Welcome to the sixth and final installment in the Week of War between the Imperium vs PanFam. You can catch up with the previous weeks reports by clicking the links, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5.
Tribute
Much of Tribute had already been burnt to the ground. There remained one single real prize within the now abandoned region, the SH1 Keepstar. The fate of the SH1 Keepstar was probably never in doubt. It would die just as the others had before it. Indeed this would be the case on the 25th of June. You can read all about the exciting event here ( https://imperium.news/last-panfam-keepstar-tribute-falls/ ). With the demise of this former bastion of PanFam power within the region a primary objective of the Imperium was complete. Tribute has indeed been “glassed”.
Vale of the Silent
Forces from the Imperium continued to push into the PanFam owned region of Vale of the Silent. There was no real pressure being applied to the current staging system of PanFam, Q-EH. But this did not prevent the Imperium from laying waste to all that they saw fit to destroy.
With the continued advancement of the forces from the Imperium there was talk about what would happen next. The main staging system of the Imperium was in the system of KQK, which was becoming all the further from where things could be shot. Would the Mittani, leader of the Imperium, order his forces to press on? If so, what would be the next region to fall?
Initiative SOTA Leak
On the 25th of June we were provided the super secret State of the Alliance (SotA) from Initiative leader Sister Bliss. In this SotA Sister Bliss revealed that they would be moving soon as the current campaign was coming to a close. Initiative do intend to keep sub-caps staged out of Hakonen, so pressure of a sort could still be applied to PanFam should Initiative choose to do so.
There was little doubt that the Imperium would be bringing their campaign against PanFam to a close. Although there were still some that were hopeful that the move Sister Bliss had hinted at would in fact be to a new staging area even deeper in PanFam controlled territory.
The Drifter Menace
Around 18:00 on the 26th of June something odd was being reported throughout nullsec in New Eden. NPCs were up to mischief. It soon became apparent that the amount and type of mischief they were up to was far from normal.
In short order reports from all over nullsec were coming in about this new threat. Was it intended or was it a bug? CCP had been tight lipped about the exact details of this World boss event so speculation was rife.
With such uncertainty about the Drifter menace decisions needed to be made quickly by some nullsec leaders. In the case of the Imperium, The Mittani made the unusual move of having an impromptu fireside chat. Fireside chats is where the Mittani presents general guidance and direction to all members of the Imperium. In this fireside chat the Mittani stated that the war against PanFam was over due to the potential threat Drifters posed.
Move operations by the Imperium started immediately after the fireside chat. Over the next few days the bulk of the forces from the Imperium made their journey back to their ancestral homelands of Delve.
Who Won?
The Imperium were very clear in their initial objectives. These were to simply “glass” Tribute and to develop new talent within the military elements of the Imperium war machine. To argue that these goals were not met is going to be a task that only the most delusional will even attempt to carry off. Hundreds of structures were destroyed by the Imperium forces. These included a further 4 PanFam owned Keepstars. Ultimately there was a trail of destruction left across several PanFam regions. Tenal had been picked up by Dead Coalition, Tribute was in ruins, Vale of the Silent ravaged. Well over 4 trillion in damages have been sustained by PanFam forces, which is quite the sum.
PanFam however decided very early on that there would be no large scale battles with the Imperium. There would instead be hit and run tactics on PanFam’s terms. They would choose the battles that they would fight. There was very little evidence of this being the case. Although PanFam did form at times the frequency that they did was very low.
But given the circumstances of how this conflict has come to an end perhaps no-one won. Perhaps everyone in nullsec loses as PvE “content” is able to derail the actions of those choosing to play in nullsec PvP. Could this even be the tip of the iceberg? Will CCP in their misguided efforts to shake up nullsec actually bring about the very thing they were looking to avoid? Will this be the precursor for even more changes to nullsec that benefit the few willing to have 80 accounts?
De-mystifying the Meta
With each conflict that occurs there is often a single defining characteristic. Sometimes, when we are lucky, it will even be fitting to use as a name for such wars. This was the case for instance with The Casino War, as casinos were a central point in the conflict.
So it is worthwhile spending a little bit of time looking at the actions and narratives being presented from both sides to see if such a name will come out on top. Especially as there were some very good suggestions from previous posts here at INN.
As already mentioned in previous articles regarding this conflict, the Imperium have remained steadfast in their own narratives. Burn a region or so and train new people. No spin, no icing, just a remarkably simple couple of objectives.
PanFam however seemed to really struggle with any type of coherent narrative at all. You do not need to go back far in time to see PanFam accuse the Imperium of just “krabbing”. But once the Imperium boiled forth from Delve and headed north yet again the PanFam tune changed rapidly. No longer was it “goons are just useless krabs” but a lot more “reee they out number us so much”. This was all the more amusing as only a fraction of the Imperium actually deployed. You see there is a stark contrast between the Imperium and PanFam. PanFam are full of alliances that claim to be PvP focused and push their ratting, mining and industry activities elsewhere. Whereas the Imperium hold all activities under one umbrella. So when comparing the two you are trying to compare apples with oranges.
PanFam were very keen to make comparisons between this war and the Casino War. Many were saying “what we are doing is the same as what the goons did in the Casino War”. But to anyone who actually flew on either side of the Casino War this was obvious nonsense. The two events are not even comparable in the slightest. The Imperium fought to the best of its abilities, whereas PanFam most certainly did not. Was this the right move by PanFam? Quite probably.
To be quite honest there is little shame in “turtling up” and not fighting when you are not able to do so effectively. But in doing so it is hard to be taken seriously when you then proclaim to be an elite fighting force. It is like the schoolyard bully who has been resoundingly thrashed to then try to be the tough guy again. It may work on some, but for most it is simply hollow posturing at best.
So despite how PanFam will want to remember this war, if they even wish to remember it at all, for me it will be the war where PanFam fled. Truly this was World War Flee.
What Next?
In what can only be described as a really weird turn of events we seem to be heading to a new war immediately. This has all the makings of being a most unusual war indeed. All of the nullsec power blocs are coming together with a single vision in mind. Line members from all sides of New Eden nullsec coalitions are all baying for blood. This time it seems that it is for the blood of hisec residents. How this will play out and materialize in reality is still to be seen.
We do know that at times nullsec powers are willing to set aside differences when it is mutually beneficial. This was the case with both Botlord and OTEC. Has CCP unwittingly forced nullsec players into forming the largest blue donut ever seen? More importantly, what impact will this have to the game overall? These are indeed the most interesting of times.
Stay tuned to INN to see what happens next in our space-drama-soap-opera.
