Battle Tactics

[Bigjoe5]

This thread is to discuss the battle tactics which will be possible in FreeOrion. This should serve the purpose of helping define specific content such as hulls and parts, as well as what information needs to be displayed and what commands should be available to the player via the combat UI. In addition, it should provide insight into the progression and balance of various weapon types and ship parts throughout the game.

To make it easier to follow, all tactical scenarios follow a basic format. Red is the main player, who will use the described tactics to outsmart his opponents. Green will be the main enemy. If there are third or fourth empires present, they can be called Blue or Yellow, respectively. If you need more than that, use your imagination.

For clarity when describing particularly sneaky stealth tactics, the stealthy empire will be referred to as Black, whether he is outsmarting the Green empire, or being foiled by the Red empire.

Any unique ship parts or commands which are required for this tactic to be viable should be listed beforehand, and all relevant details of the combat scenario should be described before any of the action is described.

I’ve separated tactics into three broad categories: basic, advanced and master. Basic tactics are those that everyone should know, and which might even include tactics which are so simple-yet-micro that they will simply be abstracted into ship movement itself. Advanced tactics obviously more advanced than basic tactics, and can give an advantage in a seemingly disadvantageous situation. Master tactics are those which are extremely useful and unexpected, and will often get the player out of a devastating tactical disadvantage, provide him with an unusually large strategic advantage, or both.

This thread is for posting your own battle tactics as well as discussing previously posted battle tactics.


Basic Tactics

1. Missiles: Red-Shift vs. Blue-Shift

The player can change the frequency at which missiles are coming at him by changing his velocity relative to the LR ship which is firing at him, and vice versa.

Green has several LR ships, but Red does not have enough PD to shoot them down before they reach his SR. Red moves his forces backwards so that the frequency of the missiles decreases (red-shift) and his PD has time to shoot them all down. Conversely, if Red has more than enough PD to shoot down the missiles, he can move towards the missiles, and still shoot them all down even though they will be coming at him more frequently (blue-shift), thus allowing his SR to move in and attack enemy ships.

Now, if Red has the LR ships, and Green has sufficient PD to defend, Red can blue-shift his missiles by moving his LR ships towards Green. Alternatively, he could instead red-shift his missiles by moving away, allowing Green to blue-shift in while still destroying all of Red’s missiles, which is potentially useful for luring Green into a trap.

2. Tactical Formations: Point-Defense Placement

The player can gain a tactical advantage by placing his PD ships further forward, or further back depending on the magnitude of enemy missile attacks, and the hit points of the missiles themselves.

Red has some SR ships which he is protecting from Green LR with some PD ships. Green SR is between Red SR/PD and Green LR.

If Green LR is firing only a small number of missiles, each of which Red PD can destroy with a single hit, it is most advantageous for Red PD to be positioned behind Red SR. Red PD will only have time for a single shot on each missile, between the time it comes into its range and the time it hits Red SR, but that’s all it will need to protect Red SR successfully. Red SR can safely approach and attack Green SR without being in danger from Green LR, and Red PD can stay safely behind Red SR without being in danger from Green SR. This will require blue-shifting towards the missiles though, so Red PD may have to move a bit closer to Red SR to fully protect them.

If Green LR is firing many missiles, each of which Red PD can destroy in a single hit, it is most advantageous for Red PD to start in front of Red SR, then red-shift backwards so that it can destroy as many of the initial volley as possible. After that, it can stay behind Red SR, just close enough that it’s using up all of its shots, and therefore still destroying as many missiles as possible. Red SR will take a few hits on its approach to attack Green SR, but Red PD will still be protected by being behind Red SR. Alternatively, it might be more beneficial for Red’s entire formation to red-shift backwards, so that he can destroy more of Green’s missiles.

If Green LR is firing only a small number of heavily armoured missiles, which will require multiple hits from Red PD, Red PD needs to be positioned far enough up that it can get multiple hits on each missile between the point at which it comes into Red PD’s range and the point at which it impacts Red SR. This will make Red PD vulnerable to Green SR when Red SR moves in for its attack, particularly since the blue-shift means that Red PD will have to be even further forward to destroy each missile. Red SR however, is in no danger from Green LR unless Green SR destroys Red PD.

