Question about warp manipulation sequence

[douglas]

In general the order of order execution by ships that move on the same day is done in order by internal ship ID numbers, which are not directly visible to the player. If two ships are in the same location, however, you can determine which has a lower ship ID and will move first by checking the Fleet Transfer screen. Ships are listed in order by ship ID in the Fleet Transfer screen, provided that they are either both not in fleets or are both in the same fleet. If the warp opener is above the warp closer in the list, then it will attempt to open the warp point before the closer has had a chance to do anything. If the warp closer in higher up the list, then it will act first and the opener will be able to operate.

Every ship in a fleet moves at the same time as the first ship in the fleet, so only the ship at the very top of the list for each fleet in the fleet transfer screen is relevant for determining movement order. If your warp opener goes at the very top of the list when you put it in the fleet, then you can have it open a warp point and have the fleet go through simultaneously because the open warp point order will be executed before the fleet gets to move. Otherwise, the fleet will have to delay its transit.

Ship ID numbers are set when the ship finishes construction and cannot be changed by any means. Numbers are assigned in order with reuse. For instance, if you have four ships, numbered 1-4, the next ship will be number 5. If ship 2 is destroyed, however, the next ship you build will be number 2. The list is not separate for each player, so enemy losses can affect what ID's your new ships will get.

You can determine whether ships will move on the same day by checking the chart in the FAQ (search for "movement days").

[CaptainAL]

THANKS to both! I would have never figured this one out without knowing about the ship ID. I checked the game in question and my openers are listed higher than the closers present. Does retro-fitting change the ID? When I can retrofit my ships I will put a warp closer and opener in each so I can do both with one ship's command set.

When I have had the luxury of time I have always ordered the openers to move first so as to open on a later day than the closers, as you Alneyan, but at times the loss of even a few days means 45 baseships just escaped my system unscathed after they glassed most of my planets That seems to be the typical situation right now - every time I just miss nailing a big fleet due to some SM screw up (mostly of my own doing). One thing that helps is I use the "system to avoid" feature to make sure my ships don't go someplace disastrous as a result of my SM screw-ups. Then at least I only waste a movement turn or two instead of losing an entire fleet.

Didn't know that star destroyers may detonate later than day one. With the way my luck has been going mine will pop late and another large fleet will get away. Oh well, some games drag out too long anyway. That's a good thing to know - only now that adds one more thing to have to plan around. If I didn't love this game so much I sure would hate it!

Thanks again.