Terraformer

[ExChairman (OP)]

I like large ships So I always have large terraformers, usually 10 terraforming units on each ship. A lot easier to move around but what do other players do, small terraformer 1 or 2 units or only grounded installations...
This is my standard workhorse of changing planets to habitably worlds.

Brazwell class Terraformer    28 800 tons     146 Crew     830.15 BP      TCS 576  TH 400  EM 0
694 km/s     Armour 1-83     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 18    Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Spare Berths 3   
Terraformer: 1 module(s) producing 0.002 atm per annum

200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (2)    Power 200    Fuel Use 9.28%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres    Range 6.7 billion km   (112 days at full power)

CIWS-320 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 32000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit


Compared to my new one .

Brazwell MkX - class Terraformer    296 150 tons     1286 Crew     11264.95 BP      TCS 5923  TH 4000  EM 0
675 km/s     Armour 10-395     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 24    Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months    Spare Berths 0   
Terraformer: 10 module(s) producing 0.025 atm per annum

200 EP Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (20)    Power 200    Fuel Use 9.28%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1 100 000 Litres    Range 7.2 billion km   (123 days at full power)

CIWS-320 (3x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 32000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit


The large one is more expensive to build but a bit less in manpower... Also i need to enlarge my shipyard to build, this cost money and metals and so on...
How do you others do?

[alex_brunius]

I like large ships So I always have large terraformers, usually 10 terraforming units on each ship. A lot easier to move around but what do other players do, small terraformer 1 or 2 units or only grounded installations...

I think a popular choice is to skip the engines and just build terraforming platforms that tugs haul into position and park in orbit for the many years that terraforming takes. That way the tug can be used for a whole lot of other stuff in the mean time.

It's a shame to have 20 fine engines just doing nothing for such a long time.

I would also probably not bother defending stationary stuff hanging around my home planets with CIWS or armor. Id prefer separate ships or installations that can protect the colony as well.

Since terraforming modules cost 500 BP each this means more then half of your ships build cost goes to CIWS/armor/engines.

[MarcAFK]

I generally build larger formers as my yards expand, but I do put CIWS onto my commercial shipping at some point when NPR aggression stars heating up, if they're expected yo be used in systems the enemy will show up in.

[alex_brunius]

I generally build larger formers as my yards expand, but I do put CIWS onto my commercial shipping at some point when NPR aggression stars heating up, if they're expected yo be used in systems the enemy will show up in.

Same here, but I tend to not put major colonies that needs terraforming where I expect the enemy to be showing up

[Brian Neumann]

I generally build larger formers as my yards expand, but I do put CIWS onto my commercial shipping at some point when NPR aggression stars heating up, if they're expected yo be used in systems the enemy will show up in.

I generally put 3-5 terraformers into a single ship.  Give it one engine (50hs commercial) a couple of points of armor and a couple of ciws.  I have put these in several systems where there might be combat and they have survived for the most part.  The light armor and ciws make small missile salvo's fairly ineffective.  So a couple of lac's or destroyers don't do any real damage.  Then I have time to get a tug to the terraformer and pull it out of danger.

Brian

[MarcAFK]

I like playing recklessly, a few lost terra formers and colonies, some total routs , a Pyrrhic victory or 2, is a small price to pay for dangerous unchecked expansion, Afterall, when has society ever been careful about expansion, or stepping on the natives, or other empires toes?

[3_14159]

You can, instead of building such large ships as, well, ships build them as orbital habitats. Slap a single orbital habitat on them, and planetary industry can build them, meaning that you can basically ignore tonnage. Sure, your 250kton terraformer might now be 500kton - but aside from a small increase in cost, there is no difference. That's usually what I do, build massive terraformer (and fuel harvester) platforms, with the terraformers usually something between half and a million tons heavy.

Additionally, I put engines on all of them. Sure, they cost something, but at least I don't have to juggle tugs around. And I can use only a few engines. Usually, I am aiming at about 100km/s for the terraformers. They're slow, but as they will stay stationary for five to ten years anyway, it doesn't really matter whether they're underway for one month or six.

[MarcAFK]

Hmm, it seems you need such a terra former to be near a million tons to be cost effective, that orbital habitat may only cost 200 build points, but the armour for 250 of ship costs over 350 BP, but the armour cost for extra tonnage goes down as your ship increases in size, anyway, terraforming modules cost way more per ton than that one orbital habitat does. My test design at tech tier 1 was about a million tons, went 200km/s with nuclear thermal, had 6 billion kilometer range with 2.5 million litres fuel(360 days travel ), 2 armour layers, 6 CIWS, 1 habitat, cryogenic storage for 50k colonists, and most importantly 25 terraforming modules which could fully terraform an atmosphere less world in 40 years. Total cost was 17k build points, not too bad, can complete it in 3.5 years with starting factories and production tech. Not something I had thought if before, but seems very effective.