If Green LR is firing many heavily armoured missiles, Red PD will undoubtedly need to be positioned in front of Red SR, and red-shift backwards to destroy as many of the initial volley as possible. After that, it will need to stay beside Red SR instead of behind, so that it can still destroy as many missiles as possible, without wasting shots on missiles which it won’t fully be able to destroy before they impact Red SR. It will be very difficult for Red to approach Green SR, since Red SR will be taking damage from enemy LR and Red PD will be completely vulnerable to Green SR. Depending on the strength of his forces, his best option may be to red-shift backwards until he reaches a starlane exit, then escape combat, or to charge Green SR immediately, accepting that some of his SR and PD will be destroyed, or to keep red-shifting around the system until Green LR runs out of ammo, then counter-attack.

3. Tactical Formations: Long-Range Placement

The player can gain a tactical advantage by placing his LR units behind his SR and PD units, or alongside them, depending on the relative attack power and defensive strength of enemy PD and SR.

If Red LR is in the front lines with Red SR and PD, he will have the first-strike advantage against Green, since his LR weaponry will be in range sooner. This is not advantageous however, if Green has heavy PD support, and will be able to shoot down enough missiles that his SR will avoid taking heavy damage. In such a situation, Green would begin to red-shift Red's missiles by moving away before the two sides were in SR range, so that PD could more easily destroy the missiles. This would potentially end up being just a waste of ammo. If Red LR is stationed behind Red SR and PD, it will begin firing on Green only when the two sides are actually engaged in combat, and it will blue-shift its missiles by moving in on the combat. Because Red SR is already in range of Green SR, Green PD cannot defend Green SR from the Red missiles without getting in range of Red SR and being destroyed, which will leave Green SR vulnerable to the missiles, and the remaining PD will not be able to shoot down the missiles as effectively due to the blue-shift. If Green does not have very much PD however, these tactics are ineffective, and putting LR in the back will only lead to unnecessary losses for Red SR at the hands of Green SR.

The more Green SR the Red LR could destroy with a first-strike, and the more important it is that Green SR be cut down immediately, the better it is to have Red LR up alongside Red SR and PD. Factors which make it better to put LR in the front lines include:

- Green has minimal PD support
- Green has heavily armed SR
- Green has lightly armoured SR
- Green has many SR ships

Factors which make it better to put LR in the back include:

- Green has heavy PD support
- Green has lightly armed, but heavily armoured SR
- Green has minimal SR forces
- Red is out of fleet supply range and does not want to waste ammo

The player must weigh these factors and make a decision about where to place his LR ships for maximum tactical effectiveness.

4. Tactical Formations: Carrier Placement

Balancing Requirements: Fighter Speed

The player can gain a tactical advantage by placing C units near to where their FI are deployed, or further away, depending on the magnitude of enemy forces which are dangerous to the C relative to the magnitude of enemy forces which are dangerous to the FI.

If Red C units are in the front lines, they will be vulnerable to Green SR and LR, but Red FI will be able to easily return to them if they run into trouble with Green PD or Interceptors. The tactical validity of Red placing C ships further up is increased if:

- Green has large amounts of very fast PD units which can chase down Red FI
- Green has large amounts of Interceptors, which can chase down Red Bombers
- Green SR is very busy with other targets, and can't afford to wast shots on the Red C, which have lower tactical value once they have launched their FI

The tactical validity of Red placing C ships further back is increased if:

- Green has very few units would would be able to chase down and destroy Red FI
- Red has low amounts of PD and SR, freeing Green SR and Bombers to attack the Red C if they are in range
- Red is within fleet supply range and would be able to replace lost FI

Weighing these factors, the player must decide whether to place his C further up, where they can easily retrieve their FI, or further back, where they will be out of range of enemy attack.

5. Missiles: Wide Formation Exploit

The player can gain a tactical advantage by drawing enemy PD ships away from a particular group of ships, and then focusing LR fire on that group.

Red and Green are in conflict, and Green is using a fairly wide formation. Red LR concentrates its fire on one end of the Green formation. Either significant damage will be done to that side of the formation, or Green PD will have moved to that end to deal with the missiles. If the former, the tactic has already succeeded. If the latter, Red LR can immediately switch targets and fire on the opposite end of the formation, which now has minimal PD support, and do significant damage.

