Retreat Option

[Admiral Grover]

I don't know about anyone else, but I would really like to see a retreat option for the tactical combat as it was in SE3, except for one small change......Interdictors.


I think it would add a whole new element of strategy to the game if there was an interdictor component which prevented ships from retreating from combat (much like Interdictor Cruisers from Star Wars). It could be a component needing both Engines 10 and some level of Stellar Manipulation, and would be about the same size and cost of a warp point opener.

Reguards

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Admiral Grover
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"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarrely inexeplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
- Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

[CaptSpoogy]

I think the combat needs the retreat option too...and adding the interdictor would add some more pesazz to combat as well!

[Oggy ben Doggy]

It would be real cool if you could go through the warp point, if combat took place at one.

[Deathstalker]

I have been asking for a retreat option from the beginning. My own idea is that you can retreat only if you have remaining movement points in the main starmap. And only in the opposite direction as some would use this option to avoid wormhole blockade fleets and attack home planets etc. It should be easy to do, even on someone elses turn(ie, auto retreat movement), and say a 1 turn delay during tac combat for parting shots at the retreating enemy.

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"The Empress took your name away," said Chance.
Owen smiled coldly. "It wasn't hers to take. I'm a Deathstalker until I die. And we never forget a slight or an enemy." -Owen Deathstalker.

[God Emperor]

I suspect that the simplest option would be to just reduce the length of a combat round to say 20 turns. Sides that want to run can do so immediately from the start and if they are not at a speed disadvantage, they should only sustain a few rounds of fire in the corner.
The combat length setting is in the Settings.txt file by the way.

I have tried this (not in current patch though) and it does really encourage you to use fast ships - fleets tend to end up with more battlecruisers than dreadnoughts as a result.

Interception becomes interesting as you want to engage the enemy with a couple of movement points spare so that you can initiate several combats in the same square in order to damage enemy ships to the point that you can catch them in subsequent combats.

Give it a try and see what you think....

[Suicide Junkie]

How about a wrap-around map? Then one-on-one, you can try to outrun the enemy. But if the're serious, they can get a fleet and trap you somewhere by splitting up the fleet.

Would need combat AI work, though