Featured CMDR: Iri “Herder” Reinhardt

What was your first experience with the Elite universe and what keeps you playing it today?

Elite: Dangerous has been my first and only experience with the Elite universe. It was back in 2016 when my interest with the game first began, spurred on by various talks with CMDR NecronomicAngel (now known as Jack Harper), who kept going on about this game and how amazing it was that eventually his enthusiasm convinced me to try the game out myself… and I fell in love. The vastness of it, the quality, the endless possibilities, there was so much to do it was honestly a little overwhelming at first and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it, so I set it aside for the time being until I was in the right mind set to truly enjoy what was in front of me. I don’t know what possessed me to get back into it, but eventually I booted it back up, got into the cockpit and the rest is history, or so they say.

Tell a quick story about your favorite moment in Elite: Dangerous.

Ooo, there’s a few, honestly hahaha. If I had to pick one? Hmm… probably the time I visited Le Monde de la Morte during Lost Souls 2. Or maybe the time I flew into my first ever Black Hole event horizon. Or maybe that time I discovered my first earth-like world. I’m still undecided on that one.

What made you decide to join The Fatherhood?

Joined for the cookies and the promise of a free Anaconda, stayed for the friendships and the family-like atmosphere.

Tell the story of how you earned your callsign.

It happened during the Lost Souls 2 Expedition, actually. Somehow I’d ended up leading the charge on the PC side of things whenever we got together for the Sunday mass jump events. It was a nightmare, for starters. Commanders flying backwards, some flying forwards, some accidentally boosting forward and frame shift driving into the next system… I’d probably of had better luck herding a bunch of cats. In fact, no, I’m pretty sure I was herding a group of cats. Anyway, at some point Draz pulled me aside during a voice call one night and mentioned he was so impressed with my herding skills he’d like to give me the callsign “Herder”. And that’s how I became “Herder”. Most of you know the “Twitchy” story so I won’t go into that one.

Tell us about your favorite ship in the game.

Kraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait. Just… Kraaaaaaaaaits. TFS Centennial Falcon was my LS2 flagship and I loved her. She was fast, she had nice turn speeds, she could jump just as far as the rest of ’em, she was a beaut. I also just love Kraits because of how versatile they are. They’re amazing little ships. Mining? Krait. Fighting? Krait. Exploration? Krait. Passenger missions? Might be a bit of a tight squeeze, but still a Krait. Wouldn’t trade ’em for anything… except maybe a Beluga… but only for the cockpit.