Failing at (Internet Spaceship) Life

I saved up and trained up over the last month or so, and finally got myself into the ship I wanted to fly since I saw one in action, the Tengu.  My fit was a rather standard mission running fit, as I recently moved to a new section of Empire and have been grinding standing for various characters and stocking up on the isk while I decide on my next move in Eve.  My fit ran along these lines:


[Tengu, Mission]

Tengu Defensive - Amplification Node
Tengu Electronics - Dissolution Sequencer
Tengu Engineering - Augmented Capacitor Reservoir
Tengu Offensive - Accelerated Ejection Bay
Tengu Propulsion - Fuel Catalyst

Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile
Heavy Missile Launcher II, Scourge Heavy Missile

Republic Fleet 10MN Afterburner
Caldari Navy Shield Boost Amplifier
Pithum C-Type Medium Shield Booster
Invulnerability Field II
Invulnerability Field II
Photon Scattering Field II

Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Caldari Navy Ballistic Control System
Power Diagnostic System II

Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit I

As far as Tengus go, this is not a terribly expensive fit, coming in around the 1.2 B mark when I got the whole thing together.  I have a few things to say about the 'Gu.  First, it is an amazing ship in the role I built it for.  Fast, agile, and deft at handling most PvE encounters.  The DPS is very nice, about 450 or so, depending on what missiles I load into the launchers.  The tank is half speed, and three quarters shield booster.  Yes, that adds up to over 100% for those inclined to math.  The range is about 110 km, which is further than all but the farthest mission spawns.  The 'Gu is also aesthetically pleasing in a odd, inherently Caldari way.

There are some downsides to the 'Gu.  It makes most level 4 missions trivial to the point of boredom.  It's a bit of a panic to fly the first few days, due to the enormous value of the ship.  I found myself much more likely to warp off encounters when seeing the shield tank take a few hits, and I really watch gates and local while flying it.  But most of all, the 'Gu is so mind numbingly effective at most things in Empire that it lulls you into a false sense of security after a week or so.  You probably saw this coming:  I lost my Tengu not too long after I built it, because I was an idiot.

The details of this death are very simple, and in hindsight the cause of death was hubris.  I had been pulling missions like candy, and while puttering around wiping out fleets of Sansha, I started to build a nice little Manticore on an alt.  Side note - Grimmash is a very capable stealth bomber pilot with most missile skills hanging out in the 4s and 5s, so targeting a frigate with a torpedo, while not the most efficient using of isk, will result in space debris within a few shots.  The pilot I made the Manticore for does not have such nice support skills, and I forgot this fact. So I built the Manty, pulled a Worlds Collide, looked at the Eve-Survival report, and made a series of mistakes which I shall elucidate for you, dear reader.

1. The most vital mistake:  Angels use webs AND scram, not just webs.  I misread the mission report and saw "5 webs" not "5 webs/scrams".
2. The 'Gu, although decent at taking out frigates, will not atomize 5 elite NPC frigates faster than a small fleet of cruisers and battleships will break a medium shield booster, even if it is deadspace gear.
3. A SB is not the suitable suport ship to take out said elite NPC frigates.
4. A speed tank is absolutely useless when you something like 4-6 active webs hindering propulsion.
5. Use of kiting and good transversal is the difference between tanking with ease and slowly watching something burn with you in it.

And not so much a mistake but a fun fact:  45 seconds is about how long it takes to go through the stages of denial, anger, bargaining and acceptance when watching your tank break in the most expensive ship you own.  Oddly, I skipped depression unti la few days later when I saw a friend flying her Muninn and wanted to flex my DPS muscles, only to remember that I was now back in my Drake/Raven combo team.

The most interesting part of the whole thing was how much I didn't rage.  I always figured losing a ship that expensive would sting more, but overall I think having had, and lost, the 'Gu reinvigorated Eve for  me.  I've been trying more approaches to mission running instead of just grinding things out, and it lead to me undergoing a rather profitable scanning run in order to avoid missions.  It made me remember that unpredictability is more interesting than stasis, and that sometime a big loss is actually a good thing.