Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Save/Load UI, Autosave, Intel Map Markers, and More (04/10/24)
Whoops, not intended, just forgot. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.Fixed for the next update.
Would more troop transports be interesting? Its certainly something I would consider if so- though I want to get the technical merging conflicts out of the way so I don't inadvertently cause crashes for users who are not experienced with the modding ecosystem but also want to mod mix. Crashes first, balance later is the general philosophy right now. Well, I should say that is the current goal other than the brief break to fix the economy for Nex and, while I'm at it (in order to avoid having to do it again), adding the previously requested markets/resources for some of the less currently well-off factions like Sci-Corps and Luddic Church.
Nope. I simply considered your assumption.
I'm free to tell the possible outcome of your actions as long as they were taken as they are, without any twisting. And thats exactly what I did.
My point wasnt about tactical mobility. Availability of the ambush option is decided prior to the deployment just as with the flanking.
1. Strategic level. There all the bubbles are. Attacker (limited force of the fast frigates) flies around the defender while waiting for the opening in the form of transport ships veering close to the bubble's border.
2. Operational level. Everything that happens prior to the battle map. Attacker initiates the battle and desides to choose an ambush option. Reason fot its existance is the possibility that, in terms of travel time, the attacker force might be closer to the transport ship than less agile ships of the defender. And that comes from the fact that in the pursuit, frigates have the flanking position option which requires flying around the whole fleet which can do nothing about it even if it tries its best. Availability of the flanking option is decided before deployment. But in our case, insteed of coming into flanking position against entire defending fleet, attacking frigates are going to cut off the stragglers. Which are obviously closer and what takes less time.
3. Tactical level. Battle map. Here you can give direct orders to your ships.
You just suggested to put both transports and battleships in the big blob.Simpler. Doesnt mean better. There are escort buttons. Select every ship except one, tell them to escort a single ship. Tell that ship to run like hell.
Obviuosly, ambush will succeed against that.
And what am I twisting?
It was your idea of the better way to handle things. It has little to do with the possibility of an ambush because it is decided before even getting onto the battle map. However your suggestion nicely illustrates why it is impractical to keep battleships and transports herded up together. In an attempt to get away from the smaller threat you made things much more vulnerable to the major one. Without resolving minor issues (frigates can still attack transports and destroy them using them as a cover and yes AI is smart enought to do exactly this).
This was my statement of how ambushes wouldn't work and why.
The issue is- why the hell would they stay interspersed when fighting a larger force? that force cannot flank. they can sally ahead.
This tactic defends perfectly against small scale assaults, ie an ambush- You ambush would fail against this kind of formation. Weakness against a larger force isn't relevant, as this is an ambush of smaller units.
There is a reason why we don't have the warships in a big blob- to provide good fields of fire, in and around the ships they are protecting. In any case missiles don't care, they can just fly over friendly units and a fleet's worth of SRMs will kill ambushes.
Stop twisting what i'm saying. It's rude and it doesn't show respect for the statement.
