Deception and War: You tank fit your what?!

"All warfare is based on deception."

-Sun Tzu


On the battlefield in EVE, a commander has very little control over his enemies actions. For the most part, a fleet commander must focus on managing his own forces exclusively, having only the tools provided by electronics warfare modules and the changing tactical battlefield conditions to influence his opponents actions.

However, there are a few ways to shape the way your opponent reacts to your gang in your favor, in particular directing them to primary the wrong member of your group. If, for example, you found yourself facing a gang consisting of a Drake, a Hurricane and a Prophecy, the choice of primary target would seem obvious. Two of those ships are capable of equipping extremely powerful tanks, at the cost of firepower. One of them, however, is a high-damage, relatively low tank ship. Eliminating the Hurricane first would be prudent.

In this situation, you can easily tell an inept commander if he were to primary the drake. Wasting his firepower on a much slower to kill target at the onset of the fight ensures the enemy DPS remains on the field longer, allowing them the upper hand in attrition. Simply by seeing the ship composition of this gang, you can predict which ships a competent commander will shoot at first.

But what if that drake was a tackle and HAM fit gank drake, and the prophecy was likewise fitting blasters or pulse with plenty of damage mods, and the Hurricane was something more like the following:

[Hurricane, Tripple rep]

Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Medium Armor Repairer II

10MN MicroWarpdrive I
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Medium Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I, Cap Booster 800
Medium Capacitor Booster II, Cap Booster 800

Armored Warfare Link - Passive Defense
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket
Dual 180mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
Dual 180mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
Dual 180mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
Dual 180mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
Dual 180mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
Dual 180mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M

Medium Nanobot Accelerator I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Hammerhead II x1
Hobgoblin II x4

+ Standard Exile Booster


While this is far from the ideal use of the ship by itself, the ramifications of such a fitting should be clear. With the warfare link and exile booster this setup can resist about 650 dps, and overheat to almost 800 sustainable. Admitedly, this is no triple rep myrmidon or passive drake, but it’s a shockingly sturdy tank from a gank boat.

Almost any ship that would traditionally get primaried works in this role. When composing such a gang, try to make sure that the non-primary ships (things like Drakes and the like) have sufficient firepower to balance the overall attrition of the gang. HAM drakes with 3 or 4 BCUs work well, as do blaster prophecies and shield tanked + damage mod myrmidons.

Remember, also, the more tempting the “false primary” is, the more lax you can be in the choice of the other ships. For example:

[Vagabond, Tank]

Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Damage Control II

Large Shield Booster II
Invulnerability Field II
Invulnerability Field II
Medium Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I, Cap Booster 800

425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
425mm AutoCannon II, Republic Fleet Fusion M
'Arbalest' Rocket Launcher I, Caldari Navy Foxfire Rocket

Medium Core Defence Operational Solidifier I
Medium Anti-Kinetic Screen Reinforcer I

Warrior II x5

Something like this makes a particularly effective false primary. With Crystals and Blue Pill, this actually makes a surprisingly monstrous tank and gank boat, dealing over 640 dps and tanking over five hundred in return. It merely has to be careful of being volleyed as it has rather low EHP.

With such a vagabond in the gang, even T1 cruisers have a chance of not being primaried. The more lethal (and deceptive) the other ships in the gang, the better. Blaster Feroxes and Eagles, gank Damnations, you name it.

Now obviously, this is a trick to be used sparingly, especially if you tend to fight the same enemies. If you’re especially lucky, you might try a switch on a group of enemies you fight on a regular ocation, such as another local pirate group or the targets of your mercenary contract. Pull this trick two times in a row using the same set of ships. Then, if you suspect they’ve figured out your “ace in the hole”, switch back to normal setups for subsequent fight and see the effects. If you play your cards right, your enemy will rashly primary one of your heavily tanked ships, leaving you gank cane or deimos or whathaveyou untouched.

Bonus:

[Deimos, Megatankodoom]

Damage Control II
Armor Explosive Hardener II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Medium Armor Repairer II
Medium Armor Repairer II

Medium Electrochemical Capacitor Booster I, Navy Cap Booster 800
Small Capacitor Booster II, Navy Cap Booster 400
10MN MicroWarpdrive II

Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
Heavy Electron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge M
[empty high slot]

Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I

Hammerhead II x5

Just some food for thought.


-Skira