I'd just like to prefix this by saying its not a rant, whine, or call for a nerf. As far as I know, CCP has no plans to nerf them. But then, I'm not omniscient.
I'm hunting in one of the dead-end systems in Sniggerdly Country with a SniggWaffe pilot on standby in the next system. I'm running the scanner, and spot a Raven. I moved into a better position to track him down, and he's moved. So here I am blatting around the system between the gate and one planet, thinking I've got the whole system covered that way. Whoops, one planet wasn't covered. So I head to that planet and spy a Drake and a Vigil. Right now I'm thinking this is going to be good, but while running more scans to locate this Drake, I notice a Typhoon and Raven on scan.
Well, that smelled like a trap, and I for one wasn't going to bite it. As all pirates know, cowardice is the better part of discretion, and discretion is the better part of valour, so I valiently ran away. Just as I'm exiting warp I spy the Typhoon and the Vigil on the gate. I start screaming at the trainee to get the hell out, and make the jump. As soon as I hit the other side, the fun began.
Cleared for publication by: Ander
The other side was empty. Just the 2 of us. However, the gate activated straight away, and I entered warp just as the Vigil decloaked. At the next gate I gave the hold order; I wanted to see if they were going to chase us. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Junior called out that the Vigil was on scan. I gave the jump order, and we both headed back to the HQ station. Once again I give the hold order, but I'm a bit slow. Since he's in there, I get him to swap his jammer loadout.
The SWIGGle is docked, and I'm sitting outside the station. Then a green square flies accros my HUD, corp mate in a Dominix. Then I get the empty square of the phoon, who docked instanly. I decide I need a slight fitting change as well, and swap my second scram for a web and heavy ion blaster.
We both undock, and I head out to try and track the Vigil down. I'm sitting near a planet doing the scan thing when my buddy reports that the phoon is out, and aligning for a gate, but not warping. I do I quick look around to make sure the gate he's aligning for is nowhere near me, and then continue looking for the Vigil. I get a report that my corp-mate undocks in a AF, hangs around outside the station a bit, then docks again. Meanwhile, I have the located the Vigil, so now I'm aligned, and at full speed.
The next report I get is that my corp-mate has undocked again in a Dominix. Right, that means the phoon should dock or warp soon. I tell Junior to let me know the instant the phoon goes, and I'll go bounce the Vigil. The over Alliance chat I get the query "Are we going to kill this phoon?". Hell yeah.
I warp into the station at zero, and land 30km beyond the quarry. I do the requsite 180 degree turn, punch the MWD and start to chase him down. Then the Vigil enters the arena, and locks the SWIGG's Blackbird. I tel him to take one jam off the phoon and put it on the Vigil. By this stage my scram is in range, so I turn it on. A little while later, my guns come into range so I open fire, and turn off the MWD. I release the drones, and order them after the phoon as well. Then I noticed the phoon was running, so I switched off the guns, and put the MWD back on. Crap, I'm nossed. At least he's not shooting me, but he can warp out now. Then a break through. A jam cycle hits, so as soon as I have the cap for it, the scram goes on, followed by the web, and then the guns. 30 seconds later we are rewarded with a nice blue explosion.
After this I turn my attentions to the Vigil. I've gotten the report that he's jammed, and I activate all my guns with him just beyond optimal, and order the drones after him. Then I turned on my web, and was instantly rewarded with the blue flash. Boo-yah!
After congratulating each other on a job well done, we divvy up the loot. It was all crap. After the killmail got posted for the phoon, I checked it, and it was indeed a nanophoon. Junior thanked me for the op, and decided to head to bed. I thanked him for flying SNIGG Air, and decided it was time for me to get some shut eye.
A very successful kill, and my conclusion is this: nanophoons will become rarer and rarer as people start killing them more and more. This was only a small gang and we managed to take it down. Imagine what a fleet could do with some webbing interceptors specially tasked with tackling them. Like all things, they will eventually get a place, but it will probably be a specialist role for hit and run, and spitting forces. Those commanders that are wise to it won't get suckered, but certainly a worthy trap for the inexperienced.
Just remember kids, every ship has a place. But also remember, that there is way to neutralise every ship as well. For nanophoons, that way is the web. Don't be surprised when you prized ship ends up doing 4m/s instead of 4km/s. Just don't whine to your fleet commander when it happens.
Happy Hunting.