Strategic Combat questions

[Elmo]

Does anyone know how the program determines Maximum (or Short) Weapons Range or Optimum Firing Range for ships with mixed weaponry?

Also if ships in the same fleet have different weapons will each ship use it's own calculation for the firing strategy specified? Example: I choose Max Wpns Range strategy and I have two ships in a fleet. One has a CSM 1 (max range 8) and one has a DUC 1 (max range 2). Will each ship seek it's own max firing range?

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I find it impossible to answer these questions by watching the pixels flitter around for a few seconds on the screen in Strategic Combat. As posted elsewhere, it would be great if Strategic Combat somehow used the tactical screen for showing the combat or at least had better resolution than 1 pixel per ship.

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Thanks,
Elmo

[Tomgs]

I Don't do much strategic combat so I don't know myself but an easy way to tell is to go into tactical combat and choose resolve combat under the options. This will give the computer control of your ships using the strategies that they would use in Strategic combat. You can try the various strategic options in different combats and see which one of the choices fits your various ships better. I don't know what happens if different ships in the same fleet have different strategies has anyone tried this yet?

[Elmo]

Thanks for the suggestion which I'll try. I believe the only way to resolve combat in PBEM games is with Strategic Combat which is why I asked the questions.

I'm not aware of any way to set different strategies for different ships in the same fleet. Do you know how to do that? I was asking how ships with the same strategy but different weapons systems would act.

Elmo

[Noble713]

In the ship design window select a ship and press the stats/strategy button. You can pick one of your existing strategies there.

[Elmo]

Noble713

Yes I see it now. Thanks!

Elmo

[This message has been edited by Elmo (edited 31 October 2000).]

[Elmo]

I ran a quick test this morning of the max wpns range strategy in the simulator. First I ran two ships vs a base with the program running both sides. Each ship had only one weapon type (CSM on one, DUC on the other) and each stayed at their respective max range while firing. I reran the test with one mixed wpn ship (CSM & DUC) vs the base. The ship fired a CSM at max range, then moved into max DUC range and continued firing. On the next turn that the CSM could fire, it did and then the ship moved off, presumably because it could not also fire the DUC that turn. The next turn it moved back into max DUC range. It repeated this process throughout the combat. I admit this is a fairly trivial test but it showed the program handling the ships in a logical manner IMO. Hopefully the same logic is used to handle ships in strategic combat.

Now that I think of it, I guess another question to test would be whether a fleet strategy takes precedence over individual ship strategies. It looks like fleets automatically have an Optimal Firing Range strategy when first formed.

Elmo

[This message has been edited by Elmo (edited 31 October 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Elmo (edited 31 October 2000).]

[Taqwus]

FWIW, isn't there an option somewhere specifying which ships will break formation?

Another data point -- sometimes I design 'Planetary Bomber' ships, often with no anti-ship weapons at all (just lots o' napalm -- for use when the defenders are all dead) and assign them a 'Bomb Planet' strategy whose main differences from OFR are the movement strategies (Don't Get Hurt/OFR) and targeting precedence (planets first). In strategic mode, even when the PBs are in a fleet, the PBs do appear to break away from the fleet and stay back until all enemy ships/WPs/etc have been destroyed.

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[Elmo]

Taqwus

Yes. Go to Empire Status/Strategies/Formation and you can edit which ships will break formation.

Elmo

[quote]Originally posted by Taqwus:
[b]FWIW, isn't there an option somewhere specifying which ships will break formation?

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