Conditions: Given a shield tanked BC fleet and access to low sec systems while personally flying a Scimitar logistics ship
Standards: Have fun, fly smart
Summary:
The fleet was engaged in combat almost from the start on this roam. There was a small gang engagement and later on a fleet fight. In both fights I made a few mistakes but the fleet did well overall.
We ran into a small gang with a couple of Hurricanes and a Maelstrom. The initial engagement was against a 'Cane but the other two ships quickly warped in to support. Our fleet was en-route but we had some tackle nearby that was able to pin down targets while our scout ship died. The tackle lived long enough to let us kill the Maelstrom but the two Hurricanes pulled range and escaped. We lost one tackle ship on the attempt as well.
The roam continued on from there until we ran into a fleet camping a gate. Our scout jumped in and reported a slightly bigger fleet waiting for us. Our FC ordered the first ships to land to jump and I was one of the first in. Immediately I was cap drained while I tried to burn back to the gate. I watched as the other logi in our fleet was targeted and killed but I was unable to provide any support due to cap drain. About the time I got back to the gate the FC was calling for all ships to burn for range. The enemy switched from cap drain to ECM drones and I lost the ability to target anyone. Our FC repeated his order to burn to range so I tried to break out of the encirclement. Unfortunately I became primary target once I got away from the gate and died.
We reshipped and continued the roam for another half hour or so, but in the end we had no other notable engagements.
Personal summary:
I made several mistakes on this roam and probably cost the fleet two ships because of my actions. In the first engagement our logi were able to keep one of our Recon ships up through the Mael's alpha. Our hero tackle was a long way off and I foolishly engaged MWD to chase him down instead of moving away to warp in. My Scimi was probably the fastest logi on the field and I could saved the tackle had I paid attention.
In the second engagement I jumped too early. I should have waited for a few more targets to get on the field and initial commands to go out. At the least I could have held gate cloak while the situation was assessed. Pulling range and getting past the neuts might have worked. Staying on the gate wasn't a terrible option, but I should have jumped back through instead of trying to slow boat away. The indecision at the gate cost the fleet a Scimi.
Overall I could have paid more attention during the roam, and I should have spent more time considering my options instead of just going with the first thought to cross my mind.
Improves:
Situational awarenessTake time to make a good decision when time is available
Practice maneuvering at gates to become more familiar with burning away
Sustains:
Remaining calm while outnumberedEnsuring no aggressive action was taken that would prevent movement through gate
FC made a horrible mistake calling for logi to jump in first. DPS should have jumped in first, followed by scimitars if the fight was doable. Hold cloaks until scimi jumps in, then start the fight. 2nd mistake was jumping a nano gang into a gatecamp. That's a recipe for disaster, as range = tank and scram = death.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't really call for logi to go first, we just ended up being one of the first to land and jump. In hindsight we realized the FC wanted us to stay cloaked and let others get initial agro, but we were eager to try and save our scout.
ReplyDeleteI left out the enemy fleet composition, but they had no obvious logi and some BS in support. Overall our FC felt we could get to range with minimum loss and have a fight of it. The only problem was our logi were inexperienced and got killed at the start. Had our logi held cloak and then pulled range the fight might have gone very differently.
I appreciate your feedback and I'll try to put more details into the reports. I tend to hold some stuff back but enemy composition and actions deserve good details and I left that out of this one.