War Record: Cop killer

You know what's frustrating? Patrolling for Crusaders, but finding only Tribal Liberation Forces saturating the contested zones.

Fantastic news for the Republic, and I'm sure a multitude of slaves are embracing freedom for the hundredth time in the never-ending spat between Empires, but for the lowly dog-of-war looking to capture space and take Amarr bounties, it's fairly frustrating.

Still, there are still pockets of Crusade resistance. I eased into system, and warped off to capture a novice complex. I was flying the Agkulis Condor. I don't usually like to capture complexes, least of all in a brawler, but with nothing but allies around, I couldn't think of anything more productive to do.

Quick tip: If you find yourself with nothing to do, think of some way to earn a little bit of extra cash. There's an opportunity cost argument in there somewhere, but basically you should keep yourself doing something. Avoid ship spinning at all costs.

I jumped in, and Scourge rockets popped the Amarr Crusader lackey with ease. I reloaded, starting orbiting the beacon at 500m, and warmed up the weapon systems.

The timer ticked down, and it really looked like I was going to capture the point without incident. For a change, I started orbiting the complex itself rather than the warp-in beacon.

A TLF capsuleer in system commented on my ship's name, but that was the extent of interaction. Not that my ship's name was offensive or even interesting... but that was literally the only thing someone could talk about in system.

Until the police showed up...

Well, the Police Comet.

Piloted by a pirate.

I didn't have time to think about the irony of that, since it jumped straight into my complex and started shooting. Didn't even read me my rights first.

I don't know much about Comet's beyond them being Gallente, and Gallente generally means Blasters. I leapt towards my opponent, starting in a tight orbit, and widening out to the limit of my rocket range(~8km). I intended to fight in the blasters' fall-off.

Rockets flew and little pulse of light erupted from the Comet's guns. My shields took a beating, but just a few pulses of the booster brought them back up.

I took a closer look at the guns, and noticed they weren't blasters at all! He had fit rails! I re-adjusted my orbit to point blank range (500m), and damage to my shields dropped the a trickle.

My neutraliser came into play, and soon it was dead in the water, rockets hammering on its hull, rending great holes in the metal, exposing the soft innards to hard vacuum!

And soon, it was little more than a rapidly expanding cloud of debris!

Victory was mine, and 'gf's were exchanged in local. Remember your post-fight etiquette.

At which point the TLF member who commented on my ship name warped in to the complex. He inquired what 'gf' meant, and I replied 'good fight'. He then made a coarse comment, and that was it for our little interaction. His character was revealed by waiting around the complex to leech the Loyalty Points for capture.

I didn't really care. The LP is a nice bonus, but the loot the Police Comet dropped covered the price of my Condor. The thrill of bringing down a faction frigate in a T1 hull is nothing compared to a few thousand LP, and a solo kill mail is a treasure beyond that of monetary gain. And I picked up some drones too!

Wait, where did the drones come from?

Oh...

Review

I was a little lucky. The Comet was fit for kiting, and was clearly expecting a kiting Condor to match. However, had my reaction of getting into a tight orbit and hitting the scram and web on fast meant he had little chance to escape. There may be something in orbiting the complex as opposed to the warp in spot.

It was good that I checked his weapons early on in the fight. If I had remained out at scram range, eventually his higher firepower (and drones) would have carried the day. I'm pleased that I was able to adapt my strategy mid-fight.

The neutralizer worked out great as a engagement shorten-er. I doubt it was the defining victory module, but I'm reasonably confident it helped speed things up. Against laser ships it'll certainly prove more useful, but in this fight it shut down his armour repairer.

Apparently, the Comet has a complement of drones. I did not realize this, and as such, did not have my drone overview settings open. I didn't even find out about them until after the engagement, when I scooped them into cargo. The oversight here was lack of knowledge. Hardly a fatal error, but something that should be considered for future fights.

About the rather rude TLF member, well, that's an issue I had in the Crusade as well. Nothing much you can do about it. When you're a dog working with other dogs, you can't be surprised if a few of them are mangy or ridden with fleas. Just remember to take a bath regularly and don't hang around the vermin. You might catch their fleas.

