ship and planet capture

[spoon]

Lets say you have a fleet that consists of the following:
- Several Ship Capture ships w/ no weapons
- Several Ship Capture ships w/ APBs
- Several Ship Capture ships w/ Planetary bombs
- One Troop ship loaded with troops

What is the optimal strategy to use if you want to capture a planet, but still maintain the ability to capture ships? Are the following assumptions correct?
1) set fleet to default "Capture Planets" strategy: your ships will refuse to capture ships.
2) as (1) above, but modify "Capture Planets" strategy so the Secondary Movement Strategy is "Capture Enemy Ships": Your ships will refuse to attack the planet
3) as (1) above, but set ships (and Ships (no weapons)) to break formation: troop ship will head directly to the planet, instead of waiting until all WPs are destroyed

Thanks.

-Spoon

[Suicide Junkie]

4) Split the fleet into two:
Napalm + Troop transport: orders to capture planet.
Others: orders to capture ships.

Shift-click the two fleets and send them in simultaneously.

[spoon]

Does shift-clicking ensure the following:
1) both fleets will be in combat together if the warp-point they go through is guarded.
2) both fleets will arrive at the same time even if one of them has less movement points.

-Spoon

[LGM]

Originally posted by Suicide Junkie:
4) Split the fleet into two:
Napalm + Troop transport: orders to capture planet.
Others: orders to capture ships.

Shift-click the two fleets and send them in simultaneously.

I think you have to make sure your fleet movement rates are equal to get this to work. Otherwise, one part will arrive late.

[geoschmo]

I would suggest doing a LOT of testing of this before you try it in a game. I tried it a while back and could never get it to work right. Even when the fleets had the same movement they arrived one after the other. If what I found still holds true at best the first fleet would survive but wipe out the enemey so the second fleet didn't get to do it's thing. At worst neither fleet separatly would be strong enough to beat the enemy and both would be destroyed by an inferior force.

Geoschmo

[geoschmo]

Back to your original question though...

Are the following assumptions correct?
1) set fleet to default "Capture Planets" strategy: your ships will refuse to capture ships.

I believe this is incorrect. If the ship has boarding parties and it's ship strategy is "capture ships" it should do so regardless of fleet strategy.

The thing I know for sure is the fleet strategy has to be "Capture Planet" or the troop ships will not drop troops. I do not think this is true for boarding ships, only troop ships.

Geoschmo

[spoon]

Originally posted by geoschmo:

quote:

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Are the following assumptions correct?
1) set fleet to default "Capture Planets" strategy: your ships will refuse to capture ships.

I believe this is incorrect. If the ship has boarding parties and it's ship strategy is "capture ships" it should do so regardless of fleet strategy.[/QB]

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I think if Ship Capture ships are in a fleet set to "Capture Planets" with the Secondary Movement Strategy Set to "Optimal Firing Range", the Ship Capture ships with no weapons will say to themselves: "I have no troops, so I can't follow the Primary Strategy. And I have no weapons so I can't follow the Secondary Strategy. It's probably best if I run to the corner and get shot at."
The Ship Capture ships with weapons will follow the "lets go shoot our weapons at stuff" plan, but will forget about the marines they have on board.
Main problem, I think, is that the game doesn't consider Boarding Parties to be a weapon. I think.
-Spoon

[dogscoff]

Couldn't you give the fleet "capture planet" orders and then have the boarding ships break strategy? Would they then capture ships on just their design orders?

[spoon]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Couldn't you give the fleet "capture planet" orders and then have the boarding ships break strategy? Would they then capture ships on just their design orders?

That would make the Ship Capture ships without weapons run to the corner, since I can't set Ships (no weapons) to Break Strategy without affecting the troop ship (which also has no weapons). This is assuming that I'm correct in assuming that the game assumes that Boarding Parties are not a weapon...

[capnq]

The first thing I'd do is get those Ship Capture ships without APBs to a shipyard for a refit. I wouldn't design a Ship Capture ship without at least one weapon to chip away at the enemy's shields.

For that matter, I wouldn't design a troop transport without any weapons, either.

[ September 13, 2002, 00:35: Message edited by: capnq ]