Ship Designer and Squadron Formations

[Guest]

1. Do the efficient bridge and trained crew upgrades for W-F do anything? They don't actually affect max W-F on my ships, including the Templar Defenders that start with it.

Also, a lot of these upgrades and additions to ships seem to ask for a lot for such small bonuses. 100+ credits, CP to slow production, and the silent killer maintenance costs, not to mention mass, for bonuses like +2 shielding for 2/5 types of radiation... Hey, I might as well turn this into a question dump.

2. Any explanation on radiation? Is it only when invading xeno planets? Not exactly sure how useful shielding is.
3. Attack bonus? Defense bonus? Are they passive bonuses for to-hit and dodge or block? I hope I am right in assuming close-in weapon defense bonuses are the same as the bonuses some weapons give to defense.
4. Mechanized vs assault troops?
5. Armor rating vs Armor?
6. Some parts give stealth and evasion bonuses. Probably stealth is only for dodging attacks at 2+ range, but does evasion work for everything like the ship part? Looks like it's worth more, at any rate.

Off topic... is it just me, or do the politics to end conflicts not work even when it says success?

[Guest]

I'll be greedy and add one more thing.

High gun and torpedo parts and low captain gun and torpedo attack VS low gun and torpedoes and high gun and torpedo attack VS balance? Or is it too complex to explain due to wacky Trese-style behind-the-scenes dice roll combos?

[manne]

Awesome questions Guest, hope to see some good answers!
I've been randomly choosing shields, invasion troops etc without having any clue what they do/how they differ.

[neveryours]

I personally like the cheap fighter swarm to surround my border planets and then use the expensive custom fighters with GC cannons and cruisers to supplement. Refuel and repair ships at the tips of the square. The cheap fighters soak damage and with their fast build times mid game are pretty good cannon fodder. I make myself feel better by telling myself that they're drones and unpiloted.

[neveryours]

Send out the fodder to slow the xeno swarm while your high tech ships gang up on targets. Most of the damage should come from counter attacks so you'll have less chance to lose those 100+ cp ships which take forever to build.

[Cory Trese]

I'd love to answer the questions they're just very vague.

1. yes they do stuff to your W-F

2. depends on what type of xeno you're fighting, radiation is a big deal

3. you're right, they're passive

4. assault troops are much better at attacking

5. don't know where or what you mean

6. stealth, evasion and sensor are the 3 parts that will let you counter attack.

[nails]

Jun 24, 2014 13:16:29 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

I'd love to answer the questions they're just very vague.

1. yes they do stuff to your W-F

2. depends on what type of xeno you're fighting, radiation is a big deal

3. you're right, they're passive

4. assault troops are much better at attacking

5. don't know where or what you mean

6. stealth, evasion and sensor are the 3 parts that will let you counter attack.

Had no idea tat sensors impacted counter attack.
good to know.

[Cory Trese]

Sensors roll like Tactics in ST RPG

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies! That's good to know about sensors, I started putting 0 some ships because it didn't affect their visual range or scan ability like the description suggested. On the flip side, it didn't seem to hurt much for now.

After digesting what you said, I now believe that I was mistaken when I thought "improve attack and counter-attack rolls" for captain skills includes the chance of counterattacking, and instead probably means they affect the accuracy of both attacks and counterattacks while pilot and stealth help determine both avoiding attacks and if counterattacks occur (ship evasion and sensors too). If it's like Tactics in STRPG, probably helps close-range actions, specifically gun and board offense and defense, and possibly special ship skills.

One possible suggestion, maybe it would be more helpful not to mention "rolls" and instead work on descriptions that will help understand the roles of these parts in combat so they can actually make informed, strategic decisions with matters that concern the survival of humanity.
At the very least, you know, sensors help the ship make tactical decisions, things of that nature.

[Cory Trese]

Not sure how removing the information about the influence of stats on combat helps, but I'll try to incorporate your suggestion if there is a way I can understand it.

[Guest]

ie accuracy is a better term than to-hit roll for casual gamers. I say this because even though that's exactly what's happening in the background, it is not presented to the player. The expert player may be concerned about the details and consequences of each roll, but in the players' eyes these unseen "rolls" are not what is part of the enjoyment like they would be in tabletop games. Don't know if I'm making sense anymore.

[pendell]

So I've played a few games on the tutorial and I'm more or less settling into the following formation for a TEF (Templar Expeditionary Force). It isn't fully tested yet, but this is the way I'm leaning. All class names are my own.

1) 8-12 FURY-class Fighters (whirlwind 2 guns, concentrating on speed and evasion but some armor).
These are my basic ship killers and space superiority vehicles. Fighters are my mainstay because they are cheap to build, cheap to maintain, and relatively disposable.

2) 2 CHERUBIM-class cruisers (pretty much out of the box, but I suppose I could upgrade them with armor and better guns).
These ships are high-maintenance, but they also have a lot more hit points than your average fighter. So their job is as blockers. To escort the carriers and keep away anything that makes it past the fighter screen. They also make a useful shield to retreat behind if the fighters need to fall back or regroup.

3) 1 QADDIYSH-class explorer scout. Because we need SOMETHING optimized for long seeker ranges. This guy gets the best sensors with the best range I can find, to give as complete a picture of the tactical situation as possible.

4) 2 ARCHANGEL-class carriers. One for refueling, one for repairing. May be upgraded to 3 ships (2 refuel, 1 repair). These provide mobile fuel and repair support far from home base. They also seem to refuel much more quickly, and therefore can repair and refuel the other ships quickly when in orbit around a faction world. They are the centerpiece of the Task Force whom the cruisers protect.

5) 4-8 HA-MAWET [Angel of Death]-class Military Transports. These have as many planetary invasion upgrades as I can afford and have their invasion training likewise maxed, as well as a colony module. Because an invasion is so hard, they are heavily optimized towards accomplishing this task and are almost helpless for any other purpose. That is why it has so many friends to protect them from interstellar threats.

In battle, the fighters rapidly sweep away enemy opposition and form a perimeter around an alien world. The transports, carriers, and cruisers then completely englobe the planet to prevent it launching reinforcements. Then it's a slow process of assaulting the planet with the transports while the fighters prevent any interference. If quality is below about 5, it's probably best to simply pulverize the planet into a dead world rather than attempting to colonize it ourselves. Otherwise, one of the transports will create a refueling stop on the planet while a replacement is already traveling in from the core worlds. Refit, refuel, repeat the cycle again.

This is extremely expensive, as you can well imagine, but interstellar conquest is NOT something done on the cheap. Thus for me the planetary construction tree is easily twice as important as the starship side of the tree. You cannot field a large fleet without a large economy, and a large economy allows you to build and replace ships far more quickly. It is easier to win with primitive ships produced every few turns than with a few powerful ships cranked out in roughly forever by underdeveloped planets.

That, at least, is my experience. Does anyone have a better suggestion? Comments? Feedback? I've got no problems being told I'm on the wrong track.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[En1gma]

Have a +1 for that one! Exactly why I made this thread, right there

[manne]

Pendell, Great description! I skip the cruiser, but i do run 2 refuel carriers. I rarely build cruisers at all, except sometimes for def, with low speed/high power reactors (2mp)

[Officer Genious]

Jun 24, 2014 14:37:18 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Sensors roll like Tactics in ST RPG

Jun 24, 2014 18:17:29 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Not sure how removing the information about the influence of stats on combat helps, but I'll try to incorporate your suggestion if there is a way I can understand it.

Replacing the sensor description would be far more useful than the current info because I was unaware of this myself. Maybe something a bit more like CK's explanation of damage, soak damage and evasion with the forumlas could be more useful.