Action Plan

Study Gallente ships a little more thoroughly.
Take a bath.


Overall, I'm very happy with this fight. It stands as a shining example of how good planning, and prior knowledge (with a healthy dose of luck!) can give you victory. Even if you fly a T1 attack ship against a faction frigate.

For records of other engagements click here.

War Record: Rifter vs. Everyone

I dislike the notion of usurping one of my favourite bloggers, but Jack Dancer, fellow Rifter Pilot, has fallen silent over the past few months. Whilst he rests, I'm more than happy to wave the Rifter banner, high and proud.

I love the Rifter.

It's not my most efficient frigate - by far, that honour goes to the Breacher, which I simply cannot find fault with. Great damage projection, and a secondary drone weapon set extending to any range gives it punch against kiters and brawlers alike. It's also faster than a Rifter, and with an ancillary shield booster can completely cancel another frigates damage for a good while.

But despite all these virtues, I still come back to the Rifter. That flawed, mess of a ship, which is designed to be so adaptable it's near unfocused. Call it romantic notions against my better judgement, but I'd rather ride a Rifter into a fireball than any other ship to an assured victory.

Ahem. Poetry aside...

The Rifter, as I've discussed before, is an ambush ship. This is largely the same for most Matari vessels. Unlike Amarr ships, which are spear and shield disciplined-yet-unimaginative warriors, or Gallente ships, which are all about the romantic notion of weathering fire to come to a dramatic and decisive point-blank axe-blow, Minmatar vessels are about hurting your opponent from a position where they cannot hurt you.

Well, I thought I was done with poetry...

The Rifter, as it is now, is a warp scramble range kiter. For preference, your warp scrambler should be overheated, and you should be engaging blaster-fit opponents at about 9km, perhaps closing for a kill once you're sure their active tank has been exhausted, or the guns burnt out.

However, as discussed previously, you're better off engaging laser fit frigates and point blank range, where your superior tracking can carry the day. A Rifter in a fast, tight orbit and avoid much of the damage. This is most clearly exemplified in the following battle.

I caught a Punisher on D-scan. He had allies in system, but he was isolated in a novice plex, whilst the majority were engaged in capturing a medium plex.

A Punisher is designed to withstand damage. I noted this rather useful tactic on the part of the opposing gang leader. He had his higher damage, but less tough ships grouped together, with two fairly tough Punishers capturing other plexes. If the main group was caught, their combined firepower would be enough to dispatch the aggressor. If the Punishers were caught, they could withstand the attacker until help arrived.

Very clever.

My curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to see this trap in action. As Jack says, I turned up all modules to 11 (i.e. overheated them), and jumped to the gate. I loaded up Rep Fusion rounds, as per my suggestions against Amarr ships.

Just as I was warping off the acceleration gate, a pirate Slicer warped in right on top of me.

In retrospect I should have cancelled the warp. The Slicer, whilst being quite tough, is still a kiting ship and he had landed in scram range. Its MWD would have been useless. Would have been a nice kill for my Rifter, but oh well.

I got into the plex, and locked up the Punisher. I went point blank, and started unloading round after rocket after round into him. The Slicer came in, and began adding his own fire.

Needless to say, it was destroyed.

Immediately, the Slicer and I went at it. Temporary allies against the Punisher, now mortal enemies, we managed a few volleys at each other before the Punisher's friends arrived - a trio of blaster boats.

Needless to say, I was destroyed.

The Slicer escaped destruction for  while, but was too, destroyed.

Review

Whilst the Punisher clearly had the Slicer locked down with a scrambler, as seen on the kill mail, there was a good twenty or so seconds before it arrived where it simply couldn't hit my more nimble Rifter in close orbit. A few reasons for this:

• Pulse lasers have poor tracking
• He fit Scorch, further exacerbating the tracking issue.
• The low quality fitting of the Punisher hints at a low-trained pilot.

So yes, the Rifter should get into close range of laser fit ships.At the very least you buy yourself a few seconds of no fire as the opposing pilot switches crystals. It might be worth considering leaping out beyond 5km at that point, forcing them to switch crystals again. Watch for the change in beam colour.

