Celebrity Death (Re-)Match #17 Kirith Kodachi

Kirith Kodachi – The Fist Shaker (14th October 2009)

Finally the long awaited re-match with Kirith Kodachi. Mr Kodachi has been shaking fists at me through varies means after losing his first Celebrity Death Match in Battlecruisers.

A rematch was sure to happen but it has taken a fair bit of time to actually get online together and slug it out once more. Both of us have either been pre-occupied with RL or Eve related stuff.

Kirith is still one of the most abundant writers in the blogging community. I don’t know how he does it. I mean; I know how long it takes to write a post. Some longer than others, but checking your spelling, re-reading them to make sure you don’t sound stupid takes some time. Kirith however blogs like I a normal human’s heart beats.

‘Verbal diarrhoea’ he professed to me. Maybe so but it still requires a significant amount of intellect to come up with the quality posts, at the amount he does. I take my hat off and hold him in high esteem.

‘/me Shakes fist at Nashh’ is something that became familiar to me whenever Kirith and myself found ourselves online at the same time. Not that he was bitter I am sure but merely a loss he perhaps not had expected. Also he indicated fairly quickly he would like to meet again. Destroyer class vessels this time, a CDM first.

Here we are, 12 Celebrity Death Matches have happened between our 2 encounters. Number 5 proved unlucky for Kirith but was number 17 to be any better? I felt confident that it was my turn to win again…

I know that my foe holds higher skill points in nearly everything but Missile’s and there are no Tech 1 Destroyers with any launcher hard-points. I have however skilled for the Turrets I fitted on my Navy Vexor last Sunday so I didn’t mind too much. I only have the Destroyer skill to level 2 but so does Kirith last time I checked, so again that did not worry me.

Then it came to choosing a ship; either the Caldari Cormorant or the Gallente Catalyst. Browsing some websites I decided to go with a gank Catalyst, hoping to out-damage my opponent quickly.

Checking EFT with some suggested fits did not suit me as well as I thought and I remembered that Mr Kodachi has superior navigation skills. Not an issue per se but with a short-range setup this could make it difficult for me. I didn’t want to be sniped to death…

I’ll snipe him instead I figured. Back to the drawing-board, forget Battleclinic and Scrapheaps, brain power and beer is all I need. Speed module? Check! 125mm Railguns? Check! Damage rigs? Check!...mmm extra mid slots… lets see, if I get into a 5 k orbit, nos him to make my cap stable, then use tracking disrupters. Yeah! That’s it!

It all just about fit and I purchased the modules I needed. All I required now was a +12 powercore. I remembered I bought Caldari Navy Powercore a few weeks back but I left it in Evati. A round trip of 44 jumps but I was a little early and figured I could make it in 30 minutes so I set off…

Halfway to Evati, Kiriths portrait blinked in the bottom of my screen, soon followed by a private chat window opening.

We chatted for the duration of the journey but did not meet up on vent, both of us sitting next to our pregnant better halves watching tv. For some reason spaceships do not appeal to everyone…

I asked him if he had brought a Catalyst or a Cormorant himself, not that it would have changed my fit as my ship was ready to go. ‘Catalyst’ he hesitantly revealed. ‘Crap’ I said, knowing the potential DPS he would be able to inflict on me if my plan wouldn’t work…

On arrival in system we did not waste any time and undocked and met at Planet 1. We took from each others cans and agreed to warp to planet 2 to commence battle.

‘Shall I warp to 20 and you to 0?’ Kirith requested. ‘Sure’ I immediately replied, knowing that a little space between us from the start would suit my plan very well. My heartbeat sped up and my face started to glow with anticipation. Kirith had unknowing signed his own death…

Upon the Warp bubbles collapse neither of us paused; targeting and activating all modules available… With weapons roaring and disrupters disrupting, I selected the 5 kilometre orbit I wanted. I was taking some damage but it didn’t bother me as I knew my win was secured as soon as I get into orbit.

My pitiful shields started to take huge hits now and it finally dawned on me I was no where near getting the orbit distance I wanted. I intended stay out of the range of his weapons but instead Kirith stayed out of the range of mine!

My foe had slipped into a comfortable 40k orbit from me and peppered my fragile hull taking no more than a minute or so to rip it apart.

Kirith had got his revenge and got it well. Spoils went to the victor and it included the Caldari Navy Powercore which was to be the trophy of our encounter.

Kirith wrote a great article on duels, something that clearly took my notice, being in the duelling business myself. Maybe it would be nice to add trophies and a prize cupboard in ones hangar.

Before the fight commenced we already agreed there cannot be a CDM that draws, there needs to be a winner. Kirith agreed to a Battleship duel if he would win. Now I am clearly gutted to have lost, however the now secured BS fight has lifted my spirits…

I know Kirith is mad for his Rokh but I don’t really fancy being sniped from 190K so some rules will have to be set. Range for one, no ECM for second. If anyone has a suggestion on how to go about this upcoming fight leave me a message…

For now lets leave Mr Kirith Kodachi to gloat…

Celebrity Death Match #15 Ga'len

Ga’len- The Blog Commander (7th October 2009)

Mr Ga’len had been on my wish list for some time but for some reason we kept missing each other. Having caught up finally, we quickly agreed to meet on Wednesday 7th October.

‘Excellent’ I thought after he expressed some fear in losing this match. I need a win badly after a serious losing streak. I had been ahead since being downed by Mynxee and Sae Tiann some time ago. My fight with Wensley drew the score and after that I had been ahead in points for some time. Winning some fights even got me a lead of 5 points at one stage. Those days are over…

My fights with 00sage00 killed my confidence and my possible recapture of the lead.

I need this win. I need this win badly…

EFT came back out and I tried to come up with an old skool crazy fit to get the curve ball on Ga’len. ECM was again not allowed in this fight so that option was out. However other EWAR had not been disallowed so I tried to come up with another alternative to my Kestrel of Doom.

Tracking disrupters? Mmm Sensor damps? Yes that’s gonna be it. I spent 3 hours trying to find the modules that would allow me to fit what I wanted. I ended up buying stuff on contracts, Navy rocket launchers, Navy powercores, you name it.

My alt and most used CDM fighter is in Amarr waiting for Kirith so I can’t use him with his ‘ok’ sec-status to collect and haul my stuff. Nashh’s sec status however has dropped to near criminal status and shopping with him proved hard. So difficult in fact I aborted my hauling mission and decided a different fit altogether.

Having my fit collected in low security space proved time consuming but I got what I wanted and I found a sparring partner to try out my fit. Pastor Phelps, another Bastard hopeful, agreed to fight me to test if my fit and see if it would stand any chance.

I expected Ga’len to come in a Rifter and so did Pastor, brilliant. We met at a safe and I requested to go through shields only. /me sighs, pointless fail fit is all I can say. I tried double sensor damps with range scripts and a microwarpdrive... It worked for about 20 seconds but I forgot to check capacitor stability before actually buying and collecting these mods. Silly? Yes Stupid? Yeah I know. Stop going on about it.

We discussed the fit briefly and agreed after a range test that this fit could still work with Standard Missiles and range tanking. Yes it would work, and yes I was sure to win, without a shadow of a doubt. ‘Yes!’, I said that will be it then. Range tank and range dampeners. ‘What a frustrating way to die’ Pastor noted, immediately reminding me of my fights with Roc’s Firetail and Hallan Turek.

A lot went on inside my head, and within a split second I replied that that’s not how I roll. Loyalty to the gank and all that jazz. I docked up my fail fit to bring her back out with some standard launchers to try the theory anyway.

As I docked and evaded the station guns Ga’len convo’d me. ‘Crap’, practise time is over. This CDM is on.

I immediately refit to my standard fit and prepared to meet my foe. I would not get a chance to mess around anymore and this would have to do. I was still confident my standard gank fit could kill any frig at close range so without too much delay I undocked, psyched for the fight.

In my anticipation I made the mistake of hanging around the station for a split second too long, forgetting completely about the invisible timer I had read about some time ago but not experienced before. The station guns didn’t take more than 2 volleys to finish of my glorious Kestrel. How embarrassing, right in front of my prospective corp mates…

Docking up revealed my fleet of ships, now fitted and ready for action, but only one more Kestrel. Not a ‘Kestrel of Doom’ but a ‘Gank Kestrel’. Yes the same fit but unrigged. I asked Ga’len if he had fitted rigs and without a moment pause he posted his Rifter fit.

‘The Bleeding Rose’ was fit well and yes it did have rigs. I requested a moment to get the stakes even and rig my ship too and he kindly offered for me to take as much time as I needed.

My difficulties in shopping around limited my options and with nothing available within reasonable range I requested help in the local (not local) chat channels. But unfortunately no missile rigs were available. An increased transport price did not tempt anyone to make the trip to Hek for me in time so I decided to just go for it.

‘Feck it’ I said and undocked getting out of range of the station guns immediately this time.

We agreed to just fight without stealing from cans or any other delays. My kinda style. Sec status no longer an issue for me and it didn’t appear to be a worry for Mr Ga’len.

On landing I set my orbit, locked and my primed weapons didn’t need any further encouragement. Faction rockets slamming his shields as expected. Taking big chunks out of is preliminary defence I felt the power surging from my gank setup.

With his shields gone and mine at half strength I already worried that it may not be enough. His armour at half strength with my shields at half capacity would make me feel better for sure…

The faster Rifter hull sure did not take long to catch up with my Caldari frigate and my range had been reduced to nothing worthy. His armour reaching the halfway mark matched the point of my shields breaking.

