quote:
Originally posted by LGM:
Better to have a disabled ship than a converted one!
So true.
IMHO there is always a counter-strategy. For weapons like the AS or the Mental Flailer (always works if it hits) the counter strategies I'd use would be pretty unorthodox.
(Full Disclosure: I'm a relative newcomer to SEIV. Free advice is free also of warranties.)
Alternative: Keep in mine that the effectiveness/success chance of Subverters decreases with range. Do not let them get to point blank range. Get them to waste their shot at long range. Remember, they only get to try once. I would recommend lots of small, hard to hit ships with as long of a direct fire weapon as possible or missles.
Absolutely. Small size for the defense bonus and the low ROI of using the one AS shot. Don't use your (best tech/tech he doesn't have), and let him capture lots of junky ships not worth their maintenance costs. Make them devoid of most of the normal equipment, e.g. SDD, Solar Sail, PDC, minesweeper, QR... Pile up a bunch & leave 'em mothballed until he warps in.
Converters do not work on units. Use Fighters/Carrier attack on them.
Plus fighters cost no maintenance, and you don't even need carriers if you're on defense.
You could also try rushing at them madly with Tachyon Projection Cannons and hope to take out the Subverters with your first volley.
If you're crazy like me, try this:
Rush him with the cheapos I described above, but give them Boarding Parties and Shield Depleters. He's trying to close with you - so put some large tractors in the mix, pull him in, and turn the tables - or at least force the self-destruct of his expensive AS ships with your cheapies. If he takes them away, well, they're no better at taking your Main Battle ships than what he's currently got, so what have you lost?
Ionic Dispersers could also be useful to keep them out of range by zapping their engines. These have a range of 6 at the upper levels which exceeds Subverters.
You hate AS? I hate ID! What an incredible weapon to stall superior enemy forces! One heavy IDV hit, or two large, and you've got an immobile useless hulk with 6 repair points to get back 60kt! If they don't have supplemental supply, then they're out of gas as well! I've annihilated equal tech AI fleets four times my fleet's size by catching them on warp-in with dedicated engine-destroyer ships, and even if you just slow them down, it's more time to build your defense.
Finally, try using Repulser beams to push them away. FYI: Repulser beams push objects more squares using larger mounts. If you can use a Huge Mount (Battleship) you can push them quite far (something like 12 squares). Repulsers are the bane of short range weapons.
A good idea, if you have larger hulls than they do.
Watch out for the fighter based weapons that Psychics own. It does something like 25 damage every turn!.
Yeah, and at range 3, too. Sure it's within PDC range, but not for as much of the overlapping fields of PDC.
A few more suggestions -
Be faster than them. Make them use engine-destroyers to get close - at least that way they have to repair their prizes before they're any use.
Use every defensive bonus you can get. Scattering/stealth armor, ECM, size, whatever. They get one AS shot, make them miss.
AS doesn't respect shields or armor, so don't use much mass on them. Remember that he's sacrificing 75kt/100kt for each large/heavy AS that only gets one shot, so his damage-weapon load is lowered. If his intent is capture then all the damage he does to his prosective prize is his to fix, so he has incentive to hold his fire anyway.
I haven't tried drones much yet, but they seem like a good reply to AS attacks - and how much good is the empty drone carrier to him if you fail?
Use mines, sats, and sabotage. Every one of these can be countered, but each one takes resources away from his building/maintaining more AS ships.
You may now mock my naivete. ;-)
I have a couple of questions, though, for those more experienced.
First, what do the damage numbers on the AS mean? Are they percent chances? Mind Damage points? Is there any way to make your ships harder to steal via AS? Does size or number of CQ/BParties/SStations matter?
Second, I know that ship/fleet experience affects offensive to hit % - does it improve defensive bonus as well? Psychics can easily train up every ship&fleet to 20%, so it behooves their opponents to study AMS and match them. It's even more important if it improves your direct-fire defense.
Third, is there a good way to control satellite deployment? They always seem to wind up in a single stack, and always in the wrong place to defend in inbound warp combat - not to mention that in planet assaults the enemy can just fly to the other side of the planet. I'd like to split them into 3-6 Groups and distribute evenly. I guess you could hold them in planet/sat-layer cargo and spit them out piecemeal, but fast-launch sat-layers have no cargo-cap and roomy ones have low launch-rate. Domed colonies already have too many demands on their cargo space. Can it be done with pre-launched sats?
Yes, this post is far too long. :-)
--Kynalvarus