The Winter War: Target - Against ALL Authorities

In the biggest change in the map so far during the war, Stainwagon lost sovereignty in five systems in Catch and the iHub in a sixth.

In the eastern constellation of EM-L3K, TEST Alliance Please Ignore captured the sovereignty in the strategic system of F4R2-Q. The alliance now owns all three sov structures in the system, although enemy citadels are possibly still present. TESTCO is still trying to dislodge the Cold Steel Alliance (STEEL) from the constellation, so far with little success. Out of the four systems the Stainwagon alliance controlled on New Years Day, STEEL has only lost one TCU. Perhaps ominously for STEEL, The Volition Cult (VOLT) currently owns the station in L7XS-5. VOLT has not shown the steadfastness that STEEL has displayed during the conflict so far.

TESTCO is not waiting to expand the conflict beyond the jumpgates of F4R2-Q. A serious push targeting Against ALL Authorities (-A-) is ongoing. In the constellation of XR9-LP, -A- lost sovereignty in 4 systems: 2 to the Drone Walkers, 1 to TEST, and 1 to Lord of Worlds Alliance. TESTCO also reinforced the outpost in ZXIC-7, adjacent to both F4R2-Q and the XR9-LP constellation.

The pressure is also coming from the west, with not only HED-GP, but the -A- iHubs between Catch's gateway to highsec and TESTCO's newly purchased fortizar in 36N-HZ also placed in a reinforced state. The attackers position in 36N-HZ was also strengthened when Triumvirate. captured the iHub in the system. The Triumvirate. move put Vanguard Coalition on the map for the first time in the war.

In an amusing note, a major 300 billion ISK fight occurred due to at least one, if not two, titan pilots jumping into 36N-HZ instead of bridging, In the ensuing fight, both sides lost a titan, with the Imperium winning the field by dropping a fleet of 20 titans, 51 supercarriers, and over 100 dreadnaughts into the system.

The only counter-move visible on the sov map is the reinforcement of the iHub in the Stainwagon staging system of V-3YG7. I'm not sure if the system is still the staging system as I understand Stainwagon removed much of its ships and supplies from the system's outpost during last weekend's fighting. Stainwagon reportedly does have a fortizar in-system, so the defenders still have a solid base to fight from.

The situation went downhill rapidly after Stainwagon lost the iHub in V-3YG7. The Imperium is still active in the region, although I don't know how far they will attempt to project their power. Will the Imperium attempt to aid VOLT, or will it draw in and only protect the space of Soviet-Union? I do expect a sharp fight over HED-GB along with a collapse of -A- sov in eastern Catch. Beyond that I have no idea what the future holds.