The inevitable was due and I knew what this meant. I prepared a screen shot with the secret hope of capturing an explosion other than that of my Kestrel.



No such luck it appeared. Ga’len defeated me well, his fit superior to mine.

It’s a shame my efforts to come up with an alternative fit did not come to fruition, and it’s a shame I cannot just yet commit myself to a range tank fit. For the same reason I felt bad for using triple ECM’s on Venom I suppose. But both Roc and Hallan have done it to me in a very effective manner without getting any stick from the public so why do I feel bad for attempting the same? Should I change my stance or is range tanking as bad as ECM in a 1 vs 1?

Food for thought for sure, maybe I should stop being such a pussy and do it. It is clear I need to come up with a different Vessel for frig fights as this ship has now outlasted its purpose. Ga’len killed off the ‘Kessy of Doom’.

He kindly traded me back my dropped loot in the hold of his Rifter. As a present I got to keep the Rifter that beat me, as long as a rematch will be held at some point with the same ships. This would require me to skill for Rifters but I think the stats will prove that that may not be a bad idea…

Please read the next post too with some interesting stats on the CDM’s sofar…

Celebrity Death Match #14 00sage00

00sage00 – Eve’s rising star. (23rd September 2009)

I contacted Mr Sage earlier this week hoping for him to accept a Celebrity Death Match. Now straight away the conversation revolved on what a celebrity is and why I picked him to fight. It is an interesting question that I clearly have thought about before. What bothered me after our initial conversation is the fact he said I should fight myself…

What? Me? A celebrity?! Ha! Mmm.. no not yet.. maybe soon, but not yet. I get more regular shout-outs in local regarding this specific type of post however there is lots more coming. I like the attention I must admit but that is not why I started doing this. I simply hoped to entertain myself and if people like what I do it’s a mere bonus…

Mr Sage’s name has been coming up more and more, his name usually at the top of any well known comms channel, because of the funny way he’s spelt it. His blog already prominent and becoming more so every day. His story’s are well written and makes one wish for the next update soon.

Time for a CDM? You bet!

After a few swift eve-mails the location was to be in my new home of Evati requiring me to travel nowhere far for the first time in my CDM career. The fight time was to be at 23:00pm Eve time. We agreed to fight in Tech 1 Frigates without any ECM modules or drones.

Again my fight with Venom resonating fear…

After I spotted Mr Sage online earlier in the evening I figured I’d give him a shout to see if he could meet a little earlier to give me a chance of a normal nights sleep before continuing my RL week of hell. The rising star unfortunately had a fleet operation scheduled but established he would contact me if he would be available earlier than the agreed time.

Myself?; I joined in another Bastard roam, this time under the quality fleet command of Realyf, and ventured into wormhole space. We managed to get a Battleship and a Battlecruiser kill but unfortunately I lost my myrmidon under heavy sleeper fire. Not a real worry as it had only been a Tech 1 fit but the trip home in a pod was done in shame. I had hoped to shine as I have recently applied to join the Bastards full-time.

As I returned home ready to bring out another Battlecruiser I got the call. Sage himself had just returned from his combat operation and he himself and his crew had returned in pods too.

Strangely comforting the fact that we had both failed even though my loss was bigger than his…

I was a little unprepared with this early call to action and mid travel I decided to re-plan my route to meet him instead of him meeting me. I had a quick look to see if I could contract out a ship to Nashh from another character but my limited contract slots did not allow me to. And the fact my smallest contract (at 500 mil) outstanding had a buyer already I decided to just buy the ship I needed when I got to the combat location.

Knowing the fit I wanted of by heart by now, it didn’t take me long to get the required modules for my ‘Kestrel of doom’. The only addition I made was Tech 2 Javalin Rockets as a spare in my hold. I had thought of this before but my fight with Hallan Turrek had shown me that it was a necessity.

Without too much delay we both undocked and met at Planet 1 of our agreed system and stole from each others cans. We both warped to planet 2 after, to have a fresh start, and battle commenced…

The enemy Punisher locked my kestrel immediately and commenced fire. His Nosferatu creating electric fireworks, sparking manically between our vessels…



My confidence grew as more alcohol went down my gullet and more rockets slammed into his quickly vaporising shields. There was no need to switch to the less powerful-long range rockets I held back just in case. A feeling of frustration started building as I wished I had fitted the Javalins in my fight with Roc Wieler and Hallan Turrek.

I calmed myself… the beer was good.

I refocused my attention to my current foe as his armour started to collapse at a steady pace. My shields were taking some damage but not as fast as his armour where now melting and I prepared to record the moment…

It hadn’t come?! What?! I quickly pulled up my head up display again and to my shock my launchers had de-activated. How strange I thought. I did overload my racks but had instructed the cancellation of that before I prepared the screenshot…

My webifier on one rack had completely burned out as did the scram on the second. The launchers, although damaged, were still working but had deactivated. With his hull already peering through, his Punisher did not last long after the 4 rocket launchers spewed out more death…



With his Frigate easily dispatched I felt confident enough to accept an immediate re-match in Cruiser hulls. We talked some about my fitting choice and I posted the saved ‘Gank Kestrel’ fit in our communications window, immediately regretting it.

Accepting a rematch in Cruiser hulls brought added problems to my evening. I had by now drunk enough to kill 3 grown men. However my clear victory gave me super human confidence as I uploaded EFT. A quick look through my own made recommended fits came up with ‘The Mynxee Killer’. ‘That’s the one’ I said to myself. My fight with Mynxee had been so close that now with better skills and with her recommended over heating skills I was sure to win…

I had briefly tried to fly a Thorax in my fight with Spectre just the week before but he had quickly shown me not to fly something you can’t fit well.

I undocked the sleek hull I had grown to love many months ago… she looked beautiful. The local sun gleaming brightly of her body as I aligned to planet 1. I had fitted the ship rather quickly but had waited some time for my celebrity target.

I did not mind. The wine was good…

Cans where stolen from and Planet 3 was aligned as I prepare for battle number 2. I was to win this for sure. My confidence soaring as I landed 20 clicks from my target.

Drones calmly deployed, started their approach and fired the additional damage to my already firing missiles. Fury was their name and they delivered just that; fury. The shields stripped away from the enemy Maller, easily. I prepared to gain more distance from Mr Sage but realised I had not fitted any speed modules whatsoever. Hey? I thought this fit was supposed to have at least an afterburner?

It doesn’t matter I figured as his armour was starting to fade. My shield still fully intact as my drones had taken the damage for me… His armour decreasing with every volley I attempted to retract my remaining drone to save it but it was too late. On route back to its hold the Hornet II exploded in a bright spark. Never mind I told myself again as the Maller started to encroach on my personal space. It is too late for him… I am reclaiming my victory status in this little adventure. Ha! Ha ha!



My euphoria didn’t last long. His Armour stalled at about 25% and didn’t decrease any further. My shields however had started to melt quickly, I fact very quickly. I panicked briefly hoping to change the outcome but realised I couldn’t affect the result any further…

I was unable to increase my speed and therefore the distance between us. I could not boost my shields as I had a passive fit My damage output had already reached its limit and that was just it…

My mouth opened slightly as I could only look on as my shields lost the last bit of resilience… I did not move knowing what this meant… my armour gave way without a single second of resistance, as did my hull.

Floating in space I managed to utter ‘GF’, still stunned by the outcome.

We docked up and exchanged the goods dropped as we did before. With the score 1 vs 1 there had to be a third fight. There cannot be a CDM without a winner surely.

I comforted myself in the fact there would only be one ship to fly home after our third fight. Frigates it was to be again and I knew I would not change my ship from my previous super victory. Why would I?

The wait for my opponent took a little longer again. I had by now well stayed up beyond my desired bedtime.

I did not mind… the rum was good…

I remembered the fact I had given away my ‘Gank Kessy’ fit but decided not to change my tactics. I gave a lame attempt to bluffing instead. As I waited I explained I too was looking for an ulterior fit. Hoping to throw him off preparation of a ‘Gank Kessy kill fit’.

I mentioned a different ship type and different speed mods…

Maybe the beer, wine and rum had got to me. Maybe I just can’t bluff to save my life… I don’t know. What I do know is that our fight lasted as long as rabbit sex.

After landing our guns opened up and his shields stripped away from him, a comforting sight normally, not when my shields had been removed within 2 volleys.


Hazadawhat?!..

With primed lasers Mr Sage peeled me like a banana would be peeled by a skilled surgeon wielding an axe.

I was gob-smacked. A loss? Ok no problem. A close match? Ok no problem. Being beaten up by long range weapons? Sigh… ok, no problem. Being annihilated within seconds? Not ok.

I had to cough up a drunken ‘GF’. Damn it. What had just happened?! Bewildered I decided to dock, ashamed of my extremely convincing defeat. Kicking myself for allowing to much time for him to come up with a fit that could kill my Kessy.

Mr Sage played it well, too well in fact and I did not.

Am I gutted? Am I upset? Mmm yeah, obviously I would have preferred to win, but it has been a great opportunity to meet a great person, one sure to make his name very big in the Eve community.

I am pleased I have been one of the first to be a part of this rising stars career, and am glad to provide the proof that its not the age of a character, but the skill of a pilot that makes the difference.

