Several of our members are keen wormhole hunters, and thanks to these pilots, the Tuskers generally know, at any given time, exactly where the wormholes in Hevrice and the surrounding areas lead. On this particular day, we found a wormhole leading to nullsec, so an impromptu HAC fleet was assembled, and yours truly flew fleet ewar again.
It was the same half fit Arbitrator from before, and I was eager to do my bit to ensure that the enemy hit us no harder than a particularly undernourished school-girl. To quote Fezic from Princess Bride, "My way's not very sportsman-like."
We jumped through the wormhole. This was actually the second roam that day, the first having been a BS fleet, and now the reason why we were limited to HACs; nobody wanted to get trapped deep in null.
The fight:
Our scouts had already located the enemy, so finding the fight was easy. However, this fight was to work out very differently from the last one.
Instead of a brawl, our engagement turned into a running fight. This, in and of itself, is not too remarkable; the Tuskers are quite used to running fights. What we are not used to is the fact that we were not the ones running - they were!
They had an Oracle fleet, along with some ewar. They burned away, forcing us into a stern chase, while they used their range to fire on us. Clever fellows.
Now, what made this fight interesting for me was the speed at which everyone was moving. The Oracles were cruising along comfortably at 1600m/s, whereas my Arbitrator only does about 1100m/s. I had also warped into the fight at a respectful range, as the Oracles had a strong ability to pick me out if I strayed too near. This meant that by the time both sides disengaged, I was 160 km from the Oracles, and unable to bring my ewar to into play!
Both sides warped out with a few kills scored.
Afterthoughts:
This is an obvious issue for fleet ewar - I need to keep up with the fleet! Unfortunately, the obvious way of doing so (losing the 1600mm plate) will just get me alpha'd. Apparently the Arbitrator will be getting a speed boost this winter, which it clearly needs.
It's also an interesting distinction between logi and ewar. Logi need to be within range of the friendly fleet, but ewar needs to be in range of the enemy fleet. While hanging out with the logi is reasonably safe, in running fights like these I need to break away and act aggressively to close the distance between my ship and the enemy dps.
I'm also still working on my final fit, but right now I've boosted the targeting and TD range with rigs, so next time I should at least be able to participate for more of the battle. I will also consider burning away from the fight once I lose range, so that I can warp back in again on my fleet mates.
Despite the speed problem, it was a fun fight, and I look forward to running fleet ewar again.
I can also say that I would strongly recommend a stint as ewar to anyone wishing to become an FC. I've learned more about fleet engagements in two fights as ewar than I did in dozens of fights as tackle. Seeing the big picture puts everything into perspective.
A curse will reach 160km targeting range and td range given you have most skills trained for it lvl 4 or 5. It also shieldbuffers so you won't be a flying brick like the arbi, but shield comes at the cost of stacking more td's. Pilgrim is a fine alternative, you can run 1600mm but not the trimarks and it will be at least a little faster. Overheat for 1400/ms or better if really needed. If stuff comes close just shut them down with neuts and send drones.
ReplyDeleteI did fly some solo pvp pilgrim ,with the new drone damage lowslot I think I will go hunt silly active tankers once again (or people that fit lasers, they don't like energyneuts either).