21 Feb 2007

You win some and you lose some.....

Got another consignment of punishers.....I can't seem to get rid of them it would seem, so I went rummaging around the hangar and found enough bits and pieces to make another bleeder setup. I made a change and dropped a CPR for a damage control unit. I never seem to run out of cap before I die so why not make some changes? I also experimented with a few changes to the low slots but settled on the DCU variant.

Other setups (all variations in the low slots) included:

Variation one: x2 CPR, x1 200mm steel plate, x1 SAR
The standard Bleeder setup. Not bad but difficult against fast damaging opponents.

Variation two: x1 CPR, x1 200mm steel plate, x1 Damage Control Unit, x1 SAR
Dropping a CPR lowers the cap recharge rate but the DCU is very useful increasing the resists across the board.

Variation three: x1 CPR, x2 200mm Steel plate, x1 SAR
Increases the armour HP to 1500 and with the high resists; means it is a hard tanker.

Suitably tanked up I ventured out into my hunting grounds and stalked it. A few minutes later a rupture came into local. Oh yes, my heart beat faster as I checked out the information on the pilot. Still a RMS graduate but has been with them now for ten months. My goodness, is he having learning problems?

I wanted to test out the Bleeder against the rupture so was super-keen to take him out. It took me a few jumps before I found him, he left a trail of wrecks behind him so was easy to follow. I landed at 9Km from him and proceeded the scramble cycle. We exchanged fire but I then noticed that he was moving away from me: 1km, 3km, 5km - shite; he had a mwd installed and was pulling away from me. Partly my fault as I wasn't paying enough attention but I didn't want to get into a flat out race as my traversal would drop too low and his howitzers would tear me apart. I tried to re-orbit him but it was no good. From range, he started to hit while my trusty 200mm ACs failed to reach him.


Gah. I warped out and had to rethink my strategy. However, he left the system soon afterwards and I couldnot follow due to my criminal flag. Next time I need to be smarter as the bleeder doesn't have any webbers to slow fast ships down.

LC was busy in 0.0 with his corp mates but Revivor was back in town. I hooked up with her and we went hunting in Eifer. Local was busy and within a few moments, a rifter pilot - all cocky offered us a 1 v 1. Rozalina was her name and I admired her courage. Revivor and myself were hunting Rozalina, Underundertaker and threesixone but they were buzzing around the system like flies around crap.

We opted to wait for them to jump into a belt where we would be waiting. Within a few minutes, theesixone came screaming into the warp-in point in a freshly built rifter. Revivor and I proceeded to tear it to scrap. Revivor also podded the unlucky pilot.


2007.02.20 23:46

Victim: threesixone
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Destroyed: Rifter
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: Revivor
Security: -2.5
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: Phalanx Rocket

Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: 200mm AutoCannon I

Destroyed items:

150mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun
150mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun
150mm Light Gallium I Machine Gun
Civilian Armor Repairer
Civilian Shield Booster I
Civilian Shield Booster I
EMP S, Qty: 71


Hmm decent weapons but a civilian shield booster doesn't cut it I'm afraid. Not local was down to two other pilots and Rozalina was asking (nay, demanding) that we meet her at a belt for some fisticuffs. I decided to warp to a scan spot first just to make sure all was ok. Revivor on the other hand leapt straight into belt IV-4 with a war cry.

She was jumped on by the remaining rifters so I turned round and went to help. Revivor was doing well but her shields were down. I locked underundertakers (also in a rifer) and proceeded to take her shields down. The 200mmACs spat EMP death and stripped her shields. Meanwhile, Revivor, who had targetted both Rozalina and Underundertaker knocked Rozalina's rifter out of the fight - Rozalina's pod popped out and blinking and just asking to be podded but no-one did the honours. I was too busy with underundertaker's rifter.

Her shields and armour disappeared quickly enough but it was then when I zoomed out a bit that I noticed a third rifter in the belt. Obviously, having just warped in and it went for the nearest pirate: Revivor. I heard her say someothing and then she was in a pod.

