Crawlers - movement efficiency

[BlackCat]

Maybe this is common knowledge and I just yet another time reveals I'm a noob, but it had always annoyed me that moving a crawler to another tile without roads, then you lost the deliverance from it for a round.

Accidentally I right clicked such a moved unit, and was asked what I wanted to crawl !!!

That means it's possible to spread crawlers across forested areas without roads without production loss - or for that matter sea crawlers going long streches and still keep up production.

Let this thread sink like a stone in muddy waters as it deserves if I'm stating obvious knowledge, and yes, I'm a bit drunk for the moment

[BlackCat]

Just noticed - if another crawler is on same tile as a such and have it's movements exhausted, then you have to activate it through the home base unit box to get it crawl.

[Maniac]

You can also click on the tile, and select the crawler in the box that appears IIRC.

[BlackCat]

I think I tried that, but when there are two (and probably more) already moved units on a tile you doesn't get the possibility to select the order menu - you just get the message that the unit is already moved.

Admitted, 1 and a half bottle of red wine probably doesn't make me a sane witness

[Mart]

Try right click the tile, select A (activate units here)
then you get a window (or dialog box) asking which unit, as shown in the picture. You may select a unit you want from the list, also that without move points.

[Xian]

I use this technique all the time when im sending out tens to hundreds of crawlers through my mainland areas. You get a couple extra energy units pers turn this way, especially if you move them forward in a "chain" one after the other

[CEO Aaron]

Yep, it's a known trick, not really an exploit, per se, since anyone can do it with more or less equal results. I use this one all the time, but using it presupposes that you've got a good square to crawl en-route.

[N35t0r]

I'm lazy, I give the crawlers drop pods.

[Flubber]

Originally posted by N35t0r
I'm lazy, I give the crawlers drop pods.

There's a player with minerals to spare!!

I actually find that it gets to be routine to create the harvesting points on the trip. It soon becomes second nature.

[Leon Trotsky]

Originally posted by Flubber

Originally posted by N35t0r
I'm lazy, I give the crawlers drop pods.

There's a player with minerals to spare!!

That would be an interesting exercise; under which conditions (enough multipliers, rich enough tile) would that be actually profitable?

[N35t0r]

Heh, well I usually don't set up vast crawler parks till late in the game, and by then it's either spend the money and minerals buying units to kill the AI, which is boring and takes lots of time, or spend them setting up crawler parks. And cheap crawlers would only mean my energy / mineral output grows even larger

besides, when it's time to cash them in, I've got to move less crawlers back to bases...

[Darrell01]

supply crawlers

Supply crawlers are one of the game winners for me. Yes, I do activate crawlers en-route to thier home harvest area. Also, for factions with -efficiency, crawlers become the energy lifeline. Even in you had -4 efficiency, all you would have to do is build enough crawlers and home them at the Headquarters and start bringing in the energy. This is really important with the Hive. Usually, I'll immediately ramp up all bases to 15 mineral production till I can get some ecology going. Also, if I have some rainy flatlands, I can just stick a crawler on it and forget the 1 or 2 energy and make a specialist. Leon mentioned a population based faction, and this would work wonders. Formers and supply crawlers make for an intellectual population that only have to defend themselves, claim more territory, and make any "border adjustments" they may deem necessary.

Also you may know that you can move a Supply Crawler into a city that is producing a prototype or wonder and add onto it, much like the caravans and freight in other Civs. Also, if supply crawlers are disbanded in a base, the full crawler production cost goes into whatever's in production. Knowing this, you know you can exploit Planned, Wealth, Power and Eudamonia on the SocEng Table. If you are running under Wealth, Planned, and/or Eudaimonia, change it to not Planned, Power if you can, and not Eudaimonia before you disband the crawler, or really any units you are going to disband. The basic crawler is [3 x (10 - 0)] 30 minerals. Under Planned, Wealth and Eudaimonia, its down to [3 x (10 - 1 - 1 - 2)] 18 minerals. Under Power, its [3 x(10+2)] 36 minerals, *doubling* the minerals put to production! And if you have your Trained Empath Chaos-Silksteel Shock Troops because you don't have fusion power yet, you get further rewarded for building the supply crawers first because while they are waiting to disband, they are harvesting nutrients/minerals/energy.

"But Darrell01, what if in the end game you are producing 40 minerals out of a city? Or even if I do run Eudamonia, Wealth and Planned, I have cities producing 22 minerals! I'll be losing those extra 4 minerals every time I make a crawler!"
Do not worry. That's what deep radar, armor, and roving supply crawlers are for. Just simply upgrade your crawler production to whatever is just above your production so you can crank out 1 a turn.

If you are feeling really dirty, you can stick some armor on those bad boys and put them in other faction's cities, harvesting thier resources. Especially if all you have is an informal truce. Kick them off and harvest away. Talk to the hand!

I've also just heard about One City Completion. Supply Crawlers are just the thing for this type of map. Crawlers and clean reactors for everything else, anyway. Once your food problems are maxxed, you can stagger solar panels and Eschelon Mirrors everywhere and even throw in drilled aquifers. Every single square... It would be a Planetary Energy Transit System...

[Chaos Theory]

Re: supply crawlers

Originally posted by Darrell01
If you are running under Wealth, Planned, and/or Eudaimonia, change it to not Planned, Power if you can, and not Eudaimonia before you disband the crawler, or really any units you are going to disband. The basic crawler is [3 x (10 - 0)] 30 minerals. Under Planned, Wealth and Eudaimonia, its down to [3 x (10 - 1 - 1 - 2)] 18 minerals. Under Power, its [3 x(10+2)] 36 minerals, *doubling* the minerals put to production!

If you switch back and forth in the same turn, this is considered an exploit that's banned in multiplayer games. Also, this simply won't work in TCP/IP games - minerals accumulated towards the current build are adjusted when you change your Industry rating.

"But Darrell01, what if in the end game you are producing 40 minerals out of a city? Or even if I do run Eudamonia, Wealth and Planned, I have cities producing 22 minerals! I'll be losing those extra 4 minerals every time I make a crawler!"
Do not worry. That's what deep radar, armor, and roving supply crawlers are for. Just simply upgrade your crawler production to whatever is just above your production so you can crank out 1 a turn.

Once you discover Fusion, every crawler should be on a rover chassis, since a rover fusion crawler only costs three mineral rows, and upgrades much more efficiently than an infantry crawler. If you really have too many minerals, though, go conquer someone.

[Leon Trotsky]

Re: supply crawlers

Originally posted by Darrell01
Even in you had -4 efficiency, all you would have to do is build enough crawlers and home them at the Headquarters and start bringing in the energy.

Methinks it doesn't need to be the Headquarters, as crawler energy ignores inefficiency. Of course, you might be trying to construct a Super Science City, in which case you may well ignore my comment.

[Darrell01]

Wow, crawler energy ignores inefficiency? Well I'll be a monkey's uncle.