[AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

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Nienke Solette
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[AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Nienke Solette »

Oh boy, what a weekend. This is the second out of three AARs. Thanks to all who joined and helped, I had a blast!

Please note that I have recorded this fleet, but have not indicated this before undocking. Therefore, the videos will not be made public. If you still want to see fragments of our fights, please contact me directly via Slack or EVE-mail.

The initial planned route was a nice circle through Gallente/Caldari Faction Warfare territory. See also this DOTLAN Map. However, I decided to go full LEEROOOY JENKIIINS by doing a full fleet YEEEEET!

Roam members (20)
Spoiler
Analee Tsasa - Merlin
Asuka Rossi - Merlin
Bruice Almighty - Burst
Cavalorn Dravencourt - Merlin
Christoph Patrouette - Crucifier
Coaxster - Condor
Devola Gestalt - Burst
Dexyr Sulvara - Merlin
Elemag Vtori - Burst
Flatline Kasenumi - Slasher
Gaelys Aarmenvar - Burst
Giacomo Belenos - Maulus
Gilmir - Merlin
Khalista Hemah - Burst
Major Layser - Merlin
Mike Kingswell - Vigil Fleet Issue
Nienke Solette - Merlin
Space Warfare Development - Malediction
YooJin Moon - Merlin
Zairnix Onren - Merlin

Please let me know if I forgot anything or anyone and I'll edit this list!
Kills and Losses

(20:37:15) Ouelletta
Slasher -1.55m

Before our Yeet into Null-sec, we tried getting some content in LowSec. Scout reported a Bellicose in a Medium plex. Four members got assigned as Vanguard and I let them in. Our scout got red-boxed and the fleet jumped into Ouelletta for some pew-pew. While in warp we got the intel that the Bellicose was 70k from the plex. We tried to chase for a bit, but I wanted to prevent getting the fleet stretched out too much. I called off the chase and we approached back to the acceleration gate at the plex.

At this point, I tried worked through the yeeting procedure. The filaments have some... rules which make such a procedure necessary. Our scout sill had a timer, we had a fleet member lagging behind and a pilot joining the fleet relatively late. So yeah, I'm a bit sad this period went without much content. We did some navigation to Abune to shorten the time as much as possible though. Furthermore, the yeet itself was fun! Our landing system: 2-F30E. The backyard of TEST with a Nyx and a Fenrir on D-scan and eleven possible targets in local.

After the Yeet

The part after the yeet was... A bit chaotic at first. For me, this was the first time FC-ing in NullSec (I'm not even sure if this was SovNull but eh, at that point I did not care). Initially, I decided to just follow the yellow-brick road to our previous destination which was Nisuwa. This kept us moving and got us in some sort of rhythm. Furthermore, I knew from an earlier smaller yeet that we would certainly get some content around HED-GP which was on our route. At one point a fleet member suggested going to a single entry point pocket around TWJ-AJ to get content (I think it's Barve SovNull?). I decided to roll with it and see what we would be able to get and the following quote is exactly on point with the mind-set of the fleet at that moment:

"We've Merlins in the middle of Null, we can take anything!" ~ YooJin Moon, 4 January 2020

(21:22:16) 442-CS
Sigil +2.59m
Tayra +5.13m
Capsule +0.01m

When we were 1 jump from our destination, a +2 scout reported that he got point on a Sigil in 442-CS. I told the fleet to go to the 442-CS gate in TWJ-AJ at best speed. Since I already used a vanguard in the LowSec part of the fleet, I was able to quickly let them jump through first. After a while the +2 scout asked permission to kill and that the Sigil looked afk. I might have gotten everyone on the killmail here, but I gave permission to kill without jumping the fleet into 442 directly. In hindsight, I think it was a better decision because of weapons timers.

The fleet jumped into 442 and a Tayra was on the grid. I called it primary and we got point+web+scram on it while it was still 12km from the gate. Needless to say that the ship was toast and we even got the pod. ISK value: eh. FUN value: it's a start!

Part 2

Then, we went to the 9ZFH-Z gate. I sent scouts to neighbouring dead-end systems Z-N9IP and 9ZFH-2. In the latter one, there was an Ishtar reported at one of the moons with a bunch of Athanors nearby. Unfortunately, we did not have a combat scanner. The Ishtar probably was not on an anomaly or a signature but did have a Mobile Depot out. For my next fleet into Null, I should consider a scanner (and in hindsight also a bubbler / smartbomber).

