News: Ostingele – The Battle of the Five Fleets

Ostingele system, Placid region. On the 22nd of November, 19:00 EVE Standard Time, five fleets clashed in the system, in a brawl that saw the destruction of three Carriers, alongside countless other ships.

The fight started, when an RvB Ganked fleet of mixed Absolution Command ships and Harbinger\Harbinger Navy Issue Battlecruiser, numbering up to a hundred and forty pilots, was roaming the area. Since the Phoebe patch the regions of Placid and Black Rise which borders it have become a battle ground between several prominent Low Security Alliances.

However, during its roam, the RvB Ganked fleet encountered little resistance, in the form of an Ivy League [IVY] sixty pilots Thorax Cruiser fleet and a Providence Bloc thirty pilots Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser fleet. Both forces were engaged in combat, but at the sight of the RvB Ganked force quickly disengaged, declining to fight.

After reaching the Ostingele system and unable to find a worthy opponent to engage, the fleet was prepared to move towards the Agoze system when a cynosural beacon lit off the Agoze gate, signaling the entrance of a forty pilots fleet comprised mainly of Overload Everything [8URNT] and Psychotic Tendencies [TISHU]. The combined fleet fielded mainly Apocalypse Navy Issue Battleships, with two Archon Carriers for Logistics support.

The RvB Ganked force warped immediately on top of the newly arrived fleet, while opening communication channels with the fleet commanders of both Providence Bloc and [IVY]. Soon, an agreement to coordinate between the three fleets was reached, and they all set to work on the [TISHU]\[8URNT] fleet. At first they were able to destroy a few of the Apocalypse Navy Issue ships, but a third Archon called to the field was able to contain the damage.

The intense fighting on the Agoze gate between the four fleets

A decision was quickly reached to focus fire on the Archons, one by one, the mighty Carriers succumbed to the torrents of fire. Losing their Logistics backbone, the [TISHU]\[8URNT] fleet quickly bailed, knowing it could not tank the damage. Its escape was helped by a Snuffed Out [B B C] Proteus Strategic Cruiser fleet, some forty pilots strong. [B B C] had been at odds with both [TISHU] and [8URNT] over control of Black Rise and Placid, and learning of its rivals’ engagement were probably hoping to help in their destruction.

It was their bad luck to arrive too late to the fight. With the new [B B C] fleet on grid, the three fleets decided to lengthen their cooperation, targeting the Guardian Logistics ships that formed the Proteus’ fleet’s logistical backbone. This was mainly due to a warp in error on [B B C]’s part, who warped too close to the RvB Ganked fleet, bringing their Logistic ships in range of the RvB Ganked stasis webifiers, holding them down and allowing the combined strength of the three fleets to annihilate them.

In an impressive feat of cooperation, all three fleets managed to coordinate their fire, downing Guardian after Guardian. With almost their entire logistics wing decimated, [B B C] were forced to withdraw from the field.

As all the three remaining fleets sustained losses during the fighting, the Providence Bloc fleet decided to withdraw immediately. The [IVY] fleet though, decided to stay and fight the RvB Ganked fleet, leading to a very one sided battle leading to its utter defeat.

Battle report for the Ostingele system can be found here.

All told, the fight saw a hundred and seventy-eight ships lost, including three Carriers, for nineteen billion ISK of damages, with [TISHU]\[8URNT] suffering a large portion of the damages. At the peak of the battle, the system hosted three hundred and fifty pilots, with Time Dilation being noticeable.

Just another Saturday night in Low Security space.

Special thanks to Douglas Aurelius, of Sanctuary of Shadows, Overload Everything for granting an interview.

Providence Fight Club: T-RPFU 26.7.2014

T-RPFU system, Providence region. On the 26th of July the system saw large scale engagements from no less than four different entities, culminating in an hour long battle with more than six hundred participants, and resulting in five hundred ships destroyed, and at least thirty billion ISK in damages.

The battle was prompted when Sovereignty Blockade Units belonging to Brave Collective Alliance were deployed in the T-RPFU system, forcing Providence Bloc to organize a Call to Arms (CTA) fleet, managing to muster a hundred and sixty pilots in Rupture class Cruisers with some logistics backing. Racing to the system in order to remove the Sovereignty Blockade Units before they online, Providence Bloc forces were expecting to meet a Brave Collective fleet, instead reports of a RvB Zealot class Heavy Assault Cruiser force, some two hundred pilots large with strong logistics backbone (Nearly a quarter of the fleet) were received.

