In what must be a welcome change of pace from having their supercap fleet logon-trapped in UALX-3, Pandemic Legion forces have successfully defended a Fortizar in ZMV9-A from attacking forces of Legacy Coalition.
PanFam’s attempts to extricate their supercaps by mass petition were rebuffed by CCP, to the point of having one ship moved back to UALX-3 after CCP admitted the petition should not have been granted, so they were certainly going into the battle with major question marks hanging over them.
Significant Loss to Attackers
Efforts to construct a definitive battle report of the situation have been complicated by technical issues affecting zKillboard’s database, but INN has obtained a screenshot of a believed-accurate battle report showing that the Legacy attackers (left side) lost nearly 400 ships, to the tune of nearly 85 billion ISK, while PL and the other defenders (right side) suffered the loss of only 35 billion ISK, saving the Fortizar in the process. The discerning observer will note, however, that the Northern forces fielded a number of dreadnoughts and force auxiliaries, but no carriers, supercapitals, or titans, which may serve as an indication that they remain logon-trapped in UALX-3. (Readers may access the zKillboard battle report here, but should be advised that as of the time of this writing there are discrepancies between the pre-database-purge and post-database-purge versions of the report.)
Strategic Implications
ZMV9-A, although in the region of Tenerifis, borders the region of Immensea, which has been the target of Test Alliance Please Ignore expansion in recent months. As part of the current Great Western War, Immensea and surrounding areas make up the Southeastern Front, where PanFam is working to contain TEST expansion. Thus this victory may be considered either a strategic victory or a strategic loss depending on how one chooses to frame the discussion – it is a strategic victory in that it preserves a PanFam Fortizar just outside Legacy-controlled space, giving PanFam a forward operating base from which to continue contesting Legacy’s expansion. However, it is also a strategic loss in that it ties down yet more PanFam assets on the Southeastern Front, when arguably they would be of much more use on the Western Front – a place where the Imperium is currently running roughshod over every feeble obstacle placed in their path. PanFam’s ability to run a rental empire will surely be called into question if their caps and supercaps are on the far end of the universe.
Regardless, the victory will no doubt be spun into PanFam propaganda of the purest sense – look what we can accomplish even without our capital ships! Of course, one should note that PanFam won the ISK fight by a relatively modest 50b, which pales in comparison to the more than 400b differential of the V-JCJS titan dunking linked in the previous paragraph. This was a tactical victory for PanFam; that is beyond question. However, was it a strategic victory, especially when a huge portion of PanFam’s capitals and supercapitals remain logon-trapped under strict Imperial Legacy supervision? This writer simply cannot see how.
Developments to Follow
As always, please regularly refresh INN for updates on the current war. Please note also that this article may be edited at a future date with updated information once the zKillboard database is functioning properly.
