Re: Strategic Help required!
 

My production is going up 3% per year, and I have most of my colonies producing research & intel. I've only got 2 moons producing, 1 mineral & 1 radioactive. Ive got a planet producing 3 organic & two homeworlds with lots of minerals & research.

All that research is going to get me Rel.Talisman in 1.5 years, then Atmosphere Converters I, in 2 more years.

So, Yes, I could increase production, but at the expence of research.

Right now, I've laid a trap 2-mine field just in front of my 500-mine defence, and hoping to catch a lone DN, two could be handled. I'll then pounce with my entire Space Force (about 16 ships) all retrofitted for disabling & capture & repair.

In the systems touching mine, he's got small colonies with piles of (prob: cystal tech) satellites. Probably got large platforms on all the planets too. I wouldn't stand a chance attacking the colonies.
I could hit them with a suicide Plague bomber, but they've probly got med tech.

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 24 April 2001).]

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

That's 65 turns before your first converted atmosphere planet comes on line and more before they have any effect. If you can survive that long with the weapons you have you shouldn't be worrying to much.
If you can't hold that long I would delay the Converters and get to shields V. That is a lot more protection that shields II, which is what I think you have. Or begin researching some of the lower levels of the techs they have to get greater advances when you analyize the DN's you are going to capture.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

I'm not as poor in shielding as I sound. My mod alterantes normal & phased, so I'm really at level 4. Plus I've got level 3 in armor, wich gives me an 10kT armored shield gen. 25/30 : S/A. Still doing bad relatively, though.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Aren't you getting any help from your mines? I usually see the AI send in minesweepers and combat ships to the same spot in the same turn but rarely in the same group? Maybe you will get lucky and a mine or two will take down some shields/crew quarters.
BTW are you fighting tactical or strategic? If you are fighting strategic, have you tried setting your tachyon ships to "point blank range"?

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

The first Capture attempt on a DN!

See: Game Stories



[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 25 April 2001).]

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Sounds like it was a hell of a fight! Hope you get a breather to regroup.
Maybe you should think of researching shield depleters, from your narrative it sounds like just knocking down the shields cost a fair number of ships.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Hehe. Yeah. I've just researched shield tech high enough to open the area.

Thing was, my plan called for the ES&DS to strip an unarmed Drednaught of shields, then take out the SDD & crew. Didn't work out quite that way http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.

I didn't actually lose any ships, the ones that spun off burning all had 92% damage and were ignored by the DN in favour of the livelier ships. Something like 50 hitpoints remaining on 4 LCs.

Quite a display as the ships struggled to get home on 1 movement. The Jreanar sent in 1000 kT carriers, and the Phong had 7-stacked DNs, The Jreanar countered with 9-stack DN & wreckage was everywhere http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
I just layed down mines as I went and hoped that they would be able to disable any ships that decided to attack me. Nobody did, but man was there ever a lot of fighting going on http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.

BTW, after that battle, I took a detour on the way home and capped me a Gas giant colonizer with some sweet engine tech http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif.

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 25 April 2001).]

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Congrats on the victory! Looks like you'll get four tech levels (Propulsion, CombatSupport, ShipConstruction, Cargo). I think you'll be able to make it.

And you didn't say you had fighters! They can be a valuable attack resource. Once you get your fleet home, retrofit the ES/FG to be a corvette-type ship, with Fighter Bays. If you can, have your planets building fighters while the fleet returns. Ferry the fighters to a staging area (best place would probably be a storm that blocks sensors). Make 'em into one big group (it seems to help with accuracy). Then use the fighters as your main disabling force, and re-retrofitted ES/FGs can close and capture. With a repair ship handy, you can repair the ES/FGs, and the fighters should Last several battles (depends on total number). Best part: no maintainance.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Sounds like you're doing OK now but if things get dificult again you might want to try the "run for help" tactic. I've done this in SEIII plenty of times:

Equip a small fast ship (FG, ES) with emergency movement and loads of supplies. Train it up to full experience to make it even harder to hit.
Cloaking and solar harnessing tech are also useful if available. Don't bother with weapons, your tactic is to avoid combat and dodge the bullets if you do get into a fight.(maybe fit PDCs, if you have room)

Send it out into the unknown to make first contact with distant races. Hopefully you can pick up a few nice treaties to boost your resource / research / intel output.
If your enemies are as huge as you say then other small empires will be glad of the opportunity to make friends.
Remember - "My enemy's enemy is my friend."

The trick is to avoid combat by careful navigation. Avoid enemy space as far as possible and use storms and nebulae to hide from enemy fleets. Try flying through disputed territories - your enemies will be too busy killing each other to worry about your little ship.

You can help your heroic adventurer when it gets into trouble by using quick, cheap intel ops like "fake orders" and "ship bomb".

If you keep your distance from hostile ships and move quickly enough you might be able to get to the other side of their space, where you should have potential allies waiting for you.

