Tactical value to speed?

Does having a high speed have any value in actual combat?

Speed has no bearing on the outcome once a battle has begun, though it is useful in that being faster lets you choose the timing of battles rather than being stranded and attacked at the AI's whims

Speed has no bearing on the outcome once a battle has begun, though it is useful in that being faster lets you choose the timing of battles rather than being stranded and attacked at the AI's whims

True, speed wins. One time I was able to distract a very strong fleet by staying ahead of them while my transports were on the way. It also allows you to quickly exploit holes in your opponents defense and quickly fill gaps in your defense.

Remember one thing - Speed wins games

Well, it depends. I think it rather exploit the AI's (occasional) stupidity than any true tactical holes...

Not in Dark Avatar... Dread Lords let ships stockpile engines cheaply, but Dark Avatar doesn't... an engine can take up a huge portion of your ship. Heck, most warships won't have an engine at all until late game! This makes the speed race ability as well as the engine tech bonuses very importance. A warship (minus engines) of a race with impulse drive researched will move at 2 pc/week. The same warship in the hands of a race with warp drive researched move's at 3.

Also, to answer the original question, Dark Avatar also allows speed to have a MASSIVE tactical advantage, given the first strike ability (Arceans, though custom races can also have it). With that ability, you can wipe out entire fleets without receiving return fire... but only if you make the first hit. If your speed is equal to your opponents, you're stuck waiting for them to move if you want to make first strike. If it's lesser, then you have to fly really defensively in order to lure enemy ships close enough. If it's greater though, you can get first strike almost every time. Needless to say, when first strike abilities are involved, ship speed is KING.

Speed has all sorts of Indirect tactical advantages. At least in 1.4, its = to the number of times you can attack per round(even though it shouldnt be), so a single ship with a good speed can move to a planet, and clear out the handfuls of weaker ships in non-fleet battles, and open up the planet for troop invasion in a single round. That means, as long as youre a step or two faster than that last killer fleet that threatening you, you could dart around it, take out its planets homeworlds, collapse the civillization and watch the fleet disappear the next turn without ever having to fight it.

Speed gives you options and flexibility.

as long as youre a step or two faster than that last killer fleet that threatening you, you could dart around it, take out its planets homeworlds, collapse the civillization and watch the fleet disappear the next turn without ever having to fight it.

Although speed is much less useful if you do not have very good sensor range. Doing as the above quote suggests could easily bring your ships into range of that other killer fleet you didn't know was there!

Agreed mystik and bingjack!

Speed is life in my play book, but then again in my play book Eyes of the Universe is a mandatory structure!

Although speed is much less useful if you do not have very good sensor range. Doing as the above quote suggests could easily bring your ships into range of that other killer fleet you didn't know was there!

Yeah, i just assumed everyone builds some sort of sensor ship network. I guess I shouldnt assume that, but its standard playbook for my games. If you dont, you definitely should. Theyre cheap, fast to build, and cost no maintenance if put on cargo hulls (at least I dont think so...I checked last game and it read as zero maintenance. And even if you only manage to illuminate your borders, and the theater of operations your warships are operating in, its a hard to quantify, but pronounced advantage..

Theyre cheap, fast to build, and cost no maintenance if put on cargo hulls (at least I dont think so...I checked last game and it read as zero maintenance.

Any unarmed ships are maintenance-free.

And even if you only manage to illuminate your borders, and the theater of operations your warships are operating in, its a hard to quantify, but pronounced advantage..

absolutely. That is why the ship speed random event messes everything up! Even with eyes of the universe, it is very difficult if not impossible to avoid enemy fleets, even if your ships are twice as fast!

Building the Gravity Accelerators is quite nice in DA. However, I almost always stick at least an Ion Drive on my warships. Going speed 3 vs. speed 2 is worth it in my book. I'll just shave off a weapon and get more Logistics.

Fair point, but what about the additional cost? Engines are fairly expensive.

Man, I forgot about the gravity accelerators. I gotta build those next time!

Ion Drive isn't that expensive. Impulse Drive is what kills you. It's kinda sad, too, you're putting expensive engines on ships you send off to battle and blow up.