Fight Dirty?

[Pocus]

as mines are cloaked at level 5, does someone tried to modify the sensors values to check if they could be detected theorically? I'm unsure though that a MOD enabling that would be a good thing.

[Q]

Originally posted by Pocus:
as mines are cloaked at level 5, does someone tried to modify the sensors values to check if they could be detected theorically? I'm unsure though that a MOD enabling that would be a good thing.

What I did is to reduce the gravitic cloak level of small (=3) and medium (=4) mines. That gives you a reason to use large mines, which is pretty much useless in the unmodded game. And it gives you a reson to research gravitic sensors too and not only the hyperoptics.

[Pocus]

nice idea about the large mines. You maintain which mod Q ?

[dogscoff]

Something no-one has mentioned in this thread so far...

while sending in cloaked ships are a great idea, you'll have to watch out for mines. Even cloaked you will still be vulnerable. I'd recommend capturing a few enemy ships using intel and using them as minesweepers before sneding any cloaked ships into his territory.

Then slip a few planetary assault ships (plague/ troops/ napalm/ your choice) past his frontline to wreak havoc in his core systems. Being a newb he'll probably panic and divert ships from his WP defence to to counter the threat, then you can hit the warp point with a stack of AS frigates. Have a defence fleet and/or unit launchers waiting to secure the newly-exposed system(s).

Also, when the AS fleet captures loads of big ships, you'll have to be careful that their maintenence doesn't cripple you. Have a spaceyard ship handy to scrap any that you can't afford to keep. Make use of the resource theft intel project if you have it, too, that will help.

[klausD]

a possibility to conduct some terror on him could be:

-research cloaking or stealth armor
-equip a minelayer with such a device
-sneak past his warp-pointlines in cloaked modus
-check his reeinforcement routes - the pathes he travels with his new produced ships from his space yards to his mainfleet
-mine them with the necessary amount of mines per sector

-boom ...the enemy battlecruiser sinks...

-go back and refill your minelayers
-repeat

the problem is that if he is clever he could send forward minesweepers to clear the reeinforcement path. But this costs him resources and time.

alles gute und viel Glück
KlausD

[Loser]

It looks like this is going to be a thread to remember. The 'big secret' dirty fighting tricks may not be coming out, but a lot of 'lesser' tricks sure are.

If you have the time, and you are not focusing on destroying that WP fleet of his, here is something to try.

First establish, by scouting trips, intel, or whatever, if any system of his has a storm that disables sensors (not combat sensors). Then send in a construction ship and build a construction base in that sector or system. After you build the base, scrap or mothball the ship immediately so that it consumes no more resources.

If this ghetto-cloaked construction base is in the same system as some of your enemies' worlds (a one-sector storm, as opposed to a system-wide storm), build a cargo-&-fighter-bay base and fill it with fighters and troops. Build these fighters for planetary attack. Build minor little troop transports and go start taking his most undefended planets, attacking with the fighters and dropping the troops. He will probably be unable, or at least find it difficult, to retake the planets and may glass them. This is not a loss for you, it is an intentional strategy of demoralization. If he does glass his own world, point this out to your role-playing friends, and point it out before you start using plagues.

If the base is in a system-wide storm, or if you run out of targets in the system it is in, build harassment ships or fleets and go after similarly soft targets. Your main goal here is simply to harass. This will cause him to spend research time on sensor rather than weapons, and then it will pull warships away from his fronts.

Alternately, with domestic or imported harriers, you can attack targets of strategic value. If you can figure out which world have his Resupply Depots, hit those. This will severely limit the mobility of his troops. Mine the warp points within his sphere of control. Glass big worlds with high pop. Blockade his homeworld, glass it, or plague the damn thing.

On plagues... if you need to wax this guy to survive, what does it matter what other players think. If you die because you don't plague him, or die because you plague him, wax him, and the others pound you, what difference does it make. Just make sure you are ready to move decisively after your plague attack: take his worlds, his resources, his power, and be ready to faces his new friends with their righteous anger.

One more thing, if you can get an AS harrier behind his lines, use it on non-combat ships as well as warships. Stealing the guys population transport could be lots of fun, especially if he blats it out of the sky when he can't get it back (see righteous role players).

[Pooka]

Originally posted by dogscoff:
Something no-one has mentioned in this thread so far...

while sending in cloaked ships are a great idea, you'll have to watch out for mines. Even cloaked you will still be vulnerable. I'd recommend capturing a few enemy ships using intel and using them as minesweepers before sneding any cloaked ships into his territory.

Then slip a few planetary assault ships (plague/ troops/ napalm/ your choice) past his frontline to wreak havoc in his core systems. Being a newb he'll probably panic and divert ships from his WP defence to to counter the threat, then you can hit the warp point with a stack of AS frigates. Have a defence fleet and/or unit launchers waiting to secure the newly-exposed system(s).

Also, when the AS fleet captures loads of big ships, you'll have to be careful that their maintenence doesn't cripple you. Have a spaceyard ship handy to scrap any that you can't afford to keep. Make use of the resource theft intel project if you have it, too, that will help.

The mines worry me. This brings me to my next question. I just captured a battlecruise I expected to be armed. It was a mine layer. How do I stop mines? Will simply building mine sweeping ships suffice? Or will I have to move to the sector, then activate the mine sweepers? Should they be in a seperate fleet? Can mine sweepers be used while under cloak? (I.E. Can I quietly defuse his minefield right under his fleet's nose?)

he's camping the minefield, which is what worries me. Is it the minefields that destroy the captured ships before I can run with them?