How would I defend a Zenith Power Generator right next to a hostile wormhole?

[carldong]

The RNG works really bad for me. I had a chokepoint planet that I have taken, which also has a Core Shield Generator A, a Advanced Research Station. Well, a Z Power Generator, too. The bad thing is that, it is right next to a hostile wormhole. Currently no enemy has attacked yet, but I don't find a good way to defend it. I can't put a force field otherwise the enemies pushed away will waste my minefield, and I don't like to put turrets too far away from command station. I can't cover the other side of the wormhole because there is a wormhole guardian which is basically impossible to destroy (tell me if there is a way). I don't quite need the 600K energy, because currently I have a budget of 1.2M. On the other hand, it is an entire half, so it is nice to have a way to defend it. I see several options:

• Scrap the generator, +10AIP
• Just leave it there until the AI destroys it
• Cover the friendly side of wormhole with force field, and put a whole lot more mines and turrets around
• Kill the warp gate, +5AIP
• Take the adjacent planet, +20AIP

My current effective AIP is 91 on Difficulty 7, total positive is something like 131 or 151 (I destroyed a few data centers). I can perfectly easily hold any AI waves that regularly sends 150 ships, and the occationally 400 (repraisal) ships, so an increase of AIP won't wreck me now, but since this is actually my first game, I can't see how much the extra 10/20 AIP will affect me on my late game.

BTW. I really hope this forum supports Markdown format, since it is much easier than typing all kinds of tags without a real programmer's editor

[Pumpkin]

Around 100 AIP for a 7/7 is rather low. How far are you from the end game? If you plan on climbing the AIP ladder another hundred point, maybe consider either
1) investing Knowledge in hard-defending this ZPGen (by unlocking high-end turrets and MkIII FField)
2) ignoring the ZPGen and getting the +AIP when AI will destroy it. (You said you're good on energy, so this option sounds viable.)
3) taking more planets to move your chokepoint(s) further and having your ZPGen safe.

If you're close to end game, just gateraid the planet on the other side of the wormhole and defend your ZPGen with the Knowledge you can spare (turrets and FFields).

Keep us informed. I'm curious what and how you'll do.

[carldong]

Around 100 AIP for a 7/7 is rather low. How far are you from the end game? If you plan on climbing the AIP ladder another hundred point, maybe consider either
1) investing Knowledge in hard-defending this ZPGen (by unlocking high-end turrets and MkIII FField)
2) ignoring the ZPGen and getting the +AIP when AI will destroy it. (You said you're good on energy, so this option sounds viable.)
3) taking more planets to move your chokepoint(s) further and having your ZPGen safe.

If you're close to end game, just gateraid the planet on the other side of the wormhole and defend your ZPGen with the Knowledge you can spare (turrets and FFields).

Keep us informed. I'm curious what and how you'll do.

I've got only 5 planets, and I plan on taking two more to be able to reach the AI homeworld. There still exist at least one more data center in the galaxy, and the co-processors are not all destroyed (I destroyed two of them. One of the remainder is there with a Raid Engine, so I will take that later), so I can expect to still have some big AIP drop later (-140, if I understand correctly). I will try gate raid/neuter/neutralize the adjacent planet sometime today, or see how long does it take to bombard the dam wormhole guard post and put a beachhead there. I am really, really, short of K though. Mostly because I accidentally clicked on the "MkII Flagship" which I never use with the nice Munition Booster, and wasted 1000K on the thing which I cannot revert

[Pumpkin]

Mokay. I think you're good on AIP. I'm a low-AIP player kind, and I have the impression you already are. With this kind of strategy, defense is rarely a problem. Heck, I'm only recently playing with turrets unlocking; I spent so many hours of play with only the MkI K-free turrets and defending with fleet...

Yeah, I know, playing damn-low-AIP has one trouble: Knowledge is scarce! If you're not willing to spend your Hacking points elsewhere, I recommend spending it on Knowledge raids.

[Kahuna]

This and then build a similar beachhead on the other side. So build your command station right next to the Zenith Power Generator and then a similar beachhead on other side of the wormhole on top of that wormhole.

