Setting parameters for testing/Template reveals some offense and defense info
The Goal: to test a variety of Battleship load-outs
The rules: A reasonably level playing field, not overly complicated. With a few exceptions, in keeping with the traditions of coin-tosses, Rock, Paper, Scissors, and arm-wrestling, matches are Best Two out of Three. After testing 1v1, 5v5 and 10v10, for the Battleship vs Battleship fights, I decided on fleets of 5 versus 5.
Achieved by: A fresh new game (and consequently, no war doctrines). All techs unlocked. No Traditions. No military or genocidal empire civics. No Admirals. No Rulers with military traits. No Auxiliary slots. Nothing to twist the brain with permutations of defense and offense combos.
Featuring! Absolutely no theorycrafting. No spreadsheets. Only the simplest of math is used, mainly, to count surviving ships.
Console Commands used: research_all_technologies 1, add_ship (shipname), attackallfleets
The positioning. Fleets were stationed at the extreme edge of a solar system, near a hyperlane entrance. A very common place to fight enemy ships. Using a "very" vague eye-ball, fleets were stationed roughly the distance between Sol, and Neptune, away from each other, and manually commanded to advance towards each other. When they reached their "aggro radius" they begin firing. Given that all battleships tested used XL weaponry, but without any Admiral or War Doctrine range modifiers, that occurred roughly the distance between Sol and Jupiter.
The ship: Battleships equipped with Dark Matter Power and Thrusters, Sapient Combat Computer, (If XL+L slots, then Artillery, else Line.) Tier 5 Armor and Shields.
The Defenses: 2625 Shields. 2625 Armor. 3000 Hull Points. Evasion 13.2%-13.4%
The Offense: See Below
Abbreviations: TN: Tachyon+Neutrons. TK: Tachyon+Kinetics. TL: Tachyons+Lasers. TG: Tachyon+Gauss. TP: Tachyon+Plasma. GN: Gigacannon+Neutrons. GK: Gigacannon+Kinetics. FN: Focused Arc Emitter+Neutrons. FK: Focused Arc Emitter+Kinetics. FC: Focused Arc Emitter+Cloud Lightning. PC: Precursor Clone. BG: Battlestar Galactica. AMF: Auto-generated Mixed Fleet. OMF: Optimized Mixed Fleet. SF: Salad Fleet.
Most of these abbreviations, are pretty self-explanatory. TN=Tachyon+Neutrons=Tachylon Lance in the XL slot, and 6 Neutron Launchers in the 6 available Large Weapon Slots.
Precursor Clone, is based "loosely" on a load-out used by some of the Fallen Empires. The FE version, has Focused Arc Emitter, 4 Medium Phase Disruptors. 2 Hangers with Advanced Strikecraft, and 2 Neutron Launchers, as well as significantly less hull points, than shields and armor. The difference is that in my empire version, there is only one hanger, with Amoeba Flagella Strikecraft, and only one Neutron Launcher, and the hull points is reversed, with considerably more hull, than armor and shield.
Battlestar Galactica, is based very, very loosely on a carrier battleship. Using the XL Slot, means only having 2 Hangers, and the Carrier Core segment which houses the two strikecraft hangers, is limited to 2 PD weapons, and 2 Small slot weapons. In the spirit of Galactica, but with my personal twist, Scout Craft stand in for Vipers in one hanger, and Amoebas, stand in for Raptors, in the other.
The BG is kitted out with Focused Arc Emitter, 2 Flak Cannons. 2 Stormfire Autocannons, 1 Neutron Launcher, and the two Strikecraft types previously mentioned.
AMF, is a small fleet of corvettes, destroyers and cruisers, a Mixed Fleet, using the Auto-generated templates. Six of each type. The templates I was given by default, are heavy on Kinetic weaponry, Point Defense, use Tier 5 armor, and Tier 6 shields, and either one, or two, advanced afterburners in the auxiliary slots.
OMF, is Optimized Mixed Fleet. The template designs are overhauled by me. I removed the afterburners, and replaced them with Nanite Repair Units and for the cruiser, added a Shield Capacitor. This made the Mixed Fleet, a little slower, and less evasive, but they regenerate, albeit not much, and very slowly, and they hit a lot, and I mean, a lottttttt harder. I chose Marauder Missile Corvettes with Stormfire Autocannons. Kinetic Artillery Destroyers with Flak Cannons, and Devastator Torpedo Cruisers, with Gamma Lasers, Stormfire Autocannons, and one Medium Plasma Thrower.
