Monday 24 August 2009

Celebrity Death Match #7 Tonglil

Tonglil - AKA Tony the Weekend Warrior (23rd August 2009)

Tony had been on my list for some time however if one would look for Tony in the Eve universe with the conventional tools available you will not find whom you are looking for. Tony writes a brilliant blog; helpful, informative and also plenty of action to feast ones eyes on. His blog site is well laid out, reads easy and has some cool features. I wish I could use a tag cloud on blogspot…

After taking some effort in tracking Tony down I spotted the Weekend Warrior online on Saturday evening when still parked in Evati. I had fitted a Kestrel in preparation for a rematch with Venom Orchid but my quickly becoming most favourite pirate was otherwise engaged. Tony accepted the convo request after clearly taking a little time to read my biography. Realising my motives Tony said kindly he felt honoured to be asked to do a Celebrity Death Match and agreed to meet up. I ensured him the pleasure was all mine and I was humbled for him accepting.

A quick check of the navigational map indicated an 18 jump travel for either of us. Unfortunately a space-travel I could not make at that time but we agreed to meet in Ipref at 6pm GMT the next day. Tony requested for me to prepare two ships with different fittings unless I was confident that one ship would be enough to last best out of three fights.

My history in Frigates has been short and not very successful so I prepared two ships the next day, having to make various jumps in the Ipref local area to get my fittings and vessels in place. Doing these matches has required for me to be more patient and find different things to do whilst waiting for a Celebrity to turn up.

Five hours later I had made some progress on some drawings and started munching my Chinese takeaway when a private communications screen opened up before me. ‘Hi am I late?’ Tony asked. ‘Just a bit but don’t worry’ I replied, ‘I am used to celebrities keeping me waiting’. Whilst I sucked down the last of my dinner Tony finished his laundry and rolled his socks.

I had brought a ship named ‘Antidote’, the ship I had flown here all the way from Evati and was originally to be Venoms ‘Antidote’. The second ship was another Kestrel but setup to deal pure damage of the highest order. I had named the ship ‘Bloody Sunday’ to indicate the end of the Weekend Warriors Weekend.

The rules had been quickly agreed and Tony undocked to get setup in a safe spot only to quickly dock again to insure his ship. I chuckled and explained he wouldn’t need it.

Tony indicated he was ready for me to warp to him and I undocked ‘Bloody Sunday’… No I didn’t I undocked ‘Antidote’. At some point in the day whilst waiting and double checking my fittings I must have been strapped into the wrong ship. O well, I thought. I expected to lose both ships and thus engaged the warp-drive anyway.

Tony’s Rifter class Frigate awaited me as my warp-drive shut down. Without delay both combat pilots locked theirs foes and opened up every available weapon system. ‘Antidote’ was fitted with a just a single ECM array but immediately broke Tony’s lock. Caldari Navy Thorn Rockets poured from their launchers faster and faster as I overloaded all my racks without delay. As the ECM array’s skipped a cycle here and there Tony didn’t hesitate to pound my fragile shields and they quickly drained to reveal the even thinner armour underneath. His armour broke and his hull was already on fire but his armour reppers repaired him quicker now than I could damage them. Overheating ECM arrays have a stronger effect than they were intended to do and three consecutive cycles jammed the rivals targeting system. It was enough for my rockets to finally break through his hull. My modules and his ship burned out at the same time…

‘Wow’ is all I could stutter into our communications channel. Still in disbelief of my victory I scooped his dropped gear and docked at his local base. After trading his loot back to him Tony applauded my victory and I felt good. Tony is a pleasant chap to chat to and we quickly agreed to fight again. I explained I would like to fight in the ship I initially intended to fly and undocked to pick it up in a neighbouring station.

The ‘Bloody Sunday’ undocked and set course for the already waiting Tony. The Kestrel sported a medium Shield extender and an afterburner but most importantly the 2 newly fitted small missile rigs and the Tech 2 Ballistic Control Unit where to ensure it would be a Bloody Sunday indeed.

The warp tunnel faded behind me and the afterburner immediately put me in a 5 kilometre orbit of the enemy Punisher. The change in hull surprised me and I didn’t quite know what to expect from a Punisher. I remained calm and as expected the 143 DPS didn’t tickle but pounded his shields into oblivion. My shield had started to take some damage too but my launchers now overheating put out an astonishing 172 DPS. A victory in my favour was imminent and I prepared to take a screen shot. Unfortunately I was too late to get a good shot of the large blue flash that preceded the Punishers parts being spread violently into the blackness.



Tony advised me not to worry and explained he had recorded both fights! Brilliant! I hope to see them on youtube soon!

The fight was over incredibly fast and again I was amazed at my win. I started believing in the power of frigates and may become a converted Battleship pilot at last. My pulse still racing from excitement we talked briefly but my data pad showed some business to be taken care off.

Tony generously gifted a Centii C-type Reactive Plating he had collected from a space adventure someplace. It was to be the trophy for my wins and I promised never to fit it. The famous Weekend Warrior has been a pleasure to meet and I hope it will not be the last…

Related links/posts;
Tony’s version of events; LINK PENDING
Celebrity Death Match Killboard #1; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=11
Celebrity Death Match Killboard #2; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=12
Youtube link #1; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZLSFMt9iM

9 comments:

  1. Frigate hulls are a blast to fly aren't they? Never underestimate a Kestrel, which I think you're learning to respect and cherish :)

    Keep up the great work!
    Squizz Caphinator

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  3. Was going to say that this proves the point that those peeps, mainly EFT warriors, you read on the forums whining about Caldari ships and rockets/missiles not being good for PvP are just wrong. GFs

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  4. Always a pleasure to read about your duels! Cheerz on getting onto the Blog pack!

    Flying mostly only Caldari ships myself I have to say that after closely following the Alliance Tournament 7, I have totaly revised my idea of Caldari ships in PVP. I have been telling myself I should train some other race to do PVP in, but indeed there are some awesome Caldari Ships to PVP with.

    The Kestrel featured here is a prime example of such a ship! Nashh, you wouldn't object in talking a bit more about your fitting here? Using T2 launchers? Rig details etc..

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  7. Hey Nashh hopefully you get this comment. Anyways, dunno how I forgot to comment previously on this, but really appreciated the fights!

    Finally I got around to edit, render, and upload the video onto YouTube. It is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jZLSFMt9iM

    My blog has also finally gotten around to that eventful day and you can edit it with the link if you wish. 

    Good job once again!

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  8. Hi Nashh, I've added you to www.evebloggers.com :)

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