32 replies to this topic

[Azual]

What was good? What could we improve? How hilarious was it to get holy hand-grenade hotdropped TWICE in one night? Enquiring minds want to know! Also if anyone recorded either of the smartbombing fights, let me know! (also let DrJ Zoidberg know in-game if you got a FRAPs of the RnK one)

[Smantis]

Bloody brilliant is all I have to say *grinning from ear to ear* The class yesterday was very enlightening and I learned a lot. Escaping bubbles is something I have yet to perfect but admittedly our thrashers were not the most nimble of ships. A massive thanks you our FCs - Glepp and Azual. Scouts and skirmishers, you guys and gal were amazing too; without you it doesn't seem possible to do what we do. Defiantly going to be making this a regular on my calendar. Smantis/Eklest

[Aethena]

The class was great and the roam was awesome!

Yesterday's class was very well structured and all of the information clearly presented. I really liked the 'live fire' bubble exercise, and would have enjoyed doing it again (or perhaps doing some other live fire exercises). It was good practice doing it under controlled conditions and made me feel much more able to deal with things today (though I guess we couldn't really do a Holy Hand Grenade simulation... )

Both Glepp and Azual were excellent FCs, and our scouts were amazing. I'm really looking forward to taking the Covops class with Dzu, and doing the Advanced course once I get more experience.

Today was most definitely a memorable day – thank you so much to Azual, Glepp, Dzu and everyone else at Agony who made it possible

From the Book of Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one:

And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O Lord, bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the Lord did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats..."

And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.

"Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it."

[Sadamu]

Outstanding! Kudos and thanks to the FCs, scouts, skirmishers, and other folks who supported the class and roam.

The live-fire exercise was incredibly useful - it's so much easier to catch details of what's happening under controlled conditions. I also feel like the classwork is well-adapted to the practical issues of 50 students. You can't realistically give each student a lot of individual guidance, but there's a lot of moments for individual discovery created. That's hard to get when you're in a regular fleet op and things happen much more quickly (and en masse).

And speaking of en masse.... Holy Hand Grenade was brilliant. Not just for the sheer wow factor - but it's also good to have the experience of being one-shotted.

[Cynn Ayres]

So tell me more about the second holy hand-grenade, I had to drop off after we got to the Stacmon after the first one. As always Agony, I found this class to be informative and fun. I look forward to Cov-ops and the Advanced class.

[Sarek Minyatar]

So tell me more about the second holy hand-grenade, I had to drop off after we got to the Stacmon after the first one.

As always Agony, I found this class to be informative and fun. I look forward to Cov-ops and the Advanced class.

Second time was Ninja Unicorns (the guys that got a nice drop on us in the last basic roam) - however they failed pretty hard - they baited us with a Proteus and a Devoter and we managed to kill the Proteus, while they only managed to kill a handful of Thrashers (Battlereport- we killed the Myrm before this happened). Executing this properly is difficult, thats why glepp was so impressed by the HARK drop before.

[glepp]

