What kind of command center to build?

[TechSY730]

So the two suggestions so far, plus one of my own

• Nerf the range of the higher mk. military ships
• Make translocation make a best attempt to warp away from the firing unit
• Make it such that the military command station will not auto-target a unit until it is within (enemy ships firing range) + N distance of the command station (N is to be determined, though something around the magnitude of 1000 seems about right, there can also be a minimum distance where it will fire anyways to help with melee ships)

[Sunshine!]

I don't care if my military command station warps a ship closer - that just gives my turrets some free shots.  What I do care about, and the reason I use military command stations, is to break up enemy assaults so that I don't have to deal with a cluster of 150 bombers, I'm dealing with a cluster of 40 bombers and 110 random scattered bombers other places on the map.

[BobTheJanitor]

I don't care if my military command station warps a ship closer - that just gives my turrets some free shots. 

I'm betting that means you usually turret up the area around your comm station. I tend to turret up each wormhole instead, so this would have the opposite effect for me, warping them out of close turret range but into my weak spot. On the other hand, maybe I just need to try the turrets around the comm station tactic some time instead.

[TechSY730]

I don't care if my military command station warps a ship closer - that just gives my turrets some free shots. 

I'm betting that means you usually turret up the area around your comm station. I tend to turret up each wormhole instead, so this would have the opposite effect for me, warping them out of close turret range but into my weak spot. On the other hand, maybe I just need to try the turrets around the comm station tactic some time instead.

I do both when I can. Sidesteps these types of issues nicely.

[Sunshine!]

I tend to have a really dispersed front against high difficulty AIs, so being able to maximize turret coverage with minimal turrets is important so that I can defend key planets effectively.  That and enemy forces come out of wormholes in blobs, and tend to get to your command station a little dispersed in the first place, and the military command station just helps break things up even more which is important for mk1 turrets against mk2 (or 3) waves.

[chemical_art]

Very true higher level tactics that I also use.

I have maybe 3 planets heavily defended by turrets. 5 have forts and heavy shield defenses. I have for me at 8.3/7.6, I find it absolutely vital to break up enemy assaults because I am usually outgunned and need to somehow buy time for my military to chew up the enemy. The dispersal effect I find is key because it allows my planets to be defended for minutes, not seconds, while under heavy shields defending against mixed fleets.

This time bought allows the fleets to warp in and fight back at 1.5x or even 2.0x strength, allowing my military to finally get the upper hand over the ai. It "fools" the ai almost, because the defenses are passive and only come up AFTER the ai commits to battle.

[Sunshine!]

I'm going to second the Fortresses.  Mk1 Fortresses are an amazing and extremely worthwhile investment - definitely drop one on your homeworld, and disperse your other 4 on likely avenues of attack.  Fortresses and Mk3 military work really well together because no matter where the military command teleports the enemy ships, the fortress can still probably hit them.

I have a difficulty 9/9 going and I have mk2/3 military, mk2 econ, mk1 fortress, and mk2 basic/MLRS/laser/missile turrets unlocked, and I'm just barely getting by on the defensive with all that and two golems at 350-ish AIP.  Military Command stations are definitely worth every penny of knowledge and metal/crystal, couldn't do it without them.

[Tridus]

I play on a lower difficulty then the experts here, but I really like mk2 econ stations early. Resources are a premium early on as you noticed, and a mk2 econ in place of anything else in your first couple of systems is a major production boost (mk3 econ are an even larger one, but the cost is steep and it's not something I would do reguarly). Millitary stations are nice too now. The thing I really like is the tachyon coverage, because it does a lot to stop annoying cloaked stuff from sneaking through to more poorly defended worlds. But the fact that they can shoot back and teleport ships around is cool too.

[BobTheJanitor]

I'm going to second the Fortresses.  Mk1 Fortresses are an amazing and extremely worthwhile investment - definitely drop one on your homeworld, and disperse your other 4 on likely avenues of attack.  Fortresses and Mk3 military work really well together because no matter where the military command teleports the enemy ships, the fortress can still probably hit them.

