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Originally posted by Flubber
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(1) 2. You should be able to defend your bases with units strong enough to crush a drop unit with its 50% drop penalty. (2) After all you DO have sensors RIGHT. This is not counting the possibilities with perimeters and ECM (non-elite infantry will face penalties from a hasty attack so I discount them)
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(3) Also, why would you be so crazy as to leave a roaded square outside a base radii unoccupied -- think crawlers-- (4) I also overlap my base radii a lot, preventing this issue
## My bottom line is that your comments ignore
(5) 1. the possibilities of hardened strongpoints
(6) 2. using ZOC ie crawlers to stop the advance
(7) 3. your ability to bombard a road if it is posing a threat
(8) Personally I see my extensive road system as a defensive plus. It means the greater range of my land units mean I always get the first shot
(9) Lastly-- you mentioned your love of mindworms several times-- These are powerful in the early game but are just plain weak by the midgame. They are slow and both empath units and artillery just crush them. a good opponent will have sensors monitoring any nearby fungus
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(1) 2. You should be able to defend your bases with units strong enough to crush a drop unit with its 50% drop penalty. (2) After all you DO have sensors RIGHT. This is not counting the possibilities with perimeters and ECM (non-elite infantry will face penalties from a hasty attack so I discount them)
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(3) Also, why would you be so crazy as to leave a roaded square outside a base radii unoccupied -- think crawlers-- (4) I also overlap my base radii a lot, preventing this issue
## My bottom line is that your comments ignore
(5) 1. the possibilities of hardened strongpoints
(6) 2. using ZOC ie crawlers to stop the advance
(7) 3. your ability to bombard a road if it is posing a threat
(8) Personally I see my extensive road system as a defensive plus. It means the greater range of my land units mean I always get the first shot
(9) Lastly-- you mentioned your love of mindworms several times-- These are powerful in the early game but are just plain weak by the midgame. They are slow and both empath units and artillery just crush them. a good opponent will have sensors monitoring any nearby fungus
Since so many issues were raised at once (I can not complain since I said a lot in my post) I'll try to answer them one by one.
1. I am not worried about resisting air dropped units attacking my bases, I am more concerned with air dropped units occupying my bases after a successful missile/air attack. If I am the victim of a chop and drop the 'dropper' will occupy my base after I've been chopped. Usually I try to economize, limit, the number of military units I keep in my interior bases (enough to help prevent the drone riots, plus an extra margin in the bases that really count; SPs bases, energy park, HQ).
2. Sensors are one of the first things I build (although they do limit what else I can do with that square).
3. I do use crawlers, mostly in energy parks, plus the occasional special square and distant square as an early warning sentry (I like trawlers too, but we're not talking about naval tactics). I haven't used crawlers to deny a landing site due to their ZOC. I'll try using it in my future games.
4. I love Aerospace Centers. When building a new base it is one of the first improvements I'll make (since I just have the basic SMAC I cannot get the Cloudbase Academy. If it gives you a Aerospace Center in every base it must be a very powerful SP). I do try to have Aerospace Centers in most (if not all) bases, and if they are close enough, they will give drop protection overlap (easy to do if you are doing ICS).
5. I will develop hard choke points. These will be well located bases, lavishly equipped with; perimeter, aerospace center, tachyan (if available), two or three sensors, lots of well armored AAA defensive units, and good offensive units (rovers, choppers) to reach out and touch the invaders, plus a probe or two. The lack of roads just makes these strong points stronger.
6. You are right, I got to use the crawlers for this more often even if I do not like using them, even if necessary, as cannon fodder.
7. True, but if I have artillery units and there are enemy units on the way to my base I would rather get two volleys off at them on the way in rather than using one volley on them and one on the road.
8. Yes, roads are a defensive plus in that they allow your defensive units to cover more ground, but IMHO I would rather have more time to deal with the invader and get more shots at him before he reaches my bases.
9. Yes, unprotected Mindworms are mincemeat for artillery and empathy. Yes, they are slow SO LONG AS THERE ARE NOT ANY ROADS or fungus (or Mag tubes) for them to travel on. I lately have shied away from the worms (because it takes so long to get them to where they need to be) unless the game is close, and I get NA and DT. Then, I will unleash the worms. I will protect them by doing a recon ahead with choppers to find and kill artillery. One of the nice things about worms (particularly if enhanced by DT and SE plusses) and roads is that even if they have to travel two spaces on a road (2/3) of their move, their last 1/3 of their move into the enemy base there is not a hasty attack and they hit with their full firepower. If I do not have NA and DT I will try capture them or try to win another way.
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Restatement:
If you have a good defensive sensor system up ~ 4-5 spaces in front of your frontier bases you get a ~ 5 turn warning to protect your bases [lay your ambush] (and harry the invader with air units if you got them) if your enemy decides to launch a ground based invasion; assuming non-elite, infantry invaders. Even with rover or elite equipped enemy you still have time to prepare your active defense.
If you have roads in place your enemy gets to you 3 times as fast and you have a third of the time to react.
And, if you have drop units available (can move up to 8 space as the crow flies) you can easily fortify the threatened frontier bases from other bases much faster than you could with roads. Remember, if you drop unit drops into a base it doesn't suffer the 20% damage penalty and does not have any 50% energy penalty if defending after its turn is finished.
With roads, you and your opponent share the same flexibility within your empire. Without roads, you can drop into whichever of your cities you want, and you have the advantage.
Once at war, I don't like to be attacked, I prefer to attack my opponents first, on my own terms. I can't always make this work against an enemy who uses airpower effectively, but if I avoid making roads, create a good drop force and sufficient airpower, I can hit a land invasion hard before it can hit me enough to hurt.
Yes, I also like the speed roads give my formers and colony pods, but still not enough to make roads.
I am surprised no one mentioned is that rivers enhance mobility, just like roads. I just live with the effects because I do not want to some serious, and usually destructive teraforming.
Yes, I have not played PBEM. It would be good to test the roadless strategy against non-AI opponents, but I only have the basic SMAC not the SMACX most have.
Finally, I am sorry for this long post but I wanted to answer as many of the questions as I could. I hope I did not set a record for length of post. Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions.
Mead
) In this way it would only take six and a quarter years at the constant rate to get the 250 games played... and SMAC hasn't even been available that long.
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