Fleet behavior improvements

[cwaadd]

Hello,

First thank you very much for this great game !
I have played hundred of hours on this game and the Shakturi expansion was particularly good.
The playability has also greatly improved with corrected bugs and quality of life features.

Despite that, in my opinion, the fleet behavior is still problematic and still needs improvements.
Here are some of the problems I encountered, bear in mind that I have not played the beta version :

1. Most problematic, the fleets don't seem to calculate the strength of planet defenses (space stations or planet weapons) leading to some situations like an invasion fleet consisting mostly of troop transports trying to invade a capital heavily defended. They got obliterated even though I specifically told them not to engage if the target is stronger.
   1b Can we have weapons specialized to take out only the defenses without harming the population ? That way the fleet could defend itself even if they can't bombard a planet.
2. Fleet tankers : They stay more often with the fleet but they are almost always at the vanguard of the fleet and thus easily killed.
3. Troop transports: As the fleet tankers they are often attacking at the front even though they are vulnerable. And even in manual, with setting engage only local targets, they still sometime engage mining stations. Usually after a successful invasion.
4. Defensive fleets are too aggressive. I have seen them often preemptively attacking targets in their zone. Nothing wrong with that but their priority should be defense. If an invasion fleet is inbound they should return immediately to protect their planet. Defending from an invasion should be the top priority above waiting for a few out of fuel ships, refitting, refueling, repairing etc
5. The fleet Tactical settings are confusing and too complicated.
   Currently there is Fleet engagement range, Formation, Allow Position Reassignment and Fleet Retreat Strategy plus all the fleet override settings.
   Tactics image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g7C795 ... sp=sharing

For example why is there two different engagement range ? Which wins ?
Why the fleet override is not set by default ? If you put ships in a fleet, you usually want them to act together. Also it is unclear what the fleet should do when they are in manual mode.
As it is I think they are too many options that do not convey what is necessary.


I propose only 4 fleet settings (no more ship settings when in a fleet):

1. Fleet engagement range same as before
2. Fleet stance : Aggressive, Skirmish, Neutral, Cautious, Standby
   1. Aggressive : they jump on top of the threat (as much as possible) and fight until they win or they have no chance to win. Can engage up to 100% stronger targets. Retreat if 50% losses.
      In manual immediately engage nearest target available in the system if no orders
   2. Skirmish : They jump away from their target, try to hit them from a distance and flee if the enemy is too close. Ship behavior allowed
      In manual immediately engage nearest target available in the system if no orders
   3. Neutral : Good for big fleets, jump away from the target and slowly close on them. Can engage slightly stronger targets. Flee if capital ships in danger or 25% losses.
      In manual if no orders only engage weaker targets
   4. Cautious: Engage only much weaker targets, flee if no shields
      In manual only engage to defend an ally and if the target is much weaker
   5. Standby: Do nothing other than refuel, repair or refit unless directly attacked
      In manual do nothing unless directly attacked
3. Fleet formation, same as before
4. And finally Invade colonies when clear. But in manual mode even if this is selected, if I tell a fleet to invade I want them to invade. Not go to those settings to remove the when clear.

Fleet positions :
To me picket, core and close escort positions are not enough.
Here are the positions I would want :

• Core : ships in the middle of the fleet
• Vanguard : Ships the closest to the enemy
• Core escorts: ships staying close to the core ships, protecting them
• Skirmishers: ships on the outside of the fleet, attacking long range
• Support: Ships like fuel tankers or troop transports. Always well away from any fight or enemy ship. Should always jump a little later than the rest of the fleet to make sure they do not arrive first. Should never engage any enemy whatever their ship behavior is. Only defend themselves and flee if at any risk.

I don’t think we need anything else. Later you could provide the option to create our own stances with the level of detail we had.
Also a nice addition would be a new screen to manually pick the position of each ship in a fleet. Because in one fleet a class of ship could be in core position but in another could be at the vanguard.

What are your thoughts about it ? Am I the only one struggling with the fleet tactics settings ?