In Syndicate on December 13 at 19:30 EVE time in MHC-R3, EVE University’s (E-UNI) Dragonslayer Fleet engaged The OSS (OSS) and Suddenly Spaceships. (CYN0) in an organised fight. EVE University runs Dragonslayer Fleets a few times a year as part of their training. It is an opportunity for students to get capital ship experience. In this case, the Dragonslayer came out second best with a loss of 38 billion ISK, with OSS/CYN0 losing 7 billion ISK.
Background
EVE University is one of the oldest and most respected new player training corporations in EVE Online. It operates in all areas of space and teaches in all aspects of EVE Online. It has an established library of resources; lecture, training and mentor program. It has no political ties and operates with the main focus on teaching the new player.
The OSS is one of the oldest alliances in EVE and are lifelong Syndicate residents. Suddenly Spaceships. are close friends of The OSS and also live in Syndicate. Both are pvp alliances with high skill point and experienced pilots.
A Dragonslayer fleet is a massive fleet designed to lure out capitals (‘dragons’). Eve University assemble as many battleships, logistics and capitals as they can. It is a rare opportunity for lower skill point pilots to engage with capital ships. They often call on alumni and friends to provide capital support and this fleet was no exception. William Sedgwick Vyvorant from Lazerhawks provided a bling fit Phoenix and Tertius Tallang and selenia manalor from Ex Inanimento Prodeo each provided a triage Archon. Entriri Crendraven is one of EVE University’s students, and this was his first time FCing a capital fleet.
The Interviews
We spoke to FCs from both sides, Entriri Crendraven from EVE University and BlazingBunny from OSS.
TMC: How was this all organised?
Entriri: Gareth Correlian, who is the normal FC for the Dragonslayer fleets, wanted to fly a capital, so he asked for another FC to step up. I took the opportunity, as I have never commanded capitals before. We spent a few months sorting fits and organising. It takes a lot of planning and teaching to get a Dragonslayer Fleet off the ground due to the variable skill points and experience of the students. Coaxster was a huge help and this was also his final fleet with the Uni. I also got a lot of solid advice and help from Apothne.
Blazing: At the end of August we were approached by EVE University to host a Dragonslayer Fleet. I coordinated with Entriri for a time and date. Intel was exchanged, such as dread and carrier numbers, to make sure it was a good fight and as even as possible. We selected the nullsec system to try and minimise the possibility of third partying from lowsec groups.
TMC: How did the battle go down?
Entriri: We jumped in from Harroule and warped to planet four. Prior to the fight I had made some tacticals around the planet to help us out. I knew they were going to come at range but I didn’t know where. They landed in a different spot that I predicted. I tried a few different tacticals to try and get us in range without landing us in optimal of their Machariels. They ended up warping in on us and it was on from there.
Early in the fight one of our cyno’s ended up getting declocked and shot. So we ended up with one cyno. This meant that both the capitals and the bombers had to come in at the same time. This didn’t work out for our bomber group as they landed right next to a sabre pilot and got taken out quickly.
I focused on the Archons and subcaps, which was a mistake. I should have gone for the dreads straight away. We lost our dreadnoughts quickly and once the carriers popped, I knew it was time to extract. It didn’t go as planned but it was a good fight, we exchanged blows for about 20minutes before losing our first archon. The OSS and Suddenly didn’t bring overwhelming odds. Everyone was real happy with the fight.
Blazing: We bridged into system with our battleship and archon fleet. At the same time, EVE University jumped in from Harroule. Entriri had picked the location of the fight and called it – planet four. The EVE Uni fleet landed at range, then bounced tacticals. We destroyed a few of their ships at range and what we suspected was a cyno ship. Eventually, we managed to land a hictor bubble on their fleet and went to work on their battleships. After a few minutes E-UNI cynoed in four dreads and triage. A bomber fleet also cynoed in but was quickly dispatched. We countered with our own dreads with Cephei Kells in command. We worked through their dreads first then logistics. Once their logistics was gone the battle was won.
Videos
From EVE University perspective.
From OSS/CYN0 perspective.
All videos have been provided with permission from their respective authors.
Brief Analysis
Both teams fielded equal capital numbers (not all capitals are on the killmail). Each team had four dreadnaughts and four carriers. EVE University fielded a 81 man subcap fleet with OSS/CYN0 fielding a 47 man subcap fleet. OSS/CYN0 had a greater number of battleships (31 to 26). EVE University fielded a bomber fleet which, if given a chance to survive, would have played a significant role in the fight. EVE University had more ewar on field in the form of a Bhaalgorn, neut Prophecies, Sentinel, Falcon, Celestis, Huginns and Maulus.
OSS/CYN0 focused on taking down the dreadnoughts first, whereas EVE University primaried battleships and Archons. The fight lasted 20mins before EVE University lost their first archon and then logistics started to break. After this EVE University suffered many losses as their fleet was trapped within bubbles and unable to extract.
Both sides were very positive about the fight. The OSS/CYN0 winning on the boards and EVE University gaining their pilots and FC’s valuable experience. BlazingBunny comments “Mad props for being a newer FC and leading a cap fleet. I would have never been able to do this when I first started as an FC. It says a lot about the Uni. It’s an impressive fleet for a new FC.” Entriri Crendraven said “It was a great experience and everyone is looking forward to doing another one.”
We look forward to seeing the result of the next Dragonslayer fleet.
Image use: Lazlow Jones
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Cerussite.