Realizing that the RvB fleet was headed to the system, and that it would interfere with the removal of the Sovereignty Blockade Units, Providence Bloc forces prepared to engage the hostile force on the D-GTMI gate. The initial exchange looked promising, as the Providence Bloc fleet was able to destroy almost twenty percent of the enemy’s Logistics ships. However, with mounting casualties and the enemy’s ability to handle the incoming fire, Providence Bloc forces decided to retreat from the fleet, preserving more than half their fleet and re-forming for a second attempt.

During the fight, the system saw more than three hundred and thirty-four pilots, with Time Dilation reaching twenty-eight percent.

The original battle report can be found here.
The fixed battle report can be found here (Due to EVE Kill Report Repair Tool, most of the RvB fleet cannot be shown due to settings).
The summary of the battle can be found here.

Image of the fighting on the D-GTMI gate between RvB and Brave Collective Alliance

After a quick reform, and with more hostiles getting into the system, a temporary cease fire was struck with The Unthinkables Alliance, who promised to aid Providence Bloc forces with their seventy pilot Tengu class Strategic Cruiser fleet, as well as securing neutrality from the Brave Collective Alliance’s one hundred and ten Harpy Assault Frigate fleet for the duration of the engagement with RvB. With those promises in mind, Providence Bloc went in for a second engagement, this time choosing to warp directly on top of the RvB fleet.

At this point the system hosted more than six hundred and eighty-nine pilots, with four major fleets assembled as well as assorted gangs and bomber wings. While Providence Bloc forces engaged the RvB fleet, The Unthinkables, true to their word, warped in to aid, but Brave Collective did not hold their fire, but instead engaged Providence Bloc, taking down all the Fleet Commanders off the field. Thus, Providence Bloc fleet quickly fell apart, with each new member stepping up to take charge of the fleet only to be instantly destroyed by Brave Collective forces, prompting members of Providence Bloc to level allegations of espionage at Brave Collective Alliance.

The
fixed battle report can be found here (Due to EVE Kill Report Repair
Tool, most of the RvB fleet cannot be shown due to settings).
The summary of the battle can be found here.

With the fleet decimated, Providence Bloc forces retreated back to their staging system in order to re-form a second time, switching to Vexor class Cruisers. By the time Providence Bloc forces re-entered the T-RPFU system, most of the hostiles have already extracted, allowing Providence Bloc forces to safely destroy the Sovereignty Blockade Units and removing the threat from the system.

Though Providence Bloc achieved the strategic objective, securing the system again, it is indisputable that in both rounds of fighting it definitely lost, with the last one proving to be a crushing defeat.

Many have questioned whether or not the deployment of Sovereignty Blockade Units was done deliberately to draw a fight by Brave Collective, or was it the work of rogue elements in the employ of RvB within the Alliance, as their fleet made way to the T-RPFU system directly after its form up. Regardless, no official response was given by Brave Collective Alliance’s leadership until time of publication.

Providence Fight Club: 9UY4-H 20.7.2014

9UY4-H system, Providence region. On the 20th of July, Providence Bloc forces successfully engaged two fleets in the system, resulting in more than a hundred and fifty destroyed ships, and twenty billion ISK in damages, including two Carrier class Capital ships.

The first engagement was fought between a hundred strong Providence Bloc Battlecruiser class ship fleet and a wormhole dwellers coalition fleet, numbering seventy pilots, mostly in Gila class Cruisers and Rattlesnake class Battleships. The force was reported in the I9B-8X constellation, more commonly referred to as the Shintaht Pocket by local residents.

Providence Bloc forces quickly raced to the 9UY4-H system in order to intercept the hostile force on the H6-CX8 gate, which is the only entrance way into Providence proper from that part of space. This battle proved disastrous for Providence Bloc, as the enemy force quickly dispatched the lead Fleet Commander, as well as most of the Logistic class Cruisers, while jumping in two Chimera class Carriers in order to supplement its own logistics need before Providence Bloc could online their Mobile Cynosural Inhibitor. Suffering mounting casualties and unable to break the tank of the enemy’s ships, Providence Bloc forces beat a hasty retreat in order to re-form.

The summary of the battle can be found here.

This time a longer form time was given, with Providence Bloc switching from Battlecruiser class ships to Battleships, specifically fitted with Energy Neutralizers. Care was taken to beef up the number of Logistic class Cruisers as well as overall fleet numbers, reaching more than a hundred and sixty pilots. While there was some concern that the hostile force would leave Providence region without a second engagement, thankfully, a pilot error in the hostile fleet caused the two Chimera class Carriers to remain stranded in the 9UY4-H system, still in their position on the H6-CX8 gate, forcing the enemy fleet to remain in the vicinity.

