The Strategies Screen -- A Wish List

[Grandpa Kim]

For strategic combat, the Strategies Screen is an outstanding and seemingly versatile concept for simultaneous play, yet it seems incomplete, hard to use and in some spots contradictory as well as inconsistent in execution. I suggest a complete revamping of this module using the current layout as a template only. I have thought about these changes a lot, but undoubtedly I missed many things. In fact, this treatise is far from complete and really only covers the highlights. This post is too long already so many details have been skipped (but not forgotten). Input for additional refinements will be welcome (and no doubt punted around as much as my ideas will be. ;-) ).

Before getting started, lets lay down some parameters.

Weapons:

Specialty weapons should only fire at targets that contain the object of their desire. For point defense and missiles, this concept works fine, but it seems for at least some other weapons it doesn't. In other words, engine destroying weapons should only fire at ships or units with functioning engines, shield depleters only at shielded ships and units etc. A certain amount of randomness should be left in though. A ships MAY fire an extra shot or two in a round before realizing it has accomplished its purpose and then moving on to the next target.

Firing and movement:

Ships should fire at the minimum range consistent with their movement orders. That is to say a ship set to Maximum range finding itself inside that range for its chosen target, will fire FIRST then move away to maximum range. A ship set to point blank will stop movement when adjacent to its target and then fire even if it has move points left. How, or even if, it moves after firing would depend on other factors.

Reusability:

You must be able to save your strategies in much the same way you can save an empire. (For use in other games.)

Current Conditions:

Firing and movement should be based on the current situation at that time in the battle. For instance, after being fired on a few time, the fastest ship will no longer be fastest and ships/units with this firing instruction should move on.

First off, complex as the strategies are, there are not enough layers. At the top, there should be a fleet layer. These orders would be exclusively for fleets but would be little more than folders to hold the real orders though they would have some built in orders of their own. These orders cannot be ignored even by ships or units breaking formation! The big plus on this is that you can change a fleet's orders without having to change all the various ship's orders because those orders are all set to your liking within the fleet folder. Here are my basic suggestions:

Fleet Orders

Attack
(I can think of no special order for this folder)

Defend
Ships will stay within a selectable number of squares (2, 5, 8, 10) of the object being defended (usually a planet or warp point) unless all remaining enemies are unarmed. *Note: this could backfire if your opponent tries to avoid fighting to effect a blockade.*

Capture Planet
Much to my surprise the current capture planet order when applied to fleets works very well as is. Ships will attack a planet till all weapons are gone then cease fire. They will also not fire if friendly troops are on the ground. If the landing force fails and is annialated, they will resume firing.

Capture Ships
Ships will only attempt to remove shields, keeping damage to a minimum. That means certain weapon types may not fire at all. Perhaps an override to this would be appropriate. For instance, if you already have better engines than the enemy ship, you could allow engine damaging weapons to fire.

Blockade
Ships will not approach the planet, and in fact, will back away if fired on by STATIONARY weapons (weapon platforms, satellites, bases). They will only engage moveable weaponry (fighters, ships, missiles, drones).

In all cases, you will be able to assign a basic strategy (Don't Get Hurt, Maximum Weapons Range, etc.). A must if your fleet stays in formation.

You will also be able to add your own Fleet Orders to this list of five common orders. I was thinking of adding a "None" order, but I believe the Attack order covers that well enough.

The "Launching" order regarding fighter group sizes should be available at the fleet level. If anyone has a good reason to leave it as it is, I would be glad to leave it there.

Sandwiched between fleets and ships would be Task Force Orders. These would be the same as Fleet Orders but with the task force(s) acting within the confines of the fleet. In other words, a group of ships in a fleet with a special assignment. The task force would act on its own orders consistent with the fleet orders. If the fleet has the "Attack" order and the task force has "Capture Ships" there is no problem. The other way around a conflict develops. This would require some delicate programming to make it work but that work should be done.

Also, a task force could be detached from the fleet. It would not then get any fleet experience bonus, but instead could gain its own and retain it even if it rejoined the fleet. This experience would only come into play while it is detached from the fleet however. You could then detach and rejoin the task force many times, gaining more task force experience each time it is detached. (Some appropriate rules must be developed regarding the fleet training facility.)

Now to the ship strategies. As I said before, these strategies would also be used with fleets and task forces just as they are now. The strategies themselves are mere labels or folders; its the orders you put in them that matter.

Formation:
The first decision a ship or fleet must make is whether or not to stay in formation. A total revamp for this section. This section will be set up as a series of check boxes.

