AI Logistics

[alphaone]

I hate to sound like a broken record but this is really a great game. I mainly stopped buying games years ago because new games are just rehashes with only better graphics and a few gimmicks. I'll buy discount games years after they came out but usually end up disappointed. I think Freespace 2 was the last I bought at full price and I still play Warlords 2 and TIE Fighter. Its been a long time since a game really made me keep thinking about it long after I stopped playing it and while I am doing other things.

I have a few things that I would like clarified though. First, I've made it my personal mission to capture an Ion Cannon. The AI has several that I have found, all in great bottleneck systems (for them). My current strategy is to try to cut off supply to the target system thereby deactivating the cannon and making a low cost capture possible. I use transports both as decoys and to ferry my forces during my surgical strike to the command station. My question is, do I have to cut the target planet from its homeworld or from every neighboring enemy planet?

Secondly, does cutting off supply mean that only the command stations of each neighboring planet and of the target planet itself have to be destroyed or do I have to destroy all the guard posts as well?

I know there has been some discussion about the usefulness of transports. I find them invaluable, especially since I can store larger reserve forces in them than would normally be possible during times when I have low energy cap. Even if I can only make it half way to my target before they are destroyed, that is half the distance that my stored units go without getting damaged. With careful management of my decoys, I can make it there with a high degree of success, even with AI 7. But, I do choose my targets carefully, and I may need some preparatory raids.

Thanks again for this great game! I just can't stop thinking about it, like a puzzle I need to solve!

[Revenantus]

Welcome, alphaone!

I hate to sound like a broken record but this is really a great game. I mainly stopped buying games years ago because new games are just rehashes with only better graphics and a few gimmicks. I'll buy discount games years after they came out but usually end up disappointed. I think Freespace 2 was the last I bought at full price and I still play Warlords 2 and TIE Fighter. Its been a long time since a game really made me keep thinking about it long after I stopped playing it and while I am doing other things.

Thanks for your support of the game, it's always great to receive comments like that. The developer, x4000 (Chris), will be especially pleased.

I have a few things that I would like clarified though. First, I've made it my personal mission to capture an Ion Cannon.

I feel like capturing my first Ion Cannon was a rite of passage; you might want to consider protecting it with a force field if it's in a contested system.

The AI has several that I have found, all in great bottleneck systems (for them). My current strategy is to try to cut off supply to the target system thereby deactivating the cannon and making a low cost capture possible. I use transports both as decoys and to ferry my forces during my surgical strike to the command station. My question is, do I have to cut the target planet from its homeworld or from every neighboring enemy planet?

Ion Cannons are one of the few units that don't require supply to function; they don't list 'requires supply' in their tooltips. This unfortunately means that your strategy there won't help in that regard. Taking a more general view of supply, to remove supply from a planet, you'd have to destroy both the AI command station on the planet itself, and any AI command stations on any adjacent planets.

Secondly, does cutting off supply mean that only the command stations of each neighboring planet and of the target planet itself have to be destroyed or do I have to destroy all the guard posts as well?

Guard posts play no role in providing supply, so if you are using such tactics (e.g. to take force fields offline), the command stations are the only units you have to consider.

I know there has been some discussion about the usefulness of transports. I find them invaluable, especially since I can store larger reserve forces in them than would normally be possible during times when I have low energy cap. Even if I can only make it half way to my target before they are destroyed, that is half the distance that my stored units go without getting damaged. With careful management of my decoys, I can make it there with a high degree of success, even with AI 7. But, I do choose my targets carefully, and I may need some preparatory raids.

Personally I don't use transports, but they're definitely well suited to that purpose.

Thanks again for this great game! I just can't stop thinking about it, like a puzzle I need to solve!

Enjoy playing AI War!

[RCIX]

Got Raid Starships? Unless the system is a Heavily fortified IV one, 6 Raid Starship are a mighty force more than capable of clearing systems without taking hits from ion cannons.

[alphaone]

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately for me, I launched my assault on the target planet after I posted and received a nasty surprise lol.  
I love this game. No easy outs here. I'll just have to figure out a different way to snag that Ion Cannon...

I did have a different question that popped up during my failed assault. Regarding control group buttons, if I have two different fleets in one system, how do I quickly choose just the fighters (for example) of fleet A without also choosing the fighters of fleet B? The buttons on the panel on the right side of the screen automatically chooses all ships of that type in the system. I suppose I could set up the individual ship classes within each fleet to their own control groups....but that would get confusing (at least 8 different control groups for two fleets) and if I already have a control group in a different system, it would erase that one when the same number is used.

[Revenantus]

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately for me, I launched my assault on the target planet after I posted and received a nasty surprise lol.  
I love this game. No easy outs here. I'll just have to figure out a different way to snag that Ion Cannon...

I did have a different question that popped up during my failed assault. Regarding control group buttons, if I have two different fleets in one system, how do I quickly choose just the fighters (for example) of fleet A without also choosing the fighters of fleet B? The buttons on the panel on the right side of the screen automatically chooses all ships of that type in the system. I suppose I could set up the individual ship classes within each fleet to their own control groups....but that would get confusing (at least 8 different control groups for two fleets) and if I already have a control group in a different system, it would erase that one when the same number is used.

Ah, guess I didn't respond quickly enough then.

To select just the fighters from a control group;

1. Select the control group using the appropriate number key.
2. Left click the button showing the number of currently selected units at the bottom of the screen, a list of ship types in the current selection should appear. Select the fighters. (This will only allow you to select a single tech level at a time)

Alternatively;

1. Focus the camera on the fleet you want to select the fighters from.
2. Hold shift and double left click on a fighter to add all fighters currently on the screen to your selection group. You can then continue to double left click on other units to add those to the selection group too, if desired.

[alphaone]

Got Raid Starships? Unless the system is a Heavily fortified IV one, 6 Raid Starship are a mighty force more than capable of clearing systems without taking hits from ion cannons.

I've used some and they are great! but they take forever to build, especially after the first one. It seems build time increases....haven't figured that out yet.

[Revenantus]

Got Raid Starships? Unless the system is a Heavily fortified IV one, 6 Raid Starship are a mighty force more than capable of clearing systems without taking hits from ion cannons.

I've used some and they are great! but they take forever to build, especially after the first one. It seems build time increases....haven't figured that out yet.

The build time should only increase if fewer engineers are assisting the constructor (they speed up construction significantly) or if your resource reserves are empty and the constructor has to wait for the required resource to accumulate before it can continue building.

[RCIX]

Got Raid Starships? Unless the system is a Heavily fortified IV one, 6 Raid Starship are a mighty force more than capable of clearing systems without taking hits from ion cannons.

I've used some and they are great! but they take forever to build, especially after the first one. It seems build time increases....haven't figured that out yet.

I got like 30 engineers available, so i can build them in a minute and change.