Mines & Treaties

[Alneyan]

Even if the automatic techology trading worked, it wouldn't be that useful in such a circumstance. Do you expect an Empire whose score is eight time lower than yours (and which gives away almost half his research points) to be really productive as far as research is concerned?

And sure, these treaties can be rather weird. You are not in war, you are not "without" treaty (Unknown status), but you are not allies either. So I wouldn't be surprised if there were an oddity here and there.

[Vermithrax]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Non-Intercourse is the only treaty that does not protect you (and the other empire) from minefields. It means nothing, as ships still engage in combat. All it is for is for RP purposes with other humans, as it has no in-game effects (except some on happiness, same as with all treaties signed). Non-Aggression is the lowest treaty that actually means anything, and it means your empires will not engage in combat, period. It applies to minefields as well. You can not hit mines owned by an empire that you have a NA treaty with.

Thanks. That clears up the initial question. I still wonder why he impaled himself on my minefields at all on the way out. Did he break the treaty on his own and then retreat??? That seems like a very large blunder. (AI opponent Version 1.6 Gold).

[Fyron]

AIs make lots of blunders. Humans make for much more challenging opponents. Also, make sure to upgrade to the latest patch (1.84). There have been some improvements to the AI.

[Vermithrax]

Originally posted by Roanon:
Larger warheads give more explosive power to a minefield, but from a certain stage onwards no big fleet will travel without mine sweeper support, and they sweep the same number of units regardless of warhead size. So, basically, i consider large warheads as a waste of money.

Larger warheads certainly seem a waste, as they give no added benefit. Larger mines (200 or 300 kt)however, can double or triple the number of small warheads per sector. I think you are saying larger mines are also a waste, once sweeping is developed.

Thanks for your response

[Vermithrax]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
AIs make lots of blunders. Humans make for much more challenging opponents. Also, make sure to upgrade to the latest patch (1.84). There have been some improvements to the AI.

Its on the list

[Parasite]

Originally posted by Vermithrax:
Larger warheads certainly seem a waste, as they give no added benefit. Larger mines (200 or 300 kt)however, can double or triple the number of small warheads per sector. I think you are saying larger mines are also a waste, once sweeping is developed.
Thanks for your response

Larger warheads do not cost more, just the (little) research to get the tech. Always use larger warheads if available. Larger mines cost more, so are not effective because of sweepers as below. IMO Small Mines/Large Warheads. As per the DSGuide, make cheap small mines with only one warhead to get more mines out.

[Alneyan]

I wouldn't advise to actually improve the mines, as usually a hundred small mines is more than enough to do damage on the opponent. It means something like 20,000 damage points, and if your opponent sends in a fleet having more than 20,000 armor points, you should win no matter what. (Researching mines could be useful in the mods where they are other types of mines on the other hand)

I have myself one or two questions on minefields, after Loser pointed out something to me in our game. How are working cloaked minesweepers under the following circumstances?

1) Cloaked minesweepers are going into an unknown minefield. Do they sweep the mines, do they get destroyed or do they make their way through the minefield without trouble? And what about a known minefield?

2) What happened with a cloaked fleet including cloaked minefields? Same question as above.

Just in case, I should uncloak my minesweepers, but it may be difficult when you don't know where are the minefields.