Vengeance v Harpy

The hunt:

I've been getting more comfortable with some of the "bad neighborhoods" near my new home, and I've been spending more time around Aeschee and Old Man Star. The blob-factor is high, but there are still some good fights to be had as long as you don't rush into things.

It was during one of my trips into Aeschee that I noticed a Hawk on Dscan, and I spent some time trying to track him down. At one point I thought I was going to get a fight out of him - we started burning towards each other across a 100km difference, but the pilot changed his mind at about 20km, and warped away.

However, our pseudo-engagement had attracted the notice of a Harpy, who soon landed nearby. Turning my ship, we closed the distance and prepared to engage.

Now, I already had Caldari Navy Gremlin loaded for the Hawk, so my ammunition was fine (although comments by FNG and subsequent testing tell me I would have been better off with Gremlin Rage), but needed to re-evaluate my plan of engagement.

I knew that Harpies used often used blasters for solo pvp (the nickname "Blarpy" was bouncing around my head), and that the range on blasters was generally poor, albeit long range T2 ammo is available. So when we approached scram range, I quickly webbed the Harpy and settled into a 5km orbit, knowing my speed and our maneuvering would carry me out to about 6km.

To my total shock, this seemed to work perfectly. The Harpy could not touch me, while my EM rockets were tearing him to pieces. Fearing a last minute escape, I set my orbit to 500m when he was at half armor - I did not want fancy piloting to throw me beyond scram range.

The difference was staggering. Once my orbit dropped, I started taking massive damage from his blasters. My shields evaporated, and I don't think my repair system would have been able to keep up with the damage. Fortunately, though, his window of opportunity was small, and I soon destroyed his ship.

2011.07.09 15:28:00

Victim: DllinnoUh
Corp: State Protectorate
Alliance: NONE
Faction: Caldari State
Destroyed: Harpy
System: Old Man Star
Security: 0.3
Damage Taken: 3072

Involved parties:

Name: Taurean Eltanin (laid the final blow)
Security: -9.0
Corp: The Tuskers
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Vengeance
Weapon: Caldari Navy Gremlin Rocket
Damage Done: 1669

Name: KoBapcTBo
Security: -2.5
Corp: Bad Balance
Alliance: NONE
Faction: Gallente Federation
Ship: 
Weapon: 150mm Railgun II
Damage Done: 1403

Destroyed items:

Fleeting Propulsion Inhibitor I
Small Ancillary Current Router I
Catalyzed Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters
Small Hybrid Burst Aerator II
Overdrive Injector System II
Light Neutron Blaster II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Void S, Qty: 222
Null S, Qty: 4948 (Cargo)

Dropped items:

Warp Disruptor II
Stasis Webifier II
Small Diminishing Power System Drain I
Light Neutron Blaster II, Qty: 3
Void S, Qty: 74
Void S, Qty: 2964 (Cargo)
Antimatter Charge S, Qty: 10000 (Cargo)

The killmail is a little odd, as there was no third party in our engagement, and the Harpy was at full "health" when we started. Presumably this was from an earlier fight.

Afterthoughts:

After the fight I started chatting with the other pilot. We discussed his fit - the choice of mwd over afterburner on a close range ship was an interesting one. With this fit, he had no way of closing that last 4km between scram range and blaster range. Although he had Null in cargo, he also had not loaded it into his weapons. Given the reputation of blaster boats as close range monsters, I'd probably carry null in my blasters as standard.

Despite the unusual fit, I was still really pleased with the result. This was my first assault ship v assault ship fight, and I had managed to anticipate my opponent's weakness and take advantage of that.

I'm even more pleased with the fact that I decided to get in close before the fight ended; while it did not cost me the fight, it did leave me with a healthy respect for the Harpy as a brawler. Kiting this particular fit was so easy that there was a real danger I would underestimate the next Harpy that I met; that is unlikely to be an issue now.