Burning question about Strategic combat

[Escaflowne]

I'm playing the Etaru in Enormity and the damn Romulans have just blown away or overrun half my colonies. If I let them dictate the borders, I'm dead anyway since I'll only have my home system and a nebula under my control.

If I fight I'm fighting an uphill battle both ways, in 10 feet of snow, while I'm stark naked. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

But he just sent a carrier transport into one of my systems and in one plent without defenses the fighters sat back and did nothing while the ship dropped troops and took the colony over. In another battle the fighters came in and killed the defenses, only then did the carrier bring in the troops.

My question is what kind of strategy is he using and how can I replicate that kind of sophistication so I can kick his green-blooded behind to the other side of the galaxy? I'm working under the assumption that just putting everything on 'break formation' isn't going to cut this time.

Any help would be nice. Thanks.

[ November 27, 2002, 01:09: Message edited by: Escaflowne ]

[PvK]

That is the usual behaviour for a fleet set to "Drop Troops (if carrying)". If the fleet has warships, they will fire at planets until it has no weapon platforms, and once they are gone, those warships will move away and the transports will move in and drop troops.

This will occur even if you let your ships break formation and use their own design strategies, as long as at least one troop-carrying ship has the Drop Troops primary movement order. The main requirement is that you have at least one ship with troops on it, and that ship needs to have the Drop Troops primary movement order.

The main exception I'm aware of is you also want to turn OFF the "fire at seekers" options, at least if you want to blockade a planet without attacking it, because otherwise your ships may move themselves into the range of planetary weapons just to take shots at seekers which would otherwise be out of range.

PvK

[dumbluck]

IIRC, { this thread } explains a lot about troops.

[capnq]

PvK, that is the most succinct explanation of planetary invasion strategies I've ever seen. Well done!

[Cheeze]

You also want to watch the Capture Planet or whichever strategy for the percent damage on the planet. If you set it too high, you may wipe out more than you wish. I think the default setting is about 10-20%, and even without it being checked the guns often stop once the defenses are gone.

I've watched a couple of my troopships brave heavy fire and successfully land forces. I love taking planets and still having intact weapons platforms!

[President_Elect_Shang]

Originally posted by capnq:
PvK, that is the most succinct explanation of planetary invasion strategies I've ever seen. Well done!

HA-HA-HA. I caught that one. let me go rate you a five now!