News: Providence Bloc Fishes for Supers, Nets a Titan Kill

Valmu system, Domain region. On the 29th of March, at 19:04 EVE Standard Time, Providence Bloc managed to snare an Avatar Titan and an Aeon Mothership belonging to Nihilists Social Club [NULL].

[NULL], along with other groups in the Low Security regions bordering Providence itself, have long been a thorn in its' residents side, complicating logistics and dropping their super capital fleets uncontested to win strategic timers.

However, with the Phoebe changes, this behavior can lead to some disastrous results, as [NULL] learned first hand.

Providence Bloc decided to set a trap for [NULL]'s super capital fleet. A bait fleet of 30 pilots, in Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruisers was assembled, along with a couple of Dreadnoughts and a support Carrier. At the same time, a Heavy Interdictor was set cloaked beforehand in the system, and reinforcements in the shape of more Heavy Interdictors and Bhaalgorn Battleships were logged off in the nearby system of Mamet. A Capital strike force was prepared to jump at a moment's notice from Providence itself.

The bait fleet quickly attacked one of the [NULL] Towers in the system, bringing in the two Dreadnoughts and the Carrier. As the Dreadnoughts started shooting the Tower, a Cynosural beacon lit up only thirty kilometers away from them, and a [NULL] Avatar, accompanied by two Aeons and a Nyx Mothership jumped on the grid.

Quickly, the Titan used its doomsday device on one of the Dreadnoughts, while the other was quickly targeted by the fighter bombers of its escorts and melted away. However, at this point Providence Bloc sprung their trap, and their Heavy Interdictor un-cloaked, warped on top of the Cynosural beacon lit by [NULL] and lit its own, ushering in the Providence Bloc Capital strike force, some 18 assorted Capitals in total. At the same time, the reinforcements next door logged in and started pouring in, as calls were made for other active fleets to come down and help.

The Providence Bloc Dreadnoughts set to work on the first Aeon, while the second one attempted and succeeded to enter the Tower's shiled, due to some bad bumps made by Providence Bloc's sub capital fleet. The Nyx managed to warp off as soon as the Dreadnoughts showed on field, leaving the Titan tackled behind.

As more Providence Bloc reinforcements poured in, the first Aeon finally succumbed to the intense punishment poured on top of it by the Dreadnoughts and focus quickly shifted to the Avatar. [NULL] itself called for its allies to help, and a Hax(dot) Apocalypse Navy Issue gang, with Triage Carrier support, numbering less than 20 pilots bridged in to try and help. However, they were quickly occupied and swept away by the much large Providence Bloc sub capital fleet, which ballooned to almost a 170 pilots by then.

The Titan was destroyed as Hax(dot) reinforcements came in, and a short battle erupted between them and Providence Bloc on the Tower. yet, sustaining losses to the much larger Providence Bloc fleet and with the Titan already lost, caused them to quickly withdraw. 

Holding the field, Providence Bloc managed to extract its Capital strike force safely, looting their foes and celebrating a hard earned victory.

Video of the Battle from the Perspective of one of the Heavy Interdictors (Courtesy of Mangraa Dementia)

Battle report for the Valmu system can be found here.

All in all, the system hosted almost 250 pilots at the end of the fighting, with the vast majority belonging to Providence Bloc. Time Dilation was not a factor in the fighting, unnoticeable by the participants. 

Providence Bloc lost 4 Capital ships as well as 43 sub capitals for a total ISK value of 18 Bil. [NULL] and its allies lost a Titan, a Mothership, 3 Capital ships as well as 14 sub capitals for a total ISK damage of 143 Bil ISK.

This engagement proves to be another example of the post Phoebe EVE universe, where the usage of unsupported Capital and Super Capital fleets can lead to disastrous results, and jump range changes as well as fatigue mechanic limit the number of allies that are able to help.

Special thanks to Judiciary Pag, of Usually Harmless, Tin Can Alliance, Fardendur, of W.A.S.P, Curatores Veritatis Alliance and vyshnegradsky, of Pentag Blade, Curatores Veritatis Alliance for granting interviews and materials, as well as Mangraa Dementia, of Blue Tridents, Sev3rance for the video of the fight.