I have a difficulty 9/9 going and I have mk2/3 military, mk2 econ, mk1 fortress, and mk2 basic/MLRS/laser/missile turrets unlocked, and I'm just barely getting by on the defensive with all that and two golems at 350-ish AIP.  Military Command stations are definitely worth every penny of knowledge and metal/crystal, couldn't do it without them.

With those unlocks, do you have much unlocked in the way of fleet ships or starships? Sounds like almost all of your knowledge has gone into defensive power. Of course depending on what those two golems are, you might not need much in the way of a fleet.

[Sunshine!]

mk2 of every fleet ship, mk2 scouts, golems are hive and black widow, with a botnet golem on the next planet I'm taking (it has an ARS as well), and I still have a couple thousand knowledge left over.  I've largely ignored starships, and my bonus ships are deflector drones (starter) and grenade launchers (ARS).  I haven't found a need to unlock mk3 ships, especially since I don't have safe access to a Mk4 factory yet, and I can get a lot more utility out of 6k knowledge other ways. 

That being said, I'm pretty sure I'm deadlocked and just don't know it yet, because I've just been taking every planet and the AI is reaaaaaally angry.  The exo-galactic strike force (golems) are incrementing by 2% at a time, they're sending in a couple golems per wave, and it's only going to get worse.  Two armored golems, black widow golem, and artillery golem in the last one IIRC.  Waves are hitting the 2000 mk3 ships point, and I'm really only surviving that because of sheer dumb luck in finding a grav drill next to my home planet to fortify and abuse (120 each of basic, MLRS, laser, missile turrets, plus mk3 military, plus grav drill to slow all enemies to and those waves are still really dicey.  So, expert?  More like silly, with enough experience to know better than to play the way I have been.

[Shrugging Khan]

Military mkI, accept no substitutes.

Decloaks those sneaky fuckers, disperses assault forces (2 ships per second) at ridiculously long range, and even gives defenders an attack boost. Can also take a minor beating, and with a few turrets it can even handle roaming enclaves.
And by putting an FF over it; congratulations, you have just acquired a real force multiplier, since the enemy, being constantly tossed all over the place, will have one hell of a hard time whittling down your defences.

I can live with the lower economic income, but that might be due to my zero-AIP-over-time setting.

[Panopticon]

Pretty much what Khan said for me. Especially on my core worlds. With all the CPAs, Exogalactic Strikeforces and Counterattack Guard Posts I find I'd rather take a slower early game economy (where it doesn't matter that much anyway) and have as tough a core as possible.

[Red Spot]

I unlock mk2 Econ at start, upgrade to mk3s along the way. Using mk1 log-CCs on frontline planets.
Later, much later, when I might be able to trow away 9k knowledge I might unlock mk3 mil-CCs and use those on fairly poorly defended frontline planets, putting the mk2 mil-CCs on the planets behind those having mk3 mil-CCs.

Early game the econ boosts your fighting power much more than a mil-CC can, as a mil-CC can only help in defense, not offense. A better economy aids you in both. Later on, when an economy is far from an issue, and waves might be more of one, I might place down some mil-CCs (and usually also unlock the speedboost thingies to compensate for the lack in speedboosting compared to the log-CC).

Basicly how I favour my CC can be expressed as followed:
-income (econ)
-flexibility (log)
-defensive boosts (mil)

However I never unlock higher marks of the log-CC, upgraded mil-CCs with speedboosting work a bit better than upgraded log-CCs.

[Entrenched Homperson]

How do the Jammer Command Stations work? Does that actualy prevent totaly an attack from the AI? That doesn't seem possible, so what's there real effect?

[TechSY730]

How do the Jammer Command Stations work? Does that actualy prevent totaly an attack from the AI? That doesn't seem possible, so what's there real effect?

Warp Jammer's stop the AI from directly initiating waves to that planet. It doesn't do anything to stop the AI from initiating a wave to another planet (without a warp jammer), and then sending the ships to that planet (thankfully, the AI usually only does this when it has no other choice) It also does not stop non-wave attack behaviors (like border-aggression, cross planet waves, normal freeing of ships when you attack a planet, etc).

So the Warp Jammer Command Station is most certainly useful and cuts the risk of that planet being destroyed way down, don't assume it is completely safe.