Wednesday 24 July 2013

Strategikon Arcani: Tent-pegging

A practice drill used by ancient Khanids to perfect lancing techniques.

The drill is simple. A small object is placed on the ground, often a ring or a tent peg. A rider must charge at it, and pick the object off the ground with his lance or spear. It teaches accuracy in the placement of the lance, and also controlling the distance at which you approach the peg.

Why is this relevant to space-ships? Kiting.

Kiting is a tactic of using a long range weapon system, and keeping the enemy at distance. You can hurt him, and he can't hurt you.

This is smart, and is actually my preferred tactic. A traditional weapon of the Khanid is the kontos, a cavalry spear about four meters long. It requires two hands to use it effectively, meaning you control your mount with your knees, and you can't carry a shield. However, it has the excellent advantage of length.

It other words, all the danger happens at the other end of the stick.

With that in mind, I present you with my first series of ships:

Kontos Executioner



This ship is fragile, but has relatively good range in the world of frigates. It does require a high degree of training to use. You will need strong Engineering training, and also should be well versed in Advanced Weapon Upgrades to be able field it. Alternatively, you can use Implants to make up the difference whilst you train in these areas.

The kontos is still a melee weapon. Like the ancient weapon this frigate also uses close ranged weapons. Accuracy will be higher, as given by the tracking of close ranged weapons, but is not a true long ranged set up. Caution must be used in maintaining range.

As I am a terrible pilot, this is a good set up for me. The tactic is simple: Maintain distance.

  • Overheat weapons and web.
  • Orbit the enemy at 15km, using the MWD
  • Fire.
  • Manage heat.
  • If the enemy closes to 13km, use the overheated web.
  • If the enemy closes and lands a scram on you, switch to Multi-frequency crystals, and hope God is smiling on you that day.

In essence, you will practice tent-pegging. Control the distance, and keep your guns accurate. Overheating the web is important, as an overheated Warp Scrambler can hit out beyond 10km. Once that lands on you, your MWD shuts down, and your speed advantage is gone.

The caveat to this, is that you'll be controlling the ship with your knees. Be wary of the enemy frigate's movements, but focus on the range for now. Work on the more subtle placements of the ship later.

My code urges me to learn, so if there are any suggestions anyone has, please let me know.

(I also apologize for the horrible layout. I'm still learning to use this blasted technology.)

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