Advice on protecting unarmed ships

[Atrocities]

"Advice on protecting unarmed ships?"

Simple, arm them.

[Ragnarok]

Originally posted by Atrocities:
"Advice on protecting unarmed ships?"

Simple, arm them.

Shoot the enemy before they shoot you.

[spoon]

Originally posted by Joe Cool:

(1) How can I ensure that the enemy won't go past my warships and kill it?

If you set the strategy to Do Not Get Hurt, this will thwart strategies that target Nearest first. Unless they blow up all your warships, in which case you were doomed anyway.

(2) How can I ensure that it will fire it's wormhole weapons should enemies come near?

If you set the strategy to Max Range, and Target Priority to Nearest, you will shoot at anyone who comes near. However, you now put your ship at risk by telling it to engage in combat. If you have a significant defensive fleet with your ship, I'd set it to Do Not Get Hurt. Otherwise, I'd use Max Range.

The tactics has primary orders and secondary orders. It would seem logical to use "don't get hurt" as primary orders (to cause it to move away from enemy fleets) and "max range" as secondary ordrs (to get it to fire on ships that do wind up near it (e.g., those that get beamed away after being pummeled). But, will this work?

You would think that would work, but, I think what would happen is your ship would always choose "Don't Get Hurt" since that is always a valid choice.

Also, make sure you set all your strategies to Break Formation so you don't have to follow what is set for your Fleet Strategies.

Finally, be sure to keep it cloaked. Sometimes wandering deathfleets don't have cloak detection.

[PvK]

You can combine "don't get hurt" with "target nearest".

Unfortunately, I think "don't get hurt" always means "break formation," and is always done by all unarmed ships anyway. If they have at least one weapon then you can put them in a fleet with escorts, and asign them a leader position in a formation that puts escorts in good position to stop assailants. The problem is then this formation will try to fight, rather than hiding out. However you can design escort ships with weapons and "don't get hurt" movement strategy, and hope they go to the same corners as the ships you want to protect.

Wormhole beams don't care what the target size is.

PvK

[Joe Cool]

If I have two fleets at the same location and they are attacked, will they fight together? If so, I could have a couple of escorts protect my valuable stellar manip ship (and NOT break formation so they stay with him) while another fleet is free to break formation and go on the offensive. Will this work?
And, if I have two fleets, one with mine sweepers, is there any way to make sure that the one with the sweepers sweeps, so the other isn't lost to mines?
Thanks!
Joe

[Loser]

Originally posted by Joe Cool:
... if I have two fleets, one with mine sweepers, is there any way to make sure that the one with the sweepers sweeps, so the other isn't lost to mines?

Yes. In sequential, send in the sweeping fleet first. In simultaineus, you need to make certain they arrive on the same 'day'.

[Joe Cool]

FYI, I ran some tests and it appears that if the sweepers arrive earlier in the turn than other fleets, the mines are swept and the fleets that follow that turn do not encounter them. This seemed to work if sweepers and other fleet start at the same location and sweepers are faster. It also seemed to work if the sweepers were equally fast, but started nearer the mine field. When the sweepers were equal in speed and equally distant, they did not sweep and the other fleet was damaged, at least on the few trials I tested.