Ramming ships - swarming & organics

[Taera]

Just a general thread on ramming ships, anyone else noticed how useful they are? they're basicly "better" drones sometimes and a handful of organic ramming ships can wipe out a fleet.

Anyone ever used the strategy that the ship first fires a missile and then rams by itself effectively?

[Taz-in-Space]

Try an engine destroying weapon instead... should make catching them easier! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Taera]

engine destroying weapon costs a lot and requires sensors which also cost a lot. ramming ships should be cheap, i believe.

[ May 08, 2003, 07:16: Message edited by: Taera ]

[Taz-in-Space]

Good point. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Hey, just had a thought or two.(doesn't happen often enough so bear with me! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif )

Will emissive armor reduce the damage produced by a ram? If so that might be a useful addition.

Defense against a ram - will repellor beams be useful against a ramming ship? Can the AI use it properly in simul-games?

[Taera]

taz - ramming ships' damage is calculated in hundreds. an organic ram LC (my latest experience) can deal over 600 damage. 20 or so resisted will not help you.

repulsors - yes, thats a good point, but rammers should be swarming - so ships would be overrun, i guess. dunno though, its a valid point.

FEAR THE ORGANIC RAMMING BATTLESHIP lol i once tried it out in SP...its a killer one.

[Fyron]

Throw a shield generator on those OA ramming ships, so you can avoid being easily boarded or being disabled by one shot from an ID.

[ May 08, 2003, 09:12: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Loser]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Throw a shield generator on those OA ramming ships, so you can avoid being easily boarded or being disabled by one shot from an ID.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Won't the shields be gone the first time the ship rams?

Are you treating the ship as having done it's job, 600 point of damage is a hell of a job, after the first ram, and so unconcerned with what happens to it afterwards?

A ramming ship needs speed, does it not? Will not the high-end engines and solar sail make the ship expensive enough that you can no longer afford enough of them to 'swarm'? Is that cost insignificant compared with the cost of the ships they are destroying?

[Karibu]

Drones are best ramming devices. They are expensive to build but they require no upkeep. Well, only as much as drone carrier requires.

[Suicide Junkie]

Shields only help the defender.
The ramming ship will not use its shields during the attack.

The main point is to let the ship reach its target without being easily disabled. If the ship manages to survive the first attack, the shields will continue to protect the ship as it heads for the next target.

[Fyron]

Originally posted by Karibu:
Drones are best ramming devices. They are expensive to build but they require no upkeep. Well, only as much as drone carrier requires.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Except that they are one use only. Organic armored battleships can easily ram dozens of ships by themselves, and cost a huge amount less than an equal power of drones would cost (including maintenance of the ramming ship).

Another great part about the OA rammers is that if they enemy's strategies are set improperly, they can easily absorb a huge number of weapons being fired at them, thus protecting your more expsensive war ships.

[ May 08, 2003, 19:04: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[oleg]

But how could OA ramming ships be any good with latest patch ?
OA used to be much better before. If ramming destroys most of OA armor and there is no pre-generated points ... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

[ May 08, 2003, 19:09: Message edited by: oleg ]

[Q]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Karibu:
Drones are best ramming devices. They are expensive to build but they require no upkeep. Well, only as much as drone carrier requires.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Except that they are one use only. Organic armored battleships can easily ram dozens of ships by themselves, and cost a huge amount less than an equal power of drones would cost (including maintenance of the ramming ship).

Another great part about the OA rammers is that if they enemy's strategies are set improperly, they can easily absorb a huge number of weapons being fired at them, thus protecting your more expsensive war ships.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Fyron are you sure that a ship can ram more than once?? I tried this in the simulator and the attacking/ramming ship was always destroyed, even if it had much more hit points than the ship that was rammed.

[Fyron]

Yes. Ramming ships recieve damage from the target equal to 100% of the target ship's current hit points. I think shields do not count. Ramming big ships with little ones generally doesn't allow them to survive because the ramming ship recieves a huge amount of damage. Also, a warhead does damage to both ships, so they usually destroy the ramming ship in the process. But, OA rammers are not supposed to have warheads at all.

[ May 08, 2003, 20:09: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Q]

Oh now I see it. My ships had all cobalt warheads and therefore they were destroyed in every case. So it is better to avoid these warheads if you build larger ramming ships. Thank you for this information.

[Ruatha]

I recently got one of my scouts (Armed with one DUC1) rammed by a colony ship, both survived but where heavily damaged.

[Dralasite]

Can a ship ram more than once a turn? Also, in simultaneous combat, will a ship ram until its movement is gone?

[Rollo]

Originally posted by oleg:
But how could OA ramming ships be any good with latest patch ?
OA used to be much better before. If ramming destroys most of OA armor and there is no pre-generated points ... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif <font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">OA is still excellent for ramming. Even after the latest patch. The pre-generated points was a bug, OA is much better balanced now IMO.
If it is any indication, the United Flora doesn't seem to be hurting with the latest patch.

Rollo

[Rollo]

Originally posted by Dralasite:
Can a ship ram more than once a turn? Also, in simultaneous combat, will a ship ram until its movement is gone?<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In tactical, yes it can.
In strategic combat, the ram will end the move.

Rollo

[Taera]

here's a notice - if you have a OA ~BC ramming it can easily kill several ships. now if not all OA's are gone.... ALL AND EVERY OF THE OA WILL REGENERATE!!

remember this from one of the later fixes? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[PvK]

Ya, that was joyous for those using it, but silly and not so fun for everyone else. Hooray for the fix! OA rammers are plenty effective as they are now.

PvK