Hammered in Hadozeko

Starwalker was still basking in the aftermath of Hit in Hadozeko when another Rebel noted that Stukkler Tian was in system in a Rifter. So Starwalker joined the fleet and set about helping to find and kill this pilot. It turned out to be very easy to find him, as Starwalker saw the flashy red pilot warp to an asteroid belt. Starwalker called the belt and warped in to zero.

Stukkler Tian was there but 20km away. So, Starwalker headed towards him and as the distance closed to around 13km the damage started to come. Artillery fit. The problem became clear very quickly as the shields dropped and the distance remained around the same. Starwalker could not get close. Firing weapons was completely ineffectual at that range and Starwalker called for backup that arrived in the form of another Jaguar (Lhorenzho) and Stilleto (Miura Bull).

The writing was on the wall for Stukkler Tian but he was still hammering Starwalker’s Rifter and it was time to leave as armour was 25% gone. In a shield fit Rifter that is not good. Starwalker over heated the afterburner and tried to burn and warp away. Still scrambled and armour was now 75% gone. Finally, the warp disruption stopped as Starwalker got out of range and then warped away. Stukkler Tian was not so lucky as the guys got the kill (http://r1fta.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10211448).

Starwalker reviewed the lucky escape and noted:

1)    Afterburners should have been overheated immediately when approaching the target or at the latest when realising that the range was not being closed

2)    If over heat does not work, try to get close by “slingshot”, burn away and then when being chased turn quickly and burn back to target to get into scramble range, overheating as necessary

3)    When trying to escape Starwalker headed in a random direction away and overheated the afterburners. Better to head away in a direction aligned to a warp out to avoid any realign time

Live and learn.