interesting feature of locusts

[Skanderbeg]

Yesterday, I discovered accidently a very interesting feature of locusts.

You can use them (of course only your own, not planet's) as a flying airbase!
I remarked it, when I crossed a swarm of my locusts with a planet buster I was bringing to the front. Moving it on the square with my locusts, it suddenly stopped like it has reached a base. The next turn,
I could move it away without problems. The same works, as I have tested, with choppers and needlejets.

I do not garantee that is valid for others than my (German) version. So test it on own risk.

[Sprayber]

If this is works that would be cool. I'll go try that. I have never took the time to even build one of these. I used to build IODs, but never locusts.

[Googlie]

Hmmm - I scenario tested it and couldn't replicate it - maybe it is a version thing

G.

[Helium Pond]

Kind of off-topic but kind of on, I just used a Carrier Deck on a transport for the first time ever. It was great! To tell the truth, I kind of doubted it would work. I needed to make a naval invasion, and I brought over a bunch of Needlejets to soften up the beach for me, and it worked like a charm. I guess I'd assumed it was broken, 'cuz no one ever talks about doing it. A little thrill, there. Fun to have Needlejets have such mobility.

[Aredhran]

Nobody talks about it, because the feature comes so late in the game that by that point it's essentially over for most people. Not to mention that it's easier to bring your forces over by stopping in bases (yours or a pactmate's)

[Solver]

I like Locusts, but basically they're hard to build, as they become available quite late in the game. I yet prefer the gravships, which I make cheap - best weapon, no armor. But, they can have more HP than 10, while Locusts, being a natvi lifeform will be having trouble with someone equippied by a Singularity or Quantum reactor.

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Solver - http://www.aok.20m.com

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Solver,

A native attacking or being attacked by any conventional unit even singularity has combat such that the reactor is basically treated as a fission reactor. It handled by the game doling out 4 times the amount of damage to a singularity reactor unit, 3 times the amount of damage to a quantum, 2 for fusion and 1 for a fission.

OTOH a singularity self destructing unit will likely anhialate any native. Missiles always toast natives as well.

Og

[Sindai]

I usually end up getting locusts WAY before gravships, and thus I end up using them to finish off most of my conquest games on maps with multiple continents....

[Blake]

I used a carrier fleet before to carry a fleet of gas choppers and PB's to perform some ethnic cleansing, I was sven in the freshwater sea, and had decided not to expand outside of the sea, except for one land base in the narrow northen strip. I had no diplomacy prospects because my neighbour on all sides was Marr.

It was fun having a navy, I'm thinking of altering the .txt to make carrier deck available at Orbital Spaceflight (make the deck out of the same stuff as hydroponic labs)

Repair bay is also one I havn't used, IndAuto would be make sense for repair bays.

The submarine hull is broken unfortunately, the AI can see submerged ships

[LoD]

This is kind of off-topic, but I've like to mention that LoC have one more interesting trait - theyre able to capture bases. And that's way before Gravships, which makes them one of the best units in the game (in the middle-game, at least).

LoD

[mark13]

Effectively, Locusts use the gravship chassis - check out the alphax.txt file and there they are. As such, they are the first 'gravship' unit you are able to get your hands on - although they aren't as powerful as regular gravships, they allow great mobility, whilst being relatively cheap.

[Sindai]

And of course, if you can manage to snag the Dream Twister, Neural Amp, and run Green (and Cybernetic when it's available) you can get a pretty high attack bonus out of that Planet rating....

The only big disadvantage to them is that the defense bonuses of AAA Tracking and Aerospace Complexes apply to units defending against them. So trying to take a base with multiple AAA defenders (particulerly with that ability that gives +50% def from psi) can be extremely costly.....

Of course, if they want to be that way, you can just kill all their formers and crawlers, then bomb all their terraforming to death and wait for the various low-resource affects to cripple them. It's a wonderfully eco-friendly way to fight.

[Myronides]

Return to the topic: I tryed to use a locustus as an air base in the senario editor (english version) and failed as well. But it would be weird if this could happen only in the german version. Did anyone else try to do it?

[LoD]

mark13: I suspected that, but never got myself to check this (too lazy ). Thanks for the info.

Sindai: I wouldn't use them for attacks - they are too expensive. Usually they should be the close-support of your drop garrisons - they can take over bases when normal drop operations are impeded (Aero Complexes and SAM/AAM units) or destroy air units in flight.

LoD

[LoD]

And for destroying formers and crawlers in the field, I would consider MtG sucide X-chopper strategy. Very low cost combined with very good effects.