Attacking planetary bases...clue?

[Doomboy]

Ok, so I have a huge fleet, and sent it to attack a spaceport.

Things start out ok, then my fleet sort of gets bored, and instead of attacking as a fleet, just sends one ship in, to be destroyed. Then another ship limps in, to be destroyed. Then another ship limps in, to be destroyed. Then another ship limps in, to be destroyed. if I click furiously, I can sometimes save a ship from making these suicide runs, but usually not.

Part of the problem seems to be my interstellar ships just can't seem to keep up with planetary orbits, and the planets zoom away, causing the fleets to slowly destroy themselves one ship at a time due to boredom.

What can I do to modify the AI so the fleets attack consistently as a fleet, instead of one suicidal ship at a time?

What exactly do I need to put on my interstellar ships so that the planets don't just zoom away from them in combat?

I can't see any clear discussion of either, and I can't believe I'm the only one who's noticed. I'm guessing I just missed a button somewhere to select so that this doesn't happen.

Thanks.

[adecoy95]

your ships sound like they dont have enough engines, i usually have to put 10+ engines on my larger ships to get them moving at a decent speed

make shure you also have enough reactors, they will also modify your speed.

obviously this will mean you need more fuel cells too

[Wenla]

ORIGINAL: Doom

Ok, so I have a huge fleet, and sent it to attack a spaceport.

Things start out ok, then my fleet sort of gets bored, and instead of attacking as a fleet, just sends one ship in, to be destroyed. Then another ship limps in, to be destroyed. Then another ship limps in, to be destroyed. Then another ship limps in, to be destroyed. if I click furiously, I can sometimes save a ship from making these suicide runs, but usually not.

Part of the problem seems to be my interstellar ships just can't seem to keep up with planetary orbits, and the planets zoom away, causing the fleets to slowly destroy themselves one ship at a time due to boredom.

What can I do to modify the AI so the fleets attack consistently as a fleet, instead of one suicidal ship at a time?

What exactly do I need to put on my interstellar ships so that the planets don't just zoom away from them in combat?

I can't see any clear discussion of either, and I can't believe I'm the only one who's noticed. I'm guessing I just missed a button somewhere to select so that this doesn't happen.

Thanks.

IIRC with latest patch (1.0.6.0) there is option to tell your fleets if they need to assemble before commanded attack. It is per cent setting and you can find it (IIRC again) Options => Your Empire Settings.

[Baleur]

I only have this problem with rare moons that orbit extremely close to their planet (hence, fast). And yeah, it was a big problem before the latest patch.
Other than that idk. I usually use ai designed ships so maybe you have way too few engines.

You can always tell your fleet to move to another planet in that solar system (or the star), then once they are all gathered up, initiate the attack command. But DONT click more than once, each time you click they will pause or drop out of warp, and have to "spin up" their engines again.
And yeah, ctrl+right click will bring up a menu that lets you pick "prepare and attack", that might help if half your fleet is far away. Though if any troop transports are empty they will warp away to load up more troops.

[torrenal]

Speed speed speed. Your slowest ships should be capable of a speed of 24.

Either you need more engines, or your reactor is too puny to power what engines you have.
Both are easy to fix, but the latter is fatal in a warship.
//Torrenal