Yeah, I was really impressed with Rooks and Kings and their Holy Handgrenade, kudos to them for good exectuition. When we came into poitot, and our scouts reported the sabre, part of me was considering going to a TAC and then bouncing, but bloodlust got the better of me. If someone had reported the sabre as HARK, then i probably would have (yes, i always expect shenenigans from them, and rightly so, it seems). AAR for public consumption to follow: Ok, we formed up with about 40-50 arty thrashers and about 10-15 support. Lots of covops flying around, and while Azual was forming the fleet, we had spotted a 90-man local presence down in PC9 and a 20-man Drake gang up in the X-M area, so things were looking good. Sadly the 90 man local in PC9 dropped before we could get there, and it seems whatever was happening was over by the time we got there. On the way we had a little baitgroup fight with a cynabal in MHC and lost some tacklers traded for the cynabal, but they all died before the main fleet got there. After that, we got our hands on a solo Myrm in 6-C and killded him, nice tackle by Azual. We then moved to PC9 where some BCs were hugging station, and baited them to the JH- gate. Oozy and his 7 thrasher friends killed a few of them before the fleet could get there, so all that was left was mopping up. Damn that catch bubble. Oh well. How that Sabre of his survived, i really do not know, but it did. We tried to instapop a cane and a drake on station, but failed because the cane docked really fast. Then it seemed the 20-man drake gang had left for higsec, but oh well. We then moved on back towards MHC to pick up some reshippers, when reports came in of a 15-man Ronin BC gang up in northern Syndicate. Started moving in that direction, but on the way we got Hand-Grenaded by HARK. For those not aquainted with HARK, it's the Alliance ticker for Rooks and Kings, one of the best pvp groups in Eve. They routinely take triage carrier-supported Battleship gangs and kill, mollest and maim big and small alike, and they do it very well. Basically, we were coming into Poitot, when scouts reported a sabre in a bubble on the outgate. Scouts went for tackle, while i brought the fleet in and warped us to the outgate (this was the mistake, i should have warped to a TAC as that sabre was going to be hard to catch anyway, since he was burning off. So warping to gate would probably have left us unable to kill him or warp to the tacklers. Bouncing from a TAC would have been better and would also not have gotten the whole fleet killed.) So anyway, while we are about to come out of warp, a cyno goes up on the catchpoint of the sabre bubble, and a 5 seconds after we land, smartbombing battleships start coming through. As soon as we landed and i saw the cyno, i initiated a gangwarp to station, so about 10 of us got out, while the rest got popped and podded. This was, as mentioned, a very well executed "Holy Handgrenade"-manouver by Rooks and Kings. Agony loves durkas, and have used a similar tactic before to great success against a Razor AHAC fleet. I can only give kudos to RnK. As i said in the AAR after that, I imagine they were snickering a bit on TS afterwards. I really hope they recorded it. After that, we moved back to Stacmon, reshipped and moved out again. We had reports of the 15-man Ronin gang still moving about and an Ares Protectiva gang of similar size chasing them. That sounded like great threeway, so we made best speed. The Ronin and AP gangs were holding in 9GYL and we had reports of reinforcements heading in. We hid the fleet in 2P- and waited for them to get it on. Unfortunately they never did, so when Ares Prot seemed to be moving back, I jumped the gun on our dictor trap, and we lost them. Only got us a Taranis, a covops and a Tempest for our trouble. My bad, i really need to learn patience. After that, I left the fleet in the capable hands of Azual Skoll, and I'll leave the rest of the AAR to him. Seems someone tried to handgrenade you a second time but weren't quite as successful as HARK... Thanks for coming, i had a blast. Big thanks to our covops pilots and skirmishers for making the roam a successful one. Any feedback from students on how you experienced the roam, and especially my FCing is greatly appreciated.

[Nonnori]

Great after action report Glepp, thanks! I had an excellent time, despite joining just too late to be smartbombed with everyone else. (Fortunately/unfortunately?) Will join again as alumni. ... Trying to think of insightful feedback, the only thing that comes to mind is that it would have been great if the strategy being used could have been explained more clearly in the moment, but given the huge amount of things one's already doing as FC, even that was pretty damn good.

[Leonidas Tokugawa]

The structure of the theoretical part was well done. I think having the distinct sections taught by a different instructor helps everyone. The students have a clear delineation that a different tactical skill is being discussed and it gives Agony pilots more of a chance too learn too give lectures. The reinforcement of the theory in the practical’s is a very important part and allows confidence too build. And for those who have never had too deal with a bubble in a fleet I am happy they had the opportunity too experience this. Especially since Nullsec is Bubble land where we did both encounter and use them. I really enjoyed the practical....both Holy Hand Grenades and all. I had experience them before with the bubble then the flash; and you wonder if disco is back and cringe. A fantastic job of recon was performed by all the scouts and skirmishers. The Fleet Commanders were decisive and assessed the situations and acted. I plan too fly as an Alumnus when the opportunity presents itself. I did notice that though from start too finish all went well, this does not mean no losses (what fun would that be). The style of both FC's started out confident and it is obvious they knew what they were doing. But once the fleet was in danger, whether perceived or real, their commands seemed more deliberate and clear too me. The extraneous chatter was reduced if not eliminated by its own accord and communications (comms) became more military in nature which is more of what I am use too. The open comms is brilliant during a class so that all can get a glimpse of the real responsibilities involved in the various jobs in a fleet. I highly recommend this class. I thank everyone in the fleet for the opportunity and the fun. Look forward too roaming with you all again.

