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I asked ChatGPT for some suggestions, and it had a few reasonable ones:
False signal emitter
Countermeasure decoy
Anti-missile decoy
Missile bait
Defensive countermeasure
Defensive countermeasure drone
Interceptor decoy
I think missile decoy is better because to my understanding it doesn't actually do anything against any other kind of weapon system, unlike other kinds of decoys."Missile Decoy" is the name currently used for the decoys that are launched by missiles, which do work against all weapon systems.
I asked ChatGPT for some suggestions, and it had a few reasonable ones:
False signal emitter
Countermeasure decoy
Anti-missile decoy
Missile bait
Defensive countermeasure
Defensive countermeasure drone
Interceptor decoy
I agree with the above posts that Decoy Missile is a confusing name for ship decoys. Flare or chaff is probably a more straightforward name for its purpose.
Those both do very different things though, neither of which is being described. Signal Decoy or Ship Decoy would both work.
The Nixie is close to what is being described, but it is a towed device, Tactical Air Launched Decoys are probably the closest, so perhaps just Tactical Decoy would work.
What's being described is kind of like a flare, really. Or at least I'm visualizing it as a device you chuck out into space that blasts out a huge signature to try to make it look like the ship for a few seconds and then burns out. A bit more complex than just being hot to attract heatseekers, sure, but the same general principle.
In the Starfleet Battles boardgame similar countermeasures were called Wild Weasels, but that's apparently different to the real world Wild Weasel.
Size and Cost has to be high in order to avoid making ASMs economically non-viable. The decoy will significantly reduce the effectiveness of mass missile strikes, but I didn't want it to be a general tactic that made missile warfare much less effective overall, especially given one of the objectives of the current update is to improve missile warfare. That said, I might reduce it a little depending on playtest and there is scope to reduce launcher size without changing decoy missile size.
I am somewhat worried. Other changes to missiles were made to make larger missiles viable, now these decoys makes them less viable.
I hope hope that all the changes together will lead to more balanced decision making on missile usage and will not just make them obsolete again.
Well, if you're not moving, why would you need to be in formation? Why not just move the scout ships to where you want them and toggle off anchor fleet until you're underway again?
Help me determine if this is a bug or if it is working as intended, and if intended, how I might make effective use of it:
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This is a crude workaround as it creates empty populations that need to be cleaned up after engagements.