Protecting Planets

[Marty Ward]

Mines are also a good planet defense. you can build them by the 1000's and only deploy them when needed. They even take up less space than fighters do.

[Windborne]

I never could find a spot in the rulebook that said whether mines exploded only for enemy ships so i've been loath to place them around my planets or warp points I might wish to use.

[pathfinder]

windbourne: your mines will not blow up your own ships. so use at warp point and planets but beware that, like staellites, they tend to congrgate in one spot NOT as a "around the planet" field; unless you build a whole bunch.

[God Emperor]

I've personally hardly ever use mines or satellites (although I dont usually play above low bonus - played medium a few times).

I rely on WP's equipped with point defence and large/massive mount weapons backed by ships. I try to avoid spending on defensive weapons and buy ships, ships and more ships.
Might change my strategy a bit once the AI can use cloaked ships properly.

I dont use fighters or missiles much because my mod incorporates heavy point defence on the AI ships, which means I have to have a lot to make it worth while.
As a note though, I play tactical combat...

[Sinapus]

quote:

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Originally posted by pathfinder:
windbourne: your mines will not blow up your own ships. so use at warp point and planets but beware that, like staellites, they tend to congrgate in one spot NOT as a "around the planet" field; unless you build a whole bunch.

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Actually, mines clumping together isn't much of a problem since they don't appear in tactical or strategic combat. They just attack any enemy ship that goes into that sector.

[Nitram Draw]

I use all three for defense.
The only problem with the WP is space. On a domed planet you can only fit a few medium WP before you run out of space and then you can't build any mines or sats. It's quite a juggling act.
I like mines because even if they don't kill the ship they can come into the battle with damage on them. It's nice when they lose all their shields or weapons before the battle starts.
Using all three options lets me reduce my fleet size. In fact I don't think I have ever exceeded 25 combat ships at one time in any game I have played. I always have more support/colony ships than warships.

[Triumvir Emphy]

The other great thing is that shields don't seem to block mine damage, so if you have an opponent who is shield heavy, this might be your only chance to get some licks in.