News: Providence Bloc Locks Horns with Low Sec Entities over Moons in the Ziriert System

Ziriert System, Domain region. On the 27th of February, 20:16 EVE Time, Providence Bloc engaged a fleet belonging to Low Security space entities such as Nihilists Social Club, Legion's(dot) and Resonance(dot) alliances, over the control of an R64 moon in the system. The fight quickly escalated, with both sides dropping Capitals and bringing reinforcements, including a Titan.

Providence Bloc fielded a 200 pilot fleet divided into a Navy Issue Apocalypse Battleship main force, an Ishtar Heavy Assault Cruiser skirmish wing, a Maulus Frigate Electronic Warfare wing and a Capital task force which included 10 Dreadnaughts and 6 Carriers. 

Against them the Low Sec entities organized a Navy Apocalypse Battleship fleet of their own, consisting of 30 pilots, with Triage Carrier support. They contacted Pandemic Legion beforehand for support, and as the fight started, it brought a mixed Legion\Proteus Strategic Cruiser fleet of 76 pilots.

Providence Bloc forces were the first to enter system, situating their sub-capital fleet on the tower itself and keeping their Capital force in reserve. A Cynosural beacon was lit 250 km away from the tower, and the Low Sec entities bridged their fleet in, including Triage Carriers and Tracking Dreadnaughts. 

Providence Bloc forces warped to the cynosural beacon at 30 km, thus signaling the start of the fighting. Both forces slugged it out, and once it became clear the enemy Carriers were in Triage mode, Providence Bloc lit their own Cynosural beacon and let their Capital task force onto the field. With their Dreadnaughts entering Siege mode, the enemy's Triage Carriers were quickly disposed, allowing Providence Bloc to focus on the enemy's Navy Apocalypses. 

However, even with their Triage support gone, the enemy's Navy Apocalypses turned to be quite a challenge, as their pilots were told beforehand to bring a full Slave implant set, generating a massive armor buffer that took a while for the Providence Bloc forces to chew through.

Pandemic Legion entered the fray during the Capital exchange, landing next to the Providence Bloc Logistics wing, and managing to nab a few. With the Pandemic Legion reinforcements on the field, the Low Sec entities felt confident enough to bridge in an Avatar Titan along with a Hel and two Aeon Motherships. The Super-Capital force warped to the grid and started clearing the Providence Bloc Dreadnaughts, who were busy destroying the remaining Low Sec entities' Navy Apocalypses. 

Providence Bloc quickly changed its focus to the Super-Capital force, targeting the Hel, but unable to break its tank. When it became apparent that they could not break the Mothership's tank, and with Pandemic Legion on the field, as well as the Avatar, the decision was made to start extracting the remaining Capital ships. A mad race began between Providence Bloc clearing sub-Capitals and Pandemic Legion and the Low Sec entities clearing Capitals.

With their enemies bringing more Triage Carriers, the presence of the Titan and its Mothership escorts, and losing most of their support ships, Providence Bloc decided to concede the field, managing to extract most of their sub-capital fleet as well as some of their Capitals safely. 

For the Low Sec entities and their Pandemic Legion allies, once Providence Bloc disengaged, they withdraw as well, allowing Providence Bloc to keep the moon and bringing an end to the fighting.

 Video of the fighting, from Providence Bloc's perspective

The exchange saw Providence Bloc lose 5 Dreadnaughts, 3 Carriers and 44 sub-capital ships for a total of 27 Bil ISK in damages, while their enemies lost 2 Dreadnaughts, 3 Carriers and 32 sub-capitals, for a total of 32 Bil ISK in damages.

Battle Report for the Ziriert System can be found here.

The battle lasted for 40 minutes, during the peak of which the system saw more than 350 pilots in it. Time Dilation proved to be a major factor in the fighting, varying between 40-70% throughout. Several players complained of lag issues, such as no transition between losing ships and pods, modules not cycling correctly and other lag connected issues.

Honoring their fallen Capitals, as taken from CVA Forums

Regardless, both sides agreed that it was an enjoyable fight, and look forward to having similar brawls in the future.

Special thanks to Jin'taan, of Pentag Blade, Curatores Veritatis Alliance and Archeras Umangiar, of Delian Legion, Legion's(dot) Alliance for granting interviews.