Combat

[zazu (OP)]

I just can't get my head wrapped around this.

I'm fighting some NPR who's ships I apparently can't target, ever.

How am I supposed to fight him if he can just destroy my ships?

This has happened on two occasions now, I'm using pre-designed ships so should I add something? Or activate something on my ships?

[Din182]

Did you turn on active sensors?

[ZimRathbone]

post the ship designs & we can see if there's a problem there

[zazu (OP)]

Did you turn on active sensors?

I think I did, let me check.. Yep, they are on

VT-49 class Battlecruiser    18,700 tons     2419 Crew     3812.6 BP      TCS 374  TH 2625  EM 0
7018 km/s     Armour 5-62     Shields 0-0     Sensors 16/16/0/0     Damage Control Rating 12     PPV 152
Maint Life 5.17 Years     MSP 1529    AFR 233%    IFR 3.2%    1YR 96    5YR 1434    Max Repair 288 MSP

Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E6 (21)    Power 125    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 125    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 48.1 billion km   (79 days at full power)

15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (38)    Range 180,000km     TS: 7018 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
CIWS-120 (2x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (2)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (12)     Total Power Output 120    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR103-R20 (1)     GPS 5760     Range 103.0m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR122-R64 (1)     GPS 12288     Range 122.9m km    Resolution 64
Thermal Sensor TH2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Spiral class Jump Destroyer    6,250 tons     611 Crew     1387.32 BP      TCS 125  TH 875  EM 0
7000 km/s    JR 4-100     Armour 2-30     Shields 0-0     Sensors 8/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 18
Maint Life 3.19 Years     MSP 555    AFR 78%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 82    5YR 1235    Max Repair 288 MSP
Magazine 248    

J6300(4-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 6300 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 4
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E6 (7)    Power 125    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 125    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 48.0 billion km   (79 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (1x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Size 3 Missile Launcher (6)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 20
Missile Fire Control FC103-R20 (1)     Range 103.0m km    Resolution 20
Rakshasa Anti-ship Missile (82)  Speed: 34,700 km/s   End: 48.9m    Range: 101.8m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 115 / 69 / 34

Active Search Sensor MR103-R20 (1)     GPS 5760     Range 103.0m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Aggressor class Jump Battlecruiser    18,900 tons     2182 Crew     4391.8 BP      TCS 378  TH 2500  EM 0
6613 km/s    JR 4-100     Armour 4-63     Shields 0-0     Sensors 16/16/0/0     Damage Control Rating 52     PPV 88
Maint Life 1.66 Years     MSP 1743    AFR 238%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 748    5YR 11223    Max Repair 1332 MSP

J18900(4-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 18900 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 4
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E6 (20)    Power 125    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 125    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres    Range 95.2 billion km   (166 days at full power)

15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (22)    Range 180,000km     TS: 6613 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
CIWS-120 (2x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (2)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (7)     Total Power Output 70    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR122-R64 (1)     GPS 12288     Range 122.9m km    Resolution 64
Thermal Sensor TH2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Delta class Heavy Cruiser    12,500 tons     1484 Crew     2695 BP      TCS 250  TH 1750  EM 0
7000 km/s     Armour 4-47     Shields 0-0     Sensors 16/16/0/0     Damage Control Rating 8     PPV 84
Maint Life 4.92 Years     MSP 1078    AFR 156%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 74    5YR 1106    Max Repair 288 MSP

Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E6 (14)    Power 125    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 125    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 60.0 billion km   (99 days at full power)

15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (21)    Range 180,000km     TS: 7000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
CIWS-120 (3x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (2)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (7)     Total Power Output 70    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR103-R20 (1)     GPS 5760     Range 103.0m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR153-R64 (1)     GPS 15360     Range 153.6m km    Resolution 64
Thermal Sensor TH2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-16 (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

There we go, those ships are in the TG engaging the hostiles.

[MattyD]

Other than the AMM you have the potential to start applying damage at 180,000km.

Your AMM can hit targets at 100,000,000km.

If the NPRs are firing missiles at you then you have no far reaching weapon to damage them.

All the other weapons (laser, gauss, rail, etc) are designed for really close in combat, missiles have the advantage of range but they are costly in terms of manufacture and supply - your laser batteries never run dry.



