Building a simple army to conquer the planet NPR

[Entaro (OP)]

As an example it would take me one day to load a 25kt formation onto one of my transport using 4 levels of Cargo Handling... just to give you some estimations.

I can see somewhere in the game how long it will take to fully load my transport ship, as seen with the cargo ship?

[Jorgen_CAB]

As an example it would take me one day to load a 25kt formation onto one of my transport using 4 levels of Cargo Handling... just to give you some estimations.

I can see somewhere in the game how long it will take to fully load my transport ship, as seen with the cargo ship?

You will see how long it will take when you do the action... after that you can make a prediction... but since there are modifiers from logistics on the captain and then more for admin commands and it becomes a bit more complicated... but it should give you a general guideline for how long it will take.

From my example above I can guesstimate that it will take roughly 4 hours per 1000t with a level 1 Cargo Handling system... also note the your Spaceport or Cargo Handling Station also count as en extra Cargo Handling system if present. So a ship with Cargo Handling of 3 will count as 4 while on a Station, this is why many small cargo transport ships generally is marginally better for transfer than a single large ship, large ships obviously have other benefit. In general large cargo ships for long hauls and small ones for short trips is beneficial.

So... if a ship would load 20000 tons worth of troops it would take 4*20=80 hours to load the ship with a single Cargo Handling system at level 1, 40 hours if you are at a Space port since you simply divide the number of hours with the level of Cargo Handling system that you have, so at a total level of four that would be 20 hours.

You probably can test this yourself and find out if my calculations are correct. I also noted that the LOG admin command don't seem to pass on the Logistics if the admiral as the one I tested with had a 50% logistics bonus and if I moved the troop ship fleet to a command with no bonus it took the exact same time to load the troops... that is a bummer, probably a bug. I have not tested if it also is the same with cargo ships, but for troop ships it seems to not transfer anyway.

[Droll]

As an example it would take me one day to load a 25kt formation onto one of my transport using 4 levels of Cargo Handling... just to give you some estimations.

I can see somewhere in the game how long it will take to fully load my transport ship, as seen with the cargo ship?

You will see how long it will take when you do the action... after that you can make a prediction... but since there are modifiers from logistics on the captain and then more for admin commands and it becomes a bit more complicated... but it should give you a general guideline for how long it will take.

You don't need to make a prediction, the game tells you at the top the class design screen next to the ship build time. The load time is updated based on the no. of cargo shuttle bays you put on your ship. The only thing it doesn't account for is the presence of spaceports but suffice to say the enemy spaceport won't help when your unloading troops onto a hostile world.

Example: My 50kt capacity transport with shuttle rating of 60 displays a load time of "00:00:27" which is 27 minutes to load/unload 50kt of troops.

[Jorgen_CAB]

As an example it would take me one day to load a 25kt formation onto one of my transport using 4 levels of Cargo Handling... just to give you some estimations.

I can see somewhere in the game how long it will take to fully load my transport ship, as seen with the cargo ship?

You will see how long it will take when you do the action... after that you can make a prediction... but since there are modifiers from logistics on the captain and then more for admin commands and it becomes a bit more complicated... but it should give you a general guideline for how long it will take.

You don't need to make a prediction, the game tells you at the top the class design screen next to the ship build time. The load time is updated based on the no. of cargo shuttle bays you put on your ship. The only thing it doesn't account for is the presence of spaceports but suffice to say the enemy spaceport won't help when your unloading troops onto a hostile world.

Example: My 50kt capacity transport with shuttle rating of 60 displays a load time of "00:00:27" which is 27 minutes to load/unload 50kt of troops.

Yeah... that is right... I forgot that you see it there... good call.

How many Cargo Handling facilities do a ship have for 60 rating?!?  if it is the starting one that would be like 30.000 tons or 1200 BP for just the handling system... I assume this is a high tech system on that ship, the max tech you can get 60 for 3000t or 240BP so not too big of a deal I guess.

I also get 55min for 50kt troop capacity and 27min for 25kt troops (60 handling rate)... did you mean 25kt troops or am I doing something wrong?

[Droll]

As an example it would take me one day to load a 25kt formation onto one of my transport using 4 levels of Cargo Handling... just to give you some estimations.

I can see somewhere in the game how long it will take to fully load my transport ship, as seen with the cargo ship?

You will see how long it will take when you do the action... after that you can make a prediction... but since there are modifiers from logistics on the captain and then more for admin commands and it becomes a bit more complicated... but it should give you a general guideline for how long it will take.

