tactics

[DarthTofu]

Currently, when i lead ships into battle, it's just so that I can take some losses but keep them from running away in far worse shape (IE, from attacking the most powerful two ships simultaneously with two victory class star destroyers). Anyway, what are some good tactics to employ? Things like the hammer, the anvil, and the left and right hooks always seem to make my ships take more damage while they dish less out.

[Colonel_Olorin]

i don't know about everyone else but i've found if you can take out the most powerful ship on the enemy side(just hit it till it can't hit back) and then move on to the next target you can take out fleets stronger then yourself.just still be prepared for a hasty retreat anyway

i usualy set them to surround aswell if i outnumber the enemy in the battle.if really outnumbered (such as 2 mon cals. a dreadnaught a neb-b and 2 corvettes versus an ssd and 20 ties). i knock the ssd out first for sure then clean the fighters up.but only hit the ssd until it stops being able to hit back.(i lost all fighters on my side and had three ships disabled but i won it )

[DarthTofu]

LOL. Basically I tend to have a hyge flaw due to my lack of good tactics. I just mass up a huge fleet and then progressively kill the galaxy of all IM presence with no fleets left behind or opperating in tango. But the real question is if the whole "Hammer, anvil, left/right hook" thing will help to hurt enemy ships. For instance, if I have a ship on either side of a more powerful ship, will that cause it to fire on both, but with less firepower than if it were only shooting at one of them? Just wondering... It always somewhat dissapoints me after reading stackpole with his increadible tactics and then not being able to use them. LOL, how great would it be if you could get firing solutions from X-wings and TIEs to slay a cruiser at fifty klicks?

[Nero]

Yeah. I always wished there were ways I could get Wedge Antilles into an X-Wing and make him into the Invincable Pilot. I think it was in one of Stackpole's books someone said to Wedge something like: "Do you know how many Imperial Pilots can't sleep knowing you're out there?"

[DarthTofu]

Don't remember that quote... Though it probablu was Stackpole, seeing as most of the other books that mention Wedge involve something along the lines of

"Luke: Wedge, we need you and your squadron to help provide cover in this Imperial area!

Wedge: Sure thing, Luke, we'll be right on it!"

[Nero]

lol. I think that quote was Tycho Celchu. Really, it had to be Stackpole because the X-Wing series are the only ones that really go into the pilots lives beyond the ejector seat.

Anyways back on topic. The lack of strategy might be what's standing in the way of a NJO TC. The computer says that shields resist torpedoes. In NJO though, Dovin Basals resist lasers more than Torps. Or maybe it's just because Yuuzhan Vong takes up more letters than Empire or Rebellion. lol.

[DarthTofu]

Yeah... Alrighty, then, folks- you know what that means! Take out your programing skills and get to work hacking the source codes for Rebellion! Just kiddding. Seriously, I am! no, Mr. Lucas! Don't come any closer! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (Proceeds to be hit over the head with a small lead model of R2-D2 by George Lucas, who is, as a last request, signing an autograph to me at the same time.)

[BigChimpChili]

Currently, when i lead ships into battle, it's just so that I can take some losses but keep them from running away in far worse shape (IE, from attacking the most powerful two ships simultaneously with two victory class star destroyers).

 

i can only assume from reading this that your playing as the empire, good general tactics would be as follows...

 

1)as soon as the battle start pause it(if your playing against the comp, multiplayer youll just have to work faster at this point) and forget about the hammer anvil whatever bullshit

2)set your tie fighters to kill the rebel fighters

3)also set several small support ships to kill fighters as well, rebel fighters in any quantity, especially early in the game when you only have basic ties, will burn right through imperial fighters pretty quickly. cracken light cruisers work good for this earlier in the game, which is good cause theyre pretty worthless for anything else.

4)set all your remaining large ships to attack the large enemy ship you feel to be the biggest threat, i.e. the one that potentially will do the most damage to your fleet.

5)unpause(or in the case of multiplayer it wouldnt be paused at this point) and click on the targeted enemy ship, when its weapons are no longer functional, move on the the next most powerful enemy ship.

6)when all the enemy fighters have been cleared, assign you remaining fighters and smaller ships to kill the same ship the rest of your fleet is working on

7)continue to move from ship to ship in this manner till the enemy fleet begins to turn and run, or in the case of multiplay opponents too stupid to run(there are a few even when they have no ships capable of fireing at you ) until they have no ships capable of doing damage

8)as the enemy fleet attempts to flee pick out the largest most valuably ship, the one that tkaes the longest and most resources for your oppenant to build and attack with your fleet.