A second engagement quickly flared up, as Providence Bloc forces bridged into the system and tackled the two Chimeras. The hostile fleet quickly responded, jumping into the Providence Bloc force in order to save its Capital ships. However, Providence Bloc counter dropped the enemy fleet, lighting a cynosural beacon and jumping four Dreadnaughts and two Carrier class Capital ships, which concentrated their fire on the enemy Capitals. With their logistics backbone quickly dispatched, The enemy’s Fleet Commander made the only available choice in that situation and called for a full retreat. Regardless, Providence Bloc forces managed to decimate a third of the hostile fleet before it could escape, netting fourteen billion ISK in damages while suffering only minor damage themselves.

The fixed battle report can be found here.
The summary of the battle can be found here.

During the second fight, the system saw more than two hundred and thirty-four pilots in local, with Time Dilation kicking in and reaching sixty-five percent at the height of the battle.

While this could have served as a good end for the night’s hostilities, a second hostile fleet, belonging to RvB was reported in the Providence region, prompting Providence Bloc forces to re-ship a second time, switching to a Rupture class Cruiser fleet, a hundred and twenty-nine strong, against RvB’s sixty-nine Harpy class Assault Frigate fleet. Providence Bloc forces were already present in the H6-CX8 system, with RvB forces moving through ZQ-Z3Y system in the Catch region and jumping into the 9UY4-H system. As the hostile force landed on the H6-CX8 gate, a quick decision was made by Providence Bloc forces to jump into the 9UY4-H system, fearing the RvB fleet would decide to retreat rather than jump into the H6-CX8 system, where it will be at a great disadvantage.

Thus, for the third time that night, the H6-CX8 gate in the 9UY4-H system bore witness to a large brawl, with Providence Bloc forces engaging the RvB fleet and destroying it almost to the last ship, though taking minor casualties as well.

The fixed battle report can be found here.

With this engagement won as well, Providence Bloc forces returned to their staging system and stood down, marking it the last large engagement in the Providence region for the day.

Special thanks to Boomer Nakrar, of Volition Cult, The Volition Cult Alliance for supplying the battle reports and statistics, and to Chitsa Jason, of Narwhals Ate My Duck(dot), Narwhals Ate My Duck Alliance, for giving an interview.

Providence Fight Club: T-RPFU 19.7.2014

T-RPFU system, Providence region. On the 19th of July, the system saw two large scale engagements between Providence Bloc forces and HERO Coalition, as well as RvB fleets, resulting in more than a hundred and fifty ships destroyed and six billion ISK in damages.

The first engagement was between a ninety-eight pilot Rupture class Cruiser fleet fielded by Providence Bloc and a large mixed HERO Coalition fleet of Moa class Cruisers and Ishtar class Heavy Assault Cruisers, estimated at a similar size. The two fleets met in the SV5-8N system in the Catch region. However, due to HERO Coalition’s superior logistics capability, Providence Bloc forces declined a head on confrontation, instead retreating to the F9E-KX system, luring HERO Coalition forces to pursue them. As HERO Coalition’s fleet jumped into the F9E-KX system, it was greeted by Providence Bloc’s fleet positioned at optimal range of the SV5-8N gate. After a couple of volleys, Providence forces warped off and retreated again, this time to the D-GTMI system.

This pattern of hit and run attacks was replicated in the D-GTMI system, as Providence Bloc forces continued their retreat to the T-RPFU system, where on the D-GTMI gate they decided to make their final stand. As expected, HERO Coalition forces, though bloodied, kept to the hunt and jumped into the system. What unfolded was a large brawl, with Providence Bloc forces able to decimate the attacking HERO Coalition fleet, though taking some losses themselves.

The original battle report can be found here.
The fixed battle report can be found here.

It has been claimed that the HERO Coalition fleet actually split after entering the system, with the Ishtar class Heavy Assault Cruisers warping to a jump bridge present in the system, expecting Providence Bloc forces to attempt an extraction through it. This led to HERO Coalition’s damage and logistic to be halved, thus becoming ineffective against the suddenly numerically superior Providence Bloc force. However, there has yet to be confirmation of this claim.