Don’t be a stranger Mr Sage…


Related links/posts;
00sage00’s account; http://00sage00.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/celebrity-death-match/
CDM kill board #1; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=20
CDM kill board #2; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=21
CDM kill board #3; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=22

Celebrity Death Match #12 Spectre3353

Spectre3353 – Carebear Tear Extractor (13th September 2009)

Spectre, loved by some, loathed by others, none more so than his victims.

I have been following Spectre’s blogs for some time, with his unique style and with increased attention to his blogs I figured it was time to give him a call…

It appears I am most known as ‘that Celebrity Death Match Guy’, which suits me fine. It means I am not cold-calling. As soon as a pilot in Eve receives a convo of a person they do not know they check their bio…

After a short pause my convo request got answered with the now familiar; ‘you are that Celebrity Death Match guy!’. To which my reply was simply; ‘yes, and you sir are a celebrity’.

It has become the norm for celebrities to choose; location, hull type, any additional rules etc. To my relief the location was only 14 jumps away. To my dread however the ship type was to be Cruisers.

My CDM statistics clearly show my win/loss ratio in cruisers do not stack in my favour. However the choice is not mine and I accepted.

Even though a lot of time had been spend on Eve last week I had not managed to get a Cruiser to Egghelende.

Just after posting my weekly update, the first without a CDM, I decided to drop of a ship (via Jita) in the agreed system. I had spent a little time on the super secret epic CDM coming soon and planned to log for the night.

As always things don’t work out as planned; on arrival in Egghelende with Spectre in local I thought; ‘hell, why not’.

Just before my much needed beauty sleep and Spectre’s dinner we agreed to fight there and then.

Spectre undocked and warped to a safe-spot as I waited, slowly feeling the nerves build up. On his signal I undocked myself and aligned the ‘Caldari Navy Caracal’. I named the ship after the famous Caldari Faction Cruiser but I was strapped into something far from that.

After some losses in rigged Caracals (some pre-rig change) I decided to change my flavour and bring a Gallente Thorax. Electron Blaster fit, I set off on the long warp jump towards the ruthless pirate.

Heartbeat racing I cringed as the warp bubble collapsed. A Vexor, crap, the last thing I wanted to appear on my overview.

Readers may know I am a Caldari pilot mainly and indeed with a badly fit Thorax I had little chance. I fitted the Thorax with the best EFT had to offer on a Tech 1 level and with some named or Tech 2 mixed in. I figured with the high DPS I could still put out I would stand a chance against auto-cannons and/or missiles. However a skilled Blaster pilot was undoubtedly going to rip my first Thorax apart.

Drones burst out of their holds, their counter parts already filling my screen in bright flashy red. Lock, afterburner, orbit, scramble, web, FIRE!

Circling each other closely like birds of prey we fought over who was to be the bird and whom the prey.

Shields split and parted with the rest of our ships, his sooner than mine. Armour held for a moment but my inferior skills were now showing and rapidly overtook the decline of his integrity. My blaster skills at a mere minimum where to be my downfall. His armour dented as mine buckled, misshaped and contorted ready to break. I sighed as his mixed drones took the last of the armour and slowly began biting away at the soft structure. There was nothing left but the inevitable…

Unfortunately I could not provide the merciless cold-blooded man with the tears he so craved. I had enjoyed myself and deserved to lose.

Merciless? Cold-blooded? No not really. Spectre’s evil character is merely the façade of a nice geezer out for a laugh. We chatted briefly as both had important stuff to take care of (dinner/bed-time).

The carebear-tear-extractor explained his choice of ship was not his usual as he would normally go for a nano-setup to complement his snake implants. I laughed, slightly embarrassed and explained my implants where missile related. A brief mention on his side that the fight had been unfair but I corrected him and explained that truly all is fair in love and war.

It had been my choice to pick the Thorax with inferior fittings, and wrong implants. It had been my choice to fight an experienced PVP’er. Spectre beat me fair and square. However upsetting… How stupid of me. That Bstrd Spectre…

A tear welled up as I logged for the night…



Related links/posts;
Spectre’s blog; http://evenewb.blogspot.com/
CDM kill board; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=18

Celebrity Death Match #11 Flashfresh

Flashfresh – Chief Bastard of the Bastards (1st September 2009)

I say Chief bastard but Flashfresh is surprisingly nice for a villain of the highest order. The famous Bastards are well known for their fearsome combat reputation kept in check by a strict pirate honour code. Various Bastards write blogs themselves and together with the Hellcats they fill an important part of the Eve community.

The first fiction story I wrote is about Nashh Kadavr joining the Bastards. This never actually happened and I had taken some liberties in writing about the Bastards and Flashfresh himself. Risky perhaps yes, but Flash has been very good about it; not only being ok with it, he has even read the story I emailed to him and helped me make it more authentic!

I got talking to Flashfresh soon after my fight with Mynxee, I was slightly nervous but the pirate commander had been very accommodating. He took time out of his busy schedule to talk to me about the new ransom-board the Bastards are working with and the unique loot registration system. At the time Flash did not have time to catch up for a duel but agreed to fight me as long it would be in a fun Bastard way of doing it. Of course I agreed to whatever he would want but cringed when he suggested; ‘Cruiser hull with a BS sized weapon’.

We agreed to meet towards the end of August as both of us had a holiday planned before then. We followed the conversation up with a few emails to agree the terms of the fight;

1: T1 Cruiser Hull
2: Fitting needs to comprise of a BS sized gun (online)
3: No other fitting restrictions
4: No warping off (to the death)
5: No pod-killing

Now if I have any readers they will know I fly Caldari only and I suggest just for the hell of it you open up EFT and try to come up with a fit. That’s right; it is not possible. This meant I had to find a ship I could still do some DPS with and have enough powergrid to fit and online a large weapon. Some shopping around and I ended up with a Rupture and immediately started skilling for one.

It needed 5 Tech 2 Reactor Control Units to do anything at all so my low slots had been taken care off. I fitted a Tech 2 Siege missile launcher and decided to arrange the rest of the fittings around that. Shields where simply not an option after fitting two Tech 2 Target Painters and choose a mwd instead. To be able to run this permanently I fitted the high slots with 2 Heavy Missile Launchers and 3 NOS’s. As I didn’t expect to last too long I added four small drones and one medium. All gank no tank.

By the time I could fly the ship I had already purchased the modules and the hull ready to fit and fight. The duel was to happen Tuesday 1st August 21:00 Eve o’clock.

On arrival in Evati with my comedy fit I was hoping not to get shot out of space and making someone laugh at the ridiculous setup they would find in the kill mail.

We spoke over a private chat and agreed to meet in a neighbouring system and as I jumped through the gate Flash just jumped through the other way! I laughed out loud and said ’at least you know what I am flying!’. The pirate must have just missed me as he didn’t spot my vessel uncloak as I aligned to dock.

Instead of a fleet being formed I got an invite to the fleet Flash was commanding at the time. Holy crap, I thought, I am in a Bastard fleet! The names already familiar to me as I had spent some time in Evati waiting for Venom. My time there ended up being spend watching the Bastards.

The pirate CEO kindly introduced me as we met at a safespot to bookmark. Flash instructed me we where to get our ships and after a countdown we were both to warp to the bookmark. Very cool, a bit like a street car race Jaxx stuck his hands up and counted down; \o/…5….4….3….2….1…/0\ GOGOGO!

Mid warp Gorgoleon said; ‘A Moa I bet’ and just before landing I managed to explain I couldn’t fit one. My heart was pumping at great speed. The 7-7 score could swing in the celebs or my favour tonight…

As the warp bubble dissipated, my lock resolved slowly. My primed launchers fired instantly, hurtling mixed sized Tech 2 ammo at the foe. I willed my ship into a 5k orbit and engaged the mwd. To ensure I could keep this speed up I activated the 3 NOS’s and started sapping his energy. The mixed sized drones buzzed from their hold and added to my firepower.

I had originally intended to attack his drones first as I figured the majority of the damage would come from them but in the heat of the moment I locked them and did nothing about it.

My drones on the other hand simultaneously had there shields removed. What the..! Crap, a smartbomb? I quickly pulled my drones in as for me also the drones made up 50% of my DPS. I knew however that my mixed sized NOS’s would have sucked his capacitor dry and re-launched them immediately.

I had not looked at the stats yet as I had been concentrating to much on the huge array of different sized weapons and drones. A quick glance at his ships status at the top of my screen revealed he was toughing structure compared to my shields barely hanging in there. Without mercy I overloaded all the racks and prepared to record the moment…

‘YEAH! Woot!’ I belted into the fleet channel. I think the Bastards where as stunned as me and the onlookers muttterd; ‘you where crap Flash’. Still buzzing from the fight and the win I docked my ship unlikely to ever to use it again. We laughed some and exchanged ‘GF’.

It was getting late for me and after the last couple of long days (and short nights) in RL I should probably have gone to bed. I was still in the Bastard fleet however and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity and asked to stay with the fleet.

The Bastards accepted my request under the condition that I would play bait. Bait for the Bastards? ‘Yes please’ I answered and immediately boarded the Drake I had in Evati.

Some belt ratting later and a little support lend in the form of collecting Bastard loot. I managed to lose the Drake to a gate camp. Unlucky maybe, but it was the result of a misunderstood order and a wrong decision in jumping into a welcome committee of 15 Battlecruisers and Battleships. I managed to get my pod out however and quickly made my way back to Evati to jump into a gank Kestrel.