A scout then reported a Rorqual in 9ZF. I considered just going there to take out drones and even warped the fleet to the gate. For some reason, I decided not to (probably to keep the fleet alive longer), so I warped us back to the TWJ gate and sent a scout +1 who reported a Phoenix and a Talwar jumping through.

I decided to let the fleet orbit the gate at 5km. Not knowing it was a dreadnought, I called the Phoenix primary. Shortly after I realised my mistake since we were simply tickling the ship with our mere small tiny puny cute blasters. The Talwar jumped back into TWJ. I thought it warped off so I cold-warped the fleet to the Z-N gate and shortly after, because of our weapons timer, I called to warp to Planet V. Our scout jumping back from TWJ reported an Onyx on our out-gate together with the Phoenix and a bit later joined by the same Talwar and a Thorax.

When landing the fleet I had everything except for the Thorax on the grid (who landed shortly after us). I called the Onyx primary and could have called the Thorax secondary earlier (since it was 100km closer than the Talwar). The fleet was a bit late with broadcasts and/or our Logi needed a couple of seconds to get the hang of it, but that recovered rather quickly. Just after recovery, the Thorax warped off.

While engaging the Onyx, someone reported an in-flash of the gate and both the Talwar and the Thorax warped to around 75km from us. The in-flash appeared to be a Muninn. I forgot to call overheating the guns but a friendly fleet member remembered to call for it. When the Onyx was at 10% shield it jumped into TWJ together with the Muninn which used its prob-mod. Since fleet had a weapons timer I decided to go for the Talwar instead of focussing on fighting on the other side of the gate. An Imicus decided to have a look at our mini-fight and warped in at around 270km. It directly turned around to warp away. We did not manage to get the Talwar, so I warped us off to a moon again. Here we repaired our overheated guns.

After repairs, I sent a scout back in the direction of TWJ with IRE-98 as the destination for the fleet.

(21:38:42) TWJ-AW
Legion +360.71m
Capsule +0.01m

The Phoenix and the Thorax were still reported on our out-gate. Scout jumped through and reported a Legion on the grid. I called to engage, warped the fleet to the gate and told the vanguard to jump on contact. Just before warping the fleet a second scout reported a Nyx on the gate. When landing I called for the whole fleet to jump through and engage the Legion since I didn't want to fightdance with the Nyx. During the fight, an Onyx landed on the 442 gates and jumped. We might have bumped it off but I actually didn't really care in this case. We took down the Legion and the pilot's capsule.

(21:48:40) N-7ECY
Crucifier -4.05m
Slasher -1.31m
Merlin -6.1m
Burst -4.13m
Merlin -6.08m
Sabre +75.25m
Merlin -30.32m
Merlin -6.12m
Vigil Fleet Issue -39.66m
Burst -3.18m
Burst -4.03m
Merlin -13.03m
Merlin -5.03m
Merlin -6m
Merlin -6.19m
Condor -14.93m
Maulus -1.08m
Burst -3.09m
Merlin -7.67m
Capsule -235.53m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule - Genolution 'Auroral' 197-variant -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Capsule -0.01m
Burst -4.03m
Capsule -0.01m

We continued our way to the destination. In 4-MPSJ a -1 scout reported a Thorax, Caracal and a Talwar coming in behind us. I decided to go into N-7 and follow the suggestion of our scout to wait on the 4-M gate and orbit it at 5km. After a while, we went to sit on the IRE-98 gate because it seemed they were not following. While in warp our eyes reported they actually did. We aligned back to the 4-M gate and a Thorax was reported landing at the other side of that gate. A Maulus and a Phoenix were reported on the other side of the IRE gate we were sitting at. I was focussed on the targets who were following us and warped the fleet to the 4-M gate at 20km to cope with the 10-15km range the targets would have from the gate. I don't know if I even considered engaging the Maulus but now I think I made a better decision to warp to the 4-M gate to create content there.

While in warp a scout got probably webs on an Onyx and I called it primary. Unfortunately, it warped away. Intel reported an uncloaked Thorax and I called to orbit the gate at 15. It uncloaked 10km from the gate and 30km away from the main bunch of the fleet. I called it primary and started burning to them. From the recordings, I noticed not calling for prop-mods and hardeners and I should keep this in mind for next time. Our scouts got point, scram and webs on it. Similarly to the fleet on Friday, I was busier listening to comms than giving attention to my own pew-pewing vehicle. Hence why I still was orbiting the gate at 15 and did not broadcast the target.