6. Tactical Formations: Ring Escort

The player can effectively protect a strategic target from the enemy using a flexible ring formation.

Red is escorting a strategic ship through a system controlled by Green ships. Red’s fleet is attempting to take as direct a route through the system as possible, and the escort is comprised of PD, SR and LR ships.

Initially, all ships form a homogenous ring around the vital ship. The ring becomes deformed under various circumstances.

- If there are more enemies approaching from one direction, ships will cluster on that side, leaving the other directions more sparsely protected
- If enemies on one side move into LR range, the LR ships in that section of the ring will move backwards to attempt to maintain maximum range for their weaponry.
- If enemies on one side approach SR range, the SR ships in that section of the ring will move out to intercept, then move backwards with the enemy ship to maintain firing range for as long as possible.
- If missiles are fired by the enemy towards one section of the ring, PD ships in that section will move out to intercept, then move backwards (red shift) to maintain firing range for as long as possible.
- If a ship in the ring is targeted by missiles, it will tend to red shift away, to give PD ships more time to intercept.
- If enemy SR approaches, PD and LR will tend to shift out of range to avoid being destroyed.

The ring as a whole should tend to avoid large enemy formations while keeping on a fairly direct path to the destination. If too many missiles are targeting the vital ship for PD to take care of, it may be advantageous for the PD to ignore a large group of missiles and allow an LR ship to destroy them by self-destructing, since at this point, LR will have moved back to the inside of the ring, very near the vital ship, and can act as a last line of defense against enemy LR.

This formation might be used to:

- escort a vital ship past an enemy controlled system
- escort a colony ship to an uninhabited planet in an enemy controlled system
- escort a ship containing a Nova Bomb to the system’s star
- escort a ship equipped with a Stellar Converter to an enemy controlled planet in the system.

7. Tactical Formations: Crescent Escort

The player can effectively protect a strategic target travelling about the periphery of a system by using a flexible crescent formation.

Red is escorting a strategic ship through a system controlled by Green ships. Red’s fleet is taking an indirect route to its destination by traveling around the perimeter of the system.

Initially, all ships form a homogenous crescent around the vital ship. The crescent becomes deformed under various circumstances.

- If there are more enemies approaching from one direction, ships will cluster on that side, leaving the other directions more sparsely protected
- If enemies on one side move into LR range, the LR ships in that section of the crescent will move backwards to attempt to maintain maximum range for their weaponry.
- If enemies on one side approach SR range, the SR ships in that section of the crescent will move out to intercept, then move backwards with the enemy ship to maintain firing range for as long as possible.
- If missiles are fired by the enemy towards one section of the crescent, PD ships in that section will move out to intercept, then move backwards (red shift) to maintain firing range for as long as possible.
- If a ship in the crescent is targeted by missiles, it will tend to red shift away, to give PD ships more time to intercept.
- If enemy SR approaches, PD and LR will tend to shift out of range to avoid being destroyed.
- Because this formation has limited maneuverability due to having to stay on the perimeter of the system, more ships should cluster in the front half of the crescent, since the formation’s motion in that direction means that there will be less time to deal with threats from that side.

The crescent as a whole should attempt to stay on the perimeter of the system at all times. Leaving the perimeter of the system would force the defender’s formation to spread out into a ring, greatly decreasing its density. If a sufficiently powerful Green force approaches from the front, Red may be forced to slow down to give the escort more time to deal with the threat before it reaches the vital ship.

If too many missiles are targeting the vital ship for PD to take care of, it may be advantageous for the PD to ignore a large group of missiles and allow an LR ship to destroy them by self-destructing, since at this point, LR will have moved back to the inside of the crescent, very near the vital ship, and can act as a last line of defense against enemy LR.

This formation might be used to escort a vital ship past an enemy controlled system when sufficient time is available to take an indirect route to the starlane exit.


Advanced Tactics

1. Asteroid Ambush

Required Content: Asteroid Hull

Balancing Requirements: Asteroid Stealth and Detection

Scenario:

Red has a large amount of SR and a small amount of PD. Green has a very large amount of LR and a moderate amount of SR. Red PD is inadequate to defend from Green LR, but Red SR is sufficient to destroy Green SR. Green is attempting to pass through the system, but Red is attempting to block him. Red SR is equally divided between Asteroid Hulls and Constructed hulls. The Asteroid SR, he places in the system’s Asteroid Belt. The Constructed SR, he places near the starlane entry point along with his PD, to intercept Green. Only a few of Red’s SR are in range to attack Green SR as the enter; the others are a bit further away.

