1.08 bugs.

[Raapys]

No, if you do it in tactical combat you'll get a message as soon as the ship reaches the planet that your troops have been deployed and that ground combat will start *next* turn.

At any rate, the presence of the fighters is the only explanation I can see as to why it might get 'bugged'. But then again, I'm not really sure how one is supposed to use fighters in ground combat; if they're just supposed to be in the same hex, or if they're supposed to be part of the cargo drop like yours.

[Shadowstar]

I'm using simultaneous movement, everything is handled by the AI. I prefer that because I will be adapting my Starscape mod from SE4 to SE5 and running PBEM games with it, once the game has been patched a bit more. Anyway, playing simultaneous mode helps me get used to the quirks of the AI system and I can learn how to handle strategies and such.

However, as with any AI, it is potentially buggy. I don't get any messages in combat replays, but I'm used to combat from SE4, and there were no messages there either. If fighters are buggering up the ground combat, then I won't use them from now on, but I've read several posts here from people who have used fighters in ground combat and figured I could use them in a "multi-role" sort of way. Just cuz I don't have any carriers, doesn't mean I can't use em in ground combat, or so I thought... Mostly I just wanted to see how fighters play in ground combat, so in some ways it was also an experiment.

[Phoenix-D]

They work in ground combat, so that's not the bug.

I have no idea why they "turned" on you, but there IS a problem where if the enemy has mines on a planet, you can't take it over (need to kill all enemy units, and mines are invisible..)

[Raapys]

So fighters are supposed to be 'deployed' on the planet?

[Phoenix-D]

They work like troops, except during the actual combat they fly instead of..whatever the hell SE5 troops do.

[Shadowstar]

I've gone back to a saved game I made the turn that I drop the troops and am going to try doing different things with them.

I have a hunch that the bug is related to the fact that there is absolutely no resisting force on the planet. The troops can land without causing a ground combat because there's nothing to fight them. There isn't even a weapon platform on the planet. I suspect that SE5 isn't giving me control because no combat is occuring, in other words it's only coded to give control if a combat occurs and I win it. It wasn't programmed for this occurance.

That said, there SHOULD be resistance. Even if the computer player won't build any troops to protect the people, there should be militias.

Something is odd here.

[Phoenix-D]

Does the planet have population left after your bombardment?

[Shadowstar]

That's just it, I didn't bombard the planet. I had to create a new strategy for my ships to make them ignore the planet, and they do. It works well since the planet doesn't threaten them, and they can leave the population intact. So its basically a full-pop homeworld with no defenses whatsoever, and the only thing keeping me from conquering it is this damn bug.

I wonder: has anyone actually ever seen militia units in a ground battle? I know the manual says that they are a factor in ground combat, but I've never actually seen them...

[Shadowstar]

Another bug: While it's understandable that ships shouldn't fire on a planet once you have deployed troops on the surface, I've also noticed that transports won't land additional troops on the planet either. This makes sending reinforcements in to help out a stalemated battle kinda pointless.

[Raapys]

The normal cargo transfer doesn't work either?

I've been wondering if it's actually possible to land troops in the first place if the planet's cargo hold is full.