1/2A C/L combat always left me wanting more than what the Cox TDs could deliver. Just the slightest line entanglement usually meant the match was over. I still had more success with 1/2A than the other classes.
1/2A RC Combat is my absolute favorite with Norvel Big Migs, low nitro. In one day you can fly a dozen matches that last 12 minutes each and rarely have any long delays due to mid airs.
We still bring materials and tools to splice broken spars and patch the covering, but the planes are slow enough to abort any passes that don't look like a clean shot at the streamer.
The important thing is to fly identical planes with identical power.
We use crepe paper streamers. The rolls are band sawed in half.
If field conditions are good enough we pull off 4 arm lengths [about 20 feet] of crepe paper and tie it to a weak cotton string leader that is 10 feet long. You really need to use a fishing swivel to keep the string from raveling up during those long matches.
A full day of 1/2A RC combat = over 2 hours of actual combat time and it's the last matches of the day when the flyers are getting "tired" when the most midairs happen.