Do not break formation

Break formation immediately

Break formation when within weapons range

Break formation at distance
10 squares
7 squares
5 squares
3 squares

If you routinely break formation, this should prevent those nasty pile ups.

Firing and Damage:

These two sections are so intertwined we will look at them as one. I have put this section before movement because before you can move, in most cases, you must select a target.

I am going to try to put these in order of priority, but again, they are so intertwined there is sure to be debate about my order.

1. Don't Fire on Types
As the name suggests ships and units are forbidden from firing on the types selected. In fact, the types selected here could well be greyed out in the following sections.
The selectable types are: bases, ships, carriers, colony ships, fighters, satellites, mines, planets, transports, bases (no weapons), ships (no weapons), seekers (on us), seekers (on others), drones. These are in need of revision. I think we can safely delete both types of seekers and the mines. Let's add "planets (no weapons)". Other possibilities for additions are "transports with troops", "boarding ships". If you think these should be added, please speak up.

2. Target Selection
As on the current strategies screen, you can select your targets by type (or not) referred to as "Type Priority" and by certain qualities of the targets referred to as "Targeting Priority".

Type Priority:
The check box will read either:

Use Type Priority
or
Do Not Use Type Priority

If you use the second, skip directly to Targeting Priority, if the first, then here are my proposed choices:

Ships
Boarding ships
Ships with troops
Bases
Carriers
Transports
Colony ships
Planets
Planets (no weapons)
Ships (no weapons)
Bases (no weapons)
Drones
Fighters
Satellites

You may place these in any order you like, of course. Lets assume you have chosen the order above for a particular design. That ship or unit would identify a ship from the possible targets and move to engage it, firing at targets of opportunity along the way until it came within range of its selected target. Explanations I have heard say this is more or less the way it works now. I'm not so sure it does.
Again we could add more types. We could apply "loaded" or "empty" to carriers, transports, and colony ships and add unarmed satellites.

Targeting Priority:
Some of the current selections are not entirely clear. Lets change them so they are clearer. Here, more than anywhere else, these states should be current, reflecting the situation as it stands in the battle, not at the beginning of the battle. If two or more targets meet the criteria, then the next selection will attempt to break the tie. As now, you will be allowed four selections.

Nearest
Farthest
I hope these two are self explanatory enough

Largest
Smallest
based on hull tonnage

Most Damaged
Least Damaged
simplest would be damaged tonnage. Better would be per cent damaged of total tonnage

Fastest
Slowest
again, self explanatory

Has Weapons
Does Not Have Weapons
that means ANY weapon!

Best Defended
Worst Defended
does not include experience but does includeecm, armor, shields etc. could be a complex calculation

Most Dangerous
Least Dangerous
can cause the most damage on the next shot

Has Boarding Parties
the opposite seems unnecessary

Has Cargo
Does Not Have Cargo
This could be split into troops, population, fighters etc.

Damage:
I would like to give more selections here. This section is organized as a series of check boxes

Damage targets until... (then move to next target)

all weapons are gone
all engines are gone
all shields are gone
all vehicle control is gone
all supplies are gone

when gone from all targets, destroy
when gone from all targets, cease fire

More selections could be added but I expect to take a lot of flak as it is.

The Damage Percent section would remain the same except all selections could be taken to 0%.

Movement:
I see no reason to change the basic layout of this section. The area that needs refinement is when to change from primary to secondary. Each movement strategy should have its own unique threshold before moving to the secondary. And these must make sense to your average player. I won't go into detail on what these thresholds should be at this time.

I would like to add one more movement strategy, however. In addition to "Drop troops (if carrying)" I would like to see "Kamikaze Drop troops". In this order, the transport would attempt to drop troops even if the planet has weaponry. In other words, it would charge in as fast as possible and land troops without regard to enemy fire.

The missile problem should also be addressed. Frequently missiles are fired that never reach their target. Not because the missiles were launched improperly, but because the enemy moved out of range. I suggest that when this happens, the missile ships modify their orders to reduce firing range by the distance that the missiles fell short. With advanced missiles, there is a huge difference between maximum range and optimal range so the ships, though no longer truly at maximum range, would still not be as close as optimal range.

Ships with "Don't Get Hurt" orders should move away from the enemy. Too often such a ship will head for the opposite corner, sometimes passing through the midst of the enemy ships. This should be an easy fix.

Well, that's about enough of that! The key to this is not the changes themselves, but that they work as advertised. A pretty picture is not enough; functionality is necessary. As I said in the beginning, a lot has been left out to keep this to a manageable length. A myriad fine details and description are needed to make this complete. Thanks for reading this. (You have much more patience than I.)

Kim Hanson (Grandpakim)