IT TAKES NOHO TO TANGO

POLARIZED. Battle Summary: Efraya - 2013.04.14

It all started with a mostly scanned chain. Sunday slumber.



But then a third party Callisto Helix [ADHC] lit up c6s red by losing his Buzzard to NOHO.
http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=17239298

Always considering the Pulsar moat at the gates of BK, scouts started hounding after the trail of <NOHO> but giving up shortly after and accepting a hypothesis that NOHO had collapsed their connection to our chain.

Meanwhile, a small fleet hovered over the gathering point with a few Guardians and DPS support, the same fleet had started gathering after the first notice of NOHO was now on hold and without target.The chain was declared safe, and a high sec exit found through c3a, six jumps from Jita. The plan was to finish up some light logistics work and letting some stranded pilots from HS back into BK. Once the stranded pilots were in we would roll for pvp to give a purpose to the assembled fleet.

Alas, it would not happen like planned, as the crippling combination of chance and a lack of intel allowed a <NOHO> task force to sneak undetected right into our front door.The opening shots fell on a scrammed Bestower going unscouted down the chain:

[ 2013.04.14 15:16:00 ] http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=17240372

Right after this incident, reports on enemy numbers started trickling in and were compared against our few numbers, all while one of our Lokis fell into the same spring trap, delaying the attacking fleet for a couple of minutes, but finally falling guns ablaze:
http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=17240208

[ 2013.04.14 15:16:44 ] Steven Grlscz > NOHO sitting on the static in BK
[ 2013.04.14 15:16:47 ] Steven Grlscz > don't jump in

Our fleet was not nearly enough to save the Loki, multiple activations on the static, incoming ships from down the chain landing outside BK. With this chain of events in front of us, there was no more options that the one offered in Local.


TANGO!



Full of self-confidence after a couple easy kills, NOHO bubbled our static on the BK side at approximately 15:20. We had approximately 30 pilots online in the fleet at the time, and FC made the decision that Archons would provide the logistical backbone of our fleet, not guardians. This ensured that maximum DPS could be achieved with the amount of pilots on hand. Additionally, scouts had already been placed on the C6S, the side from where the hostiles were coming, so that we would have eyes on any possible reinforcement.

Our FC had gathered as much of tactical awareness of the situation as possible, and so we braced for a fight. Heavy recons were ordered to create a warp spot on the now bubbled static, 40 km below the wormhole. This would force the hostile force deep into BK, away from the safety of the wormhole if they wanted to engage the capitals.

Fleet warped to the ping spot under the wormhole with two archons, and subcaps burned the 40km to apply their damage on the first assigned targets. The hostile Guardians, Oneiros and ECMgus burned to gain range so as to mitigate incoming DPS but the intense EWAR battle on them had already begun, and the enemy logis/support quickly realized that their targeting range/scan res had been severely damped . The rest of the fight the hostile support would have to fight within 10km of the main battle. From the get-go the battle was a stalemate as our reps were holding ,but so was theirs. The archons were repping the incoming DPS easily and with staggered reps there was nothing in sight that could break our tanks. That is, until the we heard the scout reporting: “Bhaalgorns incoming”.

Although the initial three and the fourth “reinforcement” Bhaalgorn doesn't yet count as Jesus-Bhaal wing (see TLOST AAR), it did give our capital pilots a hint of the creeping feeling that enemy cap pilots experienced on easter weekend. As the scout reported the Bhaalgorns in warp in the C6S , FC had already ordered to spool up dreadnoughts and warp them to the Archons for optimal engagement range. Only one Moros was initially spooled up and used to engage but as it was insta-neuted and a second Moros was called for which in hindsight was a major factor in deciding the outcome of the battle.