 

a good portion of your oppents fleet may escape, but ussually youll kill at least that expensive ship and severly damge many of the others, while hopefully minimizing the damage to yours by nuetralizing you opponents weapons.

[DarthTofu]

I see... I tend to flip flop on both sides, seeing as the Rebel Alliance tends to be easier Anyway, yeah, TIE fighters suck unless you upgrade to intercepter and such. So it doesn't make a differance if you have ships coming in from all over the place to attack a different ship, eh? Darn. I was hoping to be the next Grand Admiral Thrawn... Well, not exactly, seeing as there's a Grand Admiral Thrawn on the forums and all, more like the one Timothy Zahn wrote about. Okay, that was pointless.

[Nero]

I really don't find the Rebels easier. I guess I just don't have the patience to look at the big picture aside from the small victories.

e.g. Using Luke, Han, Chewbacca and Maw'Shiye(sp?) to sabotage most structures on their main shipyard world works towards the big picture while cutting off a Rebel fleet, while using Interdictor cruisers to pin them down and crushing their capital ships untill that Tarkin wannabe voice tells you the Empire is victorious is a lot more satisfying.

[DarthTofu]

No no, I'm talking about alot of things: For instance, when you're the Rebels, you can take your base and run and hide with it (Can't do that with the Empire). You also get way more diplomats, and fewer traitors (Empire has great commanders, but terrible diplomats). Waiting for Luke to reach jedi Knighthood is annoying, but eventually it gets good, and you can train him uber strong over Corouscant. Also, the Rebels get the Dauntles Cruiser, which, in addition to being able to take on any Imp ship from Imp. Star II down, takes far less time to build than, say, a Death Star, or a Super Star Destroyer. Though SSDs are very nice.

[Saron2of4]

DarthTofu posted

No no, I'm talking about alot of things: For instance, when you're the Rebels, you can take your base and run and hide with it (Can't do that with the Empire). You also get way more diplomats, and fewer traitors (Empire has great commanders, but terrible diplomats). Waiting for Luke to reach jedi Knighthood is annoying, but eventually it gets good, and you can train him uber strong over Corouscant. Also, the Rebels get the Dauntles Cruiser, which, in addition to being able to take on any Imp ship from Imp. Star II down, takes far less time to build than, say, a Death Star, or a Super Star Destroyer. Though SSDs are very nice.

 

Umm, Yes Yes. Must agree I do . But the ability to destroy a planet is almost as significant next to.... oh sorry Imperial power hungry Tarkin wannabe be me any way, a Death Star with enough Interdictors, fighters, and capital ships can quickly lay waste to a fleet of Bulwark Battleships . Plus hey Just LOve them SSD .

[DarthTofu]

Can't say that I disagree... I just had a bad experiance as the Empire trying desperately to repel Rebel attacks on the "hard" level that layed waste to three or four of my star destroyers before I could do squat . Then the bastardds took Corouscant and I had to flee to a sector that-wouldn't ya know it- they found me in. Which left me with about five loyal characters.

[Nero]

I usually keep my ships together early in the game so it's harder for the Rebels to stand up to them and take them out, fleet by fleet. The problem with that though, is a big juicy sabotage target.

[Saron2of4]

Nero

I usually keep my ships together early in the game so it's harder for the Rebels to stand up to them and take them out, fleet by fleet. The problem with that though, is a big juicy sabotage target.

 

Yes I agree. But each time you play the game you have different planets and Ships. Example: one time you may play and start out with 2 Imperial Star Destroyers and 1 Victory Star Destroyer the next time you may not have any of these and yes I know everybody knows this but I'll explain. Keep in mind if for example you start with the first you might not have to put the ships together and if the later you might want to to fair evenly with the enemy. Just depends on the Stats of game and your flavor for tactics.

[Arngrim]

Errr, I must have missed something rather important, how do you instruct your ships to target an individual ship?

 

I thought that you could only choose between capital/fighter class!!!

 

This could make the space battles interesting. Usually I just give out the orders, pick up a book, and glance toward the screen when things get destroyed

[Darth_Rob]

Left-click on your capital starship, then right-click on their capital starship, I think.

[DarthTofu]

He is correct. Do you not have the manual at your disposal? I would recommend checking at cheatcc for the 'strategy guide' which can work as a manual to you.

[DarthTex]

After you click on the task force number or flight group color, hold down the CONTROL key and click on the desired enemy ship. That group will attack that ship until it is utterly destroyed. Afterwards they will sit around do nothing until new orders are issued (if you listen to the computer carefully, you'll hear it say "Task Force 1 requesting orders", or whatever task force or flight group in question). If there's a big battle going on, you might not notice this or you may have to wait for other messages first in the queue.

