Ground Combat
From PlanetsWiki
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Ground combat is an important part of the game. It allows to capture people, resources and base structures and to influence the happiness of your and other empires in both positive and negative ways.
The economy of some races heavily depends on taking prisoners through ground combat. The prisoners can be sent to work in labor mines and labor camps (some races) or sold off (Lizards only). Races that abhor indentured labour and slave trade can still keep prisoners as POWs which lowers the happiness of the people whose members are held imprisoned and attempt to free own POWs through ground combat.
Ground combat exemplifies the Rock-Paper-Scissors-approach of the game. It offers a range of tactical choices. Each base has an Ground Combat Mode set that has great influence on the number and types of units participating in ground combat and on the order of battle events. Most of the time the side who attack first is random.
A ground combat is always fought between two enemy bases at a planet. If there are more than two enemy bases on the planet, there can be multiple ground combats in a turn. The ordering of the pairs of enemy bases fighting each other is by random selection.
Ground combat happens after all movement phases. Newly built bases don't participate in ground combat during the same turn.
[edit] Marshalling
Unless a base is set to Peaceful it will send out an army with a set amount of its military forces to attack an enemy army or enemy base depending on its Ground Combat Mode. The following table shows the percentages of military forces assembled for an invasion army in each of the six attack modes:
| Attack Mode | Troops | Crew | High Guards | Fighters | Assault Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peaceful | - | - | - | - | - |
| Roaming Defense | 25% | - | - | - | - |
| Deep Ground Patrol | 50% | - | - | 50% | 50% |
| Attack And Run | 90% | - | - | 100% | 100% |
| Crush Kill Destroy! | 95% | 95% | 80% | 100% | 100% |
| Capture! | 95% | 95% | 80% | 100% | 100% |
[edit] Race Specials
- Prior to Marshalling 20% of the existing drones of a Borg convert to troops even if the Borg base is not set to fight. It is enough that there are two other bases present on the planet which are at war.
[edit] Combat
[edit] Determination of the Attacker
The attacker status is determined by the ground combat modes chosen for the two bases and luck. If both bases have the same ground combat mode, the identity of the attacker is randomly determined. If the two attack modes differ, then selection of the attacker is more complex.
The two lower attack modes Roaming Defense and Deep Ground Patrol always attack first when matched against a higher attack mode. A base set to Roaming Defense will always be in the position of first attacker against a base with another attack mode set.
However, if both bases have one of the following attack modes set: Attack and Run, Crush Kill Destroy! or Capture!, the roles of attacker and defender are determined by random draw. The two attack modes need not be identical. If the base initially selected as attacker has no crew, troop, high guards or mechs, it loses its attacker status again.
An attacker with one of the two highest attack modes Crush Kill Destroy! and Capture! can be blocked by an Attack and Run mode set by the defender. The defender's base must have Attack and Run set and its army(!) must have 50% more troops than the attacker's army(!) for a successful blocking of an attack. In this case the attacker's army is recalled and rushes back to defend its base. The hasty retreat incurs a severe combat penalty.
[Last paragraph needs further research.]
[edit] Combat Phase 1: The Battles
In the first phase of combat each side does damage to the other destroying troops, crew, colonists, assault units, fighters, AA guns and laser turrets with the attacker in each battle doing so first.
If one of the bases is set to Peaceful, there will be only one battle. If both bases involved have an aggressive ground combat mode set, the combat phase can consist of one or two battles, in which the two players change positions from battle to battle as the attacker and the defender.
If one of the two bases is set to a lower attack mode, e.g. A is set to 'Deep Ground Patrol' and B is set to 'Roaming Defense' the order of battles is pre-set. The lower attack mode 'Roaming Defense' hits first and the higher attack mode 'Deep Ground Patrol' second. Thus the only possible outcome is
1. B does a Roaming Defense Attack on A, then A does a Deep Ground Patrol attack B (2 battles)
If both bases are set to 'Deep Ground Patrol' the first attacker is selected at random. The possible outcomes are:
1. A attacks B, then B attacks A (2 battles)
2. B attacks A, then A attacks B (2 battles)
If the two bases A and B are both set to "Attack and Run" one of the following four alternative outcomes will randomly occur:
1. A attacks B (1 battle)
2. B attacks A (1 battle)
3. A attacks B first, then B attacks A (2 battles)
4. B attacks A first, then A attacks B (2 battles)
If both bases are set to one of the two highest attack modes "Crush Kill Destroy!" or "Capture!", the ground combat routine runs through a Surrender phase, that ends with the destruction of an opponent. Thus there will always be only one battle. The possible outcomes are:
1. A attacks B (1 battle)
2. B attacks A (1 battle)
Having High guards in your base or army can make a difference in this first phase. In the ground combat sequence they do not show up as inflicting damage on enemy forces, but they reduce your own losses significantly. Thus we can imagine them acting in a command&control role during the battle.