Green emerges from the starlane, and immediately starts firing his missiles. Due to the splitting of Red’s SR, it would be disadvantageous for his entire SR force to exchange fire with Green SR, particularly since there would be no way for him to get out of Green SR’s range if there was no speed difference between Red SR and Green SR. Red’s few SR who were in range attempt to destroy a Green ship before they themselves are destroyed, and convince Green that Red had really intended to engage him at the entry point, but misjudged the difference in strength between their forces. Red moves away, with Red PD lagging behind slightly to destroy as many missiles as possible. Red continues through the asteroid belt where his Asteroid SR is hidden. Green does not have adequate detection to see them, so he continues through as well. As soon as Green SR is past, Red Asteroid SR emerges from the asteroid belt, flanking and attacking Green LR. Red Constructed SR simultaneously comes about and attacks Green SR, with the support of some of his Asteroid SR, and his PD, which is free to attack Green SR once there are no more missiles coming at Red SR.

Summary:

Green had significantly more forces than Red, but they were mostly LR ships, which were ineffective in close combat with Red SR. This close combat is normally prevented by Green’s formation which places SR in front and LR in the back. Because Red was able to use stealth to get his ships close enough to attack Green LR without eating a bunch of blue-shifted missiles, Red was able to decimate Green’s superior fleet while taking comparatively light damage from Green LR throughout combat, and losing a few ships in the opening fire stage.

Alternative Scenario:

Regular ships also get a stealth bonus when in an asteroid belt. Since the basic scout has a detection of 20, and it is reasonable that such a ship should be visible to such a detector from a distance of about half the system, a stealth bonus of 10 is reasonable for regular ships hiding in an asteroid belt.

If Red has no Asteroid SR, and instead, his entire fleet is Constructed, he can still hide half of his SR in the Asteroid belt. Now however, his few ships which he stationed in range of Green SR must attempt to destroy all Green scouts, rather than Green SR, before those scouts are able to detect his hidden ships, which are presumably at a distance of a little more than half the system away. If all Green scouts are destroyed, or there were none present initially, Red can continue with his plan, without his hidden ships being detected by Green.


Master Tactics


1. Disguised Ship Ruse with Nebula


Required Content: Camouflaged Ships, Nebular Compressor

Balancing Requirements: Nebulae

Scenario:

Green and Blue are allies, and intend to attack the Black homeworld. The plan is to emerge from two different starlanes at about right angles to each other and converge on the Black homeworld. Black, however, has plans of his own. He has highly stealthy ships stationed near the starlane from which Green will emerge, one of which is equipped with a Nebular Compressor, and all of which are camouflaged to appear as Blue ships (although none of the ships are immediately visible to Green, due to their high stealth). None of these Black ships have wasted any space on shields, since their combat will occur in the Nebula. Green has a larger fleet than Blue, and Black has no other significant forces in the system.

Green and Blue exit the starlanes at the same time and prepare to begin their attack on the planet. A soon as Green is a little ways into the system, Black immediately activates the Nebular Compressor and begins to attack Green’s ships, who are easy targets without their shields. Green deals with the attack fairly easily, but his assumption is that Blue has betrayed him and intends to destroy the rest of his fleet, allied with Black. He knows he can’t take Blue’s fleet if it rendezvous with Black (though he doesn’t exactly know the location and strength of Black’s fleet, Black has a habit of cloaking his fleets to hide their location), but he can if he intercepts them before they reach the Black homeworld, where Black’s fleet is (presumably) stationed. Meanwhile, since the battle between Black’s camo ships and Green’s fleet was shrouded by the nebula, Blue is just thinking “Looks like Green is hiding his approach from Black by using an artificial nebula. Good thinking!” Green’s fleet then proceeds to fly out of the nebula and intercept Blue’s fleet, to destroy them before they can rendezvous with Black. Blue then sees that Green wasn’t trying to hide his approach from Black - he was trying to hide his approach from Blue, to mask his treachery. Blue does his best to defend himself, but he is slaughtered by Green’s forces, and very few of his ships are able to escape. Green is also severely weakened at this point, and he heads back to the starlane to retreat from the system, knowing he cannot take Black’s fleet now.


