The Great Western War between wartime allies Imperial Legacy and the rest of EVE is about to begin in earnest. The battle of DW-, the location of CO2’s staging Keepstar looms as the system’s iHub timer is about to be due on 1430 EVE today, providing Imperium forces an opportunity to cripple their opponents’ cyno jamming capability.
But first, let us take a step back and provide a high level overview of who is fighting against who in this newest conflict that spans the entirety of New Eden. Conceptually, it helps to think about the conflict in terms of two theatres that involve key actors Legacy Coalition and the Imperium.
In the Southeast
The first theatre in this war sees Legacy Coalition defend against a concentrated push of the Holy Rental Empire (consisting of skill urself <IGME> and V0LTA) and the Chinese-led Winter Coalition against Legion of xXDeathXx (xDeath)’s efforts to take new space in Immensea. Recently, Pandemic Legion deployed its supercapital fleet to assist in the push against Legacy.
This war is most likely the consequence of xDeath being perceived as “running away” from the Holy Rental Empire after the HRE’s northern dronelands campaign against the now-defunct Drone Regions Federation. xDeath have sheltered with TEST Alliance Please Ignore (TEST) and Legacy Coalition in Catch. They enjoy vocal support of TEST leadership, which is also providing much of the muscle in this war at their doorstep.
Further commentary on developments in the east can be gleaned from Paramemetic’s excellent recent article.
The Western War
More recently, the Imperium has anchored an advanced staging Keepstar in the FEDUP-held system of 6RCQ-V from which it bases its siege of the DW-T2I Keepstar of CO2. CO2 are supported by the remaining sov-holding entities of the North, namely Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) and Northern Coalition. (NC.).
The Imperium’s push marks the first concerted offensive after being pushed out of the North in the so-called Casino War by forces backed by in-game Casinos that have hence been banned by CCP on the suggestion of large-scale RMT. A special focus lies on the treatment of CO2 who had decided to betray the Imperium. Their search for greener pastures has since seen them removed from Legacy coalition and their leader, gigx, banned over visual real-life threats uttered against fellow players, and has now brought them to the frontlines of battle against superior forces out for blood.
While the battle over the Keepstar’s second timer could be averted by anchoring CPU-less cynosural jammers on reinforced player-owned stations, this marks just a delay, with several battles over the system scheduled to happen over the next few days.
Timers to watch out for
Of the available system timers (https://timerboard.net), the most interesting is the iHub timer of DW-. However, since the introduction of citadels, many of the most important battles happen over staging Fortizars that allow capital fleets to base out of them, and allow secure tethering of supercapital forces in the area. Expect to watch quite a few interesting battles over those to happen in the south-east, where the situation is a bit more developed that in the Northern theatre that is dominated by the siege of DW-.
Smaller entities and Neutral Actors
Federation Uprising (FEDUP), who host the Imperium’s advance stager are, according to Goonswarm diplomats, one of the more interesting entities to watch in this war. Corps Diplomatique’s and INN editor Dirk Stetille: “The most interesting group to me who have been involved in the war so far is Federation Uprising. They’re a Gallente Militia alliance who were pretty major in the creation of “Galmilistan” last year. Galmilistan is a section of Cloud Ring taken over by FEDUP and other Gallente Militia alliances. The Imperium dropped their staging keepstar in a FEDUP system, and they have been set blue by the Imperium for as long as the war lasts. Current analysis says they stand to gain at most some breathing room, in addition to all the fights that they get to come in and have fun with.” A lack of fights due to the proliferation of Citadels led to Galmilistan. This makes FEDUP one of the more interesting actors to watch.
Red Menance Coalition, long-time Imperium allies who are resident in Delve border region Period Basis have not yet entered the conflict. The Russian alliance is said to have a difficult relationship with xDeath and might, if it enters the war, support Legacy’s opponents. However, it is questionable whether such a move aligns with their strategic vision.
Interesting Times
All in all, we can observe again some movement in the political landscape of EVE, with the economic behemoth of the Imperium beginning its first major offensive after securing the promised land of Delve. Until now, Imperium pilots had not had the chance to take revenge on the enemies of the Casino Wars. It remains to be seen to which degree the economic powerhouse of Delve can translate into military successes. Over all this, we also should not lose sight of the south eastern theatre, which promises some interesting fights especially in the Austrasian timezone, facilitated by the growth of chinese alliances on Tranquility.
