Posture Frustrations

[Keston]

I don't want to hit and run the enemy home system, just assemble there to force him to keep forces nearby, then attack the homeworld. I mistook that Empire Settings button for a label - setting less aggressive defaults cures the wanderlust casusing them to suicide against the homeworld defenses, but, as mentioned, they respond when attacked and can be drawn away.

[geosch]

MartialDoctor,

Just want to confirm my experience is exactly the same as yours (I even mentioned the same situation (attacking enemy system with suicidal ships) in the "bug" thread), and I have the very frustrated with the only solutions that seem to work - more micromanaging.
And thanks for starting the thread, I learn something new every time it is discussed!

[Neotheone]

It would be nice an even better if we could give direct orders from the ships menu that popups over on the left. You click on your ship, fleet or group and then right click on it to give orders.

[Keston]

Interesting find: Changing the fleet Stance does not change that of the constituent ships - my example is trying to shift it from When Attacked to Nearby so they don't igrnore attacks on their comrades. I clciked individually on each ship first, but eventually had to change the default Empire Setting for No Orders to Nearby Targets to get them to act responsibly. I suppose the Fleet order controls what the whole fleet does, and the ship setting the individual captain's behavior?

It also looks like management is simpler if you don't arm your transports, though for Boskara the racial special is a powerful weapon that is very tempting.

By using "nearby" as the Empire Setting for unspecified orders I got ships to accumulate in the enemy system without charging the homeworld, though they drifted apart as the enemy tried desperate hit and run attacks at the fringes.

[Litjan]

What i like to do when preparing for that final assault is to assemble my fleet at a close system - that way it´s only a short jump to the final target and they don´t use fuel while waiting (if they have solar collectors). 

[Gelatinous Cube]

ORIGINAL: Litjan

What i like to do when preparing for that final assault is to assemble my fleet at a close system - that way it´s only a short jump to the final target and they don´t use fuel while waiting (if they have solar collectors). 

Absolutely. And because fleet posture is just a background function when your fleets are on manual, this is a really good way to organize your assault so everything goes off at once:

1.) Fuel/Arm all your offensive fleets at the same time. Also, if you haven't already, start positioning resupply ships near your enemies systems.

2.) Set all your attack fleet postures now, but don't actually send your fleets yet. This way your fleet will say in the context box where it should be attacking once your ready. Also, you'll get the pretty visuals so you don't forget what's going on.

3.) Move all your fleets to 'staging areas' around their targets. If these staging areas include a deployed resupply ship, all the better!

4.) Commence attack. After issuing attack orders, hit the automate button for all the fleets you don't plan on micro-managing during the assault. This way, once the initial orders are complete they will continue attacking targets in the general area as long as they have fuel and aren't hurt too bad--and also, once again, the pretty diagrams will keep you from forgetting the different theatres.

5.) Zip around micro-managing where you need to, and flipping fleets back onto auto when you're done. This allows a completely seemless assault that feels like it moves along at a manageable pace, even if you're attacking forty different worlds with hundreds of fleets.

I'm getting better at this every day, I swear. A month ago, that entire process would have been hard for me to put my finger on, as I used to just kind of stumble around during war.