Defending a colony

[lightheart]

I had 3 colonies that are close to an empire that declared war on me. One was already taken over, which I am working to reclaim (either through bombardment or a troop invasion).

But I had a relatively large fleet defending another colony and they were still able to invade, as if my fleet just let them. I had the fleet sert to patrol and it seems nothing i do will stop the invasion (save/reloads).

Would a defensive base help?, why were they able to invade without destroying a single ship in my fleet?
I had the fleets placed to prevent this exact scenario...

[malkuth74]

You need troops on your planet. The biggest mistake people make in this game is to think that a fleet or defense base will stop an invasion. The only way to stop an invasion is to have enough troops on the planet to beat the AIs... Or Planet Shields to stop the bombardments.

WHY? Well because the AI just basically Drives hard through all your defenses to take out that planet. Either bombardment or through invasions. You might take out a few ships but he will still get some through to cause the damage.

its annoying... One of the most annoying things I find in this game.. But it is part of the game.

[szabferi]

This is a double edged sword... as the AI can do land troops by ignoring your defence, you can do the same

But overall, I also think the mechanics should be changed that before the invasion could be initiated, the space defences (at least the static ones like starbases) should be destroyed.

Actually in my current game I rather training troops than space ships to defend and invade. 3 fleets of 10-14 ships are adequate for my need, but I need literally hundreds of troops (I have 1400 empire wide, have 27 colonies atm) to be able to defend my planets (currently my troop maintenance is 50% bigger than the ship/starbase one) and to be able take over succesfully well populated planets.

Maybe I overtrained a bit at the beginning, but since training is slow, I rather pay the maintenace to ba able to conquer.

[Theluin]

Bases in orbit around a planet damage attacking troops [:)]

I think it would be 'unrealistic' if fleets or bases completely prevented invasions (not to mention it would remove the need for ground defences) A planet is huge how could several dozens warships and a base or two be able to screen it so completely that when a massed fleet tried to break through the blockade it would automatically fail? [:)]

[ehsumrell1]

ORIGINAL: Theluin

Bases in orbit around a planet damage attacking troops [:)]

I think it would be 'unrealistic' if fleets or bases completely prevented invasions (not to mention it would remove the need for ground defences) A planet is huge how could several dozens warships and a base or two be able to screen it so completely that when a massed fleet tried to break through the blockade it would automatically fail? [:)]

Excellent viewpoint Theluin! [:)]

[Modest]

My tip for such situation is to attack troops transport ships with all You have. They are usually very hard to destroy, but You do not need to do that in order to stop invasion. All You need is to damage them eoungh to make them withdraw from combat. This usually happens the moment that their shields are down to 20%. Then You are taking another one and force to withdraw... And another. And... And more ofthen than not Your planet is still invaded, but You have to deal with smaller invasion force than normaly You would. Alweys recruit few troops on a new colonies (personaly - I train 3 regiments on each new colony).

[dlcooper]

What about a system where ships unloading troops would be forced to stay in one position for a short period of time and maybe even have increased damage against them. This wouldn't force you to get rid of all defenses first but would penalize you if you didn't. Could be something for a future patch.

[WoodMan]

Target the troop carrying ships. I build 3 or 4 defensive bases around my homeworld and other important worlds, finances allowing, in conjunction with a spaceport this should lay down some serious hurt against incoming transports! However, if my defensive fleet is out of place things might still go wrong. Horrible thing is defending low population planets before you have had a chance to even build a spaceport, they rely 100% on your ships. Although, it is easier to recapture those planets if they are lost, and it won't cause a hit to your economy just your territory!

[Pipewrench]

Theluin , you don't remember a piece of the action with phasers on stun . heavy snark...[;)]

[szabferi]

Bases in orbit around a planet damage attacking troops [:)]

Even if they do, the damage is negligible. Az least I didnt even notice it, when I invaded the enemy homeworlds protected by 4 bases with my 200+ troops

Realism I wouldnt bring in when we are talking about sci-fi game Personally for me it could be realistic that a base equipped with lasers and nuclear missiles (and even stronger stuff) can cover significant portion of a planet. Especially because landing operations are fragile (it is not something like the dropships are well armored, moving erratically during landing the troops). At least in most of the scifi literature, dropships are sitting ducks...

So really, I'm just viewing the topic from gameplay point of view.

[szabferi]

Target the troop carrying ships.

Well... im not an AI, when I'm in a middle of a full scale war I cant be at all planets where the events are happening. Just think about when the opponent invades 2 of your colonies simoultaneously in a full scale war... you simply cant be everywhere. At least I cannot
So that is why I would like to see planets are a bit more difficult to capture.

[Modest]

Pausing may help in such situations. Also You can slow down a game, and it also helps a lot.

[WoodMan]

hmmm, I'm always where the action is at, I've not had any trouble keeping up with it [:D]