You don't need to make a prediction, the game tells you at the top the class design screen next to the ship build time. The load time is updated based on the no. of cargo shuttle bays you put on your ship. The only thing it doesn't account for is the presence of spaceports but suffice to say the enemy spaceport won't help when your unloading troops onto a hostile world.

Example: My 50kt capacity transport with shuttle rating of 60 displays a load time of "00:00:27" which is 27 minutes to load/unload 50kt of troops.

Yeah... that is right... I forgot that you see it there... good call.

How many Cargo Handling facilities do a ship have for 60 rating?!?  if it is the starting one that would be like 30.000 tons or 1200 BP for just the handling system... I assume this is a high tech system on that ship, the max tech you can get 60 for 3000t or 240BP so not too big of a deal I guess.

I also get 55min for 50kt troop capacity and 27min for 25kt troops (60 handling rate)... did you mean 25kt troops or am I doing something wrong?

The example ship I gave has 6 cargo shuttle bays so I get 10 rating each which is max tech. I have no idea why there is a discrepancy been your and my load times though I'm literally looking at the game as I write this and it very clearly says 27 minutes to load 50kt of troops. I have a drop capable transport with 50kt capacity but 30 cargo handling and that takes 55 minutes though.

[Jorgen_CAB]

As an example it would take me one day to load a 25kt formation onto one of my transport using 4 levels of Cargo Handling... just to give you some estimations.

I can see somewhere in the game how long it will take to fully load my transport ship, as seen with the cargo ship?

You will see how long it will take when you do the action... after that you can make a prediction... but since there are modifiers from logistics on the captain and then more for admin commands and it becomes a bit more complicated... but it should give you a general guideline for how long it will take.

You don't need to make a prediction, the game tells you at the top the class design screen next to the ship build time. The load time is updated based on the no. of cargo shuttle bays you put on your ship. The only thing it doesn't account for is the presence of spaceports but suffice to say the enemy spaceport won't help when your unloading troops onto a hostile world.

Example: My 50kt capacity transport with shuttle rating of 60 displays a load time of "00:00:27" which is 27 minutes to load/unload 50kt of troops.

Yeah... that is right... I forgot that you see it there... good call.

How many Cargo Handling facilities do a ship have for 60 rating?!?  if it is the starting one that would be like 30.000 tons or 1200 BP for just the handling system... I assume this is a high tech system on that ship, the max tech you can get 60 for 3000t or 240BP so not too big of a deal I guess.

I also get 55min for 50kt troop capacity and 27min for 25kt troops (60 handling rate)... did you mean 25kt troops or am I doing something wrong?

The example ship I gave has 6 cargo shuttle bays so I get 10 rating each which is max tech. I have no idea why there is a discrepancy been your and my load times though I'm literally looking at the game as I write this and it very clearly says 27 minutes to load 50kt of troops. I have a drop capable transport with 50kt capacity but 30 cargo handling and that takes 55 minutes though.

That is odd... I only get the Advanced Cargo Handling system at level 5 as max tech at 40kRP and with 60 handling levels I seem to not get the same as you... what version are you running. I'm at 1.13 currently when I tried this?

[nuclearslurpee]

That is odd... I only get the Advanced Cargo Handling system at level 5 as max tech at 40kRP and with 60 handling levels I seem to not get the same as you... what version are you running. I'm at 1.13 currently when I tried this?

Sounds like DB modding?

[Jorgen_CAB]

That is odd... I only get the Advanced Cargo Handling system at level 5 as max tech at 40kRP and with 60 handling levels I seem to not get the same as you... what version are you running. I'm at 1.13 currently when I tried this?

Sounds like DB modding?

I just downloaded a fresh DB just to be sure... and it is the same. I have modded the DB but not that part. The fresh DB is the same. Max tech is 40kRP and 27min for 60 handling for 25k troop capacity. Max tech cargo handling is 5 in this game too.

[nuclearslurpee]

I meant DB modding on Droll's part. I'm sure I remember both of you do a lot of DB modding especially for techs and components.

[Entaro (OP)]

4 divisions have already been created ... out of the probably needed 100
How much benefit will I get from conquering the enemy world, compared to destroying it?