The hour and a half spend in the Bastard fleet had merely resulted in the loss of a Drake (including a full cargo of Bastard loot, sorry) and a missed chance on an Attack Frigate. I didn’t care at all however and I must say the experience has been very good. The Bastards had shown extreme professionalism by the way they knew their way around and the way the fleet conducted themselves.

Flash is a very calm, cool, collected kind of fleet commander and his instructions were relayed smooth and stress free. I kindly received an offer to return to Evati and join the Bastards on another roam some day, and I surely will.

I hope to spend some time with The Black Rabbit Academy to gain vital pirating knowledge but await the time the Bastards re-open recruitment…

Related links/posts;
Flashfresh’s side of the story; http://i-pirate.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-are-crap-you-therefore-deserved-to.html

Bastard killboard; http://www.the-bastards.com/kb/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=12152

Celebrity Death Match Killboard; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=17

Celebrity Death Match #10 Kane Rizzel

Kane Rizzel – Elite Solo Pirate (31st August 2009)

Kane had been contacted some time ago and had quickly agreed to fight me in a Battlecruiser duel. The Terry Pratchet quoting solo pirate had actually been scheduled to be Celebrity Death Match #3 but finally it came about last night.

I to like reading the Discworld Novels and always chuckle at the quotes Kane uses. Some of his blogs have a bit of a Pratchet feel to them and are an enjoyable read. As I understand Mr Rizzel is having a bit of a tough time deciding what to do in the Eve universe but I sincerely hope he finds a place to call home and enjoy the game again. There may still be a possibility that he takes up some classes in The Black Rabbits Academy as a teacher and I would certainly look forward to that as a fresh student of the Academy myself.

After our very first contact I immediately parked up a Drake near his current base of operations. I had feared Kane had blocked my account as I had trouble getting hold of him in the last few weeks. That fear turned to elation when last night still at work I logged on briefly to check my Eve-mails. In the inbox sat a flashy envelope from Kane Rizzel explaining he had been busy but was ready for the duel before 1am Eve time.

Sweet, I thought, undocking my pod immediately and setting a high-sec route to Emolgranlan. I started the 28 jumps off in auto pilot mode whilst finishing off my RL duties.

As soon as I got home I got myself a bottle of beer and prepared for getting famous myself by claiming a Kane Rizzel Killmail. I had expected Mr Rizzel to bring a Hurrycane and in previous experiences my favourite Drake had been pretty successful. My passive Drake fit is nearly maxed out in skills and sports a impressive 90050 EHP with the resists at 73.3/77.9/78.3/82. I made a last minute decision to take of a Large Shield Extender and swapped it for a MWD sacrificing a wopping 18000 EHP.

A private chat window had opened and we chatted for some time, briefly interrupted by my laptop overheating. This appears to be happening more often these days and is becoming a cause for concern. I hope to upgrade to an Alienware or a Mac Book Pro in the next month to replace my now incompetent gaming platform.

I apologised for the interruption and continued. We agreed to meet up in the neighbouring system Eifer and I undocked the ‘FashizzelKaneRizzel’. Kane suggested for me to make a safe spot and I did so as quickly as I could. In the meantime my opponent spoke with some local pvp’ers and used his political weight to ask them to stay out of this fight and not to scan us out.

Kane kindly let me choose the safespot and make the fleet but I never doubted his trustworthiness.

With the safespot and fleet created my capacitor started recharging. Kane entered the system and as his warpdrive engaged he explained he had flipped a coin to let fate decide what ship to bring.

The ‘Sgt Detritus’ named Harbinger entered the the grid on my overview. For those of you that don’t read Terry Pratchets’ books; Sgt Detritus is a giant troll made from stone and possesses the strength of ten men, each possessing the strength of ten men.

A mere 5 k gap didn’t bode well for me and I engaged the mwd to increase the distance between us. I never got far. He must have had a scrambler fit as my mwd shut down shortly after engaging. With hindsight being the beautiful thing I should have never fit the mwd as I never got to use it again.

My ship slowed even more than its intended manufacturers speed and the gap was no more. Lasers started tearing into my shields and my ECM drones started dropping like flies. Setting up an orbit was simply a waste of effort as the Ammar Battlecruiser rode me like a pony. As I was unable to get any distance between us instead I prayed to any available war god and overheated my launchers.

The ECM drones now reduced to 3 still didn’t lock on to give me a break from the beating I was getting. I contemplated pulling them in but feared the time it would take for them to return to their bay would be fatal. His shields had by now fallen to the steady barrage of Tech 2 weaponry but his armour was as thick as 8 day old porridge.

With both of us overheating the end was neigh and my shields shattered, quickly followed by my none-existent armour. Structure peered through and with a last volley of his lasers it took me to 3%. I removed all visuals and prepared to record my demise. My demise? It hadn’t come.

I quickly pulled up the HUD and in our chat window Kane had written ‘I burnt my guns out’. In the time I had prepared the screenshot I had not stopped overheating mine either and neither of us could now use our main weaponry. It would have been a ridiculous stale-mate would it not have been for his combat drones helping me out of my misery. The Warrior drones moved in and spat at my burning vessel taking the remaining 3% structure.

‘Sgt Detritus’ had its shield removed and most of its armour but the skilled commander behind the controls had taught me a lesson. The extra 18000 EHP could possibly have swung the fight in my favour. ECM drones actually working would perhaps have changed the outcome. Maybe, just maybe, it was the coin that was to blame. Who knows.

We briefly chatted but with a mere 5 hour sleep ahead of me I had to keep it short. Kane Rizzel has been good fun to fight and it has certainly been worth the wait. I hope everything works out for him and hope to see him in space again some time. Just for an opportunity to get that Kane Rizzel Killmail….

Roc Wieler, Manasi and now Kane Rizzel have completely destroyed my once glorious 4 point lead. The score is 7-7 but I hope to gain a point later today in my fight against Flashfresh.



Related links/posts;
Kanes’ side of the coin; http://novakaneinc.blogspot.com/2009/08/screw-dust514-rust-is-here-and-now.html
Novakane Killboard; http://www.novakane.eu/Killboard/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=2712
Celebrity Death Match Killboard; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=16

Celebrity Death Match #9 Manasi

Manasi - The Mule, Blogger Extraordinaire (29th August 2009)

Manasi is a busy man. It had taken some time to pin him down and find time in his busy schedule to meet me for a fight. Being in a 0.0 alliance and pretty much constantly at war, the man has many operations to participate in. I wonder how he still manages to write the amount of brilliant blogs he does…

First contact with Manasi was made some weeks ago. We had exchanged some emails and spoke briefly over private chat channels. He kindly complemented me on the Celebrity Death Match idea and was keen to participate. It’s always nice to hear people like what you do.

I had offered to fly to any location of his choosing but having the luxury of a jump-clone it was very clear that logistically it would be easier for him to meet me instead. Mental note; need to get jump clones.

Fighting Eve celebrities has by the most part worked out well for my RL schedule. It just so happens that most celebs are on American time zones and I am usually on in after 12 midnight my time. I had just finished another gruelling 15 hour shift at work and on arrival home poured myself a nice glass of XO rum and logged in.

‘Manasi’s Death’ had been prepared fairly soon after I had made initial contact with the to-be-recipient of its might. A Caracal with microwarpdrive and a buffer tank.

I had settled in with my drink and my feet up. Skill queues updated and ready to log off I had a quick look at the address book. In it is a folder named ‘to convo for 1 vs 1’ and in it was Mr Manasi. Let’s see what he is up to, I thought, requesting a conversation.

It appeared I got lucky and Manasi who was nearing the end of a war declaration was happy to meet me. He jump cloned from many solar systems away to just 11 jumps from my location. I undocked the speedy Cruiser and set off.

In the time I took to get to his high sec base he managed to shop around and find the modules he intended to fit. After a quick scout of the navigational map we agreed to go to a nearby low security system to avoid CONCORD’s interest in our business.

We had by this point met up on Eve voice, a feature I had not used for some time but worked really well. Manasi and myself chatted about the stuff Eve pilots talk about. It is always nice to talk to nice people and we had a laugh throughout. Neither of us expected to win the fight which thankfully took a little pressure of the event.

It is always a surprise to see what your opponent turns up in and I had not been sure again this time. Not that it would have mattered as the only cruiser I can fit half decent is the trusty Caracal.

Our ships met at the first of four gates and our Rupture and Caracal travelled together to Aldali . Manasi’s flying style I would describe as having excellent 0.0 mentality; always cautious. We scouted the system briefly and found our intended battleground to be deserted, excellent. Manasi’s experience in o.o showed again as he prepared a safe spot about 500k from the furthest planet from any gate.

In my couple of weeks chasing around famous Eve pilots my security status has taken a bit of a knock. I went from a decent 4+ to a -1.1. Surprisingly for a pilot in an alliance that shoots anything and anybody Manasi still holds a respectable and clean +5. Apparently a feature his fellow alliance pilots give him some stick for every once and a while…

With both our capacitors recharged and having stolen from a jettisoned can, the fight was on. I had intended to fit my preferred tech 2 launchers however the tight fit would not allow for all 5 launchers to be just that. Instead I had to sacrifice 3 of them to be of the ‘Makulth’ variety. Not an issue per se however this did split my range; with 2 launchers being able to hit at 38k and the others at 18k. Mental note; do not split weapon types and/or ranges.

