Vily, TESTs Military Director released an alliance military update today. Military updates are designed to rally the troops, inspire line members, and lay out a strategy for the upcoming period.
As expected, much of this related to the ongoing war in Tribute that TEST and CO2 are fighting as defenders against Northern Coalition, who are supported in their attacks by Pandemic Horde and Pandemic Legion. This war began when Pandemic Horde announced an invasion of Tribute back in September, ostensibly to gain additional space for horde, so they had better space to live in, and easier access to empire.
Whilst the war has been a slow burner, with neither side claiming any decisive victories, Vily seems to believe that the war will eventually tilt in favour of the attackers, stating that:
Co2 still isn’t 100% where I would like them to be doctrinally but they have come a really long way and are pushing through this war far better than could ever be hoped. They are still going to lose a good chunk of tribute however
This is down to numbers fielded by each side, with Vily saying that:
The coalition against Co2 and Test now numbers well over a thousand combined active at one time pilots and could easily push to 1.5k or more. Between Co2 and test we could both probably field maybe 400-500 for something of great importance but that puts us heavily behind the curve.
He also expects the war to get dirty, with Pandemic Legion attempting to stir up discontent within the ranks of CO2 and cause the alliance to fall apart from within, and he calls on TEST members to counter this expected propaganda as much as possible.
TEST should prepare for relocation to lowsec, with the intention of leaving nothing for their enemies to capture
As soon as this war hits our doorstep trim your assets down to what you need, you dont need 15 billion isk or random assets in 0mv. Our default low-sec regrouping point will be Obe V-2………..We will fight where we can and walk away when we cannot. That is how smart underdogs play in eve and that is how TEST will continue to play this war.
This mirrors the Imperium strategy during the war with the MBC and perhaps indicates that this will be the direction that future Sov wars take in Eve, with withdrawing to lowsec to regroup becoming the norm.
Within the war itself, recent developments have seen NC entosising systems, and Darkness and Chaos Theory moving their dreadnoughts and subcaps to LEK-N5. These may be normal mobilizations are an ongoing part of the war, however, Vily says in his update that he expects an attack on a keepstar within the next week or two.
The actual timeframe of any attack may be shorter than this, with the Selene and Lady Scarlet interview at Eve Vegas now almost two weeks ago. Any attack on a keepstar that comes would be the first attack on a fitted keepstar in New Eden, so is sure to draw a high number of participants eager to be on the first kill mail, if the attack is successful.
