Ship comparisons and other newbie questions

[Vinraith]

So I just started my second game (first co-op game) and got a decidedly less kind map draw than my first. Specifically, I have a class III and a class IV each two hops from my homeworld (I suppose I shouldn't complain, they could always be one hop!). The geometry is such that we're going to need to at least take the class III early to have any hope of securing our home systems. I don't hold out any hope of being able to take the type IV until later, but I'm curious how viable taking, or at least neutering, a type III is in the early game.

Specifically, what kind of ratio of type I and II ships is necessary to take out a number of class III ships? From a type-for-type standpoint (ie comparing fighters to fighters) how many type II's does it take to kill a type III, how many type I to kill a type IV? Is there a general rule for this?

Other tips for handling this situation are entirely welcome, we're still learning the game and there's a world of stuff we don't know.

[keith.lamothe]

It depends on a lot of factors, notably which bonus ship type(s) you started with.  And what exactly is on this III planet (ion cannon, black hole machine, fortress, etc). 

Also depends on the degree of audacity you are willing to engage in   One approach is to blockade the wormhole from the III to your territory (it really helps if it's obvious which wormhole they'll take) with all the defensive and offensive hardware you can get your hands on, and then blow up the III's command station (transports stuffed with bombers are good for this).  Depending on how strong the planet is, you might be in for a wild ride, but if you survive then the rest of the planet can be mopped up fairly easily because it won't be reinforced.

That IV can be a tough cookie, though, until you rack up some more knowledge.

[Vinraith]

Thanks for the advice, Keith. Here's the planet in question:



A Fort AND an Ion cannon. Aren't we lucky?  Between us we can muster perhaps 1500-2000 ships split between Mk 2 and Mk 1. My unlock was electric shuttles, my co-op partners were viral shredders, and we tagged an ARF to pick up tanks.

[keith.lamothe]

Yea, that can be tough, lots of attrition, but looks like the command station doesn't have a forcefield, and neither the ion cannon nor the fort can come through wormholes

[Vinraith]

Well, there's another catch. I just double checked, and there are more outgoing wormholes from that system than I'd like. Specifically, there are four, all into friendly territory.

I guess we should have done this first, eh?

[Tusoalsob]

Ok the Ship you line for such a situation is the Raid Starship class

Fly in with 1-3 of then or some Bomber's in a Transport and destroy 1 Post with a snipe. So let all you ships attack the post with ignoring the defending ships there. After you destoyed the post try to retread you bomber out of the system and let a scout in the system. Now the Defending shipd forom the Post wil be set to free and most lykly attack you Homeplanet through the same Portal the all the other Ships will use when you destroy the command sation. So defend the Portal that the small attack force is using, and keep some Def at all the other gates. Then you can let the III System free in killling the Comand station with bombers or Raid starships.

Wehn you have later problems with the ion or the fortess you can send in the raidstarships too Because they are imune aganst Missels they can take donw the fortress in some time and the ion cannon too.

[Vinraith]

Well, we tried this last night and it went really well, but not for any of the reasons I was expecting it to. 

Loaded up some transports with bombers, blew through the wormhole and down to the command station, unloaded, popped the sucker, reloaded, and ran like hell. About 200 of 600 ships followed us back in a trickle, getting easily eaten by the defenses of the system they entered. The best part, though, was that since we already had the world surrounded on all four sides all the turrets went out of supply. The other map I've played on was so linear this situation never arose, so I wasn't expecting it, but a valuable lesson was learned about encircling dangerous targets! The fort was harmless, the turrets were dead, all we had to do was systematically pick off posts and their accompanying ships while avoiding that cursed ion cannon. When all was said and done we took the system fairly easily, all considered, and even got a mark I Ion Cannon as a prize in the doing.

Thanks for the advice again!

@Tusoalsob

Raid starships are an interesting possibility, I'll keep them in mind the next time something like this arises!

[keith.lamothe]

Wow, that turned out a lot better than I thought, congratulations on your success based partly on good intentional tactics, and partly on good unintentional tactics   Like the guy who hurls the basketball from 3/4 down the court just before the end of the game, and it actually swishes through perfectly.  "I meant to do that, um, yea"

[Vinraith]

Yeah, it worked out far better than I expected, but I have to chalk it up about 75% to brilliantly cutting off AI supply despite not having a clear notion of how AI supply worked or what cutting it off would do. Um, go us? 

I'm sure it also helps that we're only playing with difficulty 6 AI's on this one, as we're still learning.