I quickly dispatched Underundertaker and scrambled the pod. Meanwhile, I had to quickly acquire the new target: another rifter piloted by Nak Nok. Not taking any chances I started to fire on Nak Nok with two of the 200mm ACs and the third 200mm AC was used to blow Underundertaker back to the cloning vats.

2007.02.20 23:52

Victim: underundertakers
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Destroyed: Rifter
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: Revivor
Security: -3.4
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: Phalanx Rocket

Name: Angel Defacer / Archangels

Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: 200mm AutoCannon I

2007.02.20 23:54

Victim: underundertakers
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Destroyed: Capsule
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher

With Underundertaker duly dispatched, I concentrated on Nak Nok's rifter. It could hit hard and I suspected he was using Tech 2 ammo. Certainly my armour was protesting under the barrage. However, my tank held - and so did his but only for a minute. My 200mm ACs consistently scored hits on him, even without a webber and the NOS was adding more cap to my reserves while depleting his.

Nak Nok's tank was good though - probably some tech 2 stuff there too?

I controlled my cap flow and managed to get on top of the damage. Nak Nok's tank eventually broke (ran out of cap?) and my EMP rounds drilled into his hull. His ship exploded in a satisfying burst of light and debris - the scraps sparking off my remaining shields and armour. I quickly tried to acquire the pod as such a good fight deserved to end in a podding.

Nak Nok was good though and his capsule zipped off before I could even finish the lock cycle.

Checking the kill mail and all was revealed:

2007.02.20 23:54

Victim: Nak Nok
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Twisted Individuals
Destroyed: Rifter
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: Revivor
Security: -3.5
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Ship: Capsule
Weapon: Rocket Launcher I

Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: 200mm AutoCannon I

Destroyed items:

EMP S, Qty: 2372 (Cargo)
Power Diagnostic System I
Power Diagnostic System I
1MN Afterburner I
Barrage S, Qty: 1378 (Cargo)
150mm Light AutoCannon II
150mm Light AutoCannon II
150mm Light AutoCannon II
Shield Power Relay I
Medium Azeotropic Ward Salubrity I
Fleeting Progressive Warp Scrambler I
Barrage S, Qty: 52
Barrage S, Qty: 52

Tech II 150mm with barrage s and a big shield tank. Nice.


I looted what I could and collected the bodies.

Revivor then had to log - she only came on to check skills and ended up with two kills to her name and a lot of fun!

Later on in the evening - I spotted Dakker (MW) in local and we said hi. Have tangled with his corp and his predecessor corp (RLE) but they are a good bunch. He safe spotted while I went hunting for a thrasher that was ratting in Eifer.

Eifer is a big system with lot of belts, some of which are outside of scan range. Makes a challenge to get pilots. However, Bariaur (RMS) in his thrasher was trying to be careful as he knew there were other pilots around. I located him in belt V-3 and zipped in; my heart hammering and the adrenaline pumping through me. The thrill of chasing down a kill is still there, as intense as ever.

Bariaur's thrasher was a mixed AC and howie setup - not much of a pain but he was fast. The Bleeder came in, plasma trailing off it's sleek body from the warp tunnel and locked the thrasher. I hit the afterburner as soon as the navigation computer could align itself. I then pushed the punisher into a high-g 1000m orbit and started up the 200mm ACs.

The destroyer's shields soon fell to the trusty EMP shells. I wanted t get into his armour and chew into his hull. The bloodlust was on me and there was to be no mercy. His ACs scored hits on me but this is where the Bleeder's tanking ability and high resists came into it's own. The key
to the Bleeder is that it is hard to hit due to its size but if it does get hit: the high resists should reduce most of the damage. Finally, even if there's damage the SAR can be run almost indefinitely. Only issue with the bleeder is that it's damage is slow over time. I like to alpha-strike my targets. Fighting for a long time in a busy system is asking for trouble.

