PPB is the best weapon in the game. Discuss.

[Nitram Draw]

One thing to remember about range is you must have sensors/experiance for it to be an advantage. At range 10 any standard weapon has 0% to hit if no other modifiers come into play. Also as pointed out below, he who fires/hits first usually wins. I'd rather have a hip with a lot of PPB's than a few WMG once you start taking damage. All in all I think PPB's are the best direct fire weapon to base your fleet around but you definately need variety to win consistently.

[geoschmo]

quote:

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Originally posted by Nitram Draw:
One thing to remember about range is you must have sensors/experiance for it to be an advantage. At range 10 any standard weapon has 0% to hit if no other modifiers come into play. Also as pointed out below, he who fires/hits first usually wins. I'd rather have a hip with a lot of PPB's than a few WMG once you start taking damage. All in all I think PPB's are the best direct fire weapon to base your fleet around but you definately need variety to win consistently.

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Correct, but the same penalties apply to the PBB. All other things being equal, if one ship has greater range in weapons, they will win the majority of the time.

I don't like WMG either personally. And I agree with you about PBB's up through the mid game. But they get passed up later on. And you will too if you stop researching weapons and stay with PBB V's for the rest of the game. Unless you can beat your enemies before they can get the better weapons.

Geoschmo

[Nitram Draw]

The thing with the PPB's and range is that in order to fire you must get within their range, 6 I think, so all direct fire weapons will have a chance to hit. This is where the other modifiers come into play. It's rare by mid-game not to have sensors, ECM, experiance etc. Those are worth more than the weapon type, IMO. You need some direct fire weapon that fires every turn. I usually pick one early and develop it to the max then when I have all the other thing I deem necessary, ECM, shields, armor etc., I research another direct fire weapon. I think it is a waste to research two direct fire weapons at the same time. There's to many other areas that need to be researched.

[Phoenix-D]

Nitam, be aware that WMGs have a +30% to hit bonus. So at the same range as the PPBs, they have a significantly better chance to hit.

Phoenix-D

[geoschmo]

I agree completely. You are better off picking a particular weapon and researching that as far as you can in most cases. And due to my testing in regards to this thread, and also my recent ingame experience, PBB's will no doubt be a priority for me in future games, if for no other reason than their relative cheapness in research.

I was simply disagreeing with the belief stated earlier in this thread that once you had PBB, you didn't need anything else. That is simply not true based on the facts.

One problem though with researching the PBB up to level five though, is that if your opponent is researching APB while you are researching PBB, you will have the advantage early on, but if you can't capitalize on that advantage, before he gets to the upper levels of APB, and starts beating your PBB ships, you will be WAY behind the curve. You will have to start over on the APB branch and have a long way to go to catch up.

Geoschmo

[Nitram Draw]

WMG are my 'big gun' for planet defense, especially when using the WP range modifier mod. They can almost reach the edge of the board. With their built in to hit and a sensor they pound atacking fleets. I put them on some ships, to target planets and bases at range, but I don't build entire fleets of them. The WMG does have a long reload time. A sh*tload of LC's with direct fire weapons can take out a few DN's with WMG's. Plus the WMG can't target fighters or Sat's. That's why you need a mixed force. Anyone can design a ship to counter a specific ship. The trick is to design a fleet to counter another fleet.

[Rich04]

I also like WMG's. IMHO they are the best basic tech LR direct fire weapon. That +30 bonus goes a long way in scoring more hits at range. They are best used in combos with other weapons/ships.