[Mujen]

Yeah we should have been a bit more cautious in poitot with that sabre. I think we thought that sabre was caught in a drag bubble and were a bit over aggressive and played into their hands. Other than that I had a great time on the roam. Thanks to Glepp and Azual for making it happen. Glad to see that syndicate was alive and kicking, compared to the last basic roam.

[Crazy Vania]

Skirmisher reporting in . Azual's fleet was absolutely fantastic, I've nearly never had so much fun point-scouting. I'm sorry I missed Glepp's fleet.

[Petra]

Another great class and roam, the FCing on the roam was first class and I enjoyed trying to give recon in the class portion on gate camps, first squad through as well , as always I was Umming and Ahhing ( a bad habit i cannot seem to get rid of), why is it that its all clear in one's head and as soon as you key the mike it all disappears and your brains turn to mush? Kudos to Rooks And Kings, they really did a number on us and it was awesome to experience and I felt as if we all really learned something about how a small mistake, which against most opponents would make little difference , became crucial when against some real experts. I think we learned quite a lot there which enabled us to do better in the second Holy H.G attempt So when is the next class please? ( hope I have enough time to go earn some ISK for more ships and not the noob ones I have scattered all over low and null sec lol) OOOOOhh just noticed I got the final blow on one of the 'canes My first ever PVP kill

[Kaeda Maxwell]

Roam was good fun like always, excellent FC'ing, and as always Agony's unrivalled scouts are well, unrivalled. So, I R can haz atvanzed class now? Pwetty pleaze?

[Dr oozy]

After my reaction to the HARK handgrenade I felt a new forum avatar was in order.

[Azual]

After that, I left the fleet in the capable hands of Azual Skoll, and I'll leave the rest of the AAR to him. Seems someone tried to handgrenade you a second time but weren't quite as successful as HARK...

We stopped off in 31- for a bio while I had a quick chat with the scouts to assess the situation. While we were docked up, the Ares protectiva gang we'd been toying with earlier made a breakout attempt into 2P-. Ksharaa (iirc) gave chase and managed to catch a straggling drake in A-S, while I brought the fleet into action as quickly as possible (really impressed with the fleet discipline by the students btw, we were moving very fast)! The Ares Protectiva gang briefly considered bailing out their drake friend, then turned tail before we had even arrived in system.

With the rest of the Ares gang gone, we headed down towards the Ronin gang who had moved down the pipe towards 8V-. Our scouts reported a 25 man FIGL battleship gang with heavy logi support coming the other way, so we waited off gate in X-M to let them pass (I held the fleet at 100km, hoping to alpha any tacklers that burned out to us). A couple of what appeared to be scouts came through, and then a mega was reported in warp to the X-M gate... but the rest of the FIGL fleet was apparently leaving back the other way! Our scouts got into position and I bounced the fleet, and the mega was toast.

We continued down the pipe, nabbing an NCdot sabre and a FIGL thorax on the way. Our scouts reported another BS gang fighting the FIGL BS gang in TXW, and we were hoping to crash the party. When we reached 8V, one of our scouts reported a devoter warping to our gate and we got in position to tackle - and then a proteus appeared (non-cloaky, but I never heard it called on the far side). We started burning down the proteus, while we got backup points on the devoter.

I'm still not sure if the proteus was with the devoter's gang or not - he had a cyno fitted, but he didn't light it and was instead burning (very slowly under multiple webs) back to gate. Note that ships cannot light a cyno while moving. Eventually the devoter bubbled up (I guess he had been trying to get in range of us?) and a cyno was lit - I'm not sure which of the ships lit it, I had assumed at the time it was the devoter but perhaps the proteus had just decided it was now or never as he entered structure. HORN bridged in another hand grenade gang, while I called for everyone to burn out and keep firing on the proteus. We will made it out with most of our fleet, while the proteus died with a little help from the HORN smartbombs (we still got the final blow however!) Oh, and somewhere in there we managed to kill the manticore who had been bombing us all night.

We started heading back, snagging a FIGL myrmidon along the way before burning (very quickly, again I'm really impressed) back to Stacmon. With the hour getting late, we stood down the fleet there.

Awesome gang everyone, definitely a memorable night! I'm so glad we got the proteus too - that alone paid for every loss of the night twice over!