Summary:

Black was severely overpowered by allied forces, which were attempting to seize his homeworld. Using extreme trickery, he was able to convince each side that the other had sided with Black and betrayed him, and turn their fleets against each other. In addition, although Black had no large fleet in the system, his habit of thoroughly cloaking his fleets led Green to assume the worst and cut off Blue before he reached Black’s homeworld. Both Green and Blue took massive damage to their fleets, at minimal cost to Black. In addition, the alliance between Green and Blue will likely be severed, and they will most likely be thrust into war because of this incident, taking a lot of pressure off of Black, and putting him in a highly advantageous strategic position.


Index of Content and Balancing

Required Content

Asteroid Hull - Hulls of this type get a higher-than-normal stealth bonus for hiding in an asteroid belt.

Camouflaged Ships - Any empire who can just barely detect this ship will be fooled into thinking it belongs to a different empire. The detecting empire will need to have a much greater detection level compared to this vessel’s stealth, say, 10 or 20 greater than the minimal detection level required to detect it at all, in order to see its true owner.

Nebular Compressor - Releases a miniature nebula into the system which covers a significant portion of the battle map. Ships within receive the same bonuses and penalties as if they were in a natural nebula.

Balancing Requirements

Fighter Speed - Interceptors are faster than Bombers, which are in turn faster than most ships. However, some faster ships will be able to chase and overcome basic Bombers or Interceptors.

Asteroid Stealth and Detection - An Asteroid Hull hiding in an asteroid belt cannot be detected at any distance by a ship with the most basic hull type and the most basic detection part. A reasonable value for such a ship’s detection meter is 20, since this allows it to detect any minimally stealthy ship anywhere on the combat map (2000 units in diameter). A stealth bonus of 20 would be reasonable for a basic Asteroid Hull hiding in an asteroid belt.

Nebulae - Any ship within a nebula has increased stealth, and all weapons fired at such a ship are shield piercing. The exact value of this stealth bonus will need to be subject to balancing, but a rough estimate for now is 9, so that any ship which could detect it from half-way across the battle map will only be able to detect it within a distance of 100. If weapons-fire and explosions themselves have a stealth, and can be detected without the ships that are firing being detected, they should get a higher stealth bonus in a nebula then ships themselves.

[pd]

Good stuff, I'm looking forward to more. Here are just a couple of thoughts, that might help to develop more:

In regards to placing SR, LR, PD and C relative to the other ships, you have considered placing ships at the front or back. Will there be tactics involving the flanks as well?

Since ship positioning is so important, could there be tactics, to actively drift enemy ships apart? Could there be tactics to push away/bring closer certain(targeted?) ships?

I'm also hoping to see tactics utilizing planets in some way.

[Bigjoe5]

Good stuff, I'm looking forward to more. Here are just a couple of thoughts, that might help to develop more:

In regards to placing SR, LR, PD and C relative to the other ships, you have considered placing ships at the front or back. Will there be tactics involving the flanks as well?

Definitely. I just added a short section about LR units exploiting wide formations. Flanking attacks are a bit more complex, and it's not immediately obvious what circumstances will be necessary for an attacker to gain an advantage by flanking the enemy, though some such situations undoubtedly exist.

Since ship positioning is so important, could there be tactics, to actively drift enemy ships apart? Could there be tactics to push away/bring closer certain(targeted?) ships?

Indeed, something like this is done in the section I added; these kinds of tactics have potential to be very interesting. Also, these kinds of tactics could be useful for getting past a strategic ship's escorts, or thinning the defense around an enemy planet.

I'm also hoping to see tactics utilizing planets in some way.

Yes, such tactics will definitely have to be figured out at some point, but most likely after basic tactics involving only ships have been fleshed out a bit more. I expect that tactics for attacking and defending from planets will end up being an essential part of the game.

Thanks for the feedback. I (and hopefully others?) will probably be creating many more of these battle tactics in the future.

[Bigjoe5]

Ring and Crescent Escort Tactical Formations have been added to the Basic Tactics section.

[pd]

I like it. The tactical use of self-destruction is fascinating as well. Nice work.