It started as I was out scouting the chain when Merc notified me that we had visitors back in Abyss. I was already heading back home when he first saw them so it didn't take long for me to get there. Menacher was also in Abyss helping keep and eye on wormholes and trying to figure out what our visitors were up to.
The HSBDs were quickly moving ships through our system to hi-sec and we thought that perhaps they were moving out, but couldn't get into a good intercept position before things cooled down. I reshipped into a covert Proteus and sat on the connecting wormhole they were using, but saw only pods and small ships I wouldn't be able to lock.
By this time Bjornsen had joined us in a covert Proteus, Merc was flying a covert Tengu, but didn't have a point fitted and Menacher was acting as primary scout in his covops frigate inside the HSDB home system. Merc and I held position and waited for a couple of haulers to come back in that we'd missed earlier on their way out. Luckily they didn't disappoint. Merc gave the heads up that they were inbound. I decloaked on the connecting wormhole and engaged them when they landed.
Both haulers jumped through to their system. I followed. On the other side I engaged one of the haulers. Merc called out that an HSDB Armageddon, Proteus and Scorpion were en route to support the haulers' return and they were landing as I had the hauler well into shields.
Bjornsen jumped into system while Merc waited in Abyss on the other side of the wormhole in his Tengu. The HSDB Proteus jumped through the wormhole into Abyss and I followed while Bjorn stayed in their system and bore the weight of the Geddon DPS. Merc and I engaged the Proteus on the wormhole in Abyss, but it jumped back through into the hostile's home system. Bjornsen jumped back into Abyss at the same time.
Menacher, still scouting in the HSDB system, passed word that all ships were leaving the wormhole and going back to their POS. The ambush had been a failure, but we didn't lose any ships to their superior numbers (at some point we'd counted about 6 different pilots from HSDB).
FC: Malception
Sustain: While our numbers were pretty feeble we had 100% participation from those online, even if some didn't intend to get pulled into a fight. Nice work and I most definitely appreciate the dedication to committing as many acts of space-murder as possible.
Improve: Sadly there are a lot of things that need improvement.
- Fleet Comms - If you're not the FC don't talk unless it's to pass critical information or ask for clarification on the FC's instructions.
- Fleet Composition - We need to get everyone skilled up on armor-tanked boats. They don't need to be covert T3s, but they do need to be armor. We also need to make sure that everyone has a point (even scouts should have point for hero tackle purposes).
- Scouting: I should've sent the scout into the HSDB system earlier in the engagement.
- FC Aggression - HSDB had enough visibility of our forces to know that they would have to pass through a gauntlet on their way back home. I should have acted with more aggression initially before they had enough time to scope us out. The other option would've been to sacrifice some of our DPS in exchange for Logi support, but would only provide possibilities not guaranteed outcomes.
Summary: Good participation. Discipline our fleet comms. Train up armor skills. More aggression at the front end of engagements.
In a perfect world Menacher would've been sent into the HSDB system as soon as we saw activity from them. Merc would have an armor HAC or T3 at his disposal and I would've provided Logi support for him and Bjorn. We would've all jumped into the HSDB system. The Proteus's would warp right on top of the HSDB battleships - a move made possible by Menacher providing the warp-in with his covops scout - and they would burn both the Geddon and Scorpion with Logi support from Malception.
Like I've said in my Scouting Like A Pro series: scouting can be the defining factor in an engagement and we saw it first hand with this fight.
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