Jaron Pollard
Uitraan Diversified Holdings Incorporated
36
   |
Posted - 2013.05.16 21:38:00 -
[1] - Quote
...with the Soma, and can't wait to skill into something higher. Just had an epic match in one. Dropped with just an Assault Starter fit, incase I got exploded, and decided to deploy my new tank fit immediately - 120mm plate, repper, DC, main gun was a rail, and one small rail and one small blaster as secondary. Needs a PG upgrade if skills are low to fit the 120mm plate.
Rolled out into the field, and two other players jumped straight into the turrets. Mind you, I'm lone-wolfing today, so I'm off coms and not very chatty, but they had the general idea. I made a generally squiggly beeline for the other side of the map, picking off enemy soldiers along the way and watching the horizon for the telltale sign of an enemy tank. Someone else on our side had deployed a tank as well, and was slightly ahead of me.
He cut across to the other side of the map though, heading in the same direction, so I stayed on my side and just rolled along, passing one of the objectives that we had already captured and continuing to plant rail rounds at the feet of enemies that ran out recklessly into the open. One guy came at us with a swarm launcher, and my rail-turret gunner picked him off before he even got a single round off.
First tank appeared over the first ridge, shooting before I knew he was there. It was better than mine. I threw the DC and repper on as quickly as possible, and just started guiding my shots into him. He was repping too, but somehow with barely 10% armour left, I managed to explode him. In for a penny, in for a pound, I rolled on.
Objective C was to my right, our other tank and objective B, as yet uncaptured, to our left. The other tank had picked off all the turrets and was now engaging snipers in the hills while his gunners picked of mercs getting just a little too close. I saw his shield plummet, and he started to reverse as he switched his repper on. I knew there was another tank, and I was all to happy to intercept. I came around the other side of Objective B and laid into him as hard as I could... alas, our other tank was loss, but there's followed very quickly. Then, disaster.
I realised I'd wandered into the hornets nest just a little too deeply, and two tanks on the scene had aroused their ire. Everyone suddenly had swarm launchers, and my repper and gunners couldn't keep up.... we killed a few, but I watched my armour hit 5%, my repper was in cooldown, it was time to bail. In a starter assault fit.
All three of us escaped the tank alive, and not a moment too soon. It exploded, but we were free to mow down a bunch of mercs in Anti-Armour starter fits. We did. We captured B.
We forgot about the snipers in the hills.
I tried to keep my head down, and stay in cover and just kill whatever came into my gunsights, but without any objectives to spawn at, the enemy was spawning all snipers, and had every vantage point covered. They cut us down fast.
By now, however, we had already won the match. I got cut down by a sniper, and spawned my own sniper fit (not a starter) and took three heads of snipers before a fourth took mine. Then, before I could spawn another sniper, the match was over. We had emerged victorious.
And I stopped and had to think for a moment, that tank took one hell of a beating, from two other tanks and numerous swarm launchers, and got me and a small squad through it alive, until it wasn't there anymore. And even then, it had gotten us into a dominant position to capture the final objective, and win. No matter how many tanks I deploy in the future, I will never forget that one.
I wouldn't recommend that everyone spawns with tanks, of course. It's not effective enough against infantry to prevent enemy soldiers from moving on objectives ahead of you. But never say a bad word about the Soma. Mine may just have been the influence needed over the enemy to cause them to think twice about fitting an assault fit to capture objectives, in order to go after the tank instead. I know it killed two higher-meta tanks on the other side, one of which was initially oblivious to my approach and of course, killed one of our tanks as well.
So I know it's a long story and all, but I don't care. I wanted to share my thrill of the battle as richly as possible, and highly recommend that all new players give the Soma a try sometime.
EDIT: I should also add, I managed to save a number of friendlies from getting mowed down by murder taxis by exploding numerous LAVs in this battle. That was probably the most fun I've had burning taxis since the Gold Coast in 2011.... but that's another story for another time. |
Jaron Pollard
Uitraan Diversified Holdings Incorporated
37
|
Posted - 2013.05.16 21:52:00 -
[2] - Quote
Im a PIGEON wrote:+1.
Awesome story, well told. I've had a few in various matches with a rather nicely-fitted (all-Militia) Sica. It's a rare match that I get paid less than the price of my tank.
I'm not too concerned about the isk, but I think I came out of it with about 300K, which was well and truly more than double what that tank was worth. Considering the only other thing I lost was one Assault Starter fit, I think I went alright for cash. I'm more interested in the thrill of the battle itself, and the immersion in the New Eden universe. As an EVE player, I can tell you I've had a few similar space battles that are worth telling stories about, but I wish I'd written them down at the time like this one, so I could have had a basic format on which to write a piece of fiction for this True Stories thing going on. I don't think I could submit this, really, because I imagine there are a thousand battles like this one going on all the time, but I can certainly think of a few ways to write it into a proper piece of fiction. |
Jaron Pollard
Uitraan Diversified Holdings Incorporated
37
|
Posted - 2013.05.16 21:57:00 -
[3] - Quote
TheAmazing FlyingPig wrote:Well done, and great piloting, especially for a militia tank. Glad you had fun in it and decided to tell us about your tank loss in good spirits instead of starting an "AV TOO STRONK" thread.
Now take my thumb. You've earned it.
Man, I've lost more than this in EVE. I lost a faction fitted Navy Domi to a hot drop, took two Maelstroms, two Protes, a Loki and two minutes to kill it, and I nearly took the Loki with me, but that Domi was worth 861mil, and when I'd escaped in my pod and was waiting in a safe for my engagement timer to run down so I could jump out of the system, I realised suddenly that I'd forgotten to insure it... 
But, regardless of the loss, if it is a 'fair' loss... well, I know, some of you are thinking 5v1 isn't fair, but in the nature of EVE, it really is, because what they've done is outmatch you, and been well prepped enough to kill you, which means they deserve the kill to be honest. Same with the tank. I got overconfident and wandered into a tight spot that I couldn't escape from, and they outmatched the tank. |
Jaron Pollard
Uitraan Diversified Holdings Incorporated
45
|
Posted - 2013.05.17 08:21:00 -
[4] - Quote
crazy6226 wrote:+1 good story I just feel bad about all the somas i've 2 shotted with my rail gunnlogi. I really gotta be nice to the lower SP tank guys.
No, you don't. If you've ever played EVE, the idea is this: war is an act of cruelty by nature - the new recruit is as much a target as the veteran, and without the recruit, the veteran will run out of manpower and capitulate. I hate it when people go easy on my just because I'm new. What am I going to learn from that? Please, by all means, if you see me in the battlespace kickin' up 'dust' in mah Soma (pun intended), definitely try to kill me, so I can try to kill you right back  |