Whats wrong with installing weapons and armour on a colony ship type hull?

from GalCiv2 Forums
Whats wrong with installing weapons and armour on a colony ship type hull? You can build it alot sooner than medium hulls
21,389 views 23 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well there's that slight issue of having just 1HP. ie, the first shot to get through kills you.

As long as you don't attack anything that can fight back after your first shot, you're ok. If anything shoots back, you're dead.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Yeah, Unless you WANT expensive deathtraps, don't. Even weapon countermeasures don't work, I've had ships with shields twice the enemies lasers get hit (extremely rarely, but it only needs to happen once)

Think of your enemies saying what the IRA said after trying to kill thatcher. "We only have to be lucky once, yet you have to be lucky every time"
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's an interesting idea, actually: a colony ship that can destroy competing colony ships. I mean, armor is useless, but 1 point of attack would it kill anything without armament: early AI scouts, constructors, etc. Although... probably still better to put that extra engine on it.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It might be possible to use cargo hulls with some weaponry and massive amounts of shielding as "damage magnets", depending on whether or not the AI takes armour into account when choosing what target to fire at. Sure, once a shot gets through the ship is dead, but by then your other ships in the fleet have gotten an extra turn or two of free shots at the enemy.

Might be worth checking if this works.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ships that have the most damage potential, yet are easist to kill, are targetted first. Fighters are probably best as the kind of decoy you're looking for. A cargo hull is simply -too- fragile and also takes up far too much in terms of logistics.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
the only time you want to use a cargo hull is when your building one of the following

Colonisers
Freighters
Troop transport
SWAC platforms to give you an early unit able to scan out to 10 sectors(or more with enough levels of miniturization) and is more portable than a starbase
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It's an interesting idea, actually: a colony ship that can destroy competing colony ships. I mean, armor is useless, but 1 point of attack would it kill anything without armament: early AI scouts, constructors, etc. Although... probably still better to put that extra engine on it


but then you're just wasting resources. build a scout w/ 1 laser instead, much cheaper. seriously though, how often are you killing other scout ships and colony ships? war is so rare that early in the game

you'd be wasting time and money building colony ships with armaments
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
A cargo hull with lots of sensors, lots of engines and the cheapest weapon you have can be good, use it to attack anything unarmed ie. unupgraded starbases, troopships, frieghters and if there are still unclaimed planets left colony ships.

Lots of engines and sensors allow you to spot targets destroy them and run away before facing any real combat vessels.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I often use very fast cargo ships with lots and lots of sensors as a early warning screen. Since they can see ahead I can pull them back and get what I need to the front line in time.

Early on in the game I use them for Survey ships. Although tiny ships are cheaper, the cargo ship can go faster and see farther. Even though It has 1 point, the regular scouts are dead anyway if they run into anything that wants to attack them.
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Mmmm I could understand having small medium hulled transport ships (once you have advanced troop module) or medium hulled freighters to give better defense but I don't think weaponry or defenses on cargo hulls is effective. I'd like to get some cargo hulls with up to 5 hp tho as that would be good.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ships that have the most damage potential, yet are easist to kill, are targetted first.


This isnt true the weakest ship in a fleet of 5 ships, had 11 hit points but the ai attacked my annihilator ship which had 35 hit points and had shields chaffs and armour.

Guess it was because they were fed up with it surviving all the battles.
Reply #12 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
This is a good way to fight Dreadlords. You can't survive being hit anyway so why bother with HP. Just put a ton of guns onto a cargo hull and hope to fire first.

What determines who fires first in battle? Is it the attacker? Is it the faster ship? If it's speed, you need good engines too.
Reply #13 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Im a HP whore so most games my cargo hulls have 2 hps hehehehe
Reply #15 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ships that have the most damage potential, yet are easist to kill, are targetted first.
Does the AI figure that by hit points or by defense? I think it might be by the Offense to Defense ratio. I'm not sure, anyone know for certain?
Reply #16 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Cargo hulls can make incredibly good, and relatively cheap, commerce raiders. The one HP doesn't matter when you spend all of your space on engines and one pop-gun. Sensors are a to taste kind of spice, but in general I find plunking a SWACs type hull in the area of operations, and using a few raiders is a handy way to cheaply kill off trade routes. If there's anything around that can threaten you, you can either out run it in retreat, or run circles around it.

As mentioned previously, a interesting tactic early is to arm a cargo hull with engines, and use it to explore... When meeting vulnerable colony ships, constructors, or starbases it can be very effective. Just one good mission and the thing will have paid for itself in spades. Especially with early mining stations and resources. Oh how especially they can work there.

To whom asked, he who initiates the attack, shoots first. Another important strategy. A 1 hp craft that shoots first, and destroys what it hits in one shot, wins.

Now, having said that, I don't normally use cargo hulls for warships. I rarely make them anything more than engines with a pop-gun... However. On one of the maps where I'm playing an influence or no war policy (or just to scared to go to war at that time), I will build a few cargo hulls that are max'd out with weapons... Enough to kill a station in one shot, send the ship over next to a space station I want gone (resource, influence in my territory), find an enemy of the owner, and give them the overgunned cargo hull. This usually gets rid of the station quickly enough, give me some diplomacy points, and I don't fear a 1 hp ship... Just have to remember to shoot first.

Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
(total attack value)/(total defense value + HP)

The ship with the highest value gets attacked first.
Reply #18 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
That is diabolical, Jester. I'll have to add it to my vocabulary.
Reply #19 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Bascialy useing a Cargo as a Mauler in the early game is way to random, since if you dont kill whatever it is that your shooting at your armed Cargo is going to be "Free XP" for the survivors. and while it may work for poping early unarmed SBs colonisers freighters and scouts, useing them in the early game is a bit tricky since you have to get some kind of gun to arm them and the early guns are just flat out bulky wich cuts into the speed and sensor budget.
Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top
Do colony ships get extra HP with XP like other ships for successful combat?
Reply #21 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Does that actually work Jester?

Influence starbases are a pain in the arse to deal with since you cant do anything about them yourself short of going to war. So does the other AI accept the ship and take out the starbase for you or is it a bit hit and miss? (excuse the pun)

I have given struggling AI some of my ships before to aid them in wars I dont want to see them lose but I never see them used in any way.
Reply #22 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I've used colony ships with several engines and sensors and one weapon as deep range trader/starbase killer. You need to be a careful about staying away from enemy patrols but it's very effective in the early game when you don't have medium hulls.
Reply #23 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Gmjapan-
The commerce raider is a mixed result. If you're playing a war game, or don't mind ticking off some races, it can be effective. Works best when combined with an early eyes of the universe. I'm not sure if the galactic guide book works well with it, as I haven't had a chance to experiment to see if getting the survey module for free gives the sensor boost with it.

As to the victory ship starbase killer, yeah it's one of my favorite dirty tactics when I play an influence game.