• Purple = fly closer
• White = fly out

The trap was well executed by the opposing gang. However, I think the Punisher would have gone down even without the Slicer's help before the cavalry arrived. I would have had time to escape if I didn't spend time fighting with the Slicer. It comes down to a philosophical choice: which is more important to you, curiosity or safety.

Overall, I was pleased with the Rifter's performance in this fight. I look forward to more in the future!

War Record: The First Week

Whilst I'm not strictly at war with anyone, I still like to prepare reports. It's a good tool for skill development.

My initial hunts didn't turn up much, but the behavior of capsules in the Federation/State war zones is... odd.

I found a Caldari State militia man defending a complex with a Venture mining frigate. Despite it being a civilian ship, he was participating in a combat role, so I engaged. Unfortunately the Venture's overpowered warp coils escaped my warp scrambler.

Quite why he was in a mining frigate is beyond me, but his ship is well equipped for running away. I'd like this to be an isolated incident, but, well... read on.

The second target I found was a kiting Tristan. The Tristan is a drone specialist ship, sporting 5 of the little bees at any one time. A very flexible ship, able to deal damage effectively at any range, due to it's drones. Brawling fits are typical of brawlers (very tough and damaging), whilst kiters, again, are typical, if a bit on the slow side.

I affectionately dub this ship the War Bunny.

When fighting a kite Tristan, there are two possible tactics. Simply engage, ignoring the drones, treating as a regular turreted ship, or target their swarm, crippling the damage output.

Initially, I treated it as a normal turret ship. However, my attempts at a slingshot were thwarted quite handily, so I set to destroying his drones instead.

The fight ended with me unable to catch the frigate itself, but taking out his entire complement of drones. Cost of rockets used was much less than the cost of the drones, so, despite a lack of kill mail, I'll count it as a victory.

The rest of the week devolved into several cat and mouse games, with no real engagement, except for this peculiar kill.

An unfit Executioner, defending a complex. Even more strangely, the pilot self destructed his capsule, even before I had a chance to lock him again. Not that I would destroy his pod, but I stayed to watch him commit suicide, simply out of curiosity.

I'll say this for the Minmatar Republic. They're not as weird as the Gallente and Caldari.

Review

My hunting strategy isn't getting me any worthwhile engagements. I shall need to think upon this some more.

War Record: Return of the Kataphract and Anti-Piracy

My return to the Crusade, and the first flight of my Kataphract Slicer, could not have had a more fitting story.

My first patrol point put me on course for Taff. I have a strange fascination for this system. It presents a unique opportunity within the Crusades fighting zone... that of a civilian refuge. Some pilots on the Minmatar side who live there, the corporation Taff as Nails, recognize this too, calling it Fortress Taff. It is a cul-de-sac  collection of systems, easily defended, allowing exploitation of the resources.

But enough of that. My first stop proved to be in Gulmorogod. A minor Minmatar complex's cloak failed, and I quickly took the initiative to claim it for the Crusade. As I was overseeing the handover, a rookie pilot warped in.

If you are a new Crusader, be warned: this can lead to your destruction.

Typically, the more psychotic militia pilots will shoot you on site, for two main reasons.

1. They believe you to be a spy
2. They believe you to be a thief of Loyalty Points, the currency used to curry favour with the Crusade quartermasters.

Happily, I am not as paranoid or greedy as the common mercenary. My slave provides me with ample funds, and the Crusades armoury merely provides the occasional bonus. I gave the pilot some advice, and offered him the credit for the capture. He was greateful.

Unfortunately, as we were speaking, two pirates attacked! A Punisher and a Rifter, exploded into the station!

To my shame, I lost contact with the rookie pilot, and set myself to the task of destroying the Rifter. It went down surprisingly quickly, no doubt in thanks to the Kataphract's boosted lasers. I turned my attention to the Punisher, and stripped it's shields, before it escaped. An error on my part... I must pay closer attention to my Warp Disruptor.

I messaged the rookie pilot, and thankfully he had escaped unharmed. I think that seeing his companion fall so quickly had him rattled, and he lost concentration. The rookie pilot came back, and he took the complex, planting a Ni-Kunni marked Amarr flag on the station.

Good for him. New pilots should be shown leniency by their militia mates, and more importantly, shown how to survive. I wish him luck in his future patrols.

