[Grandpa Kim]

Originally posted by Slick:
...Since defending ground troops are considered as planet cargo, they get destroyed in planet attacks before you land troops. Thus there is rarely a troops vs. troops ground combat. It is usually your attacking troops vs. defending militia. Settings.txt also gives attack/defense stats for a militia unit.

Slick.

Sorry, Slick, this is incorrect. Ground troops are not destroyed by space-born attacks. Both the troops present on the planets and the militia defend the planet against invading troops.

If weapon platforms are on the planet, the troop ship will not make a bee line for the planet till they are gone. Fighters, of course, would be launched so they are not a factor. Satellites in cargo, I have no idea, but it seems likely they would be a null item in both space and ground combat. So, as I see it, the only thing that prevents a troop transport from heading immediately to a planet is weapon platforms. Once the line ships have destroyed the platforms, they will cease firing on the planet and the troop transport will move in. If the attacking troops fail, the line ships will destroy the planet (and defending troops) for its termerity.

Kim