State of the Best Squad: Welp Squad
The history
Welp Squad became an official Imperium Squad in April 2017. But how did it get there and how does it look now?
Six months of dedication from Clavo Oxidado, Havish Montak, and the many pilots who joined fleets repeatedly were needed in order to achieve this feat. When the idea of Whelp Squad first came about, the founders envisioned frigates bursting out of a gate and warping to a ratter and unloading death at point blank range into the face of the unsuspecting victim and defense fleet. As some may recall, there was a lot of hostility towards the H in Whelp, rightly or wrongly, but the idea of Whelp Squad was to be an “elite” frigate and destroyer pilot group and not to welp needlessly. After the first capital kill, the Welp Squad founders realized that welping cheap ships whilst flying like Iceman and Maverick is amazingly fun and ISK positive on the killboards.
The first capital kill of Welp Squad
Welp Squad’s first capital kill followed within a week of Whelp Squad starting operations. Bigjelmapro got the initial tackle (but still owed the squad a Rattlesnake). The fleet of Tristans and Griffins piled in and jammed out the fighters before killing them all. During the fight, other victims turned up to support the flailing carrier but with the Griffins and Hornet EC-300s jamming all help the fate of the carrier was sealed. The defanged carrier was slowly breaking and, with bombers on the way, turned off his repairer and accepted his fate.
The path to victory
The burden of trying to expand Welp Squads operations was setting in. Uncle Pilot, CEO of Ascendance, had provided support for the squad including encouraging members to join the fleets and ISK. Welp Squad had carved out some moons and a name in the Imperium but still didn’t have official support. But that soon changed as the Mittani himself announced that Welp Squad was going to be made official. Within a week, the necessary steps were taken and the squad was fully operational.
Welp Squad’s Healthcheck
There were 45 fleets taken out in May 2017 and over 100 billion ISK of hostile assets welped. Fleets normally run in EU primetime and US and AU timezone FCs are actively being sought out. The original principles of flying frigates and destroyers have been expanded to include cruisers. The Welp FC mentoring programme is actively looking for new recruits. Our most recent “graduate’s” story follows.
The Story of Happyshopper123’s progression to an FC
The squad’s newest FC, Happyshopper123, is known for his hunting ability and would often be in command comms listening to the fleet’s FCs. Having gained a liking for the sound of FCing, he used his own initiative to contact Clavo Oxidado. Clavo helped set him up with a few fleets and back seated for him. It didn’t take more than 2 weeks for Happy to be comfortable with taking out his first fleet without being mentored. Happy was following Welp Squad standard operating procedure deep behind enemy lines, taking interceptors to run through bubbles and gate camps and devour the juicy ratters inside the system. About 60 minutes into the fleet, a group of miners were found and having killed off the mining barges the interceptors began to pepper away at the bigger target in the belt. Happyshopper had just obtained his first capital kill as FC of his first fleet.
Wrap up
Welp Squad is now in a healthy place. The squad sees action throughout New Eden and will continue to do so. So my message to Imperium members is, “get in fleet, there’s stuff to kill” and for non-members; “Welp Squad is coming to a system near you”.
