Core World approach

[Ragnarok]

So, i played AI War for like 50 hours before ancient shadows came out. Never managed to win a game on 8 and decided to take a break. Now bought AS, fired up and it appears i had some luck with galacy creation. I have played only 4 hours so far, my bonus ship was the autogun minipod, i found a ARS which yielded acid sprayers and i got a AF in addition to a Fabricator for Missile Frigs V.
AI is at 99 and i feel like I'm doing extraordinary good. For AS, i got the gatling dysons (OP ?) as well as two more wormholes for 6 each of the yellow and dark blue spire vessels.
The AI seems to send large chunks of spire railclusters at me.

Now, this is my current layout

http://i.imgur.com/pzUls.png

I'm left, the system is cleared and the one to the right is mostly done, too.
Now, i dont know how to proceed. Should i get a full base 2 clicks before the core world (bottom right) or a warp-sensor base on the one right on the top of the core world ?
As far as i can see, both systems offer no strategic value (i.e. ressources or controlable buildings).

thanks

[Kahuna]

Well the Core Reserves need a change or two. So you're gonna wanna have MarkIII Riot Control Starships before you attack the homeworld.

Anyway. 4 hops away from the homeworld is good. 4 hops is max. If you're more than 4 hops away from one of your planets of a neutral planet you will be deepstriking. As long as you're not alerting the Core worlds or deepstriking it's ok. Just build a ship factories there so you can rebuild your fleet and attack again fast. It's not possible to raid the homeworlds so you're going to have to use brute force.

The AI seems to send large chunks of spire railclusters at me.

Ah this again. This supports what I've been saying about low cap ships. AIs need to pay more attention to how it uses low cap ships. Normal reinforcements seem to be ok now. Special Forces don't seem to care about caps though. Not sure about Core Reserves. Were the Railclusters Special Forces? What Mark Level were they? If all of them were MarkII they were Special Forces.

[Ragnarok]

I need help with this system.
Its next to a homeworld.
I cant effectivly enter it because the fortress is ALMOST covering the wormhole (top left).
But using bombers doesnt work due to strategic reserves deployment and extraordinary shielding.

What to do ?

[Hearteater]

Send a Cloaker Starship through.  Then put your whole fleet into transports and send them through.  The Cloaker Starship should keep the Transports alive.  Move everything out of range and unload your fleet.  That should draw the AI in and you can fight outside of range of the Fortress.  Once you get things manageable, send in your Bombers to work on the Fortress.  If the AI doesn't go after you, you might need to build up a small beachhead of Sniper/Missile Turrets.  Honestly, the Sniper Turrets will eventually kill the Force Field on their own...it just takes awhile (20-40 minute range if I recall).  So you could just let them kill it with paper cuts.

[Bognor]

Careful if you use missile turrets: fortresses now have radar dampening.  Sniper turrets are immune to that, though.

[Kahuna]

http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,11391.msg129159.html#msg129159

Beachheads can also be used to destroy with MarkIII or Super Fortresses. You can build Mark>I Basic, Laser or HBC turrets to destroy them. The Fortress wont be able to destroy them because they have radar dampening. In addition to that you can build some Sniper and Missile Turrets to keep the planet clear. This also work against the Fortress King AI type.

[Ragnarok]

Using your tactic, i was able to take out the system (well, Spire Implosion Artillery was very good, too).
Now, the system is adjacent to a Homeworld and it has a Mass Driver and a Warhead Interceptor.
Would there be any strategic use in claiming the system i.e. is it worth it to have adjacent reinforcing instead of one hop off and are those 2 captureables and good ?

- thanks

[Varone]

If you could put a warp jammer on that planet then maybe but try not to alert the homeworld for long periods of time. Those capturables aren't worth hardly anything either. I would take a planet that yields the most resources from the 3 you have.

I would also suggest neutering the homeworld; don't kill the command station until you have the other homeworld ready for destroying too. +100aip is a big jump.

[Ragnarok]

So, some time i have destroyed all external shields post and have free way into both homeworlds. Now, i have a strong fleet of 3000 ships, including several mk3/4/5 variants. Whenever i enter a homeworld, i get killed or rather reclaimed. I think its mostly the Teuthida Guard Posts that are so overpowering. What is the normal way to deal with them, or to deal with a homeworld in general ?

[chemical_art]

Careful if you use missile turrets: fortresses now have radar dampening.  Sniper turrets are immune to that, though.

Forts have 30k range dampening (missile turrets max range)

Why the long range you might ask? When I suggested it, it was done from having infinite range units from using alpha strikes right out of a wormhole. Other things were done to interfere with infinite range tactics as well (immune to blades to nullify blade spanwers.). However, still very long range things can hit, they just have to have a semblance of being close.

So to conclude, missile turrets are fine 

[Diazo]

My only contribution would be to look at warheads.

I've seen no mention of them yet in the thread and they are my go-to tool to break roadblocks like this.

Be aware however that Mk V ships and 'large' ships are EMP and nuke immune. (The ship description will list it.) This makes warheads less useful on homeworld attacks then on Mk IV world attacks by a noticeable amount.

One trick I've grown fond of is that Starships are EMP immune. I have chain-emped a system while my Starships went around clearing it without opposition before. (I'm looking at you Carriers). AIP expensive but EMP is system wide so I've locked down thousands of AI ships like this to allow my Starships to knock out their targets.

As always, consider all advice, based on other peoples AARs I think I use warheads a lot more often then other people.

D.

[Ragnarok]

I'm not entirely sure but i dont see how the last 2 posts help with my post (3rd last).

[TechSY730]

So, some time i have destroyed all external shields post and have free way into both homeworlds. Now, i have a strong fleet of 3000 ships, including several mk3/4/5 variants. Whenever i enter a homeworld, i get killed or rather reclaimed. I think its mostly the Teuthida Guard Posts that are so overpowering. What is the normal way to deal with them, or to deal with a homeworld in general ?

Are Teuthida posts the ones that spawn zombie reclaiming drones?

In that case, I would stick with the starships, Mk. V ships, and any fleet ships you have that are immune to reclaimation. The zombification drones can't touch things immune to reclaimation. Then go for the post, and try to take it out. (It may take a few tries).

If you are getting "alpha'd" by the guards surrounding the wormhole, try sending in a lightning warhead to thin out those guards some before sending in your reclaim immune fleet. You may want to pack that fleet into transports to buy a few more seconds before they start dieing.

Once you take out that post, then the rest of your fleet can hop in and join them, well, not safely, but no longer at the risk of being insta gimped by zombification.

[Hearteater]

Wasn't there a post about someone getting stuck on a Teuthida?  There are a few tips here and another player went up against a Teuthida and won.  Check out both of those threads for ideas.

[Ragnarok]

I have to say I'm kind of surprised that there havent been more complains regarding Teuthida GPs. I can get behind Core Missile and Beam Posts, but a Teuthida seems to be vastly more powerful. I feel like someone might have overlooked just exactly how powerful they really are. I would rather see Beam and Missle Posts increased in strength by two or three times instead of having only ONE singular, all overpowering Teuthida. Just doesnt feel right.