[budious]

Nero

I usually keep my ships together early in the game so it's harder for the Rebels to stand up to them and take them out, fleet by fleet. The problem with that though, is a big juicy sabotage target.

 

Yes I agree. But each time you play the game you have different planets and Ships. Example: one time you may play and start out with 2 Imperial Star Destroyers and 1 Victory Star Destroyer the next time you may not have any of these and yes I know everybody knows this but I'll explain. Keep in mind if for example you start with the first you might not have to put the ships together and if the later you might want to to fair evenly with the enemy. Just depends on the Stats of game and your flavor for tactics.

 

Ah.... Ringgold, Ga... my aunt lives there. I'm down here in Rome, Ga...

 

Tip for playing Imperials against AI as Rebels... attack early. The rebels start with their core units and characters outside of the core system. You can seriously weaken their core planets within the first 30-40 days of the game.

[Master_Xan]

Tactical strategies:

 

1) Use your fighters to kill their fighters. Any ship with strong lasers will also do well for this, such as Corellian Gunships/Corvettes, Carrack Cruisers, and of course the two frigates that say that in their descriptions. If you have bombers, DON'T use them against fighters, as they die quickly.

 

2) Pick your most important target. If you think you might need to flee, take down any interdicters first, while you know you have the firepower to bring down their shields. You must destroy them to eliminate their gravity wells.

 

If they're using ships against your fighters, and you want to minimize fighter losses, target those ships. Similarly, if they have troop ships and outnumber you, you might take out as many troop regiments (by destroying their transports) as possible to keep them from assaulting your planet.

 

If they have an admiral or commander, you need to destroy the ship they're on to eliminate the bonus they give in battle. Sometimes, you capture personel from destroyed ships, sometimes they escape, and sometimes they die in battle, so take that into account when you target ships (especially if they have your people held prisoner).

 

If you think they will flee -and after awhile you'll get a feel for just how far the computer is willing to go- you should keep firing on a ship until it's engines or hyperdrive are offline, so when they flee the ship is destroyed. Beware, engines are often repaired DURING battle. If they can't or won't flee, then you need only disable the weapon systems and move on.

 

Typically, you would target the ship with the most powerful weapons and switch targets when those weapons are disabled, often ordering a new target BEFORE they are disabled in anticipation and to be most efficient, as your ships take some time to retarget. Also note that any fighters capable of firing torpedos (Xwings and TIE bombers are two examples) will do massive damage to a ship's hull once the shields are down, so be sure to give them new targets sooner.

 

3) The computer groups your ships. Often, the groups are wrong (I'm sorry, but a Mon Cal cruiser should not be grouped with Corellian Gunships, the two just are not the same). As the battle is beginning, regroup your taskforces according to how you plan on using the ships in them. Also note that larger groups ARE LESS EFFICIENT. With the default standoff tactic enabled, your ships stop moving forward when the center ship is in range of the enemy... often leaving the leftmost or rightmost ships OUT OF RANGE. Use swarm in large battles, and in small ones break up task forces to only include three or so ships. If a ship isn't firing but isn't damaged, it probably isn't in range. Give just that ship a target, and it will move within range... but it also removes itself from the taskforce, so you'll have to individually give it orders unless you reassign it.

 

4) Have all your ships target one ship at a time. Brings the shields down much faster. When your fighters are available, have them target ships with their shields down, while you reassign your capital ships to new targets... this makes your big turbolasers and ion cannons take down shields, which they are good at, while your fighters work on disabling weapons with those nasty torpedoes of theirs. Of course, if your fighters don't have torpedoes (like the original TIEs) then just have them attack the same target that your fleet is working on.

 

5) If you're the Rebels, build massive amounts of fighters and carriers. If you're Imperials, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS OVERESTIMATE what Rebel fighters are capable of when deciding whether to withdraw or not. Loosing an ISD to Xwings because you didn't withdraw fast enough is no fun at all. Especially when that ISD can barely kill any Xwings anyway, so it does no good to keep it around unless you've got ships with laser batteries (my single greatest wish from the Rebellion tactical system: the ability to withdraw individual ships...)

 

6) Sometimes a ship will repair itself during battle. Not all the way, but often engines or some weapon/shield power will be restored. Beware this, but also use it when it happens to you. Battle is a good way to repair your own ships in fact; if they have a few fighters in a system, move your damaged ship there and retreat immediatly. You'd be surprised how fast you sometimes get a ship repaired... and how slow it sometimes takes, as its not as consistent as simply repairing at a shipyard and may take one trip or two thousand to repair minor damage. Don't do this if the enemy has more then a couple Awings or TIE Intercepters, as they are fast enough to do shield damage before you can withdraw. Best to use this tactic in a sector where you don't have a shipyard to park your damaged vessels at.

