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Silly question but what do I need to research to get the resupply ship. The help file is incredibly cryptic and I can't find anything in the energy research tree which is where is says it is.

It depends on bit whether you are playing a mod (that moved it) or the base game.

In any case, it should be a construction tech, which is the "bottom part" of the red (Energy and construction) tech tree. From memory it is a node sitting above the main construction size line, and which requires a couple of construction size techs.

I have seen some mod move it into the main construction size line, to one of the first nodes.

The node description will say "unlocks the Resupply Ship" in some way or other.

Found it thank you.

Next question will be how the bloody hell do I use the resupply ship. [:'(]

You need to deploy it in a solar system. Then just basically use it as a portable space station.

A good howto:

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3643578

I am experimenting with it as part of a fleet. The idea being, after a long range attack, move the fleet to a gas giant with the fuel you need and deploy the resupply ship to fuel the fleet....GP

Do not add it to the fleet. It can of course be in its own fleet if you prefer that in order to find it. But with a long range scanner, they are pretty easy to find unless parked close to your own (long range scanning) colonies.

I enjoy keeping to default fuel cells, in order to give a sense of galaxy size, and potential need for resupply ships to make wars work. Send a resupply ship and a very powerful fleet to set up camp among the enemy's core colonies, and wreck havoc on mines and spaceports.

Here's my main reason for keeping resupply ships in their own little fleets:

If you select a fleet then tell it to refuel at the resupply ship, everything will work smoothly if they are separate.
However, if the resupply ship is part of the fleet you told to refuel, the "refuel" command issued to that fleet will cause the resupply ship to undeploy and this means your fleet cannot refuel there.

Keep resupply ships out of your war fleets. It makes life easier. [:-]

It hasn't been said, so, a resupply ship is a huge warship. Mining fuel is secondary. Of course this is my opinion.

ORIGINAL: Retreat1970

It hasn't been said, so, a resupply ship is a huge warship. Mining fuel is secondary. Of course this is my opinion.

You are of course entitled to your opinion, I do understand the need to trivialize the fuel component in the game to make it easier [:'(].

There's a good article by Sirian on how to use resupply ships effectively as refueling stations and there's another by Jacozilla that explains how to use them as battleships.

Personally I've never had much joy with resupply ships in either role. I find they require a lot of micromanagement and I would rather get the energy-to-fuel-converter technology and just build gas mining stations wherever I go.

OK. here is what I am trying. Add the resupply ship to my fleet. Attack the enemy until fuel is getting low. Move the fleet to a suitable fuel source. Detach the Resupply ship and deploy. Refuel fleet and resupply ship and have resupply ship join the fleet again. Haven't got to that point yet, but I'll let you all know how it works out....GP

OK. here is what I am trying. Add the resupply ship to my fleet. Attack the enemy until fuel is getting low. Move the fleet to a suitable fuel source. Detach the Resupply ship and deploy. Refuel fleet and resupply ship and have resupply ship join the fleet again.

I recommend keeping the resupply ship out of the fleet.

- send the fleet to the encounter site
- deploy the resupply ship nearby at a suitable fuel source
- when ready, select the fleet and tell it to refuel at the resupply ship
- when refueled, send the fleet back to work

This way you're only issuing commands to the fleet. You eliminate micromanaging the resupply ship once it's deployed.
I see what you're trying to do, but I think it's too much work.

Totally agreed on the above. The only reason I see to add it to the fleet, is to also use it in combat. But in that case, it does not actually have to be fleeted either.

I am an eager abuser of giving single ship orders to fleet members, but this requires quite a bit of concentration in avoiding giving the fleet an order until the "soloers" have completed their mission(s).

My reference is AI designs, and in those the Resupply ship is quite powerful. But best used to "bully" its way to a fuel source in war (destroy mine and refuelers) and repel small forces. The good thing is that the AI puts long range scanner on them, but on little else, so as long as they do not sit in or very near systems with other scanners, they are somewhat easy to spot on the map.

In the Patton-scenario above, I would scout out my refueling spot near the target. I send the resupply ship and possibly a small helper fleet to the system of the refueling spot (to make them bust mines before deploying). There is no need to have enemy spies permanently placed in the resupply ship system... Send the deploy order whenever the system is ready.

The attack fleet(s) get their attack orders, and can chain them until out of fuel. The resupply ships(s) sit at good nearby mines, and fuel is at hand. I would say that in somewhat "dense enemy areas" there can be a fuel spot within easy range of quite a few good enemy attack targets.

See the image below, the purple long range scanning resupply ship (near the bottom) is in good range of most of the "Red" enemy core worlds. If multiple fleets are to run rampant, it may be necessary to use more than one resupply ship.

Easier to control the refit for the constructor when it's in the fleet. Moving in and out of a fleet is easy enough to do....GP

I would say it is best to not have Resupply ships refit alongside fleets. They don't need it that often, and may be busy filling their holds while the fleet refits

ORIGINAL: Bingeling

I would say it is best to not have Resupply ships refit alongside fleets. They don't need it that often, and may be busy filling their holds while the fleet refits

The added fire power is a plus....GP

OK. These are my test results. I moved the fleet to a nearby system with a gas giant of the proper type. Had the resupply ship leave the fleet and deploy. After the resupply ship deployed I ordered the fleet to refuel. It chose the nearest starbase instead of the Resupply ship. The fleet had enough fuel to go to the starbase. Tried again after fuel was low. This time the fleet chose the resupply ship. All ship refueled and I undeployed the resupply ship and reattached it to the fleet and moved on. So yes it works and it is worth having one in a fleet....GP

Was the resupply ship full when they picked the starbase?