newby's guide to ship and fleet strategy

PsychoTechFreak · #1 February 2nd, 2002, 07:16 PM

Lovely, but I still have no idea how to create the strategy "break formation". Since it does not appear with the standard strats, I would have to add it manually: "B-R-E-A-K F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N", but I don't think the ships would do what I want them to do.

EDIT: Got it, finally !

[ 02 February 2002: Message edited by: PsychoTechFreak ]

Fyron · #2 February 3rd, 2002, 08:19 AM

Hmm, this doesn't seem to have been answered. Better late than never!

quote:
Originally posted by Growltigga:
primary strategy and secondary strategy (what's the difference by the way)

The primary strategy is the movement strategy that the ships normally use. When the AI determines that the primary strategy is no longer a good idea to use, it will change to the secondary movement strategy. I have no clue as to when or why the AI decides to change to the secondary movement strategy.

PsychoTechFreak · #3 February 4th, 2002, 12:06 AM

I have fiddled around with the strategy windows now: What if I want to have a different strategy for special targets, like planets. I want the attack ships to toast everything except the planet, this should be taken over with a troop transport (which btw should not arrive too early at the planet). For the planet they should: Damage targets until all weapons are gone (see damage window), and Damage Per cent per planet: as low as possible.

This seems to be not possible yet, except maybe if I create special ships which just target planets, and I put every other attack ship to "don't fire on planets".

EDIT: Quikngruvn 's solution with the ships do not break formation would be the only solution I see, but with the disadvantages of the formation.

[ 03 February 2002: Message edited by: PsychoTechFreak ]

PsychoTechFreak · #4 February 4th, 2002, 01:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
.... When the AI determines that the primary strategy is no longer a good idea to use, it will change to the secondary movement strategy. I have no clue as to when or why the AI decides to change to the secondary movement strategy.

That is what I want to know also, since I have seen many AIs which use
1. Don't get Hurt
2. Ram

Nice idea, but does it work the same way as a human would decide when he has no chance not to get hurt any more ?

Saxon · #5 February 4th, 2002, 01:40 PM

To add a few points about fleet composition and comment on ramming.

I like to have a fleet that can take care of itself. It seems that battles tend to be focus on single ships, so ships are usually either undamaged or destroyed. However, you will get ships left behind that have some damage and which you would prefer to recover. If they have engine damage, they will slow the entire fleet down, unless you leave them behind. I also hate it when you spend five turns getting a fleet into place, then have to fly it back after the first battle due to a lack of supplies.

As such, I always have a repair ship available. I find that this makes my fleets longer Lasting and less likely to get knocked out by scavengers coming to clean up a battered fleet. Some of the smaller hulls, from Light Cruiser up, can carry a reasonable number of repair components and will not be targeted in a fleet of larger ships.

I also tend to build specialist supply ships. I don’t like wasting precious space on solar panels, so I have big supply ships with a lot of room for supplies. These also add range and operating capacity to a fleet. As a side note, I don’t make these the biggest ship hull available, I go for second biggest. That way they fall lower in the targeting priority than the main combat ships.

On both of these, I throw in some point defence and a single weapon which matches the rest of the fleet. This is only to ensure that they are in the heart of the battle and knocking out missiles. I don’t actually expect them to kill anything, but a few extra PDC can make the difference against a missile oriented opponent.

Since these are valuable ships, I don’t ram with them. Another poster was suggesting all non-combat ships should be given ram orders, but I disagree. I can see putting a colony ship on ramming, as it might get jumped in open space and is finished no matter what, but the ships I am describing don’t go anywhere without a fleet.

Now, I have a question. Some folks like huge numbers of Light Cruisers, as they have a defensive bonus due to size. They say that you shouldn’t worry about building bigger ships. Others say that size is everything (no, the size of the ship) and that you should go as big as possible, especially for heavy mounts. I tend to follow the second argument, but would be interested in what other think should go into their fleets.

Gryphin · #6 February 4th, 2002, 09:23 PM

Ship Size:
I stay 2 hull sizes behind the AI. Experience has shown me 3 Frigates will out fight 2 AI Light Crusiers in Tactical Combat. When not needed in a fleet, they make good blockade ships and scouts.
I’ll do the cost analysis tonight. There may be diminishing returns depending on your play style.

Cargo Ships:
If the AI focuses on the largest hull, then one strategy may be to create cargo ships with as many containers as possible to draw fire. When available add ECM, Shields, Armor, and Point Defense Cannons should be added.
I have not tried this. It may be necessary to build it on a Non Cargo Ship hull if the AI is programmed to go after transports Last. The other advantage of this would be having the transports available as troop ships, fighter transports, and population mover when not used as a decoy. Still, I would not want to be the crew of that ship. < bemused grin >

[ 04 February 2002: Message edited by: Gryphin ]

PvK · #7 February 4th, 2002, 11:09 PM

Why couldn't the leader move? Whenever I've seen the leader crippled, the fleet broke formation because of it. Or was this some sort of traffic jam problem?

Breaking formation is often good, although I've seen some good results from some formations, too.

PvK

quote:
Originally posted by tesco samoa:
I have lost whole fleets of 30 ships because I forgot to make sure the fleet breaks formation when it meets anything.

If the leader cannot move then the fleet does not move.

Your fleet dies.

so make sure you break formation, even if it is because the fleet needs to stop for some coffee.