Gate Raiding and AI attacks

[orielis]

So, naturally, after seeding my wormholes with mines and tractors, the AI thoughtfully started sending through Space Planes, which are immune to mines and tractors. The first line of defense bypassed just like that.

May i take it that this is typical of the AI here, to find counters for the tactics that one has been succeeding with? It is certainly a refreshing change (if somewhat disconcerting) from the typical RTS strategy I've seen of merely overwhelming you with more and more numbers.

Another question that has arisen. I established a beachhead in a system with a Threatening Eye. My thoughts were to use this to take down the guard posts that were supporting it and then the rest of the system.

This battle was going ok, if slowly, when the Eye suddenly activated, announcing that I had too many ships in the system.  I evacuated some of my ships, then it happened again, and I withdrew more, etc. They Eye kept cycling through its 5 second countdown and my threat numbers skyrocketed. Eventually I realized that it was counting my turrets as part of the ship count, and I was basically reduced to using them to peck away at the guard posts (if I didn't want to trigger the Eye).

The AI appears to only be sending a trickle of reinforcements to this system. Could that be because it has 1200 threat ships now, with 900 or so in the fleabite system that started this thread (although they've not come across the border so far).

Also, does it make any difference to the Eye or the AI whether the AI still controls the planet? I.e. if I were to destroy the command station, would that markedly change the behavior of the Eye?

[Zair]

So, naturally, after seeding my wormholes with mines and tractors, the AI thoughtfully started sending through Space Planes, which are immune to mines and tractors. The first line of defense bypassed just like that.

May i take it that this is typical of the AI here, to find counters for the tactics that one has been succeeding with?

I think you just got unlucky with what the AI got as its unlock. To the best of my knowledge, AI unlocks are completely random within the list of what it's allowed to pick (no ships disabled in the lobby, no ship that's ALREADY been unlocked and then design-corrupted, no Lightning Torpedo Frigates).

[...] when the Eye suddenly activated, announcing that I had too many ships in the system.  I evacuated some of my ships, then it happened again, and I withdrew more, etc. They Eye kept cycling through its 5 second countdown and my threat numbers skyrocketed. Eventually I realized that it was counting my turrets as part of the ship count, and I was basically reduced to using them to peck away at the guard posts (if I didn't want to trigger the Eye).

The AI appears to only be sending a trickle of reinforcements to this system. Could that be because it has 1200 threat ships now, with 900 or so in the fleabite system that started this thread (although they've not come across the border so far).

Yeah, there's a maximum number of ships it can reinforce with in one system, any overflow goes to reinforcing other planets. The 'maximum population' of a system also goes down as you destroy guard posts, since that's where they're supposed to hang out.

Also, does it make any difference to the Eye or the AI whether the AI still controls the planet? I.e. if I were to destroy the command station, would that markedly change the behavior of the Eye?

The AI Eye does not care if the command station's still there, iirc. It'll remain until either you kill it manually (bad idea), remove it via sabotage hack, or you take out the non-wormhole guard posts still over the planet.