War Record: Honourable Rebel

Today I lost a Kontos Executioner.

Kill mail

Very briefly, I was surprised by the auto-canons hitting me out to 12km, and made the mistake of believing them to be artillery. I closed to range to finish him off... where his rocket launcher made short work of me. A shame, as the foe had burned out his weapons trying to kill me. I could have won, if I stuck to my strategy.

Review

Trust in the strategy if you are winning.


However, the pilot was gracious in victory, offering me his fit so I could see how I lost. We had a nice post match discussion, and he admitted he couldn't believe how much trouble he had with me. I take the compliment, since I am still a very poor pilot.

He was even gracious enough to give me some information about his corporation and where they operate. I appreciate this. When I set up my own Savaran, I will base it in a system where the most tenacious and skilled pilots are. My own pilots will need the practice.

Details aside, the best thing one can do after a fight is engage your fellow pilot in conversation. Polite conversation I might add.

I don't believe in the so-called 'smack talk' which is the posturing of inexperienced pilots who only seek a superficial rush of adrenaline in combat. This kind of pilot will inevitably find himself humilated as he strokes his own ego at the expense of others.

Far better to be like the honourable warrior who discussed tactics with me. I may have lost a frigate, but I come out of it with valuable information. He has his kill mail, denies me my objective, and also comes out with information, improving upon his victory. Had he reverted to tribal chest-thumping, he would have lost this opportunity to learn more of his enemy.

I hope to meet this man in battle again. I hope to fight his Firetail once more. This, I believe, is why so many are fascinated with this solo patrolling.

I still have to explain to my King exactly why I lost my frigate to a ship with no guns. That's not a conversation I relish.

My kill counter will revert back to 0. Five more to go, before I allow myself to command a fleet.

War record: First Kill

This was the first time I used the Kontos Executioner. Apologies for the late posting, but I had no idea how to post information about the kill. Turns out it was rather easy, a subject for a later discussion.

A course was plotted throughout The Bleak Lands, starting at Kamela.

Strategy:

• Offensive capturing of points.
• Fly high orbit of structure
• Utilize Tent-pegging

Kamela is a popular staging area. There are probably good duels to be had here, but I dislike it due to the high population.

Lamaa by comparison was nearly empty. I warped to a Novice complex, and began my strategy. Whilst I waited, I made myself a cup of coffee. I didn't have to wait long.

A Firetail appeared on D-scan outside my complex.

Adrenaline kicked in, and my hands started to shake. The enemy appeared in the complex, I clicked to lock and started to orbit, pulse lasers pummeling purple destruction into the foes frigate.

So far so good.

He managed to close to 13km, and I activated my web, pinning him back. His shields went down.

He closed again to 13km, and I clicked my web, but it did not activate! The overheat had shut down, reducing it's effective range to 10km!

He closed the gap rapidly at that point. A warp scrambler landed, killing my MWD. He was faster than me, with better tracking.

I fumbled the crystal switch, loading Multi-frequency crystals. He was into armor now, but my flimsy shields were failing.

I noticed I was simply traveling in a straight line, easy prey for his guns!

His bullets crashed into my ships plating, armor stripping off with every shot.

And then suddenly... his ship vanished.

All that was left was a rapidly expanding cloud of debris.

I had won.

I complimented him on the fight, and thanked him for his participation in my first kill. He took it badly, but I was too high on victory to care. His loot was mine, and the complex captured, and my first kill is now a Faction frigate in a common hull.

I retreated to a station to repair my armor.

Review

After the fight, I realized that letting him close the distance could have been easily avoided. Making sure the web is over-heated is crucial to maintaining distance from the target.

I fumbled the crystal switching, leading to valuable seconds of damage lost.

I was also remarkably lucky. Not only was his ship set up for close range fighting, but he did not even have long range ammunition ready.

In retrospect, traveling in a straight line at the end probably gave me the victory. He had far better tracking than I did. It would have been better for him to be on a tight orbit, where my pulses would have trouble hitting him.

And finally, when I am in an engagement, I must remember to put the coffee cup down. It was only after I looted the wreck I realized I was still holding it.

Appendix: Those cunning enough to check the rest of my kills will see a number of losses before the Firetail, and a 'kill'. I assure you, I was nowhere near that Incursus when it exploded. That pilot beat me without breaking a sweat.