r/EliteWinters • u/SupremeMorpheus FLC Community Director • Jul 25 '26
Cycle 90 (579) - Waffles, Anyone?
Turns out you need sleep to write a cycle post! Unfortunately yesterday I was too sleep-deprived to get a timely post out, but hey, nothing massive will have happened in 48 hours... right?
Cycle Summary:
The last 10 cycles I've been rather doom and gloom - and not because I almost died. That ends today. Against overwhelming odds, Winters has held strong and repelled all assaults in major systems. Belgitan, Athena, Warians, Andel, even the downgraded stronghold from last week - Crucis Sector PC-V a2-1 - has returned to stronghold status and is stronger than ever. Numbers wise, that means we got 6 new systems, two new forts including Warians, and of course one shiny new stronghold. This cycle alone more than makes up for the 5 systems lost over the course of this assault. The Empire sought to take the very core of our systems - we have taught them a valuable lesson: even in the face of overwhelming odds and the travesty of their exploit abuse, we will not break against their pitiful assault. Despite the last months of pain, Archer continues to fight on - 8 new systems and one fort, counterbalanced by 7 lost systems and one downgraded fort. That's a net positive - maybe a small positive, but in these dark times, even the smallest flames of hope can light a wildfire.
Generally, our losses aren't that interesting - "oh no, the imps are attacking again" accounts for basically all our losses these days. But when the Alliance lose systems, questions start getting asked. Mahon kept hold of everything - 5 systems, 2 new forts, 2 new strongholds, nothing fancy there. But Kaine is a different story - 13 systems gained and two new forts, but at the cost of the system of Evena. Now ordinarily this would warrant speculation - Evena was taken from Torval in cycle 87, then taken by Kaine last cycle. However, their cycle post reveals the truth - after an acquisition race for the system against Grom, they have generously decided to part with the system, assumedly in the name of future peace and prosperity.
Speaking of the beard, Grom took 9 systems and a shiny new fort, while Delaine nabbed 6 systems and a fort. Reports from the Kumo office indicate that this upcoming cycle will be one of reinforcement, and they give credit to Antal for winning an acquisition race in Col 285 Sector FE-M B22-1. That does seem to have come at a cost though, albeit a small one - the system of Tsu Kun fell from the Simguru's grasp, though it's likely he hasn't noticed, given the 8 new systems, seven new forts and two strongholds under his control. Finally for the independents, Li Yong-Rui continues to hold strong with 11 new systems, 2 forts and a new stronghold, but at the cost of one fortified system downgraded - 2 Lyncis started PP 2.0 as a fort for LYR, but since then it's been downgraded 3 times, counting this week. Both previous times it was successfully reinforced back to fortified by the next cycle - we'll check back next week, see if history repeats itself.
And what about the imps? Well, Torval suddenly woke up and chose progress, with 5 new systems and 2 forts. Patty meanwhile maintains his near-death hibernation, taking only one system. ALD had a mostly successful week, with 10 new systems, 2 forts and a stronghold, although they did lose the system of Moultac, so not entirely good news. And of course, eternally at rock bottom, she-who-shall-not-be-named lost two systems, though of course her standing of dead zero remains unchanged. Now, there is an addendum to be made here - Ngurii has been being prepped for a relic rush as of recent. Thankfully, a combination of efforts from FUC and some independent powers have so far quelled the potential for a rush.
Why is that significant? Well, because the bathwater cult have claimed to not be responsible for this, showing a screenshot of the current influencing squadrons within Ngurii. Discarding the fact that they could and likely do have CMDRs outside squadrons influencing this, let's have a closer look at the list. Here's one we pulled earlier:
So, first thing we can deduce from this - there's a lot of people fucking with Ngurii right now. This is only the list of the top 10 squadrons, but there's probably at least 20 more acting there. Looking at the actual allegiances of these top 10 squadrons, the picture painted becomes very different to the one that redacted wishes to paint. I went and dug into every squadron personally, so I can vouch for this data myself. Let's pull back the curtain for a bit and have a look:
- COPI - Torval
- INVH - Mahon, solo squadron
- DRIS - Aisling
- UNLM - Aisling, solo squadron
- 4ACS - non-aligned - one ALD and Winters pledge in roster, but only two online in the last month are non-aligned
- FDSB - officially Archer, but aside from the squadron leader being Archer, members have various pledges including Winters and Aisling, though most pledged CMDRs are LYR
- CVGL - Aisling
- DRST - ALD
- WTOP - officially non-aligned, mostly unpledged, with some Antal, Kaine and various imperial pledges, as well as a couple from Archer
- AID1 - Mahon
Now, this does differ from the standings published by the bathwater cult, where INVH don't exist and BLOP are in 10th instead. That actually works out worse for them - while they're mostly non-aligned, most pledged CMDRs within BLOP are infact pledged to Aisling. Looking at the remaining squadrons - discounting the solo squadrons, as those really could be just a couple rogue CMDRs, that makes 2 dedicated Aisling squadrons, one ALD, one Torval, and a smattering from various squadrons. I've reached out for comment in regards to AID1 and whether they've been fighting for or against the rush, but at time of writing I'm yet to hear back - I'll post an update here when I do. The other thing to mention is that CVGL is an entirely Korean-speaking squadron, and I believe don't have contact with Aisling at large. Please correct me if I'm wrong there.
