Well I notice in my last game the Kaek were able to continue building a battleship even though their orbital station had been destroyed by the Moltar in a previous turn, previously I'd assumed that destruction of a station would result in destruction or at least halting of construction of ships bigger the destroyers? The battleship was completed 2 turns later it also seemed to make no difference to the construction speed... Normally when going into an enemy system I would destroy any orbital stations because I believed this would have some effect which it clearly doesn't seem to do... This brings me on to capturing Orbital stations which I've done on a number of occasions but were destroyed after the battle, even though my assault fleet had captured the planet directly following the space battle in which the station was captured, ie same turn. So my question here is it actually possible to capture a station at all and have it survive, and if not why the station marines and the ability to capture the station? Or is this unfinished business?
I confirm this, I don't know if it's intentional or not, but it's happened in one of my sessions as well Right now the point would be to remove the station from play? A pointless exercise as it's far easier and quicker to destroy it. I don't understand the purpose of being able to board these stations either.
Hi. One could assume that losing the orbital station could halt or even destroy all progress on a Battleship or any ship bigger than a Destroyer. However, we opted for leaving the project in the queue as is so not to be too penalizing and for simplicity reasons. The same could be said if the player decides to scrap an orbital station. Should all big ship projects be removed immediately in that case? Perhaps, but then you'd need to inform the player about that and ask for confirmation, which would create additional hassle. So, that's why it works as it is. This issue was brought up some time ago. At the time, captured orbital stations would simply be there again in the next turn if the player happened to lose the battle, which was annoying, of course. So, the ideal scenario would be to destroy the captured orbital station at the end, unless the player would win the battle and conquer the colony in that same turn, which the orbital station could then be left in orbit in that case. However, that proved to be much trickier to implement than previously thought, so the middle ground solution was to destroy captured orbital stations at the end of combat in all scenarios. The reason why it's allowed to board and capture the bases, is that one could wish to specialize in boarding and raiding, so that option was left in the game.
Thanks for your reply, I can quite understand that it might be problematic to implement, however in theory although I havn't tried it, I would assume that each ship that was attacking would be able to raid the station independently with a potential reward each time, if this is the case I think there should be more of a reward to capturing a station, more then if a single succesfull raid was carried out, since if you capture a ship the ship is the reward... this would at least make it worth the trouble. I would find that quite acceptable.
I understand. Right now, the reward is to deny the enemy of its orbital station when you capture it. A raid will only damage or destroy ship components in successive attacks, while capturing makes it yours, at least during the battle.
If I may, about the orbital base. It's a minor point in the end isn't it? Yes the ability to capture a station is there, but the tactical reason to do so is usually not. A base in orbit will give a defending fleet advantages, it is also very easy to hit that base as it doesn't enjoy the evasion bonuses of ships. Faced with this equation in battle, my solution becomes obvious quickly. Destroy the base fast, then focus on the defending Fleet. (Due to my ship designs, I can usually target both simultaneously if I wish). If there is no defending fleet, well the base is toast as I know capturing it offers insignificant benefits. So if a player wants to board, fine. That player needs to play the way that he/she wants and considers fun. If the player doesn't want to board...equally fine. Yes, in the end it's a bit of confusing situation for a new player, and the logic behind it is obscure, But as long as the above holds true, I can ignore the counter-intuitive conclusion when capturing a base and colony intact.
"Yes the ability to capture a station is there, but the tactical reason to do so is usually not." When I first started playing the game I naturally had to learn it, what was possible and what limitations there were... So I played all the factions one by one and got to know what each was capable off... I noticed in one game that the kragul favoured assault ships with combat jump, and when playing the faction for the first time tried out the idea with a twist and that was capturing ships by face to face combat, something that seemed like it might be a very kragul thing to do. This naturally also meant capturing space stations if it was at all possible and the marine compliment suggested it was... I was slightly disappointed to find that it didn't take though, but its not a game breaker.... My view is that it might be quite interesting to play a game in which your not actually allowed to destroy anything without at least making an attempt to capture it intact first... so it doesn't have to have a tactical reason but an ethical and possibly financial one, where your fleets are created from captured vessels as is no building necesary, refitted or scrapped for exta cash. An assualt ship doesnt have to have high fire power only enough to take down a shield and ion weapons to disable the ship.. so relatiely low tek, altough I equipped 3 extra strong Kragul battleships for the purpose with extra marine pods, but these were capable of capturing fortresses and Titans... Just some thoughts
