Strategies for Aegis Sov

  
I have been waiting for the jury to come in on Fozziesov. The problem with that is the fact that a judgement about the success of an endeavour is best after time passes. Three years from now, we will be able to say with some accuracy how Fozziesov turned out. But what will the signals be along the way? People will quickly say that the concurrent user count is important. But that value is pretty far removed from what we actually want to measure. With that logic, we could say that the local power plant is doing its job when Aunt May is happy. After all Aunt May uses a lot of electronic devices. She gets pretty angry when the power goes out. But it may be that when the next black-out occurs, Uncle George takes the opportunity to give her head. Or she may be out camping. The correlation is not as strong as we would like. Ideally we want metrics for the direct output of a system that are not dependent on other variables. I propose that we look at the strategies that are successful in Fozziesov. For example the old sov system sucked because the best strategies were to grind the enemy down and to bore them with mountains of EHP. On the other hand, Fozziesov would be a success if it suddenly generated a bunch of sweet fights, because the optimal strategy was to brawl outrageous. With that in mind, what strategies appear to hold promise now that the system is in swing?
“…the best results come from forcing the enemy to field entosis ships”
For starters, killing entosis ships is job one. I have been in multiple fights where all one side was doing was hunting entosis ships. I used thin entosis ships at one point, and was punished by roughly three groups of 5-10 interceptors that ran around ganking them when I turned to deal with a cruiser fleet. I have seen sniping Tornadoes show up, shoot once, and warp off again. And I have had chicken shoots where an enemy has sent out bunches of entosis ships that I could just hunt down. The only fights I have gotten, were against a particularly stupid opponent who jumped their fleet into mine unscouted, and against a small Pizza Talwar gang. The lesson I took from this is that the best results come from forcing the enemy to field entosis ships, and the worst results come from fielding more entosis ships than you can easily defend. Its much more fun to get the ganks than to defend scattered assets, so do the first thing. Another strategy that works is sending a tanky cyno-ship to put a system into reinforce that is within hotdrop range of your staging area. I have gotten some good kills hotdropping people who were trying to stop me from reinforcing their station. The tankiest option is the triage carrier. Although, for that you need capital superiority, and a dictor and prober in system to prevent (or catch) a sneaky drive-by titan. If you do not want to risk that much, a T1 battleship or battlecruiser should be sufficient. Just send a prober and a few tacklers along in case a clever enemy uses snipers. Once you have pushed the system into reinforce, go to the initial strategy when it comes out. Hunt the entosis that are trying to fix things. Living in NPC is a very appealing option. You never have to fight a very important battle, which may be a pain under Fozziesov rules. This is how you avoid your own personal B-R5. At most, you end up struggling over ratting space. You can live if you happen to lose the place where you like to rat. By comparison if you lose your staging system, you are totally fucked. captureevent A new strategy that is beginning to look much better, is not giving a shit. I recommend trying this radical new program. They are conquering a system 20 jumps away that you do not use? Let them. Then when the baddies set up base within your operational range farm them like crazy. Put their new system into reinforce and make them capture timers. Kill their entosis ships. Gank them and kill their ratters. Then leave when you have had enough and come back the next day for another helping. If they do not defend themselves, boot them out without ceremony. It is not as if an unused system is doing much for you anyway. When it vomits out content in the form of squatters, have some fun. Light the hobos on fire.
“I cannot stress enough the value of not giving a shit.”
I cannot stress enough the value of not giving a shit. You cannot be trolled over pointless systems if you elect to not give a shit. You look at the problem, shrug your shoulders, and wander off in search of good content. It is not as if your name on the map in every single system matters. Its not as if a sov troll is going to lead a successful life setting up shop next to a real power. Take it easy and go get a beer out of your fridge. Use your space, the part you really care about. CFC has demonstrated that their defenses are pretty solid because they use everything. By ratting and mining every system to near 60 minute timers it turns the system into pure misery for the attacker. It will not stop a more powerful force from hammering a weaker force, but it will ward off the trolls. At the very least it will buy time to go and gank them. Furthermore, you are likely to have a presence in the space that you are actually using. Undocking to shoot a troll is a relatively trivial matter compared to running 20 jumps after one. So we know the initial strategies and we have some solutions. Let us get to judgement- Well, that is going too fast. These strategies are fresh and untested. I expect the meta to shift again and again before we find any kind of equilibrium. Still, pay attention to the strategies that emerge. The strategies matter more than the mechanical details. Sooner or later you will find yourself trying to execute on one strategy or another. When you do, take a breath, and tell Aunt May I said ‘Hi.’
Tags: Aegis sov, Fozziesov, Mukk, nullsec, sovereignty, strategy

About the author

Mukk Barovian

Mukk is a long time skirmish FC with a penchant for overpropping his ships.