 

7) Having admirals and commanders will greatly help you, or your enemy. If they have three ISDs and one has an admiral, you should DESTROY that one first, then DISABLE the other ships. Also, it's sometimes best to put your command personel on a powerful ship (like an ISD) and sometimes best to put them out of the way, like on troop transports or carriers. The computer will often target the ship your people are commanding from, but not as often if they're on a weak ship like a carrier. Unless you only have weak ships, anyway. NEVER put them on small, fast ships like Corvettes or Carracks if there's any other option, as these ships are often accidentally destroyed when the computer attacks and doesn't have time to reassign targets before dealing a lethal blow, and these ships are usually the first to engage because of their speed.

 

If you're sneaky, you can have your command ship remain in place, order the rest to attack, and watch the AI move past/through your entire fleet to get into range of your command ship. This makes it take longer to disable your command ship, dilutes their fire as they approach (they fire willy-nilly until they get into range of their actual target) and obviously gives you the chance to take down their ships with a concentrated attack before they do the same to you. Just be sure your people are on the most powerful ship, otherwise it isn't likely the enemy will target it first.

 

8.) The 'tactics' available in the game menus are pretty useless. I've only used them when a fast ship is under intense fire, and I can get it to run away out of range while the rest of my fleet is still shooting. You could potentially try and do this with your command ship and keep it out of harm's way, but if it's not a fast ship it doesn't work, and if it is a fast ship it probably has bad shielding, so it will end up disabled anyway. Obviously, no ship is capable of outrunning fighters.

 

I've got more, but this is far too long already. You'll have to wait for my strategy guide (assuming you actually read all that). If something in there doesn't catch your eye or make you consider something cool I didn't actually mention, then you're either a hopelessly terrible tactician or so good that you shouldn't need to read this anyway.

[budious]

The AI in this game is absolutely stupid... here's the best defense regarding a large force of enemy fighters. The AI as Rebels will have all it's fighters outside of hanger and fly them immediately in to attack. As Imperials you can use the surround tactic and select the nav point nearest spawn. This works especially well with lots of laser equipped ships (carracks, lancers, corvettes, gunships, etc.). They basically form a large sphere pattern around the nav point, then order your fighter groups to swarm the nav point. It's a nasty slaughter and you can inflict losses of 3:1 or more against Rebel AI.

[RiZer]

Tactical strategies:

 

3) The computer groups your ships. Often, the groups are wrong (I'm sorry, but a Mon Cal cruiser should not be grouped with Corellian Gunships, the two just are not the same). As the battle is beginning, regroup your taskforces according to how you plan on using the ships in them.

 

 

How do I regroup my taskforces?

 

And, if I may... (off-topic) I seem to have plenty maintenance at all times but no refined material (none or few raw material), am I doing something wrong? :S Playing my first SWR game after a 2+ year long break

[budious]

 

How do I regroup my taskforces?

 

Hold the ctrl key and select all the units you want to be in a taskforce, select an empty taskforce icon and click it, the taskforce will be assigned a slot.

[Master_Xan]

Most of the time, I too find myself low on RM and high on maintainance. That's because you get a set amount of maintainance for your mines/refineres, and when something of yours is destroyed you get that back. You don't get RM back, and it takes a bit of time to generate.

 

First, make sure you have equal refineres and mines (right-click advisory, select galaxy overview, scroll towards bottom and compare the numbers. 1:1 ratio is what you want). Second, you MUST be either actively taking planets with mines/refineres, or you must be actively building them on your planets. Anything less and you'll run out of RM. Also, scrap your older units for their minerals, and sometimes it pays to scrap a heavily damaged ship instead of repairing it.

 

To regroup taskforces, select the ships and hit ctrl+#, where # is the number you want the taskforce to be. Select the ships by ctrl+click (or maybe its shift+click, I forget). Your general goal is to get ships together based on either their speed, or their usefullness. Ex: group Corellian Corvettes with Gunships because they are both fast with laser batteries, group troop ships and carriers together and keep them out of battle (unless you want to use the minimal weapons on them, in which case you still usually want them together because of speed), and put the heavy-hitters together to efficiently give orders.

[RiZer]

k, thx for the answers =)

 

I knew how resources work, but was looking for what I'm doing wrong, which is prolly along the lines you mentioned.

 

I was kinda slow at first with colonizing the outer rim, I think I'm in day 1400 something and have soon won (large galaxy, easy enemy). I play slow and safe tho, not very offensive (might be a mistake).