SF, Salad Fleet, is only used once. It consisted of 1 TK, 1 TN, 1 FC, 1 PC, and 1 BG model battleships.
It started off, as a kind of 'Ships of the Line" testing, and that does comprise the first half of the test. But after hours, and hours, of doing this, I got fatigued, and wanted to test battleships against something else besides each other. A common scenario while playing, is that you might hit the Reinforce Fleet button, after losing some battleships. So your five freshly-minted replacement battleships, are heading back to the front, when they encounter a small AI empire "Mixed Fleet" trying to sneak in and flip a starbase.
For the most part, I do not present any conclusions. I only offer the data of wins and losses. I'm way too tired, and that was not the point of this; to crow "Ha Ha! Told you! X-Ship layout really is The Best! I knew it all long!"
I really just wanted to test a few of my own designs, versus some well-known builds that have been discussed for months, and years, here at Stellaris Reddit. But I got really, really, really carried away and compiled some potentially useful data, using sheer observation by virtue of counting the surviving warships from the battle, and noting what load-out they had. So here you go...
Part One: Ships of the Line
TN vs TL, TN wins, 4 survived. TN wins, 4 survived. TN wins, 2 survived. Result, TN won 3 out of 3
TN vs TG, TN wins, 3 survived, TG wins, 3 survived, TN wins, 4 survived. Result, TN wins 2 out of 3
TN vs TP, TN wins, 2 survived, TN wins, 3 survived, TN wins, 5 survived. Result, TN won 3 of 3
*TN vs TK, TK wins, 1 survived, TK wins, 3 survived, TK wins, 2 survived, TN wins, 2 survived, TN wins, 4 survived, TN wins, 3 survived, TN wins, 3 survived, TK wins, 3 survived, TK wins, 2 survived, TK wins, 2 survived, Tk wins, 2 survived, TN wins, 2 survived. *Result, TK won 7 of 12
Tk Vs TP, TK wins, 3 survived, TK wins, 4 survived, Tk wins, 3 survived. Result, TK won 3 of 3
Tk vs TG, Tk wins 4 survived, Tk wins, 2 survived, Tk wins, 4 suvived. Result, TK won 3 of 3
TK vs TL, Tk wins, 3 survived, Tk wins, 5 survived, Tk wins, 3 survived. Result, TK won 3 of 3
TK vs GK. TK wins, 5 survived, TK wins, 4 survived, GK wins, 1 survived. Result, TK won 2 of 3
TN vs GK. TN wins, 5 survived, TN wins, 3 survived TN wins, 4 survived. Result, TN won 3 of 3
TN vs GN, GN wins, 2 survived, GN wins, 2 survived, GN wins, 1 survived. Result, GN won 3 of 3
FK vs TK, FK wins 4 survived, TK wins 3 survived, FK wins, 2 survived. Result, FK won 2 of 3
FK vs TN, TN wins, 2 survived, FK wins, 2 survived, TN wins, 3 survived. Result, TN won 2 of 3
FK vs GK, FK wins, 1 survived. FK wins, 3 survived. GK wins, 2 survived. Result, FK won 2 of 3
FK vs GN, GN wins, 3 survived. FK wins, 4 survived. GN wins, 3 survived. Result, GN won 2 of 3
FN vs TN, FN wins, 3 survived. FN wins, 1 survived. TN wins, 1 survived. Result, FN won 2 of 3
FN vs TK, FN wins, 1 survived, TK wins, 2 survived. TK wins, 3 survived. Result, TK won 2 of 3
FN vs GK, GK wins 4 survived, GK wins, 3 survived. GK wins, 1 survived. Result, GK won 3 of 3
FN vs GN, FN wins 3 survived. GN wins, 4 survived. FN wins, 4 survived. Result, FN won 2 of 3
FC vs TK, TK wins, 3 survived. TK wins, 4 survived. TK wins, 1 survived. Result, TK won 3 of 3
*FC vs TN, TN wins, 2 survived. TN wins, 3 survived. FC wins, 3 survived. TN wins, 1 survived. TN wins, 4 survived. FC wins, 3 survived. TN wins, 3 survived. *Result, TN won 4 of 6
FC vs GN, FC wins, 2 survived. FC wins, 3 survived. GN wins, 4 survived. Result, FC won 2 of 3
FC vs GK, GK wins, 3 survived. GK wins, 2 survived. FC wins, 3 survived. Result, GK won 2 of 3
FC vs FK, FK wins, 3 survived. FK wins, 2 survived. FK wins, 2 survived. Result, FK won 3 of 3
FC vs FN, FC wins, 1 survived. FC wins, 2 survived. FN wins, 4 survived. Result, FC won 2 of 3
FC vs PC, FC wins, 2 survived. FC wins, 2 survived. FC wins 3 survived. Result, FC won 3 of 3