1. Do I understand correctly that if I conquer the enemy world without bombing, then all (or almost all) of the population, industry and shipyards will go to me?
2. Can I somehow effectively estimate the number of enemy troops on the planet before the landing?
3. If I have a certain (sufficiently large) number of destroyers armed, for example, with railguns - how effectively will they be able to reduce the size of the army required for a successful invasion?
And how badly will the built on the planet suffer?
4. What happens to NPR after the conquest of all of its planets? Will commercial ships remain flying in space forever (until someone else destroys them)?

P.S. WIKI C# :
"Each component of the forward direction of fire (FFD) in the formation allows you to support from one ship in orbit or up to six ground support fighters."

I understand correctly that I need to add these components to my divisions if I want my divisions to allow ships in orbit of the planet to participate in orbital support for troops?

[ZimRathbone]

4 divisions have already been created ... out of the probably needed 100
How much benefit will I get from conquering the enemy world, compared to destroying it?

1. Do I understand correctly that if I conquer the enemy world without bombing, then all (or almost all) of the population, industry and shipyards will go to me?

 The conquest process will likely cause substantial losses due to collateral damage - more so if you have a lot of artillery or orbital support, but whatever is left after conquest will be under your control

2. Can I somehow effectively estimate the number of enemy troops on the planet before the landing?

Sensors will give an estimate of the size in tons of ground troops present, multiply this by 6 as most will be fortified to the maximum extent possible.  You dont get any info on the types and capabilities of the defenders until combat actually starts and initially this can have a large error margin (it gets better as combat continues)

3. If I have a certain (sufficiently large) number of destroyers armed, for example, with railguns - how effectively will they be able to reduce the size of the army required for a successful invasion?
And how badly will the built on the planet suffer?

Poorly and badly.  Chances to hit Defending units from orbit are usually in the (low) single figure %age,  and collateral damage and dust/radiation impacts build up quite quickly

4. What happens to NPR after the conquest of all of its planets? Will commercial ships remain flying in space forever (until someone else destroys them)?

The race record remain in the database, but all CIV units will surrender & return to homeworld.  MIL units can continue to operate for a time.  I have often seem that there can be small colonies in other systems which prevent final surrender tho

[Entaro (OP)]

While I am here discussing how I will conduct conquests, I was suddenly attacked, despite the fact that I am not yet ready for war at all.
My distant colony from 250 automatic mines rained fire from a variety of energy weapons.

The worst thing about this is that it turns out that those 50 ships in their home system, with a tonnage of 22 thousand tons, turned out to be military.
If they now arrive with their entire fleet, I will not be able to defend myself. And I built a big network of jump gates, so it's not difficult for them.

The only positive result is that I got some intelligence on their energy weapons.
Until now, I do not have a single ship with large active sensors. just researched them and start building ... The intrigue is growing!

[Entaro (OP)]

Something clearly went wrong with me.
I destroyed most of the enemy fleet, and decided to start conquering the enemy planet. I deployed my entire fleet near the planet, discovered 12,500 tons of STO. After checking that if I get closer to the planet, huge firepower will fall on me, I began to fire at these STO missiles.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the effectiveness of this shelling is extremely low!
I spent all my missiles - in total over 1000 missiles with warheads 16 and 25, and achieved the fact that STO decreased from only 12,500 tons to 7800 tons. Having tried to approach the planet again, I was again very powerfully attacked, and also discovered another 5000 tons of STO.

At the same time, judging by the change in the electromagnetic readings of the planet, a third of the enemy population was destroyed. Those. even if I destroy all STOs in this way, most of the population and industry will also be destroyed ...

Is there some other way to conquer the planet, without spending thousands of rockets, and destroying most of the population and industry?

[nuclearslurpee]

Beam weapons.

I guess you could also try to use very heavily armored drop-capable transports to land a lot of ground forces and have them eventually kill the STOs, but this is kind of risky especially if you will need multiple drop waves and will likely lose some transports in following waves.

[Entaro (OP)]

Beam weapons.

I guess you could also try to use very heavily armored drop-capable transports to land a lot of ground forces and have them eventually kill the STOs, but this is kind of risky especially if you will need multiple drop waves and will likely lose some transports in following waves.

And how much is needed for this purpose?
I read Wikipedia, and I realized that an attack from orbit of these STOs is still quite ineffective, and leading to large accompanying casualties. I believe the only correct option would be to create powerful armored transports with the ability to immediately drop.

In fact, the situation is quite realistic: it is much easier to create a powerful weapon on the planet than on a spaceship, and on the planet it can be hidden and distributed in such a way that it cannot be quickly destroyed.
But maybe there are some other ways?

It is a pity that I have no fighters, one could try to assign them a special mission.