Merlin Meets Breacher at Sun

Starwalker had gained a new appreciation of range control and was actively trying to apply that to each engagement. He was generally using a neutron blaster fit Merlin and knew that he was especially vulnerable to scramble range kiters and point range kiters. He had moved from the Merlin with two magnetic field stabilisers to this version after his EFT analysis:

[Merlin, LNBMSE]

Damage Control II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Micro Auxiliary Power Core II

1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Stasis Webifier II
Medium Shield Extender II

Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S
Light Neutron Blaster II, Caldari Navy Antimatter Charge S

Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I
Small Core Defense Field Extender I

His Merlin carried the two key ammunition choices - Caldari Navy Antimatter (CNAM) as a short range, high manage ammunition with an optimal range of ~1.1km and falloff of ~3.1km and long range Null ammunition with respectively ~3.2km and ~4.4km. These ammunition ranges dictated that up to ~3km CNAM was the best choice for high damage but beyond that Null became the right choice.

Starting with the right ammunition was important and by accident Starwalker used CNAM against a Breacher, typically a scramble range kiter. Whilst he knew that Null would be the better choice he had pre-loaded CNAM and simply forgot to change it. His Merlin was at the sun when the Breacher arrived and so as the Breacher approached he overloaded the afterburner to get into close range.

He knew that the Breacher would be able to establish range control but overheating the afterburner worked and the range closed to around 1km. But it did not last as the Breacher tried to gain range again. Starwalker left the overheat on as he knew the Breacher was faster and a lot of damage was being inflicted on it despite its active shield tanking.

Starwalker was so busy trying to keep the Breacher in range that he did not notice his afterburner's heat damage and it burnt out. As the range increased he switched ammunition to Null to try to keep hitting the Breacher but it was gaining range fast and actually was leaving the fight. Since there was no scramble Starwalker took the opportunity to leave too and dock up and repair. Whilst in station the Breacher pilot, Mec Anders, challenged him to a rematch. Apparently Mec Anders had some problem with his medium ancillary shield booster and wanted to leave the earlier fight to sort that out.

The Merlin undocked with Null loaded this time and went to the sun. The Breacher closed in and Starwalker used the same tactic of overheating his afterburner when the two ships were about 25km apart. The range closed to around 2km and Starwalker had started firing from around 10km. As the Breacher tried to open up the range again the Merlin continued to rain fire on it and it was soon very clear that the Breacher would not survive and shortly afterwards it was just another wreck.

The Breacher had a very traditional rocket fit along with a medium ancillary shield booster:

[Breacher, Mec Anders's Breacher]

Damage Control II
Ballistic Control System II
Overdrive Injector System II

1MN Afterburner II
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Medium Ancillary Shield Booster

Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket
Rocket Launcher II, Mjolnir Rage Rocket

Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-EM Screen Reinforcer I
Small Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I

Starwalker knew that choosing the right ammunition was really important and these two fights really illustrated the difference in performance quite clearly. If the range was likely to be anywhere with scramble range then Null was the right choice. If the fight was going to take place around 1km then CNAM was the right choice. By default he would pre-load Null as only a few ships would typically brawl up close (Incursus, Merlin..), many more would kite (Condor, Breacher...).