AI should put weapons on Freighters

AI's trick against us

from GalCiv2 Forums
I guess many of us noticed it during their game: the AI sure loves to build freighters, and send them everywhere. And we sure love to build isolated small-quick-ships to hunt them down and destroy them. (Sometime, we don't even bother to build small-quick-ships, we simply used outdated ones).

However, if the AI would put some weapons on these freighters, we would certainly have problems. Since they removed First-Strike rule, a freighter would have the opportunity to fire at least once on it's attacking vessel. And I sure know that after some time, my "freighter-hunt" would be somewhat... in trouble. I would either have to put serious battleships on the task (and off the line), of accept to loose my outdated ships.

Which would be a good AI's strategy, compared to the actual's behavior to send sitting ducks everywhere in the galaxy, so that everyone can take a free shot at them.
4,875 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
After the freighter arrives at its destination, would the freighter sent out on the new trade route still have weapons? Have you tried this yourself?
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I just buy their freighters, and then either use them to form my own trade routes, or upgrade them for an instant fleet of constructors.

It's especially bad when you're next to an AI that's trapped in a corner; when that happens, you're the only other race they even know about for a long time, and you end up with all of their freighters sitting around your homeworld doing nothing. I've had both the Arceans and the Korx do that to me.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Mascrinthus, not the freighters of established trade routes, but the "true" freighter. The one that can move quite fast, and establishes trade routes. The mini-freighters are defenseless, whatever you do to them
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The mini-freighters are defenseless, whatever you do to them


Dang, and here I thought I was stumbling upon some unforseen feature of the game.

It would be rather cool if those freighters inherited weapons while on their trade routes. Would give you an alternate option to protecting trade.
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Actually, it would rather cool to have a module representing "space police" (ships that has a % of chance taking the blow instead of the mini-freighter), you could assign those ships to a trade route, making your precious $ safe