Re: Mine Follies
 

From my observations, the AI has never moved through a warp point with more than two surface combatant hulls (not aircraft carriers) at once. It appears the AI employs its surface combatants and minesweepers exactly the same. Any AI minesweepers actually sweeping your mines or pairing up with another minesweeper, when travelling through a warp point, is just random luck.

Grognard

Re: Mine Follies
 

I don't use mines usually. I am in such desperate straights in the current game that I resorted to mines. The computer throws a minesweeper through that sweeps most if not all of my mines and then follows up with a large fleet.

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I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

Re: Mine Follies
 

Try the boarding ships I mentioned, start taking over his colony ships and colonize your unused planets in your systems... move their population around to your planets that can use them, I usually pool them on a planet with the right atmosphere til they are large enough to have be productive on their own.
Abandon your undefendable positions... I usually try to keep down the number of warp points into my systems. Start building the star destroying ships if you have the tech, It will make a difference if you blow up the system adjacent to you with the computer, he would have a longer supply line
I usually stop my empire near black holes too, that seem to slow the computer down alot

Re: Mine Follies
 

Heh, you don't use mines, but you go around destroying stars? The AI has no reasonable ability to defend its stars. I doubt it ever builds system gravity shields, and it certainly does not park mines or sats or fleets on its own stars. At least if you are using mines, you know the AI will build minesweepers and use them, even if its somewhat ineffectually.
I use mines whenever I can/need to. They seal me off for a while while I can build a fleet or research warp point manipulation, or until the AI sends minesweepers through. A lot more fair to the AI than sending in one ship to singlehandedly wipe out a whole system.

Re: Mine Follies
 

But it's so damn fun. At least till you've done it then you realize it's a little unfair. Kinda cheapens the whole game experience for me so I stopped doin it. Same w/Mines, although in a pinch I'll resort to the mine tactic.

Just call it Intergalactic Bushido.

Re: Mine Follies
 

About the only thing I will use mines for is if I have an undefended colony on the edge of an AI system I will put a few mines in orbit around the planet just in case the AI gets curious about what is going on there. I don't do this often because I also do not research mines. If I haven't got mine technology sattelites with missle weapons works also and are a quick build.

[This message has been edited by Tomgs (edited 09 January 2001).]

Re: Mine Follies
 

Mine sweep question.

I have a mine sweeper and a know location of mines. DO I have to send the ship then then use the mine sweep command? I tried using the sweep command and then picking the system I want sweept but it won't move there.
Any ideas?

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Seawolf on the prowl

Re: Mine Follies
 

Seawolf --

You should be able to just move the sweeper there, into the field. The explicit sweep command seems to be there in case you're already at the field (which shouldn't happen unless you encountered a minelayer, which then laid the mines right around your ships -- e.g. if you attack one, it panics, and drops a trail of mines while fleeing that you don't manage to entirely wipe out during the 30 turns).

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: Mine Follies
 

MoonDragon, if u don't use boarding, I'm sure you will lose some of the battles or even colonies. I dont use it cuz it makes things too easy, the AI never had security stations.

Re: Mine Follies
 

I only research mine tech to get sweepers. I am not a fan of fixed defenses (mines or bases) or the micro-managing it takes to maintain a mine field. I prefer ships/troops and am usually expanding so fast it doesn't make sense to throw up a mine field. I think I would probably use them as a planetary defense to protect against a sneak attack in a multi player game, but I have yet to see the AI use that particualar tactic.

HAL! We are on the edge of our seats. Please tell us what happened in your game. Were you able to fight back the invading hordes or did you finally fall to there onslaught?