[Crazy Vania]

As I said, one of the most enjoyable fleet I've been in in my history of Eve. Azual's reaction time is perfect. His situational awareness, knowing what to listen for and what to go for, was impressive. Swimming in a sea of hunted and hunters, he did an excellent job of moving the fleet to go to the most urgent calls. A special mention to a cloaky we had. I don't remember the name, starts with a D I think ? finishing with dru. Not dzu, someone else. A student maybe ? His information gathering and positioning was the key to most of our successes. I think he was in a buzzard.

[Loki Akami]

Excellent class. Learned several things that I hadn't known/realised prior. The lesson on the leaderships skills/links were informative and I think I'll work towards learning some in the future. The practical exercise on gate camps was especially useful, I'm sure I'll have to do that for real at least once down the road. I agree that the use of different instructors for different portions of the class would be good in the future. It did work to break up the lessons well. I enjoyed the roam. It was great getting a couple kills prior to getting hot dropped by RnK. While I do know what happened and how its excuted, I'm still not sure exactly what happened. One second I was in warp, there was this great flash, and the next moment I was waking back up in Stacmon. Was an excellent lesson on something to potentially look out for. I'll certainly fly with you guys again as an alumni the next time y'all run one of these. I also look forward to the Advanced and especially the Covops course, since I'm probably going to end up being a scout for my corp/alliance.

[glepp]

getting hot dropped by RnK. While I do know what happened and how its excuted, I'm still not sure exactly what happened. One second I was in warp, there was this great flash, and the next moment I was waking back up in Stacmon.

BAsically, they have a bunch of smartbombing battleships sitting on a titan somewhere in bridge range (titans can open a jump portal to a cynosaural field, letting ships "bridge" over (same as going through a gate, but you come out at the cyno)). They pop a bubble at our outgate with a sabre, which is reported by our scouts, trying to catch it. Then they put a cyno fit ship at the point where we will land on that bubble. We warp to the gate, they light a cyno while we are in warp, and start bridging through their battleships. When we land, we land right on top of them as we are caught in the bubble. Then we die, while they laugh.

I had a good laugh too though.

[Azual]

A special mention to a cloaky we had. I don't remember the name, starts with a D I think ? finishing with dru. Not dzu, someone else. A student maybe ? His information gathering and positioning was the key to most of our successes. I think he was in a buzzard.

That was jandru (sp?), tlak's alt. And yeah, absolutely - tlak was invaluable, and tended to be exactly where I needed someone before I even asked for somebody to be there. Big props, especially considering he was dual boxing.

[Sarek Minyatar]

A special mention to a cloaky we had. I don't remember the name, starts with a D I think ? finishing with dru. Not dzu, someone else. A student maybe ? His information gathering and positioning was the key to most of our successes. I think he was in a buzzard.

It was Tlak Chilk and yes he did a great job. o/

[Prudance]

Class was awesome. Great to learn about POS, bubbles etc etc Sad that I missed what sounds like an awesome roam. Looking forward to the next class

[Petra]

Has anyone got a link to any of the videos?

[Sarek Minyatar]

Has anyone got a link to any of the videos?

I haven't seen any video yet, not sure anyone frapsed it.

[Othran]

Sounds like you all had a good time - sorry I wasn't able to come, and sorry for zero notice for no-show (especially Kaeda). Got stuck in Minsk and then Kiev Friday/Saturday - Belavia makes Ryanair look like they're the best airline on the planet. Two more weeks and counting.... I like the holy handgrenade - shame it needs the titan bridge though. Edit - I guess a login trap would work too for us poor people

[Angelio]

Just a quick feedback; the lectures were really informative, special the part of importance of leadership skill and use of gang bonuses. I like the lecture of POS and my recommendation for next class is that you set up some small POS just for purpose of students experience barrier effect and to see it up close (if it is possible and not to expensive). The part of live gate camp was really good idea to give students a feel for it and my recommendation is to make it commonly practis in PVP BASIC too. Would be more interesting though if the squid that survive the camp is in charge in organizing it for next group with the help of agony dictor. Yea and just for next time when a student is to give a scout report ask other students in group to fulfill him if he forget something like info on local or so… Roam was great and excited as any agony roam and I am glad I had a chance to witness "Holy Handgrenade"-manouver… many thanks to all parties involved that make it possible. Until next time, Angel