The Onyx was then reported by our other scout on the IRE gate and it got point. The Thorax, meanwhile, got in armour and managed to get to the gate. Since it didn't have a weapons timer it was able to jump back into 4-M. For the next time, I should consider to let the vanguard de-cycle their offensive modules so that they might be able to follow.

Then, I made the decision to cold-warp the fleet to the pointed Onyx. It threw out a bubble before we landed and the earlier reported Phoenix also jumped in from IRE. I called to not engage because of our weapons timers and wanted the fleet to burn to the gate. However, a couple still engaged and our scout still had a weapons timer of one minute. At this point, I decided to go all-in on the Onyx. Since it was at the gate I asked three persons to not engage (should have been vanguard again, but eh) so that they could follow.

Then, we had a bunch of ships warping on top of us or joining us from the other side of the gate: a Rorqual, a Stratios, three Caracals, a Dominix and a Sabre. Me, not being used to bubbles, called scatter... Funny me ^^

So yeah, I had to prop-mod out of the bubble or primary something. I decided to call a primary since we already had some content and thought it was a good moment for a bigger fight. The Stratios was our initial primary (moar bling but lower DPS than a Caracal). Again, a fleet member mentioned overheating the guns and I forgot a secondary call. However, I did broadcast the Stratios as the target, yay! Meanwhile, a Maulus and a second Onyx also joined in the fight.

Incoming reps on the Stratios were significant, so I decided to switch the primary to the Sabre (broadcast this time was very late). After the switch, a Hel warped in. We took the Sabre down, 2IC's and 3IC's ships were already gone and the fleet was at the point of no return. ^^

Battle Report: https://br.inyour.space/?s=2612&b=8946321&e=390&t=uf

Stats
ISK Destroyed: 443,706,230.95
ISK Lost: 403,236,496.71
ISK Delta: 40,469,734.24
Efficiency: 52.389%

Overall evaluation
  • (Positive stuff)
  • Good call to let the vanguard jump into 442 at our first small fight
  • Created content and had FUN!
  • ISK Positive ^^
  • Not bad for a first time NullSec FC
  • Made proper use of the map to divide scouts over our neighbouring systems

    (Learnings)
  • Discovered how yeet-filaments work
  • Ask for distances to gates/plexes before jumping the fleet into the next system
  • Assign a vanguard directly after undocking
  • When going to Null, consider a scanner, bubbler and a smartbomber
  • Consider giving prop mod and hardener commands
  • Consider letting the vanguard de-cycle their guns while fighting at a gate
  • Someone wasn't in a clean clone
Last edited by Nienke Solette on 2020.01.08 20:10, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Gergoran Moussou »

So this is what my notification about Mike's bounty was about. Good to see more AARs up on the forum. Looks like the fleet went pretty well. A couple of badly fit industrials, a Legion (with a fit with that I'd probably disagree with, and the standard Sabre fit are more than a lot of people find with filament roams.

The thing about filaments is that even if you take the ones that go to active Null, it's hard to consistently find anything. At best, you'll catch a few ratters, might get an Ishtar or something (Gila is also nice, but a bit riskier because of the rapid light missiles) before everyone docks up. Once you're on intel, the bots will dock up immediately, everyone else will dock up soon after unless they're out specifically to go after you. Depending on who lives nearby, this response force could be anything from the disorganized kitchen sink of Pandemic Horde standing fleet to a Goonswarm supercapital drop. While Brave is generally known more for something more akin to the former (although they might take a while longer to form up, it appears that you got the latter.

In general, I don't particularly enjoy filaments (and Null roams in general, I prefer to go around Low-Sec, I quite like that filaments exist though) for this reason. However, this fleet composition works reasonably well. In general, the BLAP Merlin composition works well if you find something juicy and use the high damage at short range to kill it, doesn't generally stand up well to an organized fleet even if it's not following a doctrine. In general, the fleet compositions that work best are something high-damage and disposable like this one (where it's not too much of a problem when you inevitably get killed) or a nano-kitey composition which can evade the adversary when the hammer comes down are the ones which work best.