*PC vs TK, TK wins, 4 survived. TK wins, 4 survived. TK wins, 2 survived. TK wins, 2 survived. TK wins, 3 survived. TK wins, 4 survived. TK wins, 2 survived. TK wins, 3 survived. TK wins, 3 survived. Result, TK won 9 of 9*
PC vs TN, TN wins, 5 survived. TN wins, 2 survived. TN wins, 3 survived. Result, TN won 3 of 3
PC vs GK, GK wins, 3 survived. GK wins 2 survived. GK wins, 3 survived. Result, GK won 3 of 3
PC vs GN, GN wins, 3 survived. GN wins, 3 survived. GN wins, 2 survived. Result, GN won 3 of 3
PC vs FK, FK wins, 5 survived. FK wins, 2 survived. FK wins, 2 survived. Result, FK won 3 of 3
PC vs FN, FN wins, 5 survived. PC wins, 1 survived. FN wins, 4 survived. Result, FN won 2 of 3
PC vs BG, BG wins, 1 survived. PC wins, 2 survived. BG wins, 3 survived. Result, BG won 2 of 3
BG vs TK, TK wins, 4 survived. TK wins, 2 survived. TK wins, 5 survived. Result, TK won 3 of 3
BG vs TN, TN wins, 2 survived. TN wins, 5 survived. TN wins, 1 survived. Result, TN won 3 of 3
BG vs FC, FC wins, 1 survived. FC wins, 2 survived. FC wins, 3 survived. Result, FC won 3 of 3
*Periodically, a set of matches would play out "Win, Win Win, LOSE!!!!!!!!!" and the lose was so monstrously lopsided, or unexpected, that my jaw would drop, and I was like Norman Reedus in Boondock Saints during the cat-splat scene, "I can't believe that just fucking happened!" So I would run another set, then another. Turns out, most of the time, it's just plain ol' RNG and not, "yea that build totally kicks butt, if the moons, planets, and stars are aligned perfectly."
Part Two
Preface to Part Two. Testing versus mixed fleets partly began because I was getting bored of the Ship of the Line tests, and partly because my sorry-ass Galactica, as you can see very clearly from the testing matches, fared very poorly against builds like Tachyon+Neutrons. BG seems like a pretty useless template to keep around, right? Not so fast.....
BG (10.9k) vs Autobuild Mixed Fleet (10.3k) . BG wins, 2 survived. BG wins, 3 survived. BG wins, 1 survived. BG wins, 2 survived. AMF wins, 2 destroyers, 3 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 3 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 2 corvettes survived. BG wins, 3 survived. BG wins, 3 survived. AMF wins, 1 cruiser, 1 corvette survived. BG wins, 1 survived. BG wins, 4 survived. BG wins, 2 survived. Result, BG won 9 of 12
TK (12.7k) vs Autobuild Mixed Fleet (10.3k) . TK wins, 2 survived. AMF wins, 1 cruiser, 3 destroyers, 6 vettes survived. TK wins, 4 survived. TK wins, 3 survived. TK wins, 3 survived (1 had 0 shields, 0 armor, 26 hull left). TK wins, 1 survived. AMF wins, 3 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 5 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 1 destroyer, 6 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 3 corvettes survived. TK wins, 3 survived. AMF wins, 4 corvettes survived. Result, TK won 6 of 12
FC (9.4k) vs AMF (10.3k) . AMF wins, 3 destroyers, 4 corvettes survived. FC wins, 3 survived. FC wins, 3 survived. AMF wins, 5 corvettes survived. FC wins, 3 survived. FC wins 3 survived. FC wins, 2 survived. FC wins, 5 survived. FC wins, 3 survived FC wins, 3 survived. FC wins, 2 survived. FC wins, 2 survived. Results, FC won 10 of 12
TN (12.3k) vs AMF (10.3k). AMF wins, 4 cruisers, 2 destroyers, five corvettes survived. TN wins, 2 survived. TN wins, 2 survived. AMF wins, 2 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. TN wins, 3 survived. AMF wins, 2 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. TN wins, 3 survived. TN wins, 4 survived. TN wins, 2 survived. TN wins, 3 survived. AMF wins, 5 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 3 corvettes survived. Result, TN won 7 of 12
Salad Fleet (11.2k) vs AMF (10.3k) SF wins, 5 survived. AMF wins, 5 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 1 cruiser, 3 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. AMF wins, 1 destroyer, 3 corvettes survived. SF wins, 3 survived. SF wins, 5 survived. Result, SF won 3 of 6
