After a short and sharp game, I'm curious to hear tales of how series of events have lined up in such a way that you're certain there's a gremlin somewhere that has it in for you...
In the game that inspired this thread, I wanted to try playing smarter rather than harder. After basic scouting I come across a mk.III world that's perfect as a launch pad for further assaults. It even has a zenith power station, a mk.IV ion cannon and a core shield generator so it's a perfect target! The fleet is loaded into transports, and the planet quickly cleaned. Except for the forcefields.
Trying to take down mk.III forcefields with mk.I bombers is NOT a fun experience, but eventually the first of the two fields go down and I pop the warp post. At this point of the game I'm still at floor AIP, so I can happily deal with the fleet of... 43 mk.III ships. All well so far (barring the agony of grinding down the forcefield).
I move onto the next one and... marauders show up. They deal with my fleet with ease, and then take down the the remaining forcefield and the shield guardian underneath.
"Awesome!"
I exclaim in delight.
"When they move out, I'll be able to take down the command station and take my first planet!"
...except they didn't leave. I did try several times to take down the command station regardless but an unharmed fleet of marauders + mk.IV ion cannon = an untouchable system with mk.I ships. Perhaps I could have progressed if it weren't for the enclaves.
The enclaves...
While the marauders where happy camping out in the middle of my future home, wave after wave of marauding enclaves kept popping into my homeworld. Turret defences stood no chance, and the same goes with my fleet... I was forced to wait until they self attrition'd while trying to take down forcefields of my own (HAH, now you know how it feels!), and the AI sentinels and blade spawners that kept backing things up didn't help either.
Anyway, I was just about finished clearing up after the last wave when the counter-post wave finally arrived. They marched in unopposed and took down my command station.
With yet more Enclave minions.
...and I could have sworn some marauders...
