Drop Units

[Snowflake]

So does everybody makes anything with drop ability other than the drop infantry say 6-1-1 units? Are there any other units useful in special occasions? For example, drop rovers, drop probes and drop colony pods? After you get unlimited drop range (when is that?) does this make the drop units real powerful?

[BustaMike]

IMO, drop units are for defense. Choppers are for offense.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by BustaMike
IMO, drop units are for defense. Choppers are for offense.

Agreed-- my primary drop unit is the 1-bestAA-1 although I will occasionally use things like a drop artillery or a drop SAM.

Drop troops with offensive powers are somewhat rare for the simple reason that they attack at half power on the turn they drop-- Combine this with 20% damage if you drop them outside a base and they are pretty useless on the turn dropped.

[Blake]

My drop units are usually defensive (1-bestAA-1) but later on Best-best-3*4 hovertank deals.

Drop transports are handy little things, when you get unlimited drop range it allows you to move around units with two "useful" special abilities.

[Mr. President]

Two and a half words: Chop 'n' Drop.

[Blake]

Another of my favourite drop units is 1-1-1 DropPolice. Drop in drone control .
They only cost 2 rows and can easily be used for shell units, especially if your SE means they come out elite. I usually build them at captured bases behind the frontline, then drop them into the frontline to make captured bases immediately useful.

[timotheus4]

I like drop colony pods, drop crawlers and formers for special tasks, drop transports, etc. Chop n Drop is used more like Chop n Locust for me

[johndmuller]

When running Wealth, or otherwise morale-deprived and when running FM, and sometimes for other reasons (or lack thereof), I will build trained drop shell units, either infantry or rover chasis, depending on relative costs, intended usage, etc, and sometimes drop artie units. The units then take themselves to a base near a monolith to get upgraded and/or to new home bases (with Punishment Spheres or with only Specialists), then to whereever they will be stationed or otherwise used, where they can be upgraded to the desired ultimate configuration

I also use drop transports, for ferrying units around for much the same purposes, particularly if there is some reason that the shell units don't work (like, for example if I'm too poor to afford to upgrade a lot of shell units). They have certain limitations, however, so they are not as much help as one might imagine they could be.

Drop Probes are also quite a staple of mine as well, unless they are unnecessary for some reason.

I also use those other forms that Timotheus4 and Blake mentioned just above, particularly when the target areas are on a nearby but separate landmass. (I even use aircraft transports sometimes, but they are even more limited than drop transports and land transports.)

[Mead]

Re: Drop Units

Originally posted by HongHu
So does everybody makes anything with drop ability other than the drop infantry say 6-1-1 units? Are there any other units useful in special occasions? For example, drop rovers, drop probes and drop colony pods? After you get unlimited drop range (when is that?) does this make the drop units real powerful?

Drop probes can be very useful. The only problem I have had with them is that you have to wait until the next turn to move them after they drop.

Drop artillery. I used to use them a lot beore I learned about Clean Minerals on these forums. Usually, I started making about 6 to 10 of them in the Shard era to use as a fire brigad to soften up the Mindworms that would pop around my high polluting bases. Since I don't pollute as much anymore I don't use them too much.

Mead

[Impaler[WrG]]

Aplied Gravatonics I belive gives you unlimited range. Can anyone confirm that?

[Enigma_Nova]

Gratiton Theory (Skybases) and also if you build the Space Elevator.

[Lazerus]

Drop probes can be very useful. The only problem I have had with them is that you have to wait until the next turn to move them after they drop.

this just saved me losing fusion power in a pbem managed to spot and wipe out all of them


also why build just an infantry chasis for the drop units ? when you've got fusion power 1-best-2-AAA*2 costs exactly the same doesn't it ? drop in 2 or 3 of these to an enemy territory and you can take half his empire in a go.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Lazerus


this just saved me losing fusion power in a pbem managed to spot and wipe out all of them


also why build just an infantry chasis for the drop units ? when you've got fusion power 1-best-2-AAA*2 costs exactly the same doesn't it ? drop in 2 or 3 of these to an enemy territory and you can take half his empire in a go.

Of course I will build on the rover chassis when it is the same cost as the infantry one ( except if I see a use for the against base bonus) .. .However, with upgrading, I find I am still using a lot of infantry chassis since IIRC often the infantry shells are cheaper than corresponding rover ones . Also I often can upgrade some unneeded police scoutsor other units whose usefulness in their current form is ended

Oh and I also use drop probes, drop colonies and even drop formers as others have indicated but these uses are more infrequent. The most frequent use is a defender for bases I am capturing

[Snowflake]

Originally posted by Lazerus
when you've got fusion power 1-best-2-AAA*2 costs exactly the same doesn't it ? drop in 2 or 3 of these to an enemy territory and you can take half his empire in a go.

So you use choppers to wipe out base defense and then drop in your 1-best-2-AAA*2 units to occupy it right? Why do you only need 2 or 3 of these? Are you assuming the enemy empire has only 6 bases or did I not understand the right way to use them?

[CEO Aaron]

Since drop troops typically come after fusion in my tech-path (I honestly forget whether fusion is a pre-requisite), my drop troops are usually fairly well-balanced, so as to take advantage of the discounts the Fusion reactor offers. 4-3-1 clean drop infantry are cranked out in comparable numbers to my chopper fleet when I'm on offense.

As BustaMike points out, their purpose is to capture and garrison bases, not to attack, my choppers. For air-defense, I typically supplement my forces with a modest number of best-weapon interceptors, and a handful of SAM rovers.

The other unit I occasionally put drop capability on is the probe team, since toward the time drop becomes available, my probes are all elite (I run Fundy/Green/Wealth on attack). Being able to drop my probe into enemy territory, then have it move up to 8 roaded/fungus squares is sometimes terribly convenient.