[carldong]

Currently what I did was cover friend side of wormhole and Z Generator with MkI FF, surround wormhole with 5 Widow Mine, Threw full cap of MkI Lightning Turrets inside (I have MkII unlocked) and half cap Flak inside. On the hostile side, I burnt about full cap of MkI and MkII Bombers to destroy the 4M health wormhole guard post (many minutes passed) and planted a super fortified beachhead on the wormhole with one MkI hardened FF and with every single planetary cap turret available(wasteful, but you know what? I have 600K energy for free!). With that super fortification on both side, I still spare about 400K energy from that generator.

My CS is far from the two wormholes, though, because both are hostile. The down side is that my command station defence won't cover the Z Generator. However, I have an equally powerful defence on the other side, so it might still be quite save

The next problem I face is that I am running out of Tachyon turrets. Any idea of getting "more"?

Also, that planet has a special force guard post. Will their special force come here to give some nice fireworks? Or are they smart enough to avoid this whole line of planets?

[carldong]

Mokay. I think you're good on AIP. I'm a low-AIP player kind, and I have the impression you already are. With this kind of strategy, defense is rarely a problem. Heck, I'm only recently playing with turrets unlocking; I spent so many hours of play with only the MkI K-free turrets and defending with fleet...

Yeah, I know, playing damn-low-AIP has one trouble: Knowledge is scarce! If you're not willing to spend your Hacking points elsewhere, I recommend spending it on Knowledge raids.

Actually, I plan on hacking on a Mark V fabricator of Raptors and some other nice stuff, and possibly on sabotage to disable some nasty guard posts. With the currently 96 AIP, I have 156 HaP. I hope there was Mark V fab for Bombers, but the RNG does not favor me....

[Pumpkin]

I hope there was Mark V fab for Bombers, but the RNG does not favor me....

Y'know, specific MkV fab is pretty rare. There is only a handful of MkV fab in a galaxy, and each randomly pick one ship type among all the types, and there is many of them. Not having MkV bombers isn't bad luck; It's having one that is luck.

[carldong]

I hope there was Mark V fab for Bombers, but the RNG does not favor me....

Y'know, specific MkV fab is pretty rare. There is only a handful of MkV fab in a galaxy, and each randomly pick one ship type among all the types, and there is many of them. Not having MkV bombers isn't bad luck; It's having one that is luck.

Yes... However, I can do quite a lot with just MkI/II Fighters and Bombers... A full cap of these plus Missile Frigates with powered down Assault Transport can kill, well, 50, MkIV fleet just released from Barrack, plus a few guard posts not under FF, while losing ~200 fleet ships (then watch fireworks on Repraisal). I don't care to do fleet combat on 400 Threat ships though, I simply cloak a lightning warhead, sneak by, and BOOM (one data center grants 20 of these strikes!)

[Pumpkin]

Ah... You're playing with Assault Transports...

[carldong]

Ah... You're playing with Assault Transports...

Fill up four of those, and you no longer need to fear threats around 200 waiting outside your planets. Plus, cloaked transports placed correctly can make your fleet "come out of nowhere" and "disappear all a sudden" and beat the heck out of the AI Mark IV ships using your pathetic Mark I/II cannon fodders. Unless you are dealing with Fighters + Fortress + Anti-Polycrystal stuff under a Force Field. The only way I did that was throwing full caps of Bombers in many, many suicidal runs, then watch fireworks on my bombers exploding, and then the reprisal waves exploding.

[Pumpkin]

I know all that. It's precisely why I don't use Assault Transports. They prevent me from using interesting strategies.

See this thread.

[carldong]

I know all that. It's precisely why I don't use Assault Transports. They prevent me from using interesting strategies.

See this thread.

Well, I don't think so. My style involves lots of deep strike, at 3 or 4 hops away, where the AT has at most half health. In this case, I use them as an invisible temporary base where my ships can retreat when there are no suitable targets(e.g. I retreat all my frigates and my bombers when there are only enemy bombers left). I don't use their guns a lot because if you are facing >200 fleet ships, the AT's health drains so fast that one mistake kills it (and then soon the ships inside). AT has great firepower when I get the supply, but not when it is outside. The only occasional use outside supply range is destroying tachyon guard posts and special force guard posts