My microwarpdrive quickly burned up the 30 kilometre gap to be about 20. With all launcher primed, missiles where expelled from the safety of their launchers as soon as my lock resolved. The foes ship at this stage still static returned the favour but the Caracals speed negated most of his damage output. As I expected his shield were no more within seconds of the fight beginning. My shields held up magnificently even though they started to take some hits. As my speed reduced the pain he was inflicting came in twice fold.

His secondary armoured defence had taken severe damage and reached the half way mark by the time my shields reached theirs. This was to be a close fight for sure, His armour breaking would guarantee his demise but my shields cracking would spell my doom. Overheating weapons and drones did their best but with my capacitor dying it was kiting then speeding up again.

Shield and armour separated from both our ships and sweat started to appear on my forehead. ‘Crap’ I uttered as our fragile hulls appeared at the same time. With my capacitor bone dry all I could do was watch in terror as my hull kept decreasing and his armour started to show signs of regeneration.

Time slowed and my ship erupted in a ball of white fire. ‘Argh’ I started, ‘so close!’. Manasi had brought a good fight and his combat expertise showed. His fit was better and his skill and experience surpassed mine.

We laughed some, docked and waited out the Global Criminal Countdown timers together.

As said Manasi is a busy man. During and shortly after our scrap he was also in various other chat channels and at least 3 other forms of voice communications. One of his friends was taking some flack in a carrier and off he went.

Close, but getting second place in a 1 vs 1 doesn’t win any prizes. My once 4 point lead against the Celebs has been reduced to a mere 1 point advantage this week.

Grrrr!

Related links/posts;
Manasi side of the story; http://www.ceptacemia.com/AMIE/?p=719
Celebrity Death Match Kill Board; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=15
Sys-K Killboard; LINK PENDING

Celebrity Death (Re-)Match #8 Roc Wieler

Roc Wieler - The Colonel (23rd August 2009)

The day had been long and mostly boring. My evening however had been most exciting. A pre arranged fight with legendary Tony ‘the Weekend Warrior’ had swung heavily in my favour. The Celebrity Death Match scoreboard was looking good with myself in the lead with 7 wins and the celebrities trailing with 3.

Morale and bloodlust still soaring, I had found renewed faith in frigate class hulls. My datapad showed the one man still at the top of my list. His image flickered briefly as I called upon him.

‘Good day Civire’ the colonel greeted, ‘I presume you would care for that rematch?’. ‘Yes’ I plainly responded, already undocking my Frigate, knowing the colonel would accept. ‘You know where to find me’ Roc stated, but destination Dal had already been set. ‘I will make my best speed however it is 18 jumps’. Comms fell silent for a moment but the fallen peoples hero grimly stated; ‘18 jumps is a long way to come and die…’. ‘It is colonel, but it will be worth every second of pain I get to inflict upon you’ I responded. ‘I like your attitude young warrior’ he smiled.

On route to Dal some light pleasantries were exchanged. The warriors complemented each other on their written work and art.

The colonel offered to fly his famous Faction Firetail into battle and after some consideration I had to accept. Knowing full well the skilled Matari pilot would have a distinct advantage did not deter me as an additional rule was set out; we were to spar to the hull not the pod.

On Arrival in Dal I quickly docked to repair my still damaged Kestrel from the fight it had won a little earlier.

Nerves started to set in as colonel Wieler signalled he was ready and requested a jump in distance of 50 kilometres. I undocked ‘Bloody Sunday’ hoping she would give me victory again and warned Roc; ‘prepare to die colonel’. ‘I always prepare’ he responded and continued; ‘good luck’.



It was the first time I had seen a Firetail and yes it is a beautiful ship. Nevertheless my intentions were to strip the ‘Renegade’ from its gleaming shield and armour. Afterburners ignited and pushed my trusty steed towards the adversary. The distance between us only closed slowly...40...37..34...31...28...28? A missile slammed into the side of my ship, ejecting bright sparkling matter from within. And another, and another. ‘Having fun yet?’ the foe laughed at me. ‘Crap’ is all I could muster knowing Roc had outsmarted me. My shield now half gone and in a desperate attempt to get within range I overloaded the afterburner, briefly pulling me to 20 kilometres but it was not enough. My Caldari Navy rockets fell short of their target, and exploded feebly in empty space. I began to feel I had merely been invited to a target practise and knew my fate was sealed when the shields gave up.

‘Kudos’ I spoke in our private chat window as my Kestrel spewed out its insides. ‘Um what?’ Roc uttered ‘you were mid armour!’. ‘Aye, it’s like paper’ I explained.

The embarrassed Matari officer offered to purchase a new fitting for me but I declined explaining it’s not a problem.

‘As a fun sidenote for you’ the colonel taunted ‘I also have a Damage Control II I never touched, a Pith C Shield booster I didn`t touch, and a BZ-5 Grav Jammer I was ready to use if I needed to’.

I laughed out loud and we talked for some time about ship fittings and the Firetails’ abilities. ‘I trust this was fair enough?’ Roc asked. It had been my choice to challenge the Firetail and a ship loss is always a risk so I assured him; ‘Aye Captain’. ‘Aye colonel’ the colonel corrected me. We laughed and exchanged some more pleasantries. Roc deposited 10 million isk into my account and explained he understood it’s not about the isk but about the gesture.

A Rifter duel was offered to the pod and I accepted gladly. Travelling to a nearby market hub to buy and fit another Kestel I contemplated a different setup but in the end decided to give ’Bloody Sunday’ another chance. With the fitting saved it didn’t take too long to get everything together and made my way back.

On arrival back in Dal the pleasantries had stopped and I put my war face back on. There would be no mistakes this time. I instructed my DPS monster to warp to 0 and on landing scrambled the feared ‘Ripsack’ immediately hoping to kill its microwarpdrive. Primed Arbalest launchers poured out faction armaments as I dictated a tight orbit. Our ships flashed past each other and circled tightly, dancing the tango of death. His shields melted in a few volleys and with his armour exposed I overloaded everything I could. My shield was barely holding up but triumph was sure to be mine. His armour now creaked and started showing signs of breaking with my shields now also giving in I closed all windows and prepared to capture the moment I won a Roc Wieler killmail. As my screen was cleared from all unnecessary visuals Roc’s ship appeared to slow briefly before a bright flash filled my screen. YES! I WON! IN YOUR FACE COLONEL! IN YOUR FACE!

The screen regained its colours and my mouth dropped, eyes widened. The Kestrel I was expecting to come out of the flash had transformed into an egg. How? What? I reopened the communications window and there he was, laughing at me. ‘Hahaha’ Roc laughed, ‘thought you had me didn’t you?’.

The colonel explained what had happened and his skills and experience as a pilot had shown. He consoled me by saying; ‘You are a noble opponent. I have to say I’ve enjoyed our encounters’. However it was too late, I docked my pod. The colonel had well and truly smashed my morale and scoreboard together with my ships.

Colonel Roc Wieler saluted me a left-handed Matari salute and I responded with the Caldari right.

This was to be the last time we were to meet under pre arranged circumstances; however we both know that the war is not over yet….

I retired to my bunks for an uneasy night sleep. Tired and broken, licking my wounds…

Related links/posts;
Roc’s side of the story; http://everamblings.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/celebrity-rematch-the-renegade/
Celebrity Death Match Killboard #1; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=13
Celebrity Death Match Killboard #2; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=14

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

Celebrity Death Match #6 Venom Orchid

Venom Orchid – Blogstar and Hellcats Meany (17th August 2009)

On the last day of my holiday I decided to fly a Kestrel to Evati. I fitted the Frigate the day before, having thought about it long and hard. Evati is the notorious home system of the infamous Hellcats and Bastard pirates. I made the 20 jump trip in preparation for a fight I was hoping to get with the scoundrel Venom Orchid, a Hellcat I have seen online a lot over the last week or so.

About two jumps from my destination I started to have doubts about my fitting, however there was little I could do about it anymore. I had decided to put some rigs on the frigate. The rigs where cheap, especially as I build them myself, however this did limit the options of changing the setup. There is only one way of finding out I figured and on route through the low security systems I tried to find a suitable target, preferable a Rifter as that is the likely ship Venom would be flying.

I jumped through the last gate on my route and hey presto! A pirate Rifter about 15 clicks from the gate! The opportunity was to good to be true and I decided to engage. My systems locked on to the Rifter rapidly and rockets followed a straight trajectory to the pirates’ frigate. The setup I had chosen involved ECM jamming instead of shields and the Phase Inversion ECM worked very well. The target ship was unable to get a lock on me and was by now taking serious damage from my Faction armaments. He was forced to warp off and I considered it a victory. Brilliant! My setup works! I quickly docked before any of his friend turned up.

Safely docked I decided to look into the pirates details and.. o dear.. it was a Bastard. Mon Palae the Bastard pirate. Mmm, I thought, interesting, maybe he would like to spar a bit more. Full of confidence in my new ship I quickly invited him to a conversation and requested to tussle it out a bit more. He agreed and invited me to come to Planet 3. I had to be a little careful as I had not prepared for a battle other than the fight with Venom. I carry expensive implants and it would be silly to lose them. I was confident however and mid warp made the decision that if he would warp off again close to me being victorious, I would refit and replace the Webber for a Disrupter. The fight ensued and didn’t quite work out the way I expected and within 20 seconds Mon Palae had ruined my dream and my ship named ‘Venom Orchids Doom’. It had turned out to be my doom instead. (I think I burned out my ECM array)

I quickly docked as my pod would not be safe from the Bastard because no 1 vs 1 rules had been agreed. We chatted briefly and I explained my intentions in his home system and the name of my ship. Mon Palae is obviously a friend of Venom but gladly he understood and over the next hour or so we chatted about Kestrel fittings.

