Defense Fleet

[abysmal]

Just thought it would be a fun discussion point.

When do you actually build a defense fleet and what determines it? I build mine around AE 2.4x after I get carriers, but it is just 3 Assault Fighters and 3 regular fighters.

[Cory Trese]

I build my defense fleet around the time the Xeno reach Level 10, or earlier if the AI decides to deploy World Killers ahead of schedule.

I build a specialized defense fleet consisting of 2 move Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers, with a mobile force of 4MP/1AP Fighters that can interdict and reinforce the Cruisers as needed.

As my defense force fights from Green space, repair and refuel rate are preferred, so Heavy Reactor ships are a priority. I do not use many Carriers in my defense fleets, usually 1 or 2 Fuel Tankers only.

[En1gma]

I need to get back into 4x...

I prefer to make a balanced defensive fleet. After all, once you need to switch to counterattack, it is nice to be able to replace some of the defense fleets with fresh ships, and send the veteran ships with heaps of exp out to do the heavy fighting.

I usually have one or two Torp Cruisers, one or two Assault fighters to cripple enemy WK. I only deal with 2ap/4mp fighters, so they provide the bulk of my fleets. Supporting them are two Refuel Carriers and one Repair Carrier just in case. Mobility is key for me, so I generally position my torp Cruisers between systems to swing hit for either system. Fighters stay on the outskirts, while carriers (armed with torps) hold the areas between systems.

I have really come to appreciate the sheer unadulterated power of a single, high powered Railgun Cruiser as a last ditch protection for each system. Should a WK make it past the torp shield I prefer to keep, they are often no match for the power of a Railgun bombardment.

Whatever ship I build, I outfit for a single purpose. Torp vessels, Railguns, Assault craft, whatever, they only do one thing, and I make sure they do it well.

[Brutus Aurelius]

I prefer to have my ships single purpose as well. In the last long game I played, my Vraes MK V Battlecruisers were chewing through Xeno defense ships like they were delicious ice cream.

My Tamilin Battlecruisers could, true to their namesake, blast away volleys of torpedos to cover the advance of my Fighters and Purity Class Transports.

[abysmal]

Sorry, forgot to add that as maintenance allows, build or replace more. Usually I go 3:1 Fighter to Cruiser, 1:2 Transports to Fighters, 4:1 Carrier. Seems to be working so far.

Sent from my 0PCV1 using proboards

[khamya9]

I build defense ships as late as possible. I judge by the map and number of xeno worlds when conflict will come. I have, on the 112-planet degla map, on crazy, made it to turn 300 with only my starting three ships (plus colony ships of course).

If I'm losing I will build one or two assault fighters per "front" because the boarding bonus allows obsolete ships to be effective. Otherwise I stockpile fighters. When preparing to accack, I supplement my fighters with carriers, tankers and planet killers. Once I begin attacking I go all in and have no further need for defense.

[Vraesrial]

I have three fleets, actually. Two of which are meant for defense.

1, Assualt/ Mass fleet: This is the only fleet which acts offensive. The Assualt portion contains a wide variety of ships, but the bulk of these are heavy, damage dealing, vessels. The Mass fleet is a combination of 1 and 2, to be used when I discover the xeno "headquarters", as I call it.

2, Forward operations: This is namely recon fighters and light-medium cruisers. They are namely there to provide a sort of radar system for the inner defense Corp., and slow down any kind of xeno mass invasion.

3, Defense Corps.: The shield of humanity. Between 20-50 fighters, 20-50 light cruisers, 15-30 dreadnaughts (battle cruiser thing, or whatever. I just think dreadnaught sounds cooler), and 10-15 carriers. Of course this depends on the amount of expansion I have done, but you get it.

[tenbsmith]

This thread is real useful.

I'm at 2.32 on The Rim 100x50 Map (35 worlds), my second play through. Research has focused on the Planetary Construction so I just built 3 of the stock Strike Fighters. These things seem to be low cost/low maintenance and at least it's something. Plus, I don't think you can build better without uncovering a bunch of the Fighter branch of the research tree.

Gonna research my way to Assault Fighter, the debuff they apply to enemy defenses is really helpful in an early game, low-tech defense fleet.

abysmal, what did you mean by "...as maintenance allows, build or replace more"?

[CdrPlatypus]

For me It really depends on the map and difficulty level and map size. I find on the really small maps 30 ish planets I have to get some strike fighters almost right away on hard or above. I like these point blank style maps because it really puts the pressure on.

[bookworm21]

Apr 2, 2015 12:44:33 GMT -5 tenbsmith said:

abysmal, what did you mean by "...as maintenance allows, build or replace more"?

I think he means that: "... As my net income allows, build or replace more".

In the early game, I like to get my income at about +500 or so per turn. If my income is higher than this, I build more ships, if lower than this, demolish some ships.

So, pick a target income and adapt your fleet upkeep budget accordingly, adding or removing ships as necessary.