Malfador, Bring back retreat option from SEIII

[Marco]

Thanks for yours explanations PvK, curiously I even didn’t think at the problem of warp point in these terms, I used to place blockade fleets on the side of the warp points in the defended quadrant, to avoid detection, and every corner of the tactical map would then be good for breaking through. Nevertheless I agree with you, if in SE 4 Gold the defender is always firing and moving first (sorry, I didn’t played the demo) the balance problem is solved.
Marco.

[PvK]

Ya, if you defend the far (enemy's) side of the warp point, then even in SE3 (where warp points can be used during combat) the AI won't be able to "retreat forward," since retreat will just back them away from the warp point. So in order to warp-point-blockade-run, you'd need to hold your own side of the WP, warp, use retreat, and hope to survive the defenders and still have a 2-point speed advantage on the far side.

PvK

[Marco]

Another thought: my question was wrong because, if I understand correctly, in SE 3 you can place the blocking fleet in your side of warp point and surround it with a circle of others ships, even only one in each place, and in this case the blockade runner enemy ships cannot “forward retreat” because there isn’t a place where retreat without enemy ships. I’m correct?
Thanks.
Marco.

[dmm]

Yeah, Marco has a good point. Although:
a) the AI is never going to do that, and
b) you would need 8 ships per warp point if the WPs aren't at the system edge (and otherwise, you'd still need 5 per WP)

Question1: In SEIII retreat, can you go diagonally? If not, that reduces problem b) by a factor of 2.
Question2: Do mines/satellites/fighters count as unfriendly units to prevent retreat? If they do, then warp point defense isn't much harder at all.

[Suicide Junkie]

A) You can go diagonally, but you have to hit one of the four tactical squares in the exact corner of the map. Possible to arrange in tactical, extremely rare in strategic

B) I believe they do.

[PvK]

Marco, yes in SE3 you can put an unarmed escort in each sector around your side, to prevent forward retreat by any survivors of the defense. Or, you can just defend the far side, and not have to.

dmm, for #1, SJ is right. For #2, in SE3 there are no satellites and fighters can deploy strategically - as for mines I don't know - I expect the minefields would have to be detected for them to block retreat, but haven't tested it.

Personally, I tend to think that defending the far side is good enough, and having a chance to break through defenses set up on their own side is more interesting than it is any sort of problem.

PvK