and managed to move the fleet to .2B3 without any other *ahem warp incidents. On the way, Gora mentioned delegating warp duties to another fleet member, if you're FC/logi/have 1,000,000 other things going on. From here, I decide it'll be good to have eyes in the system where it all started (3B1) so I call for Zem + Myself to jump through. Hindsight: May have been better, as FC, to stay with the main fleet, and select another pilot to +1 instead.

------ Innu system ------ . WH(B) * ------ Bacon system ------ . WH (2 B3) * ------ 2B3 sys ------ . WH (3 B1) *

Learning: Don't say the J-word (even once!!) until you're 100% ready.
Learning: During FC you enter a strange trans-dimensional pocket where events seem to happen at 2x speed. To mitigate, delegate as much as you can, so you don't get overwhelmed.

Chapter 4: The Quake
So ... now we're sitting on .2B3. There was some chatter, continued speculation on where our neighbors' home hole was located.

** Drum roll **

A shuttle. A shuttle?! One brave lonely Amarr(?) shuttle makes its appearance on d-scan in Bacon. The shuttle lands on .2B3. The shuttle jumps through.

Fleet chatter intensifies. At this point, we all know the jig is up. They (whoever they is) have seen our fleet, numbers, location. They have all the info, we have none, and that's BAD! Where did it come from? Innu? Another hole? Is it the same people? Are they behind us? Are there hostiles between us and home station?

I make the decision that Zem and I should jump back to . side. The thinking: the shuttle won't see these extra two ships, won't know we had eyes on the other side. Hindsight: probably should have stayed, other side info (d-scan, cloaky eyes) would have been very valuable.

And then waiting. Waiting. It was probably < 5 minutes, but to a fleet, sitting, un-cloaked in a strange hole, having been scouted(?) by a strange shuttle, it seemed much longer. Eve is like this, I have realized. Cycles where the time seems to stretch long, only to snap back in a punctuated, adrenaline filled moment.

Activation. ActivationActivationActivationActivation. Aw ______, here we go. And I have no idea what it is. Turns out, Armageddon ... x 4. As if the world needed more than 1 armageddon. I was certainly thinking armageddon had come for my first fleet.

"Rolling armageddons ?!" someone exclaims.

A little glimmer of hope returns to my mind. I call primary on Hanzo (latent Overwatch reflexes strong!). Things are going faster now. Too much to keep up with. Trying to lock up targets ... trying to maintain logi positioning, trying to monitor watch list, trying to lock up fleet members and start repairs. Trying to look at the grid and see distances etc.

To my astonishment, 1 armageddon actually dies!! I frantically call another random armageddon name as new primary. That one dies too!

Unfortunately, another sound: Activation Activation.

At this point, we've sustained some losses, more is coming through, and I don't know what it is or how many (Paladins this time?!). I call scatter, and magically they have no tackle or bubble to hold us.
Another option would have been to jump the hole, split their forces. I was wary. Mass was reduced by 'rolling' battleships. We did not have eyes on the other side. And I didn't want to put more jumps between fleet and home. More info could have meant 6 kills instead of 2.

Scouts inform that *Bacon is clear, and the remaining fleet limps back to Innu.

Learning: FC stuff (watch grid, look at distances, look at hole mass, target picking) is better left seperate from Logi stuff.
Learning: Info is power! Cloaky eyes in 2B3 would have been extremly helpful. May have secured more kills.

Chapter 5: The Aftershock
Docked up in ALI, I hear a call that one of our own has been caught at .Bacon on the way back. I bravely undock my exeq and head to .Bacon, hoping to rep and keep him alive long enough for the fleet to re-form.

Fleet-mate blows up as I land. I blow up shortly after.

Learning: You're always the most vulnerable while separated.
Learning: Quick decision/response can offer opportunity, but it has to be coordinated to be effective. Confirm you have friends behind you before jumping your logi ship!

They continued to play some games after the main engagement, down-shipping to cloaky T3C. We had some fun nano-type engagement on .Bacon. I got caught in a Blackbird, but that is another story.

Learning: They are at their most vulnerable when separated.
In their pursuit, they weren't all jumping the hole at the same time. There were a couple times in Innu, where (had we been ready, in position) we may have been able to do more damage by catching groups of 1,2 ships.

Overall evaluation
  • (Positive stuff)
  • Fun was had!
  • Things were exploded!
  • Things were learned!
  • [color=#FF4000]✘[/color] (Negative stuff)
  • Some of us exploded too.
  • Overwhelmed by FC + Logi ... delegate more, and so things can be better coordinated
  • Fed an extra Harbi, Exeq at the end. Manage retreat better
Last edited by Talenelat Stonesinew on 2020.02.23 15:05, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Talenelat Stonesinew
Member
Member
Posts: 65
Joined: 2016.07.21 00:04

Re: [AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Post by Talenelat Stonesinew »

Added CH2, CH3.
User avatar
Tyrion Edwardes
Member
Member
Posts: 34
Joined: 2019.06.09 09:18

Re: [AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Post by Tyrion Edwardes »

*Grabs Popcorn*
User avatar
Willuw Everquest
Member
Member
Posts: 107
Joined: 2019.05.07 19:39

Re: [AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Post by Willuw Everquest »

Talen - thanks for stepping up to type up an AAR. As I see it; you are one of the content creators in WHC. Keep up the AARs; I love the humor...and I love the fact that there is enough detail to draw lessons from!

That was a fun evening. Hope to see you soon; I believe you are due for a torpedo/drone party/ammunition delivery.

- Willuw
"I see a massive blob of Blinky-tiny spheres floating around in space on my screen...with 27 windows open everywhere ...and I am trying to feverishly activate the right modules on the right targets that are being called with shaky hands… if I can do that that's 90 % success to me..." Willuw - 3 Aug 2019
User avatar
Talenelat Stonesinew
Member
Member
Posts: 65
Joined: 2016.07.21 00:04

Re: [AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Post by Talenelat Stonesinew »

Realized I left this un-finished for far too long. Apology.

George R. R. Martin continues to set the bar very low though ...
User avatar
Milspecc
Member
Member
Posts: 81
Joined: 2019.03.18 09:53

Re: [AAR] WHC, Uni vs. Useless Idea

Post by Milspecc »

Nice AAR.
Locked