Continuing with my journey...

In Taff, another complex presented itself for capture. I leapt to the attack, sweeping away the lonely Minmatar regular fleet frigate, again, overseeing the removal of Matari personnel. As soon as it was captured, another pirate attacked!

This time, a Dramiel, one of the most powerful frigates in New Eden. I stuck to my plan, blazing away at range. it launched drones which hammered away at my shields. A quick ammunition switch to Multi-Frequency allowed me to damage his drones enough to force him to disengage.

I was migtily relieved, and cngratulated him on a battle well fought. He invited me to another duel, which I politely declined. If you think me a coward, then I can only excuse myself by saying my objective was complete in that system. Taff was brought to a vulnerable state from my capture, and I had other appointments to keep.

On the return home...

My flight home proved very eventful.

After a few hours stay in a Crusade held station, I took to capturing another minor complex, this time in Kourmonen. This system is usually a hive of Republic capsuleers, but I was looking to test the limits of the Kataphract Slicer.

Again, as I was capturing, a pirate attacked!

This time a Firetail. This time, the pirate had equipped a Micro-Warpdrive, and caught me with a Scrambler and two Webifiers. I was clearly a dead man, reduced to under 100m/s of speed.

But let it never be said that a Khanid goes down without a fight!

With a lion's roar I pushed my modules to their limits. I would not allow this rat to sully the maiden voyage of Kataphract! I would not allow this predator of the weak to dishonour the Khanid way of combat!

My armour repairer worked furiously as plasma bullets and EM rockets hammered away at my armour. My pulse lasers burned brightly, sending pure white rage into his hull!

The Kataphract was brought into structure, unable to keep the barrage of damage away.

Suddenly, the deadly percussion stopped. The Firetail detonated into a ball of flame!

The Kataphract Slicer had survived a duel with it's natural predator. The pirate flippantly broadcast I was lucky. I agreed, and congratulated him on the battle. He didn't take it well, devolving into a vulgar display of bravado and threats. I simply smiled in my still intact ship, and left for Kamela.

Pirates beware. The Khanid Kataphract has returned!

Review

The Kataphract Slicer flew exactly as intended. I will say, however, it's important to overheat the repairer as well. Keep an eye on it. Deactivating the module turns off the overheating, and you should remember to re-heat before using again.

Sadly, I only killed pirates today. I must find more Republic targets. Not that I'm ashamed to show these criminals the courage of the Khanid!

War record: I-Hub siege

Shortly after my initial sortie, a call went out to an Infrastructure Hub siege, commonly referred to as a 'bash'.

Once a system is taken to a vulnerable state, the I-Hub structure becomes open to attack. The attacking force then spends a long time focusing fire on it to capture. I will write a Strategikon post on this later, once I am in a position to enact good strategies for this.

I flew to the bash. It was a relatively small group, but I was shown immediately that my Kontos Executioner is unsuited for the task. A mere 120dps was barely registering compared to the battlecruisers and stealth bombers hammering the structure.

Nevertheless, victory comes with taking systems, and so I set my frigate to hammering the station, whilst researching viable siege ships.

About half an hour into the bash, everything went bad.

The I-Hub was brought to 50% shield strength when a Minmatar fleet of missile cruisers and battle cruisers dropped in, scattering the Crusade's siege fleet.

I was caught unawares, but remembered my running orders. I picked a target, orbited and took him down, before warping out.

I very nearly escaped, but unfortunately, the frigate was lost to combined fire from many cruisers.

I escaped in my pod to a celestial, and retreated back to the staging area. The loss of my first Kontos Executioner is not a heavy blow. It was able to garner about 20,000 Loyalty Points before exploding. More than enough to cover it's cost, with some profit, and I still have 9 back at the staging area, ready to go.

Review

It was short-sighted of me not to notice the sudden increase of Minmatar militia in the system. I must keep an eye on local chat for sudden population increases.

Equally short-sighted is not having a ship ready for siege work. I will research this thoroughly, and have a ship waiting at my staging area for such tasks.

The siege was a failure due to the low firepower brought to the field. Strategies for bringing firepower must be found.

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.