THE GRAND FLEET DОCTRINE THREAD - ALPHAFLEET EDITION
http://i.imgur.com/9AcTy.jpg
Goonswarm now usеs one primary doctrine‚ Alphafleet, with two 'legacy' doctrines (Shieldfleet and Armorfleet) which will be occasionally used and reimbursed but are no longer training targets. If you are a new player reading this thread and not familiar with our older doctrines, ignore them completely and train for Alphafleet.
ALPHAFLEET:
Maelstroms > Scorpions/Shield Logis > Lokis/Huginns/Drakes/Lachesis/Vultures/Claymores/Dictors
Alphafleet is primarily Maelstroms. Any given Alphafleet should ideally contain as many Maelstroms as physically possible, 20+ Scorpions, 20 Logistics (either Scimitars or Basilisks), and a smattering of 'Support', where support includes everything else listed above that's not a Mael, Scorp or Logi.
How does it work? Virtually everything in Alphafleet is a big ugly pile of shield-centric EHP. Maelstroms provide alpha. Logis keep everyone alive. Command Ships enhance the shield bonuses across the entire fleet. Lokis and Huginns provide long-range webs to ensure the Maelstroms can easily hit any target. Lachesi point the primary so they cannot escape. Drakes provide swiss-army support and something useful for newbies to do; their wildcard midslot will change depending on what the FC asks for.
Scorpion pilots have a special purpose in Alphafleet that requires some explanation. Alphafleet Scorpions only have three jammers, a massive shield tank, and two Heavy Neuts. Unlike more traditional 'naked' Scorpions which rely on warping in and out a lot to survive an engagement, Alphafleet Scorpions are designed to have just as much EHP as the Maelstroms; stay on the battlefield and broadcast for reps. Your ECM should be aimed primarily at enemy dps, not logistics. This is because the Maelstroms can easily alpha both their targets and hostile Logis, so hostile Logi rep ability matters very little, where hostile dps is what hurts our fleet the most.
Scorpions also provide an excellent defense against any hostile close-range attack due to their Neuts. Armor HAC gangs often engage by dropping at 0km on your fleet; each of these Scorpions can comfortably remove 4-5 hostile HACs from any engagement by using neuts + jammers. Make sure to spread your neuts out, don't waste both on one cruiser. Similarly, any small tackler stupid enough to stick around the fleet long enough for a Scorpion to lock them will be unable to MWD away.
Beyond the 'moderately complicated' Scorpions, Alphafleet is a simple evolution of our now-deprecated Shieldfleet.
SHIEDFLEET - LEGACY DОCTRINE
Shiеld Logis > Drakes/Scorpions/Huginns/Lachesi/Dictors/Command Ships
Shieldfleet is the trusty Drake blob. We used this doctrine extensively over the past few months because it is extremely simple to use and easy to integrate with our allies; hell‚ most of EVE used this fleet in some variation. It is now obsolete, but expect to see it used occasionally for FC training or nostalgia's sake.
ARMОRFLEET - LEGACY DOCTRINE
Guardians > Zеalots > Rapier/Vagabond/Maller/Command Ships
Armor HAC gang. Uses afterburners and tons of EHP to keep a low sig radius and maximize the repping power of the Guardians. While the AHAC gang is no longer the unstoppable juggernaut it once was‚ we will ѕtill bring this flеet out to murder trashy pets from time to time.
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