I took Bariaur down to hull and popped the ship. Bariaur pod was scrambled but he couldn't pay a ransom so he was popped.

We continued to chat once he recloned and swapped notes.

The kill mail:

2007.02.21 00:12

Victim: Bariaur
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Destroyed: Thrasher
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: 200mm AutoCannon I

Name: Angel Depredator / Archangels


Destroyed items:

250mm Light Artillery Cannon I
Damage Control I
Piranha Light Missile, Qty: 1137 (Cargo)
250mm Light Artillery Cannon I
125mm Gatling AutoCannon I
250mm Light Artillery Cannon I
250mm Light Artillery Cannon I
Depleted Uranium S, Qty: 575 (Cargo)
Angel Bronze Tag, Qty: 2 (Cargo)
Small Energy Transfer Array I (Cargo)
Small Hull Repairer I (Cargo)


2007.02.21 00:13

Victim: Bariaur
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Destroyed: Capsule
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: flashfresh (laid the final blow)
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: 200mm AutoCannon I

Meanwhile, a cyclone had appeared in local. I initiated chat with Dakker and asked if he wanted to hunt the cyclone down. We agreed on a truce and went after the battlecruiser. Dakker made contact first and I followed but I landed 48KM away. Dakker didn't have a scrambler and the cyclone managed to warp out.

Ach.

We hunted the cyclone over the next few minutes but a Myrmidon came into the fray. Ah, so things were getting complicated. We finally locked down the cyclone and proceeded into him. The Cyclone had problems hitting the rifter and the punisher but we could hit him.

We had him!

However, the myrmidon came into the fray. I warped out while Dakker stayed. A few nervous minutes passed and Dakker informed me that Taxus ( the myrmidon pilot) was so-far, neutral. I warped back in and landed on top of the Cyclone pilot (called Briaritus).

We killed him quickly, as the myrmidon had tech 2 drones. As soon as Briaritus cyclone popped- the Myrmidon turned on me! I was scrambled and his drones then proceeded to tear the punisher to pieces. Even before the damage reached the hull I was attempting to warp out.

The Punisher was shattered into small pieces under the combined firepower of the Myrmidon's 425mm autocanon II (yes, ACs) and his tech 2 drones. I warped out - so much for Taxus and his myrmidon being neutral.

Briaritus was podded and Dakker also lost his ship. Taxus had a good night.

2007.02.21 00:58

Victim: flashfresh
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Destroyed: Punisher
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: Taxus (laid the final blow)
Security: 0.2
Alliance: The Guardian Coalition
Corp: Soliders Of Eve
Ship: Myrmidon
Weapon: 425mm AutoCannon II


The kill mail for Briaritus:

2007.02.21 01:07

Victim: Briaritus
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Republic Military School
Destroyed: Cyclone
System: Eifer
Security: 0.4

Involved parties:

Name: Taxus (laid the final blow)
Security: 0.2
Alliance: The Guardian Coalition
Corp: Soliders Of Eve
Ship: Myrmidon
Weapon: Berserker I

Name: dakker
Security: -1.6
Alliance: Eastern Star Federation
Corp: Metal Winter
Ship: Rifter
Weapon: Phalanx Rocket

Name: flashfresh
Security: -10.0
Alliance: NONE
Corp: Independent Pilots
Ship: Punisher
Weapon: Punisher

Destroyed items:

Medium Peroxide I Capacitor Power Cell
Alpha Hull Mod Inertial Stabilizers
ECM - White Noise Generator I (Cargo)
Miner I (Cargo)
Dual 180mm AutoCannon I (Cargo)
Titanium Sabot M, Qty: 100 (Cargo)
220mm Vulcan AutoCannon I (Cargo)
Phased Weapon Navigation Array Generation Extron (Cargo)
Depleted Uranium M, Qty: 31

I lost the loot from the thrasher but no matter. It was a good night and with the adrenaline still coursing through my veins I called it a night.