Matrix Games Forums

What overall war strategy do you pursue for warfare?

I noticed that the AI is very defensive. It piles on planetary defensive installations and numerous defensive fleets to protect territory.

I tend to take the opposite approach. I concentrate my fleets into 2 or 3 juggernaut invasion fleets and large attack fleets. They are based and concentrated around my key worlds. The minor worlds are left as cannon fodder and are sacrificed for the greater good. When the fighting starts, my invasion fleets goes straight for the enemies high valued worlds for conquest. Minor planets are ignored. If I can't capture it, I burn it to the ground.

I always loose a few colonies with that strategy, but I gain superb planets that become strongholds, cripple the economies of the enemy, and create launching post for clean up fleets later on.

So what strategy do you guys use? Do you subscribe to the defensive liabilities with planet side defensive facilities and troops? Or do you ignore them like I do?

I tend to play in rather difficult galaxies, ones where the other empires start with significant advantages in both tech Technology and development of various degrees. This means I can't simply abandon the defensive strategy all together.

This means that war is about trying to defeat the opponents ability to invade my planets by whichever means I have for the better part of the game. If I can conquer a planet that is usually a rather lucky thing, not to mention any heavily defended planets with high income.

Destroying planets through bombardment is highly dependant on what race I play as roleplaying is as much part of any game session as is winning. The same goes for intentionally abandon colonies for the greater good, that depends on the race and empire type that I play. Treating the game as something I need to beat at all cost is not that fun for me, roleplay add much more of a real challenge to overcome, no matter what it is.

It is of course always a strong tactic to limit your offensive goals and concentrating your efforts on a few selected targets, that is just good common strategical sense. If all you need to care about is strategy then you only protect the few important parts that must be protected and use offense as your best defence.

One tactic that I find highly efficient is to send many small raiding fleets to harass the opponent which make them divert overly large amount of energy to counter them and also to some degree stop them from attacking me rather then defend their territory. Once again, offence is your best defence. So striking deep into enemy territory can be your best defence, especially against a technologically and economically stronger opponent.

It also is quite important to use scouts and large sensors in key areas to detect what the opponents fleets are doing and preparing for, that makes it much easier to protect your own colonies rather than keep you reacting once it is too late.

If I'm stronger than the opponent then beating the AI is not that difficult and it does not really matter how I do it.

I usually have 1-2 big attack fleets (40 ships each) accompanied by 3-4 transport fleets. I also keep 5-10 smaller defensive fleets (4-5 small ships each) near my borders, which are tasked with engaging the small raiding parties the AI sends to overwhelm you. I park my big fleets in deep space near the enemy's capital and when I am ready, I go in and wreck whatever I can, which brings out their own fleets. I look for a big engagement in the enemy's home system, then invade and capture their planet. Afterwards, I can proceed to conquer everything else they own.

I prioritize in peace time to have multiple spaceports, which are well stocked to produce ships of the line to beef up my forces during war (destroyers and frigates mostly). As soon as war is declared, I activate them and keep producing ships to reinforce wherever is necessary.