Teraform DOWN to sink bases - practical?

[njw]

I had a nice idea to sink some enemy bases by teraform down-ing the sea next to them, using my 1-3-6 cruiser super formers (with some canon fodder around to draw the AI's fire). I was rather unhappy to discover when I got there that it would cost >1000 credits to do the teraform down, which isn't something I can afford... Is this idea "dead in the water" (sorry for the pun!)? Or am I just going about things slightly the wrong way? Is melting the ice caps the only practical way to sink enemy bases? Because I'd prefer if my own weren't sunk Hi, by the way, long time SMAX player, love the game so, so much, it's the only thing I play.

[CEO Aaron]

Of course it's not practical. First of all, unless you're Svensgaard, you want the land the base is sitting on. Besides the expense of sinking the surrounding tiles sufficiently to put the base underwater, you've also got to protect the formers doing it. I suppose if you bring in a massive fleet of formers you bring it off in a single turn, but that adds another layer of impracticality: That's something those formers aren't doing elsewhere. If you just want to obliterate a base, roll in the troops, break the defense, and hit 'B' to sack the base, or if you want something more spectacular, there's always the trusty planet-buster. But, in truth, you're better off just conquering the base, and if you really must re-locate the base, start crash-building colony pods.