Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for that past two
weeks, you may have noticed that the North has heated up a bit. The residents
of Venal, primarily Black Legion. , Scrap Iron Flotilla, and Confederation of xXPIZZAXx,
have started taking CFC moons, mostly belonging to Fidelas Constans (FCON) and
SpaceMonkey’s Alliance (SMA). Having
grown bored of the peace and quiet after the conquest of Tribute, The Mittani
officially mobilized the CFC forces[1]
and began to march to the defense of their allies. And thus, the Crayon Wars have
begun.[2]
Rather
than give a blow by blow recap of the skirmishes to date, I’d like to focus on
the overall strategies each side should adopt were I calling the shots.
Black Legion and
Friends
The BL
and friends have stirred up one mother of a hornets nest. Were this a real life
campaign that the BL were undertaking, I would call the whole thing foolhardy. But as we’re talking about internet
spaceships, the odds that the BL face only make things more exciting.
On paper, the Venal residents are
bringing around 1500 members to this space war. The CFC, on the other hand, is
a bit less than 30,000 strong. Sure, there are probably a fair number of alts
and multiple accounts on both sides, but any way you cut it the BL guys are a
bit in over their heads. Given these numbers, our David in this scenario would
have to be suicidal to take Goliath head on. If BL is going to have any shot at
even putting a dent in the CFC, they need to focus on guerilla tactics. As a
rule they would need to never engage the CFC on their terms; always initiate
the battle, always strike fast and hard, and always leg it before the CFers can
mobilize. Sniper boats will be key to this strategy. With their relative speed
and long range capabilities, Tier 3 battlecruisers will be (and have been) the
primary ship in BL fleets.
As for the specifics of strategy, I
would suggest a two prong focus. First would be to decimate the CFC’s
infrastructure, namely POS’s. The key would be doing it repeatedly and over a
large area for maximum effect. I would even suggest not even anchoring much of
anything in its place, perhaps just a single tower armed with neuts, warp
jammers, E-War mods, anything that would make it more difficult for the CFC to
take the moon back. The first goal of this tactic would be to cut off the CFC’s
substantial moon goo income. The second, and the next prong of the strategy,
would be to demoralize them. The BL. needs make this war so expensive, so
frustrating that the larger alliances of the CFC will leave the like of FCON,
SMA, and Lawn to fend for themselves. It’s a very tall order, but honestly it’s
the Legion’s only chance. Blueballing and demoralizing the CFC is the light
that will guide the BL. to victory.
The
CFC
The
goal for the CFC is the same as that of the Black Legion: demoralize the enemy.
The difference is that the CFC can bring greater numbers to bear, thus
different tactics are open to them.
The
first tactic the CFC needs to employ is infiltration and sabotage. They’ve
presumably managed to do this in one of the Legion’s alt corps[3]
but the efforts will need to continue. After all, there’s nothing that will
fracture an alliance better than when you don’t know which of your friends is
holding a knife behind their back.
The
next two tactics are straight forward number games. The first is locking down
the Legion’s home systems. Gates need to camped, station undocks need to be
traps, the Legion needs to not be able to move unless the CFC allows it. And when
they do allow it, the CFC needs to bring such a large force to bear that the
only sensible thing the BL. can do is not engage them.
There
are a few disadvantages to this plan, however. First off, this will require an
ungodly amount of time. Rome wasn’t won in a day and neither will you crack
Venal in a night. Compounding this, the CFC is going to need all hands on deck
for this to work. The greatest advantage the Goons and friends have is their
numbers. Having more warm bodies will be the difference between the CFC
curb-stomping the BL and having to wade through a long and protracted conflict.
***
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