100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

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aubergine
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100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

I found that patrolling VTOLs are excellent for clearing a large area of enemy buildings and units. Because they choose their own targets and attack at will I realised they'd be far more devastating than sending ground troops in, despite heavy enemy AA defences.

I chose a mixture of Wyvern and Dragon body VTOLs, armed with a rage of weapons including heavy lasers, bunker busters, scourge missiles, heap bombs, and my personal favourite... plasmite bombs.

Normally when you attack with bombs you're just hitting one target and they start flying back as soon as that target is destroyed. But when you set them to patrol, they hit dozens of targets and keep searching out new targets. In the first wave you can expect heavy losses on both sides, but due to heavy bombing an inferno breaks out in the enemy base causing massive destruction.

In the first screen shot, you can see the impressive attack formation caused by:
  • Different payloads mean different speed of flight = multiple waves (indicated by red arrows)
  • Lots of each type = they fan out in to an arc.
Enjoy... (I'll be uploading more screen grabs)
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"Shock wave" attack formation
"Shock wave" attack formation
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

Ah, here's the peaceful enemy base (indicated by white arrow on screen grab above) as the first wave arrives...
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Peaceful unsuspecting enemy base
Peaceful unsuspecting enemy base
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

The first wave of my VTOLs starts their attack run... Still looks quite peaceful, doesn't it? This is just before they reach their patrol point...
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Calm before the storm...
Calm before the storm...
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

As soon as they hit their patrol point, BOOM! Let battle commence! Within seconds fires are raging out of control, it's hell on earth :)

Did I mention that I like plasmite bombs?
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Wild fires raging out of control
Wild fires raging out of control
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

My VTOLs took such a beating due to all the AA defences that I decided to repair them after a few attacks. Unfortunately the VTOL rearming pads don't repair VTOLs properly - they get to almost repaired and then suddenly drop down to about 20% health again (looks like a bug).

So I told all my VTOLs to land and they bunched up in to one spot, then I sent in a herd of heavy repair turret trucks to fix them up...
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A novel way to repair VTOLs
A novel way to repair VTOLs
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

While they were repairing, I decided to add some siege warfare to the mix for good measure...
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Siege warfare
Siege warfare
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

Once more unto the breach my friends! My VTOLs go in to finish what they'd started and the inferno is started once more...
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Big BBQ in enemy base
Big BBQ in enemy base
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

The last buildings go up in smoke...
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Mmm, toasty.
Mmm, toasty.
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

As my VTOLs pick over the bones from above, my engineers go in to lay claim to this new piece of prime real estate...
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Vultures hover above.
Vultures hover above.
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

I did run in to some annoying game bugs during this carnage:

1. VTOL reloading pads don't properly repair VTOLs (as mentioned above)

2. VTOLs would suddenly stop attacking every so often, so I had to reissue their orders

3. Most annoyingly of all, VTOLs would often decide to just land in the enemy base and get pummelled by all the enemy defences.

But overall, it was most awesome carnage :)
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by alto1234 »

this really isn't that effective of a tactic, albeit all the flashy pictures you felt obliged to post. you're using the best body in the game with probably the best alloys. it would take at least 40 minutes to produce that force. you're also using 100 vtols, which means you only have around 35-45 ground units to handle anything else, so if your opponent has 135 pulse laser hovers you are dead no matter what you do.

the best strategy for clearing buildings is directly micromanaging your vtols with the mouse.
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by aubergine »

I wasn't really proposing this as "the ultimate strategy", it was just something I found to be fun.

I actually didn't have any offensive ground units the whole game. I simply used indirect fire and AA defence turrets and sensors to get to that point in the game. I then built up an army of strong VTOLs to finish off the enemy bases.

I agree that currently the best way to use VTOLs is to micromanage them, but if the game bugs are fixed (see list above) then using patrolling VTOLs will be more time effective. One other bug I found with VTOLs is that they never rejoin formation after an attack when they are in 'circling mode' - they just return to base and sit there.

When you get 100+ VTOLs on patrol, you can literally 'draw' a defence air-superiority line across the entire map and almost nothing AI based will get past it.
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by 3drts »

that was a lightly defended base, as far as air defense is concerned.
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by alto1234 »

aubergine wrote:I wasn't really proposing this as "the ultimate strategy", it was just something I found to be fun.
no objections here
aubergine wrote:I actually didn't have any offensive ground units the whole game. I simply used indirect fire and AA defence turrets and sensors to get to that point in the game. I then built up an army of strong VTOLs to finish off the enemy bases.
not a viable strategy in any case
aubergine wrote:I agree that currently the best way to use VTOLs is to micromanage them, but if the game bugs are fixed (see list above) then using patrolling VTOLs will be more time effective.
... but never more battle effective than ordering them yourself, at least ordering by divisions (i.e. 5-6 at a time)
aubergine wrote:One other bug I found with VTOLs is that they never rejoin formation after an attack when they are in 'circling mode' - they just return to base and sit there.
circling doesn't work currently - you could however just micro your vtols by queuing attack move orders back and forth. alt shift move back and forth, i believe - but don't quote me on that.
aubergine wrote: When you get 100+ VTOLs on patrol, you can literally 'draw' a defence air-superiority line across the entire map and almost nothing AI based will get past it.
lol
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Re: 100+ patrolling VTOLs vs. heavily defended enemy base :)

Post by Zarel »

alto1234, stop harrassing players who don't play competitive multiplayer. :|
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