Troop Transports

[MaxyGamer]

Hi guys,

Just curious about how you manage your fleets with regard to 'transporters'. What works for you?
A fleet consisting of warships and several tranporters or a sperarate fleet of tranporters (Transport Fleet 1, 2, etc) working and supporting the primary attack force.

I would also like to find out whether you put troop modules on military ships (destroyers, cruisers, etc) or solely rely on tranporters for such purpose (guns for attack force/troops for tranporters).

I do realise we've all got our own techniques and isn't going to argue which method works best. Just curious.

cheers

(I do apologise if a similar post has already been done. If so then just forward me the link please.)

[ehsumrell1]

I personally like to have two separate fleets depending on the target's defenses.
Usually I will send in a "Strike" fleet of Cruisers and Destroyers to deal with
any Spaceport/Base and loose defending vessels. Then immediately after that (while
the enemy forces are dealing with the Strike fleet) I send in the "Assault" fleet
which has 1 Cruiser and normally 4 ~ 6 full Transports. If I time things correctly,
and have enough seasoned troops, I can usually not only take the planet, but sometimes
even retain the orbiting Spaceport/Base before my Strike fleet destroy it.

Note: In the Strike Fleet, I make sure I have some Escorts set to "Point Blank". That
way, the Spaceport "should" be targeting them, which allows most of the transports to
land troops and escape to a safe distance....and finally, to be safe...include a
resupply ship with the strike fleet, hopefully deployed safely at a gas giant if the
system has one...or at a close, nearby system.

[Carewolf]

I would recommend using one fleet. It seems when attacking a planet with a fleet of mixed troop transports and combat ships, all ships move in firing until the troops have been deployed, then all ships withdraw from combat. This actually seems unusually clever as the combat ships help draw fire during troop landing and avoids destroying bases while the troops wins over "the hearts and minds" of the planet. Though this behavior might be because I've set my destroyers and cruisers to 'Invade immediately', but it works wonderfully.

With planets with many defense bases though, I have used a separete fleet to pick off some of the defense bases to create a path the troop transports can attack through (and sometimes a second path they can escape via)

[adecoy95]

i usually build massive troop transports, with around 20 engines, and around 15-20 troop capacity, and the rest of it shields. they can get in, under fire from a large space port, and 4 defense bases without being destroyed. 6k shields is usually more than enough to ward off destruction before i can warp out while the troops do their work. sometimes they are destroyed while escaping tho, unfortunatly. it depends on what kind of weapon tech they have.

when i am low tech, i usually just use regular transports, and suicide run them at homeworlds i am not at war with, that way they are only under fire after the troops land.

i also build a fleet of around 12-15 warships that will stay near the border and try and defend from counter attacks

i have also noticed that the ai will throw all ther nearby warships at the newly captured starbases, and it dosent end well for them

[torrenal]

The tips/tricks/etc thread has my outline of the Troop fleet.
In a nutshell, the transport is designed to be durable, and fast enough that its not under fire long enough to worry. I also build them in droves, so should I need to take out a well fortified target, I can do so simply by swamping it with a dozen+ transports, and lose only 1-2 in the process.

I'll let cruisers carry a few troops each so that regular fleets can capture planets as well, but my aim in war is to have a fleet of troop ships sized at 1 ship/system-to-capture.
//Torrenal
Remeber to put that solar panel on your troop transports! They need it!

[MaxyGamer]

Yeah, thanks guys.

I've got a separate fleet of transports going in after my main attack force has cleaned the system. I do always leave space ports intact and just go on ahead capturing the planet. Prevents me from wasting my time and resources on a brand new one.

I have to admit though that adecoy95's idea of building a single massive and well defended tranport ship is quite intriguing. Haven't tested that one out....yet.[8D]

[torrenal]

In my opinnion, a single massive transport is of limited utility.

1) Most planets have a single defending troop, and at most a medium port, which a single troop transport can handle at no risk.
2) Many empires will sometimes have 1-2 planets with a bundle of troops. Varies by empire, but "bundle" can be 10 troops, or 50 troops. No single transport intended for taking planets guarded by single troops can take this out, but it can be taken out by a mass raid of these ships, at no risk.
3) Most empires will have 1-2 planets defended by 1 LSP and up to 4 defensive bases (a "worst case" example I encountered was, if memory serves, 2 of these plus an MSP orbiting 3 moons of 2 gas giants, all in close proximity. Needless to say, waiting for the planets to move improved the situation considerably). A time coordinated raid of a single LSP + 4 defensive bases by 10 troop transports using fast recharge shields, and moving at 40+ speed may see 1-2 losses where the bases coordinate by luck on a single ship, but for the most part they will have too many targets to effectively take any real numbers down. While often these planets are defended by a 'bundle' of troops, they are also great places for enemy troop ships to stock up, so it's also possible to see a lone troop defending the planet -- once 1-2 troop ships deploy troops (time coordinated though, so everyone should hyper in at the same time and you should see about 3-6 deploy before the ownership change takes place), the bases are yours and the merchants are REALLY running....

I've learned early targets for troop transports are planets with bases -- no bases for the enemy means no new construction (yes, it was a sucky place for me to be in. Having tried playing it, I mean to have my opponents in it as often as possible).
//Torrenal