The Winter War: Sides Chosen And Plates Of Spam

When I opened up Dotlan to check on the situation in Catch during lunch yesterday, the following site greeted me.

Okay, perhaps a slight exaggeration, but not by much. The image may even invoke amusement from those that don't have to clean up the mess (or document the activity on maps). Speaking of maps, before continuing on to the map of Catch, I need to explain the political changes that impact the landscape.

Over the past three days, I listed League of Unaligned Master Pilots (LUMPY), Just let it happen (FUM8), and Cold Steel Alliance (STEEL) as unaligned alliances. At this point, I now feel comfortable labeling LUMPY and FUM8 as allied with TESTCO and STEEL as allied with Stainwagon. Those more familiar with the situation probably wondered why I took so long to call the political changes. I can only say I have a lot to learn.

Across the northeastern tier of system owned by The Volition Cult, a group or groups (most likely involving TEST Alliance Please Ignore) reinforced 4 Territorial Control Units (TCU), 11 Infrastructure Hubs (iHub), and 6 Outposts. The structures come out of reinforcement between 12:49 and 20:48 EVE time on Thursday.

The fastest way for an invading force to reduce the Activity Defense Modifier (ADM) is to destroy the defender's iHub. The iHub modifies the strategic index of the ADM. The strategic index is the only part of the ADM that generates passively over time. A system with a strategic index of 5 forces the attacker to entosis each capture point an extra 10 minutes. The Volition Cult will not want to allow TESTCO to destroy any of its iHubs.

Perhaps the worst part of the entosis spam for The Volition Cult is the timing. A major fight is brewing today in F4R2-Q, with all three sovereignty structures vulnerable to attack between 13:48 and 19:32. Usually after a major fight both sides like to relax and heal up a bit. The Volition Cult will not have that luxury. They must act as though TESTCO will try to follow up the fighting in F4R2-Q with an aggressive move, especially if TESTCO is victorious today. That is one of the disadvantages for the defender in the Aegis sovereignty system. The attacker has the ability to wear down a defender while creating times where the attacker's forces can pause and relax.

For now, upcoming events of the course of the next few days depend on today's actions in F4R2-Q. The attackers have done what the can to set the table by reducing the ADM in the system down to 1. Now we just have to wait and watch.