Venom Orchid had in the meantime logged on I we talked about the ‘accident’ that had just occurred to the ship spelling her doom. She (after chuckling at me) agreed to fight me whenever she is free next, perhaps later that day.

I managed to get a new vessel prepared and was keen to fight the Bastard pirate again to see if my new fitting would work better. I had opted for not one but two ECM modules to see if I could perma-jam him whilst destroying his ship. I did not rig the ship as I actually had to purchase the modules this time.
We agreed to fight under the standard 1 vs 1 rules and again we met up at a planet in Evati. I warped in on him with 20 kilometres of space between us. Before I fired a single rocket I activated the first ECM module. The gap between us closed rapidly and with about 12 kilometres to go I started firing both sets of launchers. The ECM module had by now reached the half way point of its first cycle and I hastily activated the second. My head was pounding, and I felt a little stressed hoping that now my setup would work. His shield parted with the rest of his ship and his armour was laid bare. Tunnel vision set in as I tried to remain at some distance from his clearly faster frigate. His armour reached the halfway mark and I overheated all my racks to push that little bit harder at this crucial stage. My red hot launchers briefly stopped firing as there where no rockets for ten seconds to feed them. I stopped overloading as I feared I may lose the modules before the fight had been decided.

What? I started to receive damage! And not a little either, the two active ECM’s failed to get a lock for 2 cycles each and Mon Palaes auto-cannons shredded through my unprotected ship like as if it wasn’t even there. The fight had swung in his favour in the space of 10 seconds and dramatically altered the outcome.

My ship lay in tatters. My pod gently bobbed up and down in the vacuum of space.

‘Back to the drawing board’, I said, a little disappointed in the fights result. I had started so well. Mon Palae kindly traded me back my dropped ammo and modules after repairing them. We talked a bit more about Frigate battles and his help has been appreciated. Again, if you read this; thanks for your time.

I am obviously aware at this point that Venom Orchid will have read the killmails produced by her fellow pirate and knows my intended fitting style. I ponder the rest of the afternoon on what to do and whether I should change the ECM’s to weapon disrupters and lose the mwd for an afterburner. I gave up in the end and decided on the setup I was to fly into battle. Appropriately I named it ‘Sorry Venom ;-)’ for I was sure it would annoy the hell out of her.

About 5 hrs later and I spotted Venom logged off, I presumed to make her way home from work. When I looked next to me in the Evati station not long after, she was there. I didn’t waste any time and convo’d her immediately, as by now it was 2 am on my side of the planet.

She didn’t take long in getting a ship ready and we agreed the by now standard rules of 1 vs 1; no eggs to be broken, no warping off and thus to the death! Venoms Rifter screamed from the undock point and jetted to a safe spot. As soon as she arrived and got in position I got the green light to warp to her. I did so straight away. My sleepy eyes opened a bit further as soon as my warp drive activated and my heart sped up. I tried to remain focused on the fight about to ensue. The fight I had prepared and waited for all day, knowing it could be over very quickly.

With both sets of rocket launchers and the first of 3 ECM’s primed I anticipated the warp bubbles collapse… Lock! Rockets didn’t need any further encouragement and propelled themselves at speed to her spacecraft. Half her shield crumbled by the time the first ECM reached about a third of its first cycle and I activated the second. Her shield now gone, I remained calm and activated the third ECM. Initially I intended to keep some distance but her faster and more agile ship was hugging me closely. Her armour nearly broke and I overheated everything I could. Knowing now I was to win this fight with not having received any damage I zoomed out the view and prepared a screen shot.

As I did so my rockets started to fall short and exploded before they even came close, as she had by now created a gap between us. My weapons unlocked and deactivated. The fight would normally have been over at this stage as in a pvp scenario she would have warped to safety. I quickly turned around my ship to create an even bigger gap, big enough to make a 150 k fleet warp to her, but it was not necessary. She had already turned back and so did I. Like a lamb to the slaughter I believe she accepted her fate. Honouring the ‘fight to the death’ she granted me the killmail.


We discussed my fitting briefly and both chuckled. Three ECM modules just for her. The victory was mine but I felt like a coward. This is not how I wanted to win. I had her perma-jammed from the start. We agreed it was an interesting experience and we should tango again sometime.

I offered to trade back her dropped items however she offered for me to keep them and I will. A trophy one might say.

It has been a long day and with some losses in the afternoon and a late night, but again it has been worth the buzz! Thanks again to Venom Orchid and I hope to share space with you again someday…



Related links/posts;
Venom Orchids version of events; http://www.venomsbite.com/2009/08/18/binary-duel-ship-log-8-17-09/
Hellcats Kilboard; http://hellcats.eve-kill.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=4015896

Bastards Killboard #1 Mon Palae; http://www.the-bastards.com/kb/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=11941

Bastards Killboard #2 Mon Palae; http://www.the-bastards.com/kb/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=11942

Celebrity Death Match Killboard; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=10

Celebrity Death Match #5 Kirith Kodachi

Kirith Kodachi- Author of the inner sanctum of the Ninveah (16th August 2009)

First off I want to say Kirith is one off my favourite bloggers. I like his writing style and a lot of the experiences he writes about are relevant to what I do myself. Also he is one of the most active bloggers in the blog pack and I always smile when I get another update from him on the capsuleer app on my i-pod.

So who better to fight in a Celebrtiy Death Match than him? Exactly.

Kirith had been added to my address book a little while ago but I haven managed to pin him down until earlier this week. I had already briefly discussed a duel with him on his blog posts and he seemed really keen. I convo’d him earlier Saturday morning and he promptly replied. He explained he was a little busy at the moment but if we both had time later to do it then. We briefly discussed ship class and location. A Battlecruiser fight it was to be! Yay! My favourite! The location worked out really well for me too as I already parked up a Drake in Emolgranlan in preparation for my fight with Kane Rizzel. I hope he doesn’t read this.

I have actually been stuck in a wormhole for most of the day Saturday and it gave me time to find out more about what I was getting into. I found Kiriths skills listed in his blog and spent some time assessing what ship he would bring and what weapons he would fit. My conclusion was that he himself would be quite likely to fly a Drake and I expected him to fit it with assault launchers. I cursed the tiny drone bay as I couldn’t decide between ECM drones or combat drones. In my fight with Wensley he had shown how effective they can be and I figured that even if I manage to jam him 2 cycles it would probably turn the fight in my favour. A lot of our missile and shield skills are comparable and both of us have Battlecruisers trained to level 5. It was sure to be a close fight. He was likely to fit a microwarpdrive even if he would not come in a Drake so I decided not to fit one myself initially as his navigation skills are higher then mine anyway and he would catch up with me in the end. Instead I took the mwd off and slapped on another large shield extender, hoping to outlast him.

The actual fight took place on Sunday when I had renewed opinions about Frigate class vessels after my scrap with Roc Wieler. I had returned to Emolgranlan to wait for Kirith or Kane Rizzel. But after some time waiting and no replys from Kane I decided to go to my main base just outside Amamake to setup a few Frigates for future fights. I had only just arrived there and sods law; I get a private convo from Kirith. Bingo!

Kirith had limited time however and I sped the 11 jumps back as quick as my pod would take me. On route back we both agreed the rules; no warping off, no pod kills, a fight to the death. We decided to stay in the 0.5 security system, meet at planet 1 and for me to take from his jetted can to get aggro. I would then warp to planet 2 and wait for his arrival.

On arrival I docked and strapped myself into one of the two Drakes parked up there. Aptly named ‘Super Fast Barn Door’ it was not the ship I intended to take in the first instance but I had changed my mind. I chose for a mwd over the extra shield and fitted ECM drones.

I undocked the ‘Super Fast Barn Door’ and warped to planet 1. To my surprise, as by now I had convinced myself he would fly a Drake, he sat there waiting next to a can in a Myrmidon. Interesting. I proceeded with the illegal act of thievery, tut tut, and warped to planet 2.

The long distance warp drive shut down and the microwarpdrive activated giving me about 5 k distance when Kirith landed just behind me. His ships name ‘pistols at dawn’ made me laugh as we locked horns. As I would have expected from a blaster fit Myrmidon he made his way in my direction at a steady pace and I struggled to keep him at any distance. My targeting system seemed to take forever getting a lock on the foes ship but when they did my trusted Scourge Fury Missiles didn’t hesitate and did what they do best. His shields shattered within a few volleys, I remained calm knowing that that doesn’t mean anything. His armour immediately felt harder as only fractions of the indicators turned red with every volley.

At this stage I had not received any damage just yet and found a comfortable 10 k orbit of my rival. To obsessed with working out if I could win this I forgot to check on my drones and surprise surprise; the reason I hadn’t received any damage yet was because the ECM drones had been taking the flack for me. There were only 2 of them remaining so I decided to leave them out in the hope they would at least get a lock on him before they too bought it. On my head up display Kiriths ship had been blinking yellow and I finally noticed his ECM drones but too late. Jammed! Mental note; change overview settings to include Ewar drones. I had been wondering why he didn’t launch any drones and why I wasn’t receiving any damage back.

