Weapon Platforms - Overly Powerful or Just Balanced?

[Alpha Kodiak]

Originally posted by Lisif Deoral:
Excuse me, but what are the weapon mount changes you're talking about? I still have v1.49, and weapon platforms are almost useless IMO...

In Gold, larger weapon mounts for weapon platforms and satellites give extended range as well as increased damage. It makes them a bit more useful.

[Gandalph]

And even with large platforms and massive mount, greatest range is 14. CSM 5 is 16. You can still sit outside range and pummel them with missiles.

[Taera]

I've voted that they are overpowered, but...
A specialized force of several destroyers or LCs, all powered with a Solar Sail, Stealth & Scattering armors, ECM and perharps a little racial bonus and training could easily wipe out your best planet unless you have 200 WPs all with missiles. then they wont _wipe_ it but will damage it a lot.
Think about it - planetary napalm V with damage of 600 is a considerable enemy for the planets. WIth larger mount each napalm shot does as much as 1200, 2400 and 3600 damage. Thats a lot for one shot, overpowering even the WMG and whatever else you can think of.
OK, so say you have 12 LCs all armed to teeth with Large mounted Napalms.
Without use of PDC the described above LCs have as much as 4 Large Napalms.
1,200 x 4 x 12
this is 57,000 points of damage _per shot_.

Important to note that planetary defenses do not have multiple targetting ability.

OK, your defenses wiped out three, say four.
Two misses.
(1,200 x 4 x [12-4]) - (1200 x 2) = 36000
That should wipe out most of the defenses.
Huge, well settled planets would be considerably more difficult to destroy, but hey, its a war and its a HUGE+BREATHABLE+SETTLED
If you lost 20 LCs to such a planet it is nothing when compared to a HUGE, fully settled planet.
Just imagine this was a mining colony....

Anyway you get my point.
without use of the expensive armor (=more time to build) you could build even more of those ships. You might lose them, but it will hurt to the enemy much more than it will hurt to you.

Also important note is that Planetary Napalm V is a cheap early-game weapon with small size and low cost. WPs are NOT overpowered.

(Hmm... my habit of putting a planetary napalm on anything bigger than a cruiser might be handy when i finaly get Gold)

EDIT: spelling

[ June 09, 2002, 21:13: Message edited by: Taera ]

[Mephisto]

Taera, you are quite right about the relation between the loss of 20 ships and a huge world. Only thing, IIRC planets can target multiple targets in a turn but don't do it always, don't ask me why. I'm fairly certain that I have seen a planet taking out several ships in one turn.

[Batman]

Can't a single Weapons Platform only target one ship, but multiple WP's should be able to target multiple ships. Unless they all have the same targeting priorities, and all make the same choices.

One person I play regularly with makes lots of weapons platforms specifically tasked with targeting troop transports above all else, because I had a phase where I went a bit troop crazy.

[Batman]

Also, don't anti-planet drones work really well for attacking well defended planets. Provided, of course, you use a lot of them. Attacking with a combination of drones/ships/fighters etc is a good way to overwhelm planet based PDC and missile defences I think.

[tesco samoa]

I do not think that they are over powerful.

Planet assalts should be expensive.

I would rather have powerful wp's than an escort with a missle destroying a planet.

Makes planetary naplam a worth while investment.