Were you able to target the incoming fire with your AMMs and when it was within 180,000km with your lasers?

[Charlie Beeler]

What active sensors are active?

What information do you have on the enemy ships? 

etc etc etc.  The more information you can provide the better chance that we can help.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

is it possible the npr is using lots of cloaking tech? Oo

[zazu (OP)]

What active sensors are active?

What information do you have on the enemy ships? 

etc etc etc.  The more information you can provide the better chance that we can help.

I just turned on "active sensors" so I'm not sure what ones are put on.

They have faster ships than me and are trying to pick up some lifepods it seems from a previous kill (a grav survey ship)

[zazu (OP)]

This is just way too complicated

Targeting, firing, etc

Can't wrap my head around it.

I tried several new games now, and everytime the NPR is a beast apparently.

[Hawkeye]

Ok, let´s try this step by step.

1. Your sensors are active (already done) and the enemy ships are in range (they show on the map with a size:

   "Boulder 001, TH 800, 6583 km/s, 6500t"

if there is no size (6500t), you don´t have them on active, only on passive.


2. They are in range for your firecons (only applies for missile firecon) and they show up on the "Assign contact as target" window, (Battle Control window (F8), lower left)


3. On that window: Select Firecontrol (uper left), select target (lower left), hit "Assign".
This firecon will now try to shoot at this target.


4. Assign Weapons to the selected firecon (middle left). If weapons are missile launchers, assign missiles to the launchers (center)


5. Repeat for other ships _or_ hit the Copy Target: "Class in TG" button (center right), if you want all ships of that class in the taskgroup to fire at the same target


6. Once you are done for all ships, hit the Current Fleet: "Open Fire" button (red one, lower right)


Your fleet should now start to shoot, or, if something is amiss, at least give you some messages about _why_ it is not shooting.

[Thiosk]

Don't get discouraged.  As soon as you get all these little things sorted in your brain, it just clicks.

[zazu (OP)]

Thanks Hawkeye, I got all that now but it says the enemies ECM is 40-50-60 and that my weapons can't lock on.

[Hawkeye]

Ok.
ECM reduces the range of your firecons by a percentage equal to the level of the ECM, i.e. ECM 50 will half your MFCs range, so your Jump Destroyer can not lock-on until at a range of 51.5 mkm. It also reduces the to-hit chance by that amount for beam firecons, i.e. your battlecruiser´s FC has a to-hit chance of 50% at 96.000 km, but with the enemy ECM of 50 it will not actually be able to hit at all at that range and have a to-hit chance of 50% only at 48.000 km, effectively halfing their range as well.

Note that the BCs firecon has a tracking speed of only 3000km/s, so if the enemy is moving faster, the to-hit chance is reduced again which might in turn reduce the effective range further (Hint: put a 2x or 3x speed firecon on that one)

[Person012345]

Don't get discouraged.  As soon as you get all these little things sorted in your brain, it just clicks.

This. In all of my practice games so far I've been to scared to delve into combat and managed to avoid meeting any NPC so there was no chance anyway. I decided to give the system a try in this game, creating multiple races on a planet. I started by having a small nuclear exchange between Russia and China. I made a number of mistakes in designing my first combat ships (forgot active sensors, didn't put power plants on the beam ships - the first corvette (which was developed by JAXA) had to be refitted twice to incorporate both those. I just named them the "stage I" "stage II" and "stage III" and RP'd that they were in a rush to get them built for show and added in essential systems later) but now I'm getting the hang of it and it's honestly fascinating. The 2 corvettes shot down a number of conventional ICBM's from China, but then fell to the powerful "size 21 drone". These were developed by the Chinese as fast, powerful weapons that could be launched from regular ICBM silos. They arrived at the corvettes within 5 seconds, the corvettes didn't even have a chance to target them let alone fire.

Playing around with the various weapons has been entertaining so far and I feel I understand how combat works now. I have some idea of how to design ships for combat and how to tell them to shoot things. You can learn a lot about combat by doing it in a controlled environment with a controlled opponent.

[zazu (OP)]

Don't get discouraged.  As soon as you get all these little things sorted in your brain, it just clicks.

Wow, and did it click~!!!

I got a fair bit closer to the enemy fleet and was able to hit them now, makes sense but I had no sense of distance until now I guess!

Now onto my other problems :z