Twenty seconds lapsed before my slow targeting restarted and missiles returned to their duty. Whenever (6 times) I lost control of my targeting system, and thus also the orbit around Kiriths vessel, I manually directed my ship away from his rapidly approaching Battlecruiser. The 2 small ECM drones that I had remaining in space finally got a lock on their target not once but twice in a row. His armour eventually melted, however slowly. His duel armour rep setup did wonders in repairing the tough shell surrounding the fragile hull.

By now however I was sure it would break, I overheated my launchers and it did. The hull was paper thin and split quietly then erupted in a large plume of smoke and rubble. His pod had ejected and sat among the wreckage, lit up by the explosions orange glow.

For the duration of the fight, and it took some time, both of us remained silent. Kirith had written in our private chat window; ‘you are going to win, I'm out of cap boosters’. Maybe if I would have seen it in time I would have stopped and offered a rematch, then again maybe not. I was happy to take the killmail and we both knew what we where getting into. Lessons where learned for both of us in this fight I think and no hard feelings I hope. Maybe we can battle it out again someday…in frigates.

This now makes celebs 3 –me 4!

Related links/posts;
Kirith version of events; LINK PENDING
M3 Killboard link; http://www.darthninjabadger.com/m3CorpKills/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=2994
Celebrity Death Match Killboard; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=9

Celebrity Death Match #4 Roc Wieler

Roc Wieler – The Colonel, Capsuleer App Creator, Blog Master (16th August 2009)

After being stuck in a wormhole for hours yesterday, freedom came at last very early this morning. Thankful to be out I moved a Drake to Emolgranlan today where I am due to have a Celebrity Death Match with Kane Rizzel and Kirith Kodachi, but more on that later. Having arrived at my destination I tweaked the two Battlecruisers I have stationed there to suit my needs in the upcoming fights. And then I spotted him. No shit. The colonel himself! seeing him online is rarer than Morphite. I didn’t hesitate and invited him to a conversation. He promptly answered and was courteous from the beginning. I explained my reasons for disturbing him and tried to get to the point as quickly as possible, briefly interrupted by my laptop crashing. ‘Equipment deficiency?’ he asked when I returned. Slightly embarrassed for clearly a bad start I continued my request for a duel. I am a keen reader of Roc Wielers blogs and he is also the creator of the i-pod capsuleer application (my favourite) and will be publishing his novel soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Roc has by this point clearly read my details and is aware of the opposite sides of the war we stand. However this is a personal obligation and nothing to do with the war, besides my corporation has temporarily retracted its involvement in preparation of the alliance tournament.

The colonel agreed to the fight and I immediately undocked in one of my Drakes ready to make my way to Dal where he was plexing. My ships systems notified me that the warp drive was engaged, butterflies already in my stomach. ‘I don’t really fly them’ he lets me know in our private conversation window. Crap, stop ship, return to station. We briefly discuss ship types; he owns some Battlecruisers and even bigger however he rarely flies them. Frigates it will be then. By this point I already knew I was to lose as Rocs Rifter skills are first-class. Roc kindly offered to fly his famous Firetail into battle however I had to decline as I have nothing that even compares to the quality of that ship. I had resigned to the fact I would have to pick up a Kestrel about 10 jumps out.

Mental note I need to be prepared for frigate class battles if this blog has any future. Most duels are fought in frigates not in my beloved Battlecruisers. I made him aware of the delay it would take for me to get a ship ready but he was very patient and waited for me.

Ten jumps to my main base and 13 still packed in bubble wrap Kestrels awaited me. Delivered more than a month ago by a business associate, they haven’t even felt the cold dark vacuum of space yet. I quickly started fitting the best I had available, even slapping on an EM-shield resist rig to give myself a chance against the EM-ammunition the colonel would surely be fitting. Rats! No microwarpdrive! Damnit! By this point I was getting anxious for making him wait and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity. I undocked and made a swift detour to the Amarr trade hub where I also swapped my regular ammo for faction ammo. Debating whether I should take out the damage control and go for another damage modifier. Sod it I thought, knowing that the fight was not likely to last long. Only a handful of jumps to Dal and we formed up a fleet. We have already agreed not to kill pods by this point so my clone goes to war with nine implants in his head. On route I kept telling myself to rename my ship to something witty. I forgot.

On arrival in Dal Roc had put himself into a safe spot ready for me to warp to. I intended to stay at about 10 k range so it seemed a good warp in distance. The distance became shorter and shorter before the warp bubble collapsed around me. Without further ado and my senses sharp I locked, having already primed the 2 groups of rocket launchers…. What? I pause momentarily, confused about the CONCORD warning message displayed in front of me. His targeting system has now locked on to me too and he is closing in fast. It must be wrong surely, and choose to ignore the warning, knowing full well that CONCORD police may land on me and take me out quicker than even the colonel could. My rockets spew from their bays and sink deep into his shield. ‘Whoa!’ Roc starts, ‘wait a minute’.

I knew exactly what he referred to. He had received the same warning message as I did but made the wiser choice of not firing. We briefly discuss the options, both confused why the message had come up in the first place. My decision to fire gave me an immediate deduction of 1 whole point in CONCORD standings. A bit harsh. I warped off in the meantime until a decision had been made and to give the fight a clean start. Mid warp I wanted to kick myself as in my excitement I had forgotten the Global Criminal Countdown and landing at a gate was not going to do me any favours. On landing at the gate I immediately commanded my ship to warp back to Roc, taking a full hit from a gate gun nearly destroying me.

On route back to the ‘Ripsack’ named Rifter, its pilot noted my DPS was surprisingly high. And I agree, the damage my tiny ship put out was astonishing. Full of confidence we danced the dance of death again.

My warp in wasn’t as clean this time but good enough. I quickly managed to get into a 10 k orbit of his ship with the rockets pouring pain on his shields. The air tensed and I felt confident, his ammo had missed nearly every shot so far and my capacitor remained stable after a quick burst of the shield booster. My newly acquired overheating skill was put to use for the very first time, slightly worrying me as I didn’t know what to expect. Caldari Navy Thorn Rockets already hurtling at his ship appeared to come out even faster and angrier than before. Not just finishing of his shield but now taking big chunks out of his armour. I was certain to win this fight, my shields still at full strength and his ship now….leaving?

My heart sank. I had been denied the killmail of killmails. The Roc agreed however that I had won the fight. He appeared somewhat distressed about the fact that he did little to no damage to my ship and requested to pick up some different ammo to have another go. I quickly agreed but made him aware of the state of my ship, the launchers were half burned out and I was running low on ammo. He had some in his hangars at a local station and kindly dropped some more ammo off for me. So, we where to dance again. I felt confident in my ship and fitting choice and was keen to try again.

Colonel Wieler landed right on top of me and his ‘Ripsack’ let rip. I’ll be honest and admit that the fight lasted a mere 15 seconds or so. I clutsed around trying to get at range and messed about trying to get the microwarpdrive off then on, then in a desperate attempt to make something of it I think I may have tried to overheat everything not really sure what I was doing. I noticed my capacitor (with already minimal capacity) was as dry as the Sahara in summer and I stood no chance. I zoomed out ever so slightly to at least get a nice explosion pictured to add to this blog post, but even that failed me. The explosion was nice. Violent and slow, it briefly resembled a grey fluffy spider.

Kudos to the colonel who kindly emailed me the killmail headed 'you dead'. He brought a good fight and the pleasure was all mine. We have agreed that the fight was to be a draw and we should try again sometime.

So until then colonel Wieler…

That makes; celebritys 3- me 3


Related links/posts;
Roc Wielers version of events; http://everamblings.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/celebrity-death-match-4-the-other-side-of-the-story/
Celebrity Death Match Kill Board; http://818-k.eve-tools.net/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=4

Celebrity Death Match #3 Mynxee

Mynxee - Infamous Hellcats CEO (19th July 2009)

During a fruitless 2 hour roam with some militia pilots I noticed her name. Lit up in bright green, her picture stared at me, then vanished. I hear the fleet commander mumbling in the background warp so and so… but I was no longer listening. The fleet around me split up and warped in different directions whilst I debated what to say to her. A minute passed before I realised I was alone hanging in enemy held space and decided to drop from fleet and park up my Raven Battleship.

‘Hello Mynxee’ I said after she had answered my communications request. ‘Hi how are you?’ she replied. I felt strangely comfortable, strange as I hold the legendary Mynxee in high regard; clearly a very skilled pilot and doing great work for the Eve community through her blogs, I could be a fan. No nerves this time though as I asked the question I convo’d her for; a fight. She accepted straight away by asking what ship type I would like to fly, I explained that I prefer to fly larger ships but am aware she most likely flies the smaller faster ships. Mynxee was willing to fight in Battlecruisers but her suitable ships were too far out to safely bring through the space now full of roaming militia fleets. Neither was I interested to make the same journey the other direction as activity in the area was bustling and I probably wouldn’t make it the full 17 jumps. Mynxee offered to clone jump herself to my direction if we could tussle it out in Cruisers, a most generous offer from her, to waste the 24 hour wait before she would be able to use the clone jump facilities again, so I gladly accepted.