Could you give some more detail on the events leading up to the fight? How did you end up on-grid with the capitals? Did you warp onto them? Did you try to tackle something and get them dropped on you? Were they on the gate when you jumped in?

Also, carriers are the capital ships which you'd be most likely to kill. Look for those if you want to break something big.
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Budda Sereda »

Gerg, not sure if you are aware, filaments need to be with # higher than 5, only those lead to active systems. In my first fillament roam I've used the one with 7 and we killed Myrmidon 2 mins after filament use. My last roam was using 04, and we struggled to find content.
If encourage people to keep trying.

Regarding a fight with Hel: very questionable... you can't tank it in t1 frigates
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Mike Kingswell »

Gergoran Moussou wrote:So this is what my notification about Mike's bounty was about.
...
I am not sure I like that half of Uni knows when I have undocked for once :D


In general: We were hopping around Brave Space for a bit and caught the 2 industrials slowboating around.
They then started slowly trickeling in a response (a cap [not the hel - dont remember what it was] but it didn't apply good dmg to us frigs and some tackle) and we danced around them. This is when we caught the legion (who I assumed was on his way to join them?).
We took the fight final fight on a gate since their numbers were increasing fast and we got hold of a stratios. Quick target switch netted us the saber. By then it was a decent number of them and we were bubbled so we had our "this is how we die!" moment as they also brought the hel out - quite a fun fight.

sad that thos implants ruined the math there though^^'
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Nienke Solette »

.
Initial post updated!




Mike Kingswell wrote: ...
I am not sure I like that half of Uni knows when I have undocked for once
Half of New Eden, you mean? ^^
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Gergoran Moussou »

Alright. For future reference, Heavy Interdiction Cruisers such as the Onyx are extremely tanky, Your fleet didn't have the DPS to deal with it before either it picked you off one-by-one (it's bonused for the same weapons as a Caracal, all of the Caracal's bonuses with an additional +25% damage bonus, so they're usually firing light missiles which apply quite well to frigates) or got backup. In the future, I'd suggest avoiding those things.

Shooting the Sabre is always a good call if you're trying to be ISK-positive. Relative to the value of the ship, there's nothing else as easy to kill that you're likely to encounter. They're also the most important target for roaming gangs so that they can disengage when necessary.

In Brave space, going around the systems near GE-8JV is the most likely to get you content. Keep in mind, however, that any big Null group is going to blob you. It's not necessarily a conscious choice so much as that a lot of people are going to hear about non-friendlies in the area and want to get on the killmails. There are places where you can find smaller amounts of opponents, but they tend to be smaller groups which don't have many people online outside of their peak time (most notably in the region of Tribute).
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Coaxster »

for FC's 5th fleet, this was quite good really. Kept the lil kittens, er merlins, together and got content. Called things. Broadcast stuff. Had a plan. All good. I'd just add MOAR -- as already mentioned, more b'casting, more calling, more repeating. The rest (e.g. onyx is tanky) just comes with experience (remind me to tell you the prophecy story...). Keep it up.
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Nienke Solette »

Thanks for the feedback everyone, learned some things for going through NullSec. I'm not sure yet what I like better, LowSec or NullSec, especially after doing the Guristas Epic Arc solo without an interceptor (needless to say I lost a couple of ships ^^). To be honest, I think LowSec is better suited for newbros and Alpha-clones, but that's just a humble capsuleer's opinion.

Coaxster, basically what you're saying is that I should love myself more and express my self-love over communications more often. Roger that! Do you also want me to alter my voice for extra side-effects? :smug:

Gregoran and others, thanks for the feedback! In summary; don't tank a Hel in T1 frigs, go for carriers if you want to pewpew something big and avoid tanky stuff like Onyxes. (Very short unnuanced summary, I know, doesn't mean I don't value the feedback!)
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Mike Kingswell »

Good feedback here and a good update on the top post!
Always great to have some of our experienced alumni post their insights o7

YooJin 2020!
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Nienke Solette »

I've made a bit of a Meme-competition between Mike Kingswell and Asuka Rossi for YooJin's quote. I'll award them both for their services! Asuka's Meme:

Merlins in Null be Like:
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Re: [AAR] 2020-01-04 // BLAP Merlins / Bursts LowSecYeetFleet

Post by Mike Kingswell »

no surprise that asuka went for his favourite :suprisepikatchuface:
isntant classic :D
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