Still recovering from the engagement and hunting stragglers, reports came in of a RvB gank fleet, one hundred and twenty strong, mostly in Cruiser class ships, with a moderate logistics wing. In order to combat this new threat, Providence Bloc forces quickly extracted from the T-RPFU system and raced to their staging system in order to re-ship. A quick re-form was made, with Providence Bloc forces exchanging their Rupture class Cruisers for a one hundred and four strong Battleship and Battlecruiser class fleet, with moderate logistics support.

The reformed fleet raced to intercept the RvB fleet, and managed to stop it on the D-GTMI gate in the T-RPFU system, sparking a second battle on the gate. The fight itself saw around two hundred and fifty pilots on grid, with Time Dilation kicking in at sixty-six percent. However, it was clear that Providence Bloc had the advantage, as the logistics backbone of the RvB fleet was wiped out in the first minutes of the engagement.

With their logistics gone and unable to break the tank of the Providence Bloc Battleships, the RvB fleet quickly attempted to retreat from the Providence region, with Providence Bloc forces in hot pursuit. The fight quickly spilled from T-RPFU to 4B-NQN and 9-F0B2 systems, all the way to the Assah system in the Derelik region, which serves as one of the main entrance way into Providence.

The fixed battle report can be found here.

With no other large hostile fleets reported in the vicinity of Providence, Providence Bloc forces chose to stand down, thus ending large scale operations for the day.

Providence Fight Club: B-WPLZ 22.3.2014

On the twenty-second of March, Providence Bloc forces suffered defeat at the hands of an RvB Enyo class Assault Frigate fleet.

RvB, or more properly, Red versus Blue, are basically two Corporations, later turned Alliances, whose sole purpose is to allow players to engage in PvP activities in High Security space, by utilizing the war declaration mechanics in the game. This has attracted many players over the past years, with both Alliances reaching a three thousand and five hundred pilots each.

The large fleet, though led by RvB, contained many neutral and unknown entities to the Providence Bloc, and fielded eighty three Enyo class Assault Frigates, twenty three Incursus class Frigates as well as a mix of Tech I Logistics Cruisers, Interceptors, Interdictors and other assorted ships. All in all, the force was estimated at a hundred and eighty three pilots, and entered the Providence region the Dital system, Devoid region.

Providence Bloc forces hastily formed an Armor Cruiser class ship gang, mainly Omen and Vexor class Cruisers with Tech I Logistics ships and assorted support, reaching a hundred at ten. republicov, of treu republic, Silent Infinity Alliance, was the primary Fleet Commander, with corebloodbrothers, of Volition Cult, The Volition Cult Alliance as secondary Fleet Commander.

The RvB fleet entered the KBP7-G pocket, effectively trapping itself in. Thus, Providence Bloc forces raced to the B-WPLZ system, which forms a bottleneck in said pocket. Sitting on the KPB7-G gate, a decision was made to fire warp interdiction probes at a fifty kilometer range from the gate itself, in alignment to the other star gates present in the B-WPLZ system, in order to halt the enemy from warping to the gate itself and allowing for an optimal engagement range for the Providence Bloc fleet.

While the RvB fleet entered the system and obliged the Providence Bloc forces with a fight, things did not go well for the Providence Bloc forces. Both republicov and corebloodbrothers were swiftly made primary targets by the enemy fleet and forced off the field, leaving the Providence Bloc forces leaderless. Most of the fleet’s Logistics ships were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed as well, leading to the fight descending into a series of brawls, as chaos spread across the battlefield. Though reports indicate the Providence Bloc forces had a slight numerical advantage, in reality there were two more Providence Bloc fleets on the field, acting independently, fielding incompatible fleet doctrines and working on different voice servers than the main fleet, which only added to the confusion.

The result was a thorough defeat, with Providence Bloc conceding the field and attempting to regroup and re-ship in order to re-engage the hostile fleet. However, this was delayed due to the presence of a GoonSwarm Federation Alliance blockade, which targeted the Jump Bridge linking the KBP7-G pocket and the main staging system of Providence. The GoonSwarm Federation force, mainly comprised of Stealth Bomber class ships, kept bombing the Jump Bridge, effectively stopping reinforcements from arriving and forcing any attempts to regroup to be done further away, again adding to the delays.

With the first engagement over, the RvB force made its way to the G-5EN2 system, where it exited the Providence region through the Assah system, Derelik region, making its way towards the Sendaya system and H.E.R.O Coalition’s staging headquarters, leaving Providence Bloc to asses the damages caused in its wake.

Fixed Battle Report.