The details on a single battle can be found at Ground Combat Sequence and Ground Combat Battle Losses.
[edit] Combat Phase 2: Surrender
There is no Surrender phase unless one of the bases involved is set to Crush Kill Destroy! or Capture! mode.
In this phase the combat strength of the survivors of the two forces is calculated and then the fate of the defending base and of the invasion army is determined. The attack power of each force component is multiplied by its numbers and then they are summed up.
Beware: Strengh calculation is done asymmetrically. Basically surviving defenders are compared to surviving invaders. However, only the base defenders add in the colonist population. The attacker is also at a disadvantage with respect to the High Guards: 80% of them count for the attackers vs. 100% for the defenders.
The total attack strength used in the second phase is determined in the following way:
Number of Colonists x Colonist Combat Stat / 10,000 + Number of Crew x Crew Combat Stat / 100 + Number of Troops x Troop Combat Stat + Number of High Guard x High Guard Combat Stat + Number of Assault Craft x 100
Fighters play no role in this phase (according to the code taken from the Ground Assault Simulator).
If the stronger side - this can be the attacker or the defender - has more than 3 times the combat strength of the other side it will take all the surviving enemy personnel as prisoners. In the case of a defeated invasion army the prisoners include the attacker's personnel back home. All enemy fighters and assault craft will be destroyed.
- The UEA can capture enemy forces if they just have a higher combat strength than the enemy.
[edit] Battle Reports
If the invasion army was successful and there are surviving defenders:
| The enemy colonists and troops have surrendered. |
| Our base has been forced to surrender |
If there are no surviving defenders:
| The whole enemy force has been killed, no surviv(i)ors. |
| All our forces have been killed. |
The report is slightly misleading, as it refers to the defender's fighting force. Some colonists may have survived who are then taken prisoners.
If the invasion army was defeated and there are surviving attackers:
| Our forces have been captured. |
| The attackers have surrendered to our base. |
If there are no surviving attackers:
| All our attacking forces have been killed, no survivors. |
| All enemy forces attacking this base have been killed. |
[edit] Blood Bath
If the combat strength ratio is less than 3:1 a blood bath will ensue without any prisoners taken. The losses taken by the winning side depend on the ratio of strengths of the stronger vs. the weaker side.
In this case the battle logs state:
| We have overrun the enemy base. |
| Our base has been overrun!!! |
[edit] Code
Blood bath Factor = 1 - (loser strength / winner strength)
This factor is applied to all types of personnel. This is the only step in ground combat in which High Guards actually take losses.
[edit] Research
[edit] Notes
Because of the different ground combat modes, it may take one or more turns to complete a ground assault. So some questions you might ask yourself when planning / being confronted with a ground combat:
- Can the enemy build new defensive structures, fighters, or mechs? Can the enemy train new troops, crew, or high guards?
- Can I build new defensive structures, fighters, or mechs? Can Ienemy train new troops, crew, or high guards?
- What Ground Combat Mode would be most benficial for me to choose?
- Do I want to capture a base? So I may start with other ground combat modes to soften the enemy forces, but eventually I will have to set the Ground Combat Mode of my base to "Capture" or "Crush Kill Destroy".
- Do I want to take prisoners? "Capture" would be the choice.
- Do I want to capture a base? So I may start with other ground combat modes to soften the enemy forces, but eventually I will have to set the Ground Combat Mode of my base to "Capture" or "Crush Kill Destroy".
- Who is/will be controlling the orbit? Is there the possibility for an Orbital Bombardment?
[edit] See also
- Ground Combat Modes
- Ground Combat Sequence
- Ground Combat Battle Losses
- Ground Combat Example 1: The Borg Menace
- Ground Combat Example 2: The Last Battle
- [1] The official page on ground combat
- [2] The combat simulation tool Diplomat includes a ground combat simulator. This one as not being updated for years the author suggest using the latest version of Ground Assault Simulator instead.
- [3] Gabor's Ground Assault Simulator Excel Sheet Version 1.03 Released 16 July 2007 (with IMT support by Sphere).
- [4] Ground combat explained by Dave in the newsgroup
- [5] Gabor's excellent 'Notes on Ground Combat' from the newsgroup
- [6] Sidewinder's description of the Ground Combat code
