It is no secret that Insurgency has been fighting a number of alliances for control of the 304-QS constellation. The main forces in this campaign have been Insurgency versus a coalition consisting of Combined Planetary Union, Giant Space Amoeba, Phoenix Allianz, and Stella Polar (with a few other alliances pitching in now and then for added carnage).
This report will detail the first stage of our campaign, known as ‘Operation Foothold’.
As the Insurgency recruitment drive drew to a close with a large number of respectable corporations now under its wing, it was time to expand our sights to the vast expanses that are the deep 0.0 constellations. After much pain in analysis and a standings reset, we chose the 304-QS constellation to conquer.
Our first plan was to erect a small number of POS deep inside the constellation, past the entry point of AH-B84, in the systems of HB7R-F, O-JPKH, and B-GC1T… Using these POS we would be able to stage assaults on the rest of the constellation, and have a safe haven to fall back to if the AH-B84 entrance was blocked.
A number of brutal fights followed as we tried to secure HB7R-F with two medium POS, though our short-sightedness and underestimation of the hostile coalition would lead to the downfall of these POS. The coalition managed to put our POS in to reinforced mode a number of times, and each time they were due to come out, we mounted a defensive and managed to hold off the coalition’s might.
The fight for HB7R-F reached it’s most brutal and bloody in the entrance to the constellation (AH-B84), when an Insurgency POS was due to come out of reinforced, date: 2007-10-21. Insurgency forces arrived early and set up a perimeter on the J7YR-1 gate to await the oncoming hostile coalition. Insurgency numbered around 60, where hostile forces grew over 100. As the hostile coalition jumped in to AH-B84, Insurgency lay in waiting with four large bubbles deployed around the gate. The fighting lasted nearly half an hour, ending in an overwhelming victory for Insurgency:
Ship: Kills/Losses
Battleships: 23/2
Battlecruisers: 5/0
HAC: 3/0
Recon: 1/0
Interdictor: 0/1
Interceptor: 2/2
Assault Frigate: 7/2
Covert Ops: 3/2
Cruiser: 4/0
Frigate: 12/0
Capsule: 27/4
We had won the battle, but the war was still to be decided…
The relentless assaults of the hostile coalition were hard to combat, and each time we saved our POS from being put in to reinforcement, a day went by and the timer would start over again. The decision was made to pull out of the 304-QS constellation and leave our POS to die.
During this, the hostile coalition assaulted one of our other POS in the dead-end system of KMC-WI… The defence of this POS involved a large group of Insurgency locking down the system, erecting a Cynosural System Jammer (with a number of capitals in system), and destroying any hostiles that came near. Intel reported that a large coalition force moved towards the system at one point, but then turned around and headed home.
It was time to rethink our plans. We needed some sort of staging area in or near to the 304-QS constellation, but where, and how?
The decision was made to erect a large battle POS in J7YR-1 (the link to AH-B84, entrance to the constellation). From here, we would stage our assault on the enemy controlled territories. Once the POS was deployed and defences were in place, it came under immediate and fierce attack by the hostile coalition. In erecting the defences, a number of problems arose with electronics and bugs. The POS would shoot any player (Insurgency included) outside the force field. All guns were deactivated for two days until the problem could be solved, and the POS was very vulnerable to attack.
Due to these bugs, we decided to quickly erect a small POS in the same system to act as bait for the enemy. Luckily this worked, and the small POS was taken in to reinforced shortly afterwards. We made no effort to defend this, and it was popped a day later.
A number of bloody battles ensued for control of J7YR-1. Insurgency put the CPU POS in system in to reinforced, and the fights were very even.
On 2007-10-30, the enemy coalition teamed up with Mostly Harmless and dropped three Motherships on our fleet. At this point, Insurgency numbered around 60 with hostiles numbering around 80. The fight raged for nearly an hour, ending in similar losses for both sides:
Battleships: 5/4
Battlecruisers: 3/5
Command Ships: 1/1
HAC: 4/2
Interdictor: 4/1
Interceptor: 9/10
Assault Frigate: 4/1
Covert Ops: 3/1
Cruiser: 4/4
Frigate: 4/0
Capsule: 14/14
The coalition claimed victory as they held the field. Insurgency members could all but look on in awe as the hostile coalition (now numbering at six alliances with Mostly Harmless and Event-Horizon) started dropping in super capitals to combat our fleets. A sigh of relief was heard from our fleet commander as he said “It’s a good job I didn’t call in our capitals!” And it was indeed!
A day later, with the Cyno Jammer online (from CPU), the coalition assaulted the Insurgency POS, putting it in to reinforced. POS gunners were able to deal a few blows to the enemy, but once hostile carriers were sat next to them, remote repairing kept the enemy alive. Our POS gunners turned their attention to the fighters, and were able to inflict a lot of financial damage to the enemy. Strontium levels were calculated, and the POS was reinforced.
Time to ready for the grand finale…
As sovereignty clicked to neutral, the hostile Cyno Jammer was put offline, and our capital ships were able to come and go as we pleased. We spent the next two days fighting elsewhere, taking a break from the POS warfare. On Saturday (2007-11-03) however, it was time to decide our fate in this war. Our pod pilots formed up in the morning, and moved out at 10:00. We took control of the system just before our connection feeds vanished for the daily maintenance. A second, smaller fleet moved up as our pod pilots started to online again, and we held the system once more.
We waited in anticipation on the enemy fleet, which comprised of a series of attacks from different directions. The main enemy fleet resided in J7YR-1 at their POS, with another wing sat in AH-B84, and a third wing coming down from their home system (which would arrive through PKG4-7). We set up camp on the PKG4-7 gate and held…
For two hours we held…
Until all of a sudden, the hostile fleets begin converging on our positions. Thirty in AH-B84, thirty in PKG4-7, and nearly one hundred in J7YR-1, where our fleet numbered at less than one hundred pilots. This really would be the battle to decide who would be the victor in this struggle for control of J7YR-1…
The fleets start arriving and the massacre of both armies begins. Our snipers, greatly outnumbered, resort to guerrilla tactics of warping in and out to get positions and kills. Our support fleet suffers from these tactics as it stays throughout the fight to combat hostile support. Explosions and debris fly throughout the system as each side takes heavy losses. Just as the hostile coalition begins to pull out, we manage to snag one of their Archons (Insurgency did not front-line carriers, but the hostiles did).
As our fleet begins to focus on the Archon, we think it’s all over, but wait… The coalition sends back in its entire force at once in one focussed attempt to save their carrier! Our fleet is divided, and through the panic, we start to pin down the hostile ships. The Archon warps away, but at what cost to our foe? Only two or three ships manage to warp away from the final butchery, and Insurgency pilots begin to celebrate their victory:
Battleships: 57/8
Battlecruisers: 15/7
Command Ships: 2/3
HAC: 2/2
Recon: 4/4
Interdictor: 5/2
Interceptor: 14/6
Assault Frigate: 8/0
Covert Ops: 8/2
Cruiser: 20/5
Frigate: 13/6
Capsule: 49/16
The battle lasted nearly two hours, and a new asteroid belt started to emerge with wrecks for roids. Operation Foothold was complete, but that was only the beginning!
Thanks to Combined Planetary Union, Giant Space Amoeba, Phoenix Allianz, Stella Polar, Mostly Harmless, and Event-Horizon. This has been one of the most fun campaigns Insurgency has been a part of so far, and we are all looking forward to some great fights in the near future.