Torpedo question

[Fyron]

I usually start wars with just a few dozen ships armed with DUCs, sometimes with PPBs... Those people that wait until they get APB XII before they start conquering usually get overrun by those that start off their happy-go-lucky conquering sprees earlier.

And, I used no so-called "dismissive exaggerations".

[ November 18, 2003, 02:11: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Maerlyn]

ok guys, thanx once more. and I still would really appreciate more strategy discussions like these!

(like f.e. how do this DUC ships you, Fyron, use in early combat, look like? (given low tech start, no special tech tree selected, and an unmodded game.) I guess light cruisers with Propulsion lvl 1 and mounted DUCs lvl IV, but are you already using armor/combat support/sensors or any stuff like these? are you supporting them with a few Capital Ship Missiles lvl 1 ships? are you going for armor or combat support/sensors or PD first in your tech tree? are you using mine sweepers, as early mine defens is very common, how many mine sweepers do you usually use in the beginning? and so on and so on...)

but beside these strategic discussions I would suggest that both of you, PVK and Fyron, end your discussion about "exaggerations", "One-liner emails", "over-statements" and the definition of "extremly inefficient" right here.

let me asure you that these was a very nice discussions with an awful lot of good points on both sides, but it is a characteristic of a good discussion that there cannot be a "winner".
(and since we have reached the point where both start repeating themselfs I´d like to call this a tie at this point and end it )

however, thanx a lot! and some answers for my questions to Fyron up there would be very appreciated. you can easily rip apart these answers of Fyron, cant you PVK (as he will start exaggerating again for sure )

[ November 18, 2003, 10:00: Message edited by: Maerlyn ]

[tesco samoa]

P.S.

Both Fyrons and PVK's stances on combat work for engagements under 400* ships....

Once you get to the magical 400 barrior forget everything you were doing before. Its a complete new system of fleet setups etc... Due to the fact that the game cannot handle placing all those ships effectivly.

This is where the BaseShip vs Battleship really shines if your baseship is designed properlly vs your opponent. As the first 3 to 4 rounds will be complete slugfests. So it is recommended that you punch very hard on the first round. And then soak the damage during the receiving round.

For less than 400

If a player is using the BB system against your base ships. Attack him on warp points... This will be to your advantage. If they are using SD 's or the engine one on the APB BB... They will close to a range where your BS will be able to hit the BB and inflict some damage. And always set you base ship to target nearest nearest nearest... with a Point blank then ram stragety. Your shield depleters and engine destroyers will have a greater range and when one ship slows down an enemy BB the next BS will destroy it

Another advantage of BS vs BB is that when you lose ships vs happiness... it does not affect it as much as you have less ships --- So I believe

* -- number picked out of a hat...

[tesco samoa]

Maerlyn

PVK and Fryon have been enjoying this style of conversation for as long as i can remember.

[Fyron]

Oleg and PvK (and anyone else), would you like to submit some strategies to the Ultimate Strategies Mod? It would be a great service to the community.

[PvK]

If/when I get some time and inclination, sure, though I'll have to study what's already there.

PvK

[Atrocities]

This thread has a lot of excellent topics and discussion in it. A must read for any new player.

[Fyron]

Originally posted by PvK:
If/when I get some time and inclination, sure, though I'll have to study what's already there.

PvK

Had time or inclination yet?

[PvK]

Nope. I had (made myself take) a bit of time and energy, but was more inclined to do other things, such as try to fiddle with improvements to Proportions mod (didn't get very far, unfortunately), playtesting the next SE4 patch beta, running my CMBB campaign, and playing Dominions II.

I will mention an interesting technique I've tried with some success, though. Fleets with just a few ships in them (i.e. 2-5 ships per fleet), in a formation designed to have them operate as an actual team. This allows you to design the ships as a small complementary squadron. For example, you can have an anti-ship ship concentrate on firepower, and then give it 1-4 escorts that will deploy immediately around it and provide support such as PD, or shield buffers or vice versa - if your opponent tends to target largest or most powerful, you can put a large ship that can take a lot of damage (lots of shields, before enemy has shield depleters), with one or more other ships that have all the firepower but won't be targeted because the enemy will favor the "damage soaker". Or other ideas - depends on the enemy. Anyway, I've had some good success with this sort of thing in some situations, particularly in some competetive games where I needed to do something fancy to try to get an advantage. Definitely a micro-management exercise, however.

PvK

[oleg]

Yes, it works fine when you employ less than 30 ships. After that it is a pain to Shift-Attack 10+ fleets

But I like this tactic in Proportions or AIC games where I seldom have too many ships.