Vengeance & Dramiel v Tengu & Navy Caracal

 

The hunt:

This fight actually starts with Kishin.

Kishin, zipping around in a Dramiel, had found a FW plex in Jovainnon that had spawned beyond scan range from any of the celestials in system. This meant that nobody warping to the plex knew what was waiting for them.

To Kishin's great joy, a Tengu had jumped in, and Kishin had established point. I imagine that Kishin might well have had a go at soloing the Tengu, but unfortunately the Tengu was not alone; a Navy Caracal jumped in right after the Tengu landed.

Kishin's shields began to crumble under the sustained assault, and he started calling for urgent backup - he doubted that he could hold point much longer.

By happy coincidence, I had just logged into Eve and, seeing nothing happening in Hev, had jumped into Jov. This meant that I was able to immediately jump to Kishin's location and land a secondary point on the Tengu. I don't know how long we would have lasted if the larger ships had kept it together, but we stumbled into a stroke of good fortune.

Some idiot started shooting at me.

Their combined fire power was crushing Kishin, despite his Dram's ability to speed tank much of the damage. If they had continued shooting at him they would have destroyed him, or at least driven him off. That would have left me all alone, and I would probably have died a slow, frustrating death.

Instead, they chose to split their fire. I turns out that Kishin could speed tank either one of them just fine, and it also turns out that I could perma-tank either one of them just fine. I was perfectly content with the situation, looking forward to being part of my first T3 kill.

Kishin, on the other hand, thinks bigger than me. Instead of just trying to hold on to the Tengu, there was now a real possibility that we could hold both ships, and Kishin ordered me to switch my point to the Navy Caracal. Laughing, I did so.

By now, other Tuskers were starting to arrive and we were joined by Konig in a Hurricane. Kishin called the Caracal as primary, and we burned him down fast.

2011.07.16 18:09:00

Victim: Agent FSB
Corp: Abyss Walkers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: Caldari State
Destroyed: Caracal Navy Issue
System: Jovainnon
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 16441

Involved parties:

Name: Konig Dreizehn (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.3
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II
Damage Done: 3732

Name: Kishin Hattori
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Dramiel
Weapon: Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket
Damage Done: 9200

Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -9.6
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Vengeance
Weapon: Rocket Launcher II
Damage Done: 3509

Destroyed items:

Sensor Booster II
Scourge Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 51
Cap Recharger II
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I, Qty: 3
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Qty: 2
Large Shield Extender II
Armored Warfare Specialist (Cargo)
Scourge Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 5372 (Cargo)
Havoc Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 1000 (Cargo)
Warrior II (Drone Bay)

Dropped items:

Invulnerability Field II
10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Targeting Range
Scourge Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 51
Ballistic Control System II, Qty: 2
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Qty: 4
Nanofiber Internal Structure II, Qty: 2
Thunderbolt Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 1000 (Cargo)
Warrior II, Qty: 2 (Drone Bay)

Turning our attention back to the Tengu, we were joined by Ka Jolo in a Drake. With the four of us focusing on the Tengu, it was just a matter of time before he exploded.

2011.07.16 18:10:00

Victim: Agentsha FSB
Corp: Abyss Walkers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: Caldari State
Destroyed: Tengu
System: Jovainnon
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 42557

Involved parties:

Name: Ka Jolo (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.9
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Drake
Weapon: Caldari Navy Scourge Heavy Missile
Damage Done: 8360

Name: Konig Dreizehn
Security: -9.3
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Hurricane
Weapon: Hobgoblin II
Damage Done: 22343

Name: Kishin Hattori
Security: -10.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Dramiel
Weapon: Hobgoblin II
Damage Done: 9690

Name: Taurean Eltanin
Security: -9.6
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Vengeance
Weapon: Gremlin Rage Rocket
Damage Done: 2164

Destroyed items:

Invulnerability Field II
Tengu Offensive - Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Propulsion - Intercalated Nanofibers
Tengu Electronics - Dissolution Sequencer
Medium Core Defence Field Extender I, Qty: 3
Scourge Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 54
Tengu Defensive - Supplemental Screening
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Qty: 4
Tengu Engineering - Supplemental Coolant Injector
Large Shield Extender II
Thunderbolt Precision Heavy Missile, Qty: 880 (Cargo)
Scourge Precision Heavy Missile, Qty: 1000 (Cargo)
Scourge Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 9351 (Cargo)

Dropped items:

10MN MicroWarpdrive II
Inertia Stabilizers II
Magnetic Scattering Amplifier II
Scourge Fury Heavy Missile, Qty: 36
Ballistic Control System II, Qty: 2
Heavy Missile Launcher II
Large Shield Extender II, Qty: 2
Nanofiber Internal Structure II, Qty: 2
Small Shield Extender II, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Widowmaker Precision Heavy Missile, Qty: 940 (Cargo)
Caldari Navy Havoc Heavy Missile, Qty: 400 (Cargo)

We managed to snag the Tengu's pod, but he only spoke Russian. Google translate told us that he was not interested in a ransom, just calling us dirty names, so we blew him up.


Afterthougths:

After the fight, I warped to a safe to wait out my criminal flag, but by doing so I missed a faction cuiser that jumped in to the other three Tuskers on his way to the plex. He was finished before I could warp back, so I missed out on a nice killmail there. Kishin seems to be surrounded some kind of improbability field; expensive ships practically throw themselves at him, begging to be destroyed.

This fight really underscored the importance of communication in pvp. If the Tengu and the Caracal had coordinated their attacks, the result would probably have been very different. Instead, a simple targeting miscalculation cost them both a great deal of ISK.

It was also a fight that I really enjoyed. Heavy tackle is a role my Vengeance fills really well. While not a spot typically useful in the fast moving, organised gangs Tuskers favour (and I think I am going to put together a Malediction fit for more organised roams), the Vengeance has incredible staying power when you need to hold a point until backup arrives.

With no ransom, the profitability of my first T3 kill was a little disappointing. Still, basic loot resulted in 8 million ISK for each pilot involved, and Kishin has salvage from the Tengu worth about 70 million ISK that will be split when it is sold.

And I also got a deep safe out of the whole incident - by book marking the plex I was left with a safe spot outside of scanning range from any celestials once the plex despawned.