Brent.............you are on the right track.first off, you asked what you should do when you posted here, and you got a great answer from one of the very best....Monty is the man when it comes to combat!!!

In addition to his advise, what my club members and I did when we started flying combat..was take it slow!!! You and you friend should tie the streamers directly to your birds..........a simple loose knot around your entire tail section........use a long streamer to start.........around 25 feet or so. You will know if you have too much streamer..the birds act real funny taking off.
When you both get in the air........just follow each other around the sky.....taking turns playing sitting duck. You will be surprised how hard it is to line up on your buddies streamer.

Good luck