[Arkcon]

Originally posted by davanden:
, because the "wingmen" do not keep formation. Many of them go off in odd directions. I don't mean maneuvering to stay in formation, either. They just kind of wander away from the battle. These are ships with strategies such as "optimal range," too, not "don't get hurt."

I've seen them go a little hokey too. But a small fleet, no more than 10 ships, of the same type, do tend to stay in formation.

Ships with no weapons always run away. A ship with just point defense cannons is a ship with no weapons A ship with PDC and one meson bLaster I will stay in formation.

Ships may break formation while they reload, and return once the reload is complete. WMG, CSM, null cannon are worst at this effect because their reload is 3 turns.

See if you want to try this. Use the arrowhead or wall formation. The lead ship is a heavily shielded light cruiser with CSM (or beam weapon your choice). The wingmen are smaller or less well shielded with a mix of CSM and PDC.

Won't they keep formation, spread your missiles out, and overlap their point defense? Will it work better if they're all beam weapons with reload rate 1?

Maybe you want a special tacic, like a PDC Destroyer orbiting a capital ship always drawing fire, SE4 doesn't do that.

But even my tactic above, I wouldn't count on. I usuall just try to overwhelm the enemy with superior numbers and advanced technology.