Ground combat / Invasion...?????

[fdlu]

I have not played SE 4 alot due to time
restrictions but can somebody comment or
share his experience in regard to ground
combat.
how do the various elements interact and the
like (militia , strenght of militia , combat
strenght of troops, can i use fighters in gc
at all, how so, weapons platforms.....and so on)
Is there any way to do gc and not !!! to damage population or facilities prior/during
gc ??
any hint tactic etc. is welcomed as i have
the impression that all elements are there
but need a little explaining how they work at all.
please also note that i have used gc only
seldom and more in a experimental form.
thanks for any replys.

[This message has been edited by fdlu (edited 13 January 2001).]

[Taqwus]

The attacker, AFAICT, can bring only ground troops -- no fighters, ships, or anything else participate on his side. The ship dropping 'em must be adjacent to the planet first.

The defenses include militia (based on the population of the planet; if I read Settings.txt correctly, there might be one militia per 5 million people (?), with pretty low attack strength (10; low if that's compared directly with weapon damage, e.g. 90 or so from Small Cluster Bomb III's) and 30 hp), as well as troops, mines, and most likely all other units in the cargo area of the planet at the time.

Based on simulator tests, stored mines help the defender; I wouldn't be surprised to learn that stored fighters do, as well.

As for preserving population and facilities, well, there are no weapons that target *only* weapon platforms and their ilk. In fact, the attack that destroys the LAST platform on a planet appears to do bonus collateral damage... the only 'smart bombs' existing target specific facility types, while the other special anti-planet weapons target either planet conditions or population IIRC.

So if you absolutely want to NOT damage *any* population or facilities, you have to

a) carefully destroy all but the Last weapon platform on a planet

b) then charge your transport like mad, possibly using another ship ahead of it to decoy fire from the Last WP

c) get adjacent, select Orders (IIRC), then Capture Planet, and bug out


FWIW, Small Cluster Bombs make a nifty troop weapon if you've got 'em.

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night