Special Fortress Rematch

[Toranth]

I know that part works.  I had the fun experience of 'clearing' a nebula, then watching as the 'pitiful' enemy remenants destroyed the allied Large starbase, taking my foldout with it

What scenario was that?  Normally I try to make sure that the win condition is such that not much enemy firepower is left.

Second occurance of the Epsilon Eridani (scenario 13? or so).  8 BB Champions rushed the enemy starbases and slaughtered them, but killed almost none of the ships.  When the enemy Large starbase died, the scenario was declared 'won', even though there were 150+ enemy ships still remaining.
Taught me a valuable lesson about keeping the ship count down.

[keith.lamothe]

Second occurance of the Epsilon Eridani (scenario 13? or so).  8 BB Champions rushed the enemy starbases and slaughtered them, but killed almost none of the ships.

(in Adam-Savage-voice) There's yer problem!

Yea, you'll want to tidy up a bit first.  I might suggest sending 4 (or however many are needed) champions around the long way to assassinate the large starbase, and after that your allies will eventually win by attrition unless they're totally outnumbered already by that point because the main part of the enemy spawns (and the entire scaling part) comes from the large starbase.

[Faulty Logic]

Faulty Logic, do you think the Fallen Spire alternate ending is plausible on 10/10?

If you mean AI difficulty 10/10, then yes.

If you mean intensity 10/10, then I think you would need some ridiculous cheese to pull it off.

[Dichotomy]

In other words, nothing short of River Tam in a bad mood is stopping this fleet.

Fellow fan of Summer Glau detected!

Your AARs are really vague; I can get the strategy, but you never talk about your tactics.

[keith.lamothe]

You want tactics?  Read Wanderer's AARs

[Dichotomy]

Thanks Mr. LaMothe.

[Faulty Logic]

Fellow fan of Summer Glau detected!

Guilty as charged.

You want tactics?  Read Wanderer's AARs

Yeah, they are a little dense, but a readthrough gives you all kinds of dirty tricks; helped me beat 10/10 for the first time.

Mr. LaMothe.

I think he goes by Keith here.

My tactics: Riot starships allow your fleet to zigzag accross the map, preventing the AI ships from blobbing up. Not unlocking these is a mistake.

Load your fleet into transports to absorb enemy alpha strikes.

Mobile is always better.

Don't split your forces without some very compelling reason.

There are only three planets that matter.

My signature.

[Dichotomy]

Mobile is always better.

Don't split your forces without some very compelling reason.

There are only three planets that matter.

These are not tactics. Good advice, though (I assume).

When do you use warheads? Are they really ever worth it?

[Hearteater]

The obvious time when they are worth it is taking out the second homeworld, since you don't need to deal with the consequences.  If you are doing both pretty close together, you can use warheads on both without much concern.  Some people even use a nuke on AI homeworlds because it puts them out of supply which disabled the Fortress III.  It sadly doesn't turn off the Core Force Fields (which, unlike normal Force Fields, don't require supply).

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, during the assault on the AI HW it's quite possible to pass the "point of no return" where you know the AI will kill you if it doesn't die from the current attack, so liberal use of warheads to destroy/disable/de-supply the AI becomes viable.  Iirc in one game Faulty used 5 nukes during the end-assault, largely to deal with the incoming waves and such from the AI that simply couldn't be handled by the defenses.  It bought him enough time to win.

In other words: they're great "this game's going to be over one way or another, soon" buttons

I also find judicious use of EMPs valuable when dealing with alarmingly-sized threatballs, but it's usually better to avoid the necessity.

And of course if you're playing the later stages of Fallen Spire you don't necessarily have to care about AIP (to a point), and opening major engagements with EMPs (and possibly lightnings) can become a commonplace and effective tactic.  Even there nukes aren't a great idea until the end, though.

[Faulty Logic]

These are not tactics. Good advice, though (I assume).

When do you use warheads? Are they really ever worth it?

Sorry.

Warheads: first, always have them under cloak from a cloaker starship.

I would use them to help repel a huge cpa (just a few lightning Is, properly directed, can take out thousands of ships), but mostly I use them for HW attacks.

A nuke disables the FortressIII, knocks out the eye (if present) and kills all mkIV ships (usually around 100, often more). Lightning and armored (if you are rolling in mce) kill large clusters of fleetships, and can take out a few guardposts.

Iirc in one game Faulty used 5 nukes during the end-assault, largely to deal with the incoming waves and such from the AI that simply couldn't be handled by the defenses.  It bought him enough time to win.

9 nukes, actually. 6 for the raid engine wave, three planetary strikes. And yes, they were the difference between victory and defeat.

I also like to have a couple lightning Is under cloak near home command, because you never know when you might really need some firepower on your HW.

[Dichotomy]

Nine? Again, you are all crazy.

[keith.lamothe]

Nine? Again, you are all crazy.

And?

[Dichotomy]

That's it. Signature change time.

[keith.lamothe]

You are all insane. In. Sane. No argument.

I think you beat the average time for figuring that out