She remembered my name from a kill mail registered by her Hellcats associate Shae Tiann. ‘Yeah’ I grinned ‘that was a good fight’. Knowing she had seen the kill mail and thus my fitting, I expected she would think I would fly the same or similar setup, therefore making the decision to fit Capacitor Neutralisers or comparable devices to her Stabber. This was the reason for me to break out my fitting tool to come up with an alternative setup, a passive one. I explained to Mynxee I required a little time to gather the modules for my Caracal but our communications channel stayed quiet. As quick as I could muster I continued setting up the ship I thought would give me a chance of winning, including rigs that my business partner had built for me.

An annoyed Mynxee returned in the communications channel explaining she had been caught at a gate and the blob that took her ship also took her pod. ‘O’ I muttered, thinking the fight would not happen now, ‘are you ok?’, ‘yeah’ she replied ‘it’s not an issue I had a clone stored nearby’. (For anyone lucky enough to ever kill Mynxee remember her corpse sells for around 100 million isk in Jita). As Mynxee had no other ships but her Wolf in the area we both agreed to continue the fight with the ships we had strapped ourselves into.

By now I had my ship fitted, rigged and ready to roll, naming it ‘The Mynxee Killer’ for good luck. To my annoyance I did not have any T2 ammo for my launchers and had to make do with faction ammo, I didn’t want to keep her waiting any longer so I set off and made the 4 jumps to the agreed system. On my way there she invited me to join the Hellcats Ventrillo channel, I gladly accepted and did so immediately…

She spoke softly, clear and strangely soothing. Until now I had not understood the big deal other pilots had made about Mynxee’s voice. Yes she does sound seductive and sexy without meaning to, but her voice also exudes confidence and venomous danger. Imagine Kaa the snake in a space ship with lots of guns.

Shaking my head to clear it, I stayed the course and upon arrival in Amamake we formed up a fleet. Unfortunately I had to close voice communications as I had by now received visitors in real life and I did not expect them to appreciate a conversation about space ships. I still had one ear for my headset and hoped secretly she wouldn’t stop speaking.

‘Ready?’ she asked, ‘yes, warping to you now’ I replied. There she was, the infamous Mynxee on my head up display, waiting… As my engines slowed from the warp, I prepared myself… ‘Target locked’ my systems confirmed to me just after I had activated my launchers. My 2 tiny drones left their bay and zoomed straight to the Wolf already making good speed in my direction. Missiles leaving the T2 launchers at great speed crashed into her Attack Frigate. Steadily they started eating away at her shield and then halfway through her armour when I feel blood rushing to my head… I desperately try to hold my excitement as I begin to think I have the upper hand… her armour disappears and hull begins to show when my shields finally give in, her hull begins to crumble but my armour is non existent as her overheating autocannons cut through me, like a hot laser through butter… with a large vicious explosion my Caracal erupts into smoke and fragments…

Damn! So close! ‘12% hull remaining’ she confirms to me. I sigh and warp to the closest station. We talked briefly about overheating, a skill I have not trained, but she assures me that that was the deciding factor in this fight. I make a mental note to buy the book as soon as possible and study it well.

It was a very enjoyable scrap, however expensive the loss. The rush I got from the entire experience is what makes me fly pixelated space ships in the first place. I clearly would have felt even better if I’d won but perhaps this opportunity comes along again sometime…

Mynxee left me to get back to work as she was scheduled to be a banker for EOH poker. Another brilliant EVE side game I have been spending too much isk on since she has got me addicted to it… damn you Mynxee!

Related links/posts;
(still no luck with linking stuff in the text)
Mynxees version of events; http://lifeinlowsec.blogspot.com/2009/07/that-was-hot.html
Hellcats Kill board; http://hellcats.griefwatch.net/?p=details&kill=1225
EOH Poker; http://www.eohpoker.com/

Celebrity Death Match #2 Wensley

Wensley - Rifter Drifter author and pirate extraordinaire (13th july 2009)

I logged on for some space adventure but ended up being a docked for about 2 hours, unable to leave due to mixed war target and star-fraction fleets camping the station I was docked in.

Having added Wensley the pirate to my address book the previous week and spotting him online I hesitated for a moment but then convo’d him, uncertain if he would be as welcoming and friendly as the hellcat had been last week, nervously clicked through and almost instantly the convo screen came up; ‘hi’. I complemented him on his blogs briefly but didn’t waste his time longer than necessary and requested the duel I wanted.

Wensley explained he has had a slow day and fancied a break and agreed to meet me for a 1vs 1 fight. He had no ships in the area and was not keen on spending large amounts of isk for a Battle Cruiser duel I requested, because of my late good fortune I had no second thought about buying him a ship knowing full well that that very ship would be likely be my own death.
After making his way to Kamela he fitted his Hurricane as best he could with the modules available in the system and spend a mere 50 mil which I gladly transferred to him.
I made my way back with one of the Drake Battle Cruisers I have parked in the local vicinity and set off to meet him. On route (slightly worried about war targets killing me on the way) the rules were briefly discussed; no warping off, no pod-killing. No problem.
Wensley was parked at his safe spot and fleeted me, on arrival in system I initiated warp to him at 20 k… ready steady … As soon as the warp bubble collapsed around me I started targeting his ship (noticing my overview was not setup right and had to find him in space) and let rip, my T2 short-range-high-damage-missiles pounding into his shields not long after. Ok; set orbit at 20 and release drones… his shields melted quicker than expected and he hadn’t got close to his optimal yet. Wensley mentioned in the fleet-channel he should have fitted a microwarpdrive instead of afterburner, kicking himself… I tried to keep him at some distance but this barn door did not have any propulsion assist at all, as I went for full shield setup only. His T1 ammo tickled my shields just a little while his shield had now vanished. I started to feel some comfort in that and had some hope that I may even win this fight when;…crap, ECM-drones? I did think of them myself but didn’t bring them in the end…o man, half shields, still 10 seconds for this ECM disruption to end…ok ok, stay calm it’ll be ok, relock, fire, check drones, ok its back on. His armour now half gone, my shield about a quarter of their initial strength and his drones get another lock wiping out my targeting system…’o dear’… I spill into fleet chat, ‘I thought I was winning this’... my shield now exhausted I wont stand a chance surely... 10 seconds later; re-lock, fire, check drones, trying desperately to get some distance between us but his speed is much higher and I have no chance of getting away...my armour half gone but Wensley is now deep in hull and requests a rematch before the fight was even over. I think about it for a split second but decline, ‘I’d rather have the Wensley mail’ I say, feeling like an asshole when I read it back... his hull collapses on itself in a rather small inverted explosion... I can’t believe I won!

I quickly check the kill-mail and my heart sinks a little, for he clearly didn’t fit what he is able to fit and I have been handed this victory on a silver platter…
I presumed he insured the ship and clearly hasn’t lost any isk, as the ship had been paid for by me… and before I can ask he offers to fight again in Cruiser Class hulls, I immediately accept, park up the Drake (in haste leaving my drones behind) and pod my way home to pick up a Caracal. On route I remember my encounter with Shae Tian and how I lost that fight with a similar setup, I consider changing to a passive tank but my impatience got the better of me and I fly straight back in an active-tanked caracal.

Again on arrival in system I warp straight to him at 20k and as the warp bubble slowly fades I switch on the T2 invulnerability fields, shield hardeners and damage control. As soon as my onboard targeting system lets me, I lock and commence fire, launch drones and orbit. His Rupture, fitted with a microwarpdrive, speeds towards me and opens fire, shields go down for both of us rather fast and I switch on the T2 shield booster. Knowing my capacitor will only hold for 1 minute 48 seconds I was hoping his armour would break quickly. My shields start to regenerate slowly as his armour slowly dissolves. ‘Lock drones! lock’ he angrily mutters in our fleet-channel, me finding some confidence in his frustration... then as my shield finally give way and don’t recharge as quick as he takes them away from me his ECM-drones finally get a lock on me... ‘he is already in hull, come on!’ I tell myself… but I do no damage for twenty seconds and receive several well placed bursts from his Republic Fleet EMP ammo loaded autocannons pulling me deep into my structure, ‘o crap this is over’ I say over the communications channel… As my lock resolves and my launchers have just reactivated... he lets me know with some frustration he has run out of ammo... BOOM! His hull buckles and shrieks as it gets torn apart in a bright, swift flash of light, leaving little but debris. I quickly check my hull, 16% left. Close, very close.

He offers kindly to trade me back the gear he bought with my isk but I offer for him to keep it, as a ‘thank you’ for making my day and slip him an extra 10 million for his time.

I still have mixed emotions about the 2 fights, I think I may still have won the first even if he would have fitted a microwarpdrive and T2 guns, however the second I would have lost big time if he would have had a little more ammo and T2 guns. Maybe we can do this again some day. ..

Later that day I was camping a gate in a Manticore Stealth Bomber and Wensley jumped through! He uncloaked one of his famous Rifter Frigates and paused for a good few seconds…I considered uncloaking and taking a shot but knew, Wensley in one of his 50 Rifters, would certainly rip me apart. Before I could make the decision myself, Wensley warped to his next gate of destination. Half kicking myself for not trying just for a laugh, half glad as the outcome would have been in his favour. I should just take the two Wensley kill-mails and be satisfied….

Related links/posts;
(I havent figured HTML out yet)
Wensleys version of events; http://www.rifterdrifter.com/2009/07/day-one-in-the-project-rifter-house/
Tusker Kill board #1; http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=3733432
Tusker Kill board #2; http://tuskers.killmail.org/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=3733434