could'nt stop cross-planet attack?

[oddlaurence]

hey all. I'm kinda new to these forums, but not the game itself, so i'll go straight to my 'dilema', but before i do that, let me say that new 4.+ version is really awesome, especially the fact that there's no more grind, well at least msot of it 
So, I was playing my ordinary game vs 2 diff 7 eassy type AI's on 40 planet map and as about to destroy first AI homeworld  - had established some defense at adjusted planet incase ships start roaming in and was mainly cutting off the guardposts alone wiat my bombers carried by transporters  - had all fighters, bombers and frigates unlocked to mark 3 plus captured advanced factory, so basically i all it powerful enough fleet. At least it's what i thought untill events that occured in another 15 mins...  .
Just before i was preparing for second  focused strike to AI home planet, i got a warning that there's upcoming 1.7k mark 2 cross planet attack - i thought: oh, what a heck - i have super fortess build (i managed to build it when resources werent used as all of my attacs so far was well focused and i didn't use to loose many ships) also 2 mark 2 and 1 mark 1 ion cannons plus some turrets at my home planet, so i presumed it will be  a cakewalk, untill it actually happened....
I was really suprised that in the end i was pretty much hopeless in terms or destroyng it... heck, even 30 mark 2 tractor beams didn't help to stop them and my guess is that's because there were 200+ FF bearers in that fleet. And even ater loading saved game, with all my maxed fleet of 1.2k+ ships i still wasnt able to defend and only destroyed about 400 of 2k ships before my home commmand station went bust despite my all defenses... One issue i noticed was that all my 350 frigates (like mentioned before up to mark4) were focusing on FF alone, so did most of my bombers, not to mention that i wasnt able to stop them with my tractor beams... I mean, seriously, did i get unlucky be certain map seed, i mean spawned ship types, or was there something missing comands wise? really, That superfortress and all ion cannons was nothing in terms of defense, cause those FF soaked all the dmg... p.s i was playing on normal ship caps.
Another issues i was wondering about, is cross planet attack always random, or is there some sort of Ai logic that spawns those ships in planets that are closest to my home planet? 
aNy advice or comments appreciated 

[Mánagarmr]

FF bearers are very nasty. I'd suggest stacking up as many Siege Starships, Bomber Starships and Grav Turrets as you can. The Sieges and Bombers should make fast work of the FF Bearers themselves, while the grav turrets will hold the rest back that happen to pass by your Tractor turrets.

As for Cross Planet Attacks (commonly known as CPAs), they consist of ships that are already in the game. They are not spawned, nor warped anywhere, they are simply released from their guard/patrol duty and travel through the AI territory towards your territory to attack whereever they see fit. I bet that if you load the game they won't even attack in the same place (unless you are bottlenecked and they only have one way in).

[zebramatt]

Can you post up the save?

[oddlaurence]

hm, i cant seem to find my latest  file, because in steam folder there's many older saves i see ( by date last modified), but  cant see the last one. Was the directory changed maybe in new version?

[zebramatt]

Yup, look in \RuntimeData.

[oddlaurence]

yh, just noticed that. http://www.mediafire.com/?3a0ea6j6krv0ced 12 mins to CPA

[Frozen Critical]

Interlocking(Swarming and Camping) the Wormholes work , But i have to Say that The FF Bearers Did Cause some trouble , But as long as Your Ships Are inside the Shield Bubble , Everything should work out Unless things go all the Way to Hell When a Astro or a Devourer Decides to Pay a visit

[Fox Soul]

If the cross planet wave goes straight for your command center I may have to recommend this.
Helms Deep

You could try that, although it was designed for before 4.0, but I have been using with great success still.
I only recommend 50 or less spider and sniper turrets for each.

You should be able to get away with no trader items like I have.
I got away with my first CPA by doing my helms deep, then placing additional turrets at the wormhole.
The wormhole turrets being mainly MK1 gravity turrets and lightings.

I haven't tried this yet but how about making a ring of forcefields around the wormhole so the ships are contained in a small perimeter.

[oddlaurence]

thanks all for ideas 

[superking]

grav turrets are all you need

[Collic]

If things get utterly desperate emp missiles can be a good option. If a system is already swarmed using one of those can really help thin out the numbers, just have a fleet ready to jump in after you detonate. I actually like to keep a few warheads in my home system just in case of emergencies like this - my rationale is that having them built is a slight risk, but generally if theyre in danger of being detonated without my consent the situation is probably serious enough that I should use them anyway.

Hmm actually, that's probably a good of the tip of the day.