Even if it doesn't work it's a great laugh frantically steering a lone frigate through enemy space with a 20 battlecruiser fleet on your tail...


BTW... has anyone else ever used this strategy? If not, can I name it after myself? "The Dogscoff Dash" http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon6.gif ...catchy


------------------
There is an exception to every rule. Including this one.

[This message has been edited by dogscoff (edited 25 April 2001).]

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Congrats on the victory! Looks like you'll get four tech levels (Propulsion, CombatSupport, ShipConstruction, Cargo). <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
It was only a Cargo I, so I only get 3 techs out of the deal.

The fleet is already home, after what turned into a year long journey, covering each step with an ever-smaller supply of mines http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
The DN is limping in on its own (within the Empires defences) and will take another 1/2 year.

That DN kicked my ecomomy into a -1,000 mineral tailspin, but I mothballed my forces at Starfleet Academy, when I had 7k left, so now I make 7k per turn http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif It'll be a while before I can get the funds to unmothball. By then, I should have the DN analysed, and will scrap some of the ships for BCs.

BTW, I've got the Talisman, and stole Gas Colonies (spaced the stupid crystal "plants", I'm gonna convert atmospheres!), so I'll be expanding while my fleet sleeps. In two years, I'll get atmosphere converters, and the empire will return to the blissful days of old http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>BTW... has anyone else ever used this strategy? If not, can I name it after myself? "The Dogscoff Dash" <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually, I did that sometimes in SE3, usually to get to my brother or dad, living on the other side of the map. A guaranteed pot of gold at the end of the road really helps.

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 25 April 2001).]

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Next battle try to bring a shipyard ship along and analyize anything captured immediately after the fight. This will save you some maintenance.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

I didn't have anything larger than LC, so there was no way to bring a SY to that operation.

From now on, I can & will bring a SY ship.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Thought you had modded a smaller yard or was that mod just a slower yard?
It took me a while to see the value of bringing my shipyard ship along with my combat ships but know, like American Express suggests, I don't leave home without it.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Thought you had modded a smaller yard or was that mod just a slower yard?
It took me a while to see the value of bringing my shipyard ship along with my combat ships but know, like American Express suggests, I don't leave home without it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
That thing is only available to Pirates or Nomads, not regular folk like me and the AIs.

They need it since they don't have many planets. (if any)

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 25 April 2001).]

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Arggh! More bad news! Somebody's been Comm Mimiking me!

I thought it was a bug that caused me to mysteriously lose my treaty with the Phong a decade ago, but now, the CueCappa hit my minefield, met me, and one turn later we're at war.

With two systems, I'm not MEE, so the bloody aliens are screwing with me. Obviously, counter-intel 2 dosen't protect against comm mimic.

Looks like another detour on the road to glory.

I've got a third of my planets with Atmosphere converters on 'em, and researching shields & armor heavily.

Gonna have to upgrade the training on Section 31 (the planet). http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Maybe you can get lucky and capture some of their ships that have functional Allegience Converters. That would help even the odds a bit if the DN's keep coming, espescially with the talisman!

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

They live on the other side of the galaxy & happen to be brotherly. Now that section 31 is aware of the threat from comm mimic, they have taken steps to eliminate the danger.

As soon as the Phong & CueCappa get past their "no peace for x years", we will get trade started again.

Then I only have to worry about the Jreanar, and I'll have the phong helping.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

You have several saves of this game, right? Perhaps one for every five turns or so? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif (Asking about this for viewing purposes only, not cheating by "going back in time").

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Well, just the autosave, but I'm not sure if I got that turned on.

There's just the save I posted, the Save where I misclicked and overwrote another savegame a few years back, and the "now" save.

There's no much happening. My entire fleet is at Starfleet Academy, mothballed & getting tech refits, every planet has either an Oxy atmosphere, a converter, or is building one. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
And the Jreanar are piling ships through my minefields, average 4 DN per year. Can't quite keep up, and a slowly decaying at one WP. Still got 400 mines though.

Shield tech has advanced greatly, but we're still 2/3rds to 1/2 of the alien tech.
Got monoliths, and after the budget bottomed out making atm. converters I've got big plusses in everything.

I can defeat a Phong DN with a Nuclear Bombardment BC, and a DUC+talisman BC, but only sometimes, while I do a little missile dancing at max range.

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Downloaded the save, cant load.
Are you using some mod?

------------------
Emperor Klis't of the Taera Republic.
Proud member of the League of Empires.
E-Mail -
Ora Planet - Taera Republic - League of Empires

Re: Strategic Help required!
 

Big time mod.

It's my Pirates&Nomads Mod. Tons of tech, some heavy changes to the shields & the best part, Pirate and nomadic advanced traits available to humans for extra challenge.

You can download it by checking out the "P&N update" thread.

You can also read some (heck, all) of the action in my game, by checking out the game stories thread. That stuff all happens just after the savegame, I believe.

[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 27 April 2001).]