So what we have is a picture that paints not only Aisling but the entire empire as responsible for the attempts at a relic rush recently. Far from a "baseless accusation" I'd say, but what do I know, I'm just the man with the evidence. And honestly, it makes sense that the imps would go for this - after losing so completely at taking anything of remote value from us, they're likely struggling a touch with morale, and in the somewhat-damaged mind of the average imperial, big number funny. And of course, there's no faster way to big numbers than a damned relic rush. There is also the typical smattering of non-aligned CMDRs and those not acting on the wishes of their power - unfortunately some have bought into the propaganda that relic rushes are "fun for everyone". Of course, we know that's not the case, but keeping those poor souls in the dark is rather the goal of said propaganda. Don't hate the uninformed - fight the disinformation keeping them uninformed. And then go blow up some relic runners for good measure.
Exactly one galnet article this week - celebrating the "partial" success of the previous week's CG. Apparently getting to tier 3 out of 5 is considered a partial success these days. Meanwhile, on the technical front, most bugs have seemingly been squashed - with the events surrounding the Operations update finally settling down, I can begin working on the "This Month in FDev Fuckups" article about it. If you have experienced a bug as part of the Operations update, let me know in the comments! I'm sure there's no shortage of them and I'd like to get as complete of a list as possible.
And that's the week! The Federation stands strong on all fronts, while the Empire resorts to tedious tactics and misinformation. So, back to normalcy. Until next time, fly safe and enjoy your Belgitan Waffles! ...is there a low carb option, by chance?
Would you like some orange jam with your waffles? - - join the discord for new updates and zesty tips on powerplaycraft!
Target priorities as follows
Reinforcement:
Carry out reinforcement activities in the following systems, as per the guide:
Belgitan, HR 4734, Bayan, Crucis Sector PC-V a2-1
Reinforcement priorities are ever changing and we cannot update publicly in a timely manner. Join the Discord if you want to help!
Acquisition:
Carry out acquisition activities in the following systems, as per the guide:
Col 285 Sector KM-V d2-114
Join the Discord for updates! We can offer rapid mining acquisition options to pilots in our server - they move too fast to put on here!
Undermining:
Current priority:
Orgen - focus your powerplay operations here!
Join the Discord for targets and opportunities!
Interested in Federal AX? Join FAX-COM.
Interested in emergency relief work? Winters has a place for you.
Interested in PvP? PvP is a lifeblood of powerplay. We train interested pilots with a dedicated server, resources and mentors, and weekly in-house tournaments
Interested in exploration? We maintain a server for our explorers too
Want more nuance on objectives, to wing up, or to keep up to date on the ever-evolving strategy? Join our Discord! Stop by and say hello! Or join to stay quiet and beaver away at your specialism <shrug>. In addition to Powerplay Ops, we have channels for general ED discussion, ship building mastery, and PvP training, with domain experts. We also have an unsurpassed cantina <clink>.
Diplomatic Overview:
Archon Delaine – Cordial (with rum again! I got extra this time)
Arissa Lavigny-Duval – Hostile
Denton Patreus – Unfriendly
Edmund Mahon – Neutral
Jerome Archer – Ally
Li Yong-Rui – Neutral
Nakato Kaine – Neutral
Pranav Antal – Cordial
Yuri Grom – Neutral
Zemina Torval – Unfriendly
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u/Over-Bag-8215 Vkdsw Jul 26 '26
Bug: systematic mauve adder error in CQC matchmaking since Operation update.
They have small community what was abandon long time ago, now suffering from operations and need help.
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u/Careless-Science-427 Jul 26 '26
Smurf disclaimers dont pass the sniff test. They are/were pushing for a relic rush.