unit stacks

[Puke]

i remember some discussion about fighter stacks and sat stacks, where if the first ones were shielded they would protect the others.

I was wondering about fighters and sats, and especially weapon plats, and how they take damage. is the first weapon platform (or other unit) hit first, then destroyed, then the next one hit? or is a random one chosen? do you have to get through all of their shields before you destroy one, or do you get through the first ones shields then destroy it, then get through the second ones shields?

If you are building a pile of weapons plats, is it better to make them all the same and balance shields and weapons, or is it better to build 10 shield-only weapons plats then build 20 weapon-only weapons plats? is the same thing true for a sat stack or a fighter stack?

and the big question: if i decided to be a total cheese monster and cover my planets with large WPs with nothing but organic armor on them, do you think anyone would ever play with me ever again?

which reminds me of another one, if you have crystaline armor on one wp, and shields on another, do the shields get the bonus of the crystal armor on the other wp? even if you balanced it so that you have shields and armor an all of them, does each piece of armor count, or is it just the armor on the wp being hit?

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"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)

[Spoo]

quote:

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if i decided to be a total cheese monster and cover my planets with large WPs with nothing but organic armor on them, do you think anyone would ever play with me ever again?

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Would these defend against troops too? I remember hearing somewhere that weapons platforms take part in ground combat. How would you take the planet? The only ways I can think of are PPP and star/planet destroyers.

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Assume you have a 1kg squirrel
E=mc^2
E=1kg(3x10^8m/s)^2=9x10^16J
which, if I'm not mistaken, is equivilent to roughly a 50 megaton nuclear bomb.
Fear the squirrel.

[Phoenix-D]

Weapons platforms don't defend. Actually, they can be taken intact..

Phoenix-D

[Baron Munchausen]

Unit stacks USED to be destroyed in linear order. This is no longer true. I used to rely on this to make my sat Groups as tough as possible. Put the heavily armored/shielded sats Last and they would take the punishment while the sats that were almost entirely weapons dished it out. Same with WPs, once. The LAST placed seemed to be hit first. Now it seems to be 'randomized' much like components in a ship.

quote:

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and the big question: if i decided to be a total cheese monster and cover my planets with large WPs with nothing but organic armor on them, do you think anyone would ever play with me ever again?

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You're right, everyone in the universe would refuse to play SE with you ever again. You'd be doomed to a life of playing the AI only.

But guess what... regeneration (shield or armor) doesn't work on units!!! At least, that's what has been reported. I've not done detailed tests myself. One person can't test EVERYTHING on a game this huge. So take the shield regenerators out of your sats and WPs. They're just wasting good space. Organic armor is still good armor, though. Just not as good as it is on a ship.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 18 August 2001).]

[Puke]

just ran some simulator fights for organics. on ships, regen works, but only if you have at least one piece of armor left.. it will not matter how much 'stacked' regen you have, if your Last piece or organic armor is trashed, you wont get your regen.

on a unit, you dont get dick. any time. ever. at all. not stacked. not standard. not anything. never.

as to which gets hit first, and what order shields are worked on, i have not gotten to that just yet.

[Baron Munchausen]

If you think about it, units could not have regeneration. Imagine the total shield power of a stack of 100 satellites with regenerators! Also, individual components in units are not tracked, so armor regeneration would essentially be "total" regeneration for units.

[Urendi Maleldil]

I've used weapon platforms filled with nothing but shield generators. They work well as a defense against minor fleets.