Beachheads and alert

[Catma]

I've recently started using defensive beachheads. They're quite useful, keeping threat further away and providing more warning for incoming attacks.

If I must put a planet on permanant alert, due to an advanced research station or other important capturable on a nearby world, I like to neuter the system and then install a small beachhead (I guess it's more like a desert-head, but you get the idea.) This keeps the ships from piling up in the alerted world. However, what about a situation where the perma-alerted planet links to another high mark planet? For example,

I --- III --- III

Where the Mk 1 planet has your ARS on it. I find MK3 planets take well to being neutered and beachheaded - your defenses don't need to be too heavy to keep it empty, but it still prevents enough of a threat that you kind of worry about it in the back of your mind.

Anyway, it seems that setting up a beachhead sets linked planets on alert as well! As it should be, of course, but a problem. I can't set up a large enough beachhead, or keep enough ships, on the planet to keep it clear without alerting the linked worlds as well, defeating the purpose. Anybody know how many turrets it takes to alert linked worlds?

This brings up another more fundamental question. Does it really matter to have a higher-mark alerted world on your borders? If you never plan on traveling through it, the defenders will only wake up during a CPA, and then only if the AIP is high enough to wake the defenders on that world! With a MK 3 or 4 world, it's possible to keep the AIP under the thresholds, for the most part. The AI will always have enough troops to fill out a CPA, even if they don't exist, so having them on your borders only changes the amount of time it will take them to get there by a few minutes at most. On the other hand, the AI might be goaded into spending reinforcement points on these planets.

If the ships pile up too much, might they start engaging in border aggression, even without a CPA?

So does it make sense to clear out these worlds? Does a beachhead defense seem viable, or should I just use my fleet, which will not place further planets on perma-alert? In the late game, it's difficult to have enough resources to do either, of course.

[Hearteater]

Border Aggression can cause the back world to start releasing a steady stream of high mark threat.

[Catma]

Ok, I thought that might be the case but I hadn't actually seen it very often. Probably because the numbers are so high.

In that case, it may be worth it to whomp the wormhole guard posts into dust and leave the planet be. It'll take quite a while for a planet with only one or two reinforcement posts to fill up like that. But then I run the risk of having to clear out 3000-4000 high mark ships all in a little ball if/when it does fill up. Or I can get into a match of try-and-leave-just-enough-defenses-on-your-border-worlds with the AI, that's always fun... haha...

[Minotaar]

I wouldn't worry too much about the forces that neutered planets build up. If you need a safe connection/supply line between chunks of your space, maybe then you could use some turrets to facilitate that. Otherwise it is probably not that big of a deal since you can always periodically clear it up with ships (if you're worried about it building up so much it starts sending carriers full of mkIV things at you). Also, every time I try these automated turret defenses on enemy planets, they just don't work  You spend your turret cap and engineer cap and you think it's all good, then some other free ships come out and ruin everything. Or they reinforce with some <insert guardian here> and it ruins everything. So I've pretty much stopped trying. The best solution seems to be just spending your time and resources somewhere else to achieve your own goals more quickly, not trying to fight the AI at it's own terms.
And about the CPA thing - there aren't really that many mkII ships in the galaxy by midgame. I usually get at least half of a CPA in mkIII's at mkII AI tech level. It actually makes sense to alert mkII planets and let them stockpile ships, helps makes the attack more predictable, as well as making sure there are enough mark II's to fill the whole order 

[Catma]

Ooh I didn't know that about CPA. I read an offhand comment from Keith about the AI "not having enough ships of the desired MK level for the CPA... it will just spawn them"... I guess that only applies to higher-level CPAs. Very useful information, I'll be sure to alert up some "scary" MK 2 worlds! 

[PokerChen]

On making turret outposts like that:
 The first time I tried this, the AI ended up buying an ion cannon from the passing Zenith trader. Your turrets aren't immune to that either.
 You don't have to turret at the wormhole, an alternative option would be to turret up far away from the command station and include 10 spider turrets. Keep a light starship in-range (under an FF if necessary) to boost their attack power.

On alerting planets further in:
 Well, neuter them too! You can leave the wormhole guard-posts if there aren't too many. Then you won't have to worry about spillovers. Do this when you first alert the planet to be turreted, as they'll have insufficient fleet defenses from not being on alert at all.