MY-2198 - Planning and Execution Thread

[Zeiter]

Some deployment moves for 2198:

• Move the two Laconian Task Force (LTF) cruisers to (48,20). Provide F-8 air cover for these cruisers.
• Move two F-8's (from Messena and Rio Grande) to (46,14) so that they may land in Impaler Polymers in MY 2199.
• Move other Laconian air forces to Sector Craterwest.
• Move Northern Arcadian Task Force (NATF) to (8,8) in preparation for anchoring in Gagarin Memorial and launching its drop troops into Morgan territory.
• Move probe team-laden IoD associated with Southern Arcadian Task Force (SATF) to (26,38) in preparation for landing probe teams at Morgan Weapon Arm in MY 2199 and subsequently moving IoD into city.
• Move SATF cruiser to (20,28) (8 moves away from Choke on This--pefect as long as we switch to power in MY2198 and make that cruiser elite) in preparation for deployment at Choke on This.
• We may want to accompany the SATF cruiser with the Disco Volante as well as the General Tacticus.
• Move fusion F-8 stationed in Fort Liberty to (10,22) in preparation for landing in Choke on This, Micha Archives, or City of ZZT in MY 2199.
• We must switch to power in MY 2198 for many things to play out properly in MY 2199 (especially with regards to having enough moves with certain units).
• Question: will we be able to capture Choke on This, or will we have razed it to the ground in the process of trying to do so? (It's only population 2 right now).
• Contingency plans to make: What do we do if the path of the SATF is blocked by IoD or Morganite air unit?

[Zeiter]

Possible upgrades for MY 2198:

• Upgrade the unity rover aboard the Laconian task force cruiser to a chaos rover.
• Upgrade the impact infantryman aboard the Laconian task force cruiser to an MI6.
• Upgrade General Tacticus to 6-<3>-6*2.

[Zeiter]

Okay, I've run some tests, and it appears that, if a size 2 city is emptied by an amphibious unit attacking from the sea, it doesn't lose a pop point when it is emptied. However, if it is emptied by a unit on land, then it does lose a pop point. So that means we shouldn't need to have the IoD nearby to mind control Choke on This. We can instead send the IoD to (26,38), which I feel is a much safer position for it.

And anyways, I forgot that we'll have the Disco Volante there. So in case we DO need to do some sort of probe action against Choke on This, we can use the Disco Volante.

[Zeiter]

On second thought, we should probably position the F-8 from Rio Grande should park one square south of (46,14) and have it end its turn facing north, thus making it appear that the planes are simply patrolling the waters instead of bee-lining for Morgania.

[Snoddasmannen]

Wow the turn is up. Looks like we are as yet undetected from Morgan spies.

Are we leaving the SATF without air cover on 20,28? I can't see how we can provide them with any air cover :/ There is a risk that they will be detected, and the airforce in Choke on this will make slim pickings of them, GT being upgraded or not. I am quite concerned about this. How about sending our IoD to keep them some company? Or is that just puttint all our eggs in one basket?

Can we see from the Disco Volante if the Morgans move a noodle over 20,28 last turn? I seem to recall something about setting units to sleep and then seeing if they wake up.

I second the upgrade of the 4-1 dude on the LTF.

The plans look great. This is the first time I have studied them in detail. Good job Zeiter And everybody else too of course

[Snoddasmannen]

Btw, am I the only one who am greatly relieved to open up SMAC again after playing Civ4 for weeks? I mean, I can Alt-Tab out in a fraction of a second rather than a minute The interface is responsive and complete. Oh how I've missed it ...

[Snoddasmannen]

You have to admire the Angels invasion of the Hive. It seems almost like a realistic way for them to get back in the game. It's a shame we can't call up Yang and give him fusion

[Googlie]

Some early moves:

• dealt with the mindworms at ARC - lost our tame one in the process - got a slew of credits, though
• executed the "frolic in the fungus" at Taygetus, northern Arcadia, and mid-Arcadia, but nothing stirring in any of those locations
• brought home the 3 noodles from Buster Ocean patrol

Can someone else play the bulk of the turn? I have houseguests for a few days and can only come online when they are by the pool or otherwise occupied - somewhat sporadically and of shortish duration - not at all suited to the cerebral contemplation needed right now to do justice to the turn

A couple of additional moves:

• loaded up the drop units onto the NATF transport and parked it in the seafungus out of sight of the 2 Uni bases - will deploy next turn into the southern base to launch the paratroops
• sent the 2 interceptors home to their mid-Arcadia bases for refuelling

[Googlie]

Originally posted by Snoddasmannen
Btw, am I the only one who am greatly relieved to open up SMAC again after playing Civ4 for weeks? I mean, I can Alt-Tab out in a fraction of a second rather than a minute The interface is responsive and complete. Oh how I've missed it ...

hmm - I'm not having that trouble now (but I just threw memory at the problem - upgraded from 512 to 2 gigs.) Also, I found that hitting the "windows" key was actually faster than alt-tabbing to exit the game - still alt tab back in, though, but not really any slower than SMAC/X