STEEL BALLS OF NOHO

In a brazen move that demanded audacity, bravery and self-confidence, the hostile fleet warped to a ping spot and then directly on top of the two archons and the dreadnoughts. The move was so unexpected that for a few minutes our fleet was split, and confusion reigned. Some subcaps were burning to the main fleet and others were trying to kill hostile subcaps that had been pointed on the static. The moment of confusion passed quickly, as FC took over target calling for a few moments and ordered subcaps to engage the Bhaalgorns at optimals, near the now stricken capitals. Target calling resumed by the primary target caller, and this time the target list was deliberately varied and targets were chosen that would fill up the hostile guardians’ queues. Remember, the hostile guardians were at this point damped for targeting range, scan res and constantly harassed by our ECMgus. Even with constant harassment, the NOHO guardians performed heroically and the Bhaalgorns were not breaking.

Both of the dreadnoughts were capped out by now by the Bhaals and neuting Legions. One of the Dreadnoughts was counting down on TS: “50% armor left --- 25% armor left -- Hitting structure”. We had not managed to kill anything yet. People still managed to remain calm and target calling continued. Meanwhile , a voice in our speakers continued the count down: “75% structure -- nearly out of siege”. A combined sigh of relief come out of our fleet when the dreadnought pilot reported that he is out siege, with 25% structure remaining. Both of the archons repped him up quickly, but in doing so expended precious capacitor of their own. One of our archons was subsequently primaried for neuts and DPS . After using so much cap to save the Moros and taking heavy neuting pressure, the pilot had no cap left to save himself. Few moments passed and the archon pilot announced calmly: “Archon down”.

DODGING A BULLET

Nearly simultaneously, our constant target switching and harassment of the hostile logis was paying dividends. A NOHO oneiros is saved from deep structure once, but not twice. We had drawn first blood, and their logi wing came that much more vulnerable without ECCM and in quick succession they lost all their guardians. The tactical choice of warping the capitals at 40-50km of the hole meant that the hostile fleet had nowhere to run now. Our logistics comprised only of one Archon at this time [1], and the dreadnoughts were managing only occasional glancing hits due to the lack of webs and capacitor. Meanwhile,the hostile Bhaals now without Guardians, had managed to cap-out the last archon and our fleet had no remote reps either. We had to destroy those Bhaals as fast as possible to regain remote repairs, and so after an initial stalemate, a trickle of kills turned into a flashflood of killmails on both sides.

We threw everything we had on the Bhaals in hopes of regaining remote repair ability for the remaining Archon. XL faction ammo, Void ammo, Hail ammo, Conflag, pod goo and curses were hurled into the armor of Bhaals and they quickly turned the billion ISK faction hulls into wreckages. We had lost a T3 every minute that the remaining Archon was capped out [2] and the Bhaals were alive. Without the second Moros the Bhaalgorns would have died that much slower and resulted in additional losses, creating a true Pyrrhic victory for us .

It is later discovered why the hostile bhaalgorns fell rapidly after the guardians were dealt with; Firstly, the lack of logistics (duh ), and secondly due to the fact that they were ACTIVE tanked. All of the four Bhaalgorns died having used up all of their cap booster charges, and as they received no cap from the guardians, it meant that they had a severely gimped tank against our primary source of DPS: the Proteai and Moroses.

With the hostile guardians destroyed, and the Bhaalgorns sent to the ether, as a sacrifice to Bob , the hopes of a NOHO victory dissipated into the void. After that, we begun the wholesale slaughter of any NOHO T3's we could get a point on. Afterwards, generous GF's were exchanged in local and safe passage home was granted out of BK for the remainder of the NOHO fleet, for the show of courage and for the awesome fight they put up.

Final tally: http://eve-kill.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=17240658

ACCOLADESDespite the KB showing a resounding victory for us, the battle could have gone either way. It was a very close fight. Hugs and kisses to NOHO for the incredible Spartan mentality. As far as I know, NOHO is the only entity to actually engage us on our home turf, leave the comfort of the static and nearly succeed in winning. *bows

LESSONS

- Be careful in the chain when hostiles are known to be active
- Don’t rep hostiles

Eleniti & Cuervo