Some questions about planet busters

[mark13]

LeMark,
First off, welcome to the boards! We're a friendly lot really, you know....

The delivery system with PBs can often be problematic. The key to it is, the PB base should be defended to the brim. AAA units, ECM units, PD, TF, Space Complex - just about everything you can think of in defense. A PB costs a lot of minerals - I suppose it could be compared to losing an early SP. As such, you do not want to let a PB get destroyed. To be honest, I would never put nukes in Xenofungus off an enemy coast - sensors! I, for one, would certainly be only too happy to find a carrier loaded with 5 PBs off my coastline....

Mark13

[LeMark]

Oh, I did not mean _that_ close. Usually maybe nine or ten squares away-then, upon a launch decision, move it closer and fire away. Probably would not work in MP, though. Actually, one odd thing I have noticed about this tactic is that there seems to be a very odd bug when you try to combine carrier decks and submarines-I am not even entirely certain how to describe it.

[Simpson II]

Both marks ,

If you want to deliver some PBs, here is a method I've found successful in one MP game. Build yourself a needlejet colony pod and a reasonable number of your best SAM needlejets. Switch off the auto-return to base option for aircraft (this is really annoying!) Fly your CP jet out to an unoccupied island within range of your opponent's land-mass, found a base and fly in your needlejets and PBs. Unless your opponent has some nerve-gas jets or their own PB around (and people do neglect this until they're first attacked) there's not a lot they can do about it.
If you want to keep moving because not enough of the opponent's bases were in range, disband one of the jets and rush-build another CP-jet. Next turn you can abandon your base and fly the whole caboodle right into the gaps left in enemy territory.

Btw, When people talk about ODP wars, is this in SMAC or X? I've never seen the AI build a single satellite!
I've only seen one PB launched by the AI, but that's probably becase when they start to build them I usually drop in some troops and rip their empire apart. In that game I was out of PB range from every other inhabited land mass, so I sat back and let them play.
[This message has been edited by Simpson II (edited December 04, 2000).]

[Qualicide]

i see lots of cpus BUILD, but never use PBs, even dee has built one (she had the produc, with about 200+ cities and 900 pop ) but then she got nuked by the spartans, which shut off the land bridge and delayed her death

she tried to build another, gets crushed by dee and i take the last 2 sea cites

I myself tend to be nuke happy, i edited one game one time made about 20 singularity nukes and simply nuked every city off the planet
i also nuked yang a few times, he was a little to close
[This message has been edited by Qualicide (edited December 04, 2000).]

[cbn]

I have now finally seen the AI build a planetbuster. I am playing doubleblind and the Spartans built one long before i could do the chopper slaughter. Each turn I checked to make sure I knew where the darn PB was until finally the Spartans brought it closer to the frontier and in range of my jets and choppers. My Choppers killed 3 defenders and 4 conventional missles before nailing the PB. Now I have the only Buster and am very close to ODPs. I only hope that the dang computer will finally give me the tech (the joys of double blind).

Whats interesting is that all of the AI human factions now want to play nice with me even while they tell me off for building the buster. Hope to keep them peaceful while i go huntin' aliens.

[hellrazor]

Hmmm...I've seen the AI build PB's lots of times. In fact, as soon as the AI gets the tech, it starts building one or two, at least in my games. I've been nuked without warning by both Deidre and Yang.

[Rainstorm]

It does seem that AIs start building PBs as soon as they get the tech. I remember the first time I got nuked, I was Zak fighting an extended war with Miriam, gradually crossing a large expanse of fungus and empty land to get to her main city area. I knew she had a PB and kept moving it around from base to base. Everything was fine until I had to raze one of her captured cities (I was playing spoils of war, fun with Zak ) to prevent her from getting any critical techs. After that she got really mad, two turns later she nuked a critical city, the closest connected to my mag tube network and stacked with lots of troops. Luckily I ignored it, eventually declared for diplomatic victory, and we all crushed her as the lone unresisting faction.

In my current game I'm worried about Yang. I'm the Angels, only human factions left are Believers (with two cities that I gave them, firmly in my pocket) and Yang. Both aliens still in play. Me and the Usurpers are crushing Yang, but he still has a good many cities left and is building PBs like mad. I think he'll use them too, I haven't done any atrocities but he acts like I have, I think ignoring his comm message one time was very bad

[Skanderbeg]

Additional remark:

In my current game, the Aliens are planetbustering each other!

Current stand:

Caretakers:3 - Ursurpers:1

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Simpson II,

I like your quick hit approach. Your victim however does get a glimpse of what is coming if he has you infiltrated. That one turn touch down at the new base gives him a turn response.

So... I was giving this some thought and if I can suggest a modified approach maybe this is worth some merit.

Take a drop former and build an airbase instead of a colony. Follow your guidelines for unit movements. In this way this remote missile silo doesn't necessarily show up on the radar screen (via F4 garrison).

Now granted an intelligent Human opponent should be wondering if in turn 1 a PB was in a base and turn2 it's no longer there, where the heck did it go? He knows it is in a base if he goes to the F4 screen. And if he is scouting around for it the boundaries will tend to give it away, whilst an airbase (i.e. missile silo) is easier to hide.

Anyhoo, just a thought.
[This message has been edited by Ogie Oglethorpe (edited December 08, 2000).]

[Simpson II]

Ogie,

Heh, yes, I like it! A definite improvement, with a little more planning. I'm afraid I've never built an airbase, so that would nover have occured to me. It wouldn't have worked in the particular game where I used that strat, though, for the reason that my wierd and unsuccessful tech-path had lead me to orbital spaceflight before MMI! As it happened I don't think my opponent had me infiltrated either, though naming the base 'Memory of Paul' might have been a slight give away....

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Simpson II,

Hee Hee. Memory of Paul. Too Cruel!!




Og