[Googlie]

Originally posted by Snoddasmannen
You have to admire the Angels invasion of the Hive. It seems almost like a realistic way for them to get back in the game. It's a shame we can't call up Yang and give him fusion

Yeah - more and more it's looking like the Gaians should have been our target - while we eliminate Morgan, the Angels fatten up at the expense of the Hive and the Gaians pop-boom to adequacy. Both will be stronger opposition when we eventually take them on

(Of course, this isn't to say that Morgan wouldn't be either if we left him alone for ten to twenty turns)

We just need to deal with Morgan in 2 turns and then turn quickly on the G's

[Zeiter]

Hmmm, I'm starting to get cold feet on the SATF strike on Choke on This. Everything else seems rock solid, but there are significant risks there. Consider:

*The Morganite 8-1-10 planes will still be repairing next turn (they won't be in fighting condition). They are still fission (the Morganites haven't upgraded them yet, although they could perhaps upgrade them at the last minute if they have the money).
*The copters can't attack bases.
*The tacticals are all still fission (the Morganites could upgrade them, though, with some money).
*I doubt there will be enough for the copters to do on the Yang front next turn. Thus, they may go scouting in the fungus...near the SATF!

An alternative, risk-free plan for the SATF would be:

Sail a bit to the north and move the units inside City of ZZT or some other western Morgania city. We wouldn't be able to use the force on its first turn, but they would be ready to go after that.

Thoughts, before we move the SATF for good?

By the way, I did a few non-contentious moves, worker and crawler relocations, and build order things.

An important thing to remember: No rush-building until after we switch to power! (The mineral costs will be different than now shown).

[Zeiter]

Here's an alternate proposal for the SATF, if we want to go with a less risky option:

We sail the SATF to the fungus over by our shore (see pic) this turn (MY 2198). We could even provide air cover with this scheme. Then, during MY 2199 we can sail the SATF to (19,23), unload a few troops on the river fungus square and proceed with those to City of ZZT, sail to (22,24) and unload the rest (except for the one non-elite amphibious infantry unit, which can stay on the cruiser, guarded by the GT). Some can then take up station in Hindenburg Habitat after we empty it through air assault. Others may even be able to attack Choke on This via land, and still have 1/3 movement point left to retreat into Hindenburg Habitat.

This proposal carries with it much less initial risk, although there is more long-term risk in that more of the Morganite air force is left standing for counterattack.

[Googlie]

Why not hide the entire force in 22:30, but enter the tile from 21:29, so that it looks like an invasion fleet bound for the Hive (pointing southeast with all units)?

And likewise, stage the Laconian fleet in the fungus at 40:24, entering from 41:23, so that it is pointing southwest, again suggesting a pincer move against the Hive

And I don't understand why those choppers and noodles haven't healed - last turn they were in that base, at 50% to 70% damaged so they should have healed to 100% this turn (unless they did, and were used again this turn to blow off the Hive)

[Googlie]

Hmm - we could sail the IoD wioth the 2 elite longstriders right up to 24:26 and then kill off the defensive probes and mind control Choke for 837 credits, with either mp's that are left, or with the Disco Volante

At one fell swoop we'd have half their airforce and some pretty stout defenders

[Zeiter]

Originally posted by Googlie
Why not hide the entire force in 22:30, but enter the tile from 21:29, so that it looks like an invasion fleet bound for the Hive (pointing southeast with all units)?

And likewise, stage the Laconian fleet in the fungus at 40:24, entering from 41:23, so that it is pointing southwest, again suggesting a pincer move against the Hive

(40,24) seems to me to be unnecessarily close to the Morgan mainland for the LTF. If you are worried about there being obstructions on the way to Vander Eudaimonics and the LTF having moves to retreat once it sails up there, don't worry about that, we can scout the area with a bomber before we sail the LTF up there to make sure the coast is clear. I still like (48,20) better. It's farther away, we would be able to provide air cover if we moved it there, and if we move the LTF there, it will also be pointing away from Morgania (to the east).

That's an intriguing idea with regards to the SATF, but it seems to me that when the Morganites see a cruiser full of 8 AMPHIBIOUS attack units within striking distance of their shores, they aren't going to take any chances, no matter which way the cruiser is pointing. They'd probably just sink it anyway, even if it wasn't a threat, because sinking a cruiser with 8 units onboard would be just too tempting, once the cruiser had been spotted.

Sooo...the way I see it, the Morganites can take out, at most, 6 units with their air force. They will only be able to feasibly attack with planes already in bases, considering that any planes out in flight right now will:
1. Likely be damaged
2. Not able to be upgraded (upgrading a plane's reactor while in-flight causes it to crash instantly.
3. Be too far away from most of our units.

If they take out 6 units, that still leaves some 18 units in Morgania, ready to rampage (and many of them drop units), plus all of the planes, choppers, etc.