Force Protection
Force Protection
In a gang with a ranged EWar squad - mainly ECM and damp boats - that ranged squad needs to be protected, as it poses a significant threat to the targets, and will thus be a primary target for the target force.
The threats
The EWar squad is threatened by two basic setups:
- Speed setups - inties, vagas, the odd stabber
- Sniping setups - mostly sniping BS that sit "down" on the gate
Defense
To defend against speed setups, counter with webifying force recons or drone-speed / track-disrupt boats. Watch for ships "burning up" to your EWar group and counter them.
To defend against sniping setups, have all members of the EWar squad orbit each other to increase transversal speed, and counter snipers with ECM/damp. A part of your ECM/damp force should be set aside to protect that force. The two basic ways to neutralize a sniper are to damp their range, or to ECM them and damp their lock time. The former tactic is a surer way to take a sniper out, the latter tactic may work better with a large opposing force. Identify any snipers in the target fleet and neutralize them immediately. If you wait for them to make the first move, they will alphastrike you out of the black.
EWar Force go boom
One or two pilots need to be dedicated to looking out for threats to the range EWar squad. If this is not done, threats will go undetected and uncountered. It is recommended to let the speed-counter pilot(s) look out for speed threats, and the snipe-counter pilot(s) look out for sniping threats.
The squad commander needs to be ready to warp squad at an instant - it may make sense to have one of the protection pilots be the squad commander, as (s)he will have a clearer head to direct the squad than an ECM pilot who is busily micro-managing her/his ECM modules.
