6 replies to this topic

[TheOtherXtremeRoflcopter]

This is a thread about possible means of dealing with opponents who have "turtled" up. Meaning that they have defenses on their worlds and just don't move out. Currently I have a few methods of dealing with such opponents. (Others adding their techniques is welcomed). While I do know that in most cases the mod promotes fast gameplay through higher ship mortality rates I see that when players are on a hard defensive stance they tend to become a very tough and annoying nut to crack.

1.) Harassment: No not the sexual or verbal kind that gets you scorned by everyone, I'm talking about using small to mid sized fleets of fast ships (ideally frigates and destroyers or other ships that are expendable) to jump to the enemy planets, asteroids etc... and take out their structures (like mining asteroids, or tech structures or even snipe a hangar or defense structure). This essentially is use a death by thousand cuts technique that slowly bleed the opponent as they have to remake these structures or shift their forces from other planets leaving an opening for you to attack somewhere else. Please note that if you attacking a well defended world then you will need Mako's to adequately deal with the sabres. This strategy also works when you are occupying a gravity well that is not colonizable but the opposing players use it as a trade route, destroy the ships get some extra cash seems like a good deal right?

2.) Using feints: Often I have seen players just send in their entire fleet to engage the enemy who also has their whole fleet there and both players lose their fleets and either think it was a fair trade or wonder what the hell happened. In fact it is not a fair trade and what happened was that you just sent a whole fleet which took time to build and while they cost less than original sins ships they still cost enough to not of made it a good use of your well earned cash. Instead... Divide your fleet and send roughly 1/3 of it to a enemy world to draw away some of your opponents ships while your bulk attacks somewhere else and you gain a much more valuable planet in the process (hopefully or at least you set him ((or her)) on the backfoot).

3.) Use wormholes! I find that there are players who often lose a fight against a single weaker opponent on the opposing team because they either are just bad at microing from the nukes. OR because their allies managed to cut them off by jumping through the nearest wormhole to get to the aid of their teammate (not this also a good way to draw away an opposing players fleet making assaulting their planets easier for your team while their fleet is elsewhere dealing with you). At the end of it you lose your fleet and that weak opposing teammate is sitting there with a grin on their face as you made little progress. However, by having a "Guard fleet" at the wormholes you essentially prevent any long distance reinforcements and trade. These wormholes also can allow your fleets access to the rear lines of the enemy which are likely (in my experience they are) less defended and you can hopefully set up a FOB by taking one of those colonies fast enough or at least make the opposing player redevelope them and invest more into guarding them weakening their other areas since they are not able to just focus on one direction of attack.

4. ) Co-ordinate with allies! I know it sounds like a pretty obvious tactic but there are a lot of times I see a single player trying to take on another enemy on their own. While this can work if you are good enough it always helps to bring friends along. Even just a few ships can help out in a big way and make assaulting an entrenched world easier for you.

5.) Use strike craft to eliminate enemy defenses! NO I AM NOT SAYING SPAM EIONS! What I am saying is that a certain amount of Eion carriers are needed to kill off enemy defenses like SMACs and hangars before your entire fleet gets in range of them and gets turned in space junk. These strike craft are also good at laying into the enemy captial ships before they get to your fleet and use their nukes. Also using strikecraft to pick off reingforcing ships or retreating capital ships is an excellent strategy that is bound to win the brave pilots of those strike craft a few a medals.

6.) Always bring a backup nuke! This may also sound obvious but the more nukes you have the better because you can save a couple to deal with any enemy reinforcements that jump to the planet you are assaulting just don't send them out on their own always bring mako's and frigate/cruiser support to make sure they last long enough to even make it to the needed range to launch a nuke.

7.) Ignore them! Sounds stupid? YES! Practical? Definately! If you got your enemy all turtled up then why not just go after the unclaimed planets or his allies? This will bolster your economy and ship production and defenses while also limiting his or her trade and allies ability to reinforce him or her. However, be sure to position sizable blocking fleets on your connecting planets and asteroid worlds to make it appear as though your attention is still solely on your opponent because if they see that they aren't being threatened by nearby fleets they will naturally start trying to push out.

8.) Stuck in a stalemate? Bait the opponent out! I know it is much easier said than done but if you intentionally sacrifice a rather sizable portion of your fleet and then have it retreat to make it appear as though you are on the run you just might be able to bait the opponent into assaulting the world you just sent that fleet from to try and get them to end their fleet after you. Let them take that world or begin to actually bomb it then launch the rest of your ships to that planet to take out his pre-occupied fleet. Have the strike craft rip into the expensive capital ships and use your Mako's to kill off their strike craft and then let the rest of the ships do the fighting with your strike crafts focusing on the much more expensive and powerful heavy ships. If the opposing player is starting to retreat then chase them trying to wipe out as many of their ships as you can. DO NOT AND I REPEAT DO NOT chase them to their world with your whole fleet, send a single ship to get a quick scout off and things look favorable then send only as many ships as needed to take the planet. Otherwise, the opposing player can do the exact same things you did to them and end up looking quite foolish.

More to come as I think of them please add your own strategies for dealing with turtle opponents. Hope these help!

[Rovert10]

You forgot rush them as quickly as possible so they don't get the chance to turtle.

[TheOtherXtremeRoflcopter]

You forgot rush them as quickly as possible so they don't get the chance to turtle.

While that is a good point I was looking more into the scenario where they already have turtled up. If you prevent them from turtling then the strategies I listed become null. Also rushing is a very risky tactic because if their allies come to help out I can almost guarantee you that your fleet will be too small and just get wiped out which limits your early game expansion (which is critical in my mind).

[sloosecannon]

Not a bad writeup. Not relevant vs the covenant, but you don't know that now do you?

[TheOtherXtremeRoflcopter]

Not a bad writeup. Not relevant vs the covenant, but you don't know that now do you?

Well when the Covenant come out and I have had time to experiment more I would write one for them. However, with the release of the covies rumoured by almost everyone I have talked to being in the later half of summer I think this write up is quite useful for now. So should I expect my four stars now or later for my brilliant strategems in the art of war ?

Edited by TheOtherXtremeRoflcopter, 17 April 2013 - 02:17 PM.

[Unikraken]

Well when the Covenant come out and I have had time to experiment more I would write one for them. However, with the release of the covies rumoured by almost everyone I have talked to being in the later half of summer I think this write up is quite useful for now. So should I expect my four stars now or later for my brilliant strategems in the art of war ?

Unlike a real game dev company, we don't have any set dates for release. We're mostly individuals with real life commitments and we mod when we can, this means we have no idea how much work we can do this month or how long things will take in real time. I think that timeframe would be a good estimate, but that's entirely dependent on Zero having the patience to texture quite often and Didact staying on target with the Covenant models.

[Kommrad II]

Blitzkrieg is the only option.