SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

Here's the scenario:

I have two fleets, one that I use to clear planets of defenses and a second that I use to come in behind and capture the planets. I want the first fleet to simply clear out satellites and defending ships. I have set the strategy as Do Not Fire On Planets, and the ships follow this order. However, the carriers launch fighters who move in and take out the weapon platforms and then keep attacking planet until it's an empty husk, making it unavailable for capture. Ideally I would like the ships to also help take out the WP but then have both them and the fighters stop attacking an unarmed planet. Is there a way to do this?

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

Have you set the fighter strategies appropriately to match the ships?

Also, if you send the fleets in together, they should shoot the planet until all of the armed platforms are dead, then stop and wait for the troop transports.

You could include a small, slow, well armored troop transport in your assault fleet, too. It would force the rest of the fleet to back off once the platforms are gone, and you could follow up with the main occupying force later.
Presuming you are playing a mod in which ground combat is not always over instantly like stock has...

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

I was going on the basis that the Fighters would follow the fleet strategy since I the fleet set to not break formation, including fighters. Does this not apply to fighters launched during combat, but only to fighters that are an integral part of the fleet? As far as the capital ships, I'm afraid that if I allow them to attack the planets, in order to remove WP, that they will not stop when the weapons are gone. That's why I had to set the strategy to not attack planets; I kept wiping out the planets I wanted to capture. I have the Planet Capture fleet as a separate fleet because it's a little slower than the other fleet, allowing my attackers to clean up a turn before the troops arrive, in case I need to leave them to stop a riot for a turn.

I am playing stock and ground combats do last more than one turn some times, especially on heavily populated planets, though I haven't yet come up against an enemy troop throughout the game.

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

Ah, but that would only apply if the fighters were in the fleet.

In order to do that, you would have to launch them before combat and then add the fighter group to your fleet.

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

I don't see much point in having separate fleets for capturing. There is one very simple rule that makes it almost useless: if a friendly ship with Drop Troops strategy is in combat and has troops on board and the planet has no weapons, then all of your forces will automatically not attack the planet no matter what their strategies are set to.

If a ship has five weapons and the first one destroys the last weapon platform, the remaining four will still shoot at the planet, but once that single volley by that one ship is done no more shots will be fired at the planet. It is theoretically possible for those final shots to glass the planet, but almost any planet worth capturing will survive. Missiles already launched will not abort their attacks, but missiles aren't worth much in stock anyway.

In summary, set your fleet's strategy to break formation and put the troop transport in the main attack fleet, and it will have almost exactly the effect you're looking for with the added benefit of not crippling your combat fleet's tactics. Seriously, the way SE4 handles formations makes staying in them almost universally a very bad idea.

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

Ok. I'm going to experiment with putting the attack and capture fleets together instead of separate. I also have a third, mine sweeping, fleet. If I throw that one in with the other two will mine sweeping take place before any possible damage from mines, or is it a bad idea to combine my sweepers with my offensive ships?

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

This works very well, as I would expect when listening to veterans. I'm not even sure now of the original reason that I split the fleets up, as it was so long ago in the game. I think that the main reason was that the enemy kept counterattacking my new conquests and the colonies were being destroyed. So I broke off a separate fleet to stop them and just kept it that way.

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

No, it's generally good to keep minesweepers in the same fleet as the ships they are supposed to protect (unless you might not have enough minesweepers to sweep all the mines). Especially if they are dedicated minesweepers who can't defend themselves very well.

A single fleet of minesweepers combines its sweeping ability before taking any hits. So it's good to concentrate minesweeping ability in fleets up to the mine limit per sector (100 in stock).

PvK

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

Actually, I think it's better to keep mine sweepers separate. That way if you don't have enough sweepers to completely clear a mine field, you will only loose the sweepers and not your entire battle fleet.

It's also useful to have a single disposable scout ship enter a potentially mined sector (like a warp point near an enemy sector) before sending your main fleet in. It's also a good way to get rid of obsolete designs that are too much trouble to retrofit.

Re: SEIV Fleet Strategy Question
 

Yes, keeping the MS separate really is the best way to go.