TN (12.3k) vs OMF (10.2k) OMF wins, 3 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. TN won, 2 survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 4 destroyers, 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 4 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. Result, TN won 1 of 6
FC (9.4k) vs OMF (10.2k) OMF wins, 5 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 1 destroyer, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 2 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins. 4 cruisers, 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. Result, FC won 0 of 6
TK (12.7k) vs OMF (10.2k) OMF wins, 3 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 4 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 5 corvettes survived. Result, TK won 0 of 6
BG (10.9k) vs OMF (10.2k) BG wins, 2 survived. BG wins. 3 survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 3 corvettes survived. BG wins, 2 survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 4 cruisers, 5 corvettes survived. Result, BG won 3 of 6
Here is the only conclusion I will offer: It became very clear, the BG template was pretty good vs Mixed Fleets, human or ai-designed. Given how poorly many other layouts fared, it makes sense, that the BG is a fantastic Asset Escort. Something to run interference between incoming mixed fleets, and your hard-hitting artillery blasting away at range.
Unfortunately I was too tired to remember, that I could browse through my previous saved games, games where, the Devouring Swarm started churning out battleships equipped with three hanger bays, (or cruisers with a single hanger) and "import" those templates from memory, for use in the Mixed Fleets. As well as fights against Fallen/Awakened Empires, which all use Strikecraft, which the BG smacks down. So at no point in all this testing, was I able to "actualize" the full potential and capabilities of the BG template because I never fought fleets with fighters.
That said, I got in a frenzy of design iterations and BG load-out variations. If it was good against mixed fleets, could it be made even better? How much better? And so a template Arms Race against myself began, and I made several varieties, sometimes only switching one or two weapons, and sometimes, it made a very little difference, and sometimes, it made a humongous difference. Take a look.
*BG 2.0 (11.9k) vs OMF (10.2k) OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 2 corvettes survived. BG 2.0 wins, 2 survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 5 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. Result, BG 2.0 won 1 of 6
*BG 3.0 (12.2k) vs OMF (10.2k) OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 1 destroyer, 2 corvettes survived. of BG 3.0 wins, 3 survived. BG 3.0 wins, 2 survived. BG 3.0 wins, 2 survived. OMF wins, 4 cruisers, 5 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 3 corvettes survived. Result, BG 3.0 won 3 of 6
*BG 4.0 (10.3k) vs OMF (10.2k) OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 5 destroyers 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 1 destroyer, 4 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 2 destroyers, 5 corvettes, OMF wins, 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 2 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 5 corvettes survived. Result, BG 4.0 won 0 of 6
------------- "3rd Gen BG iterations" --------------
*BG 1.1 (10.6k) vs OMF (10.2k) BG 1.1 wins, 4 survived. BG 1.1 wins, 5 survived. OMF wins, 2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 6 corvettes survived. OMF wins, 1 cruiser, 4 corvettes survived. BG 1.1 wins, 2 survived. BG 1.1 wins, 2 survived. Result, BG 1.1 won 4 of 6
*BG 3.1 (11.3k) vs OMF (10.2k) BG 3.1 wins, 5 survived. BG 3.1 wins, 4 survived. BG 3.1 wins, 2 survived. BG 3.1 wins, 2 survived. BG 3.1 wins, 3 survived. BG 3.1 wins, 3 survived. Result, BG 3.1 won 6 of 6
BG 3.1 vs BG 1.1 (Grudge Match) BG 3.1 wins, 2 survive. BG 3.1 wins, 4 survive. BG 1.1 wins, 3 survive. BG 3.1 wins, 3 survive. BG 3.1 wins, 1 survives. BG 3.1 wins, 4 survive. Result, BG 3.1 wins 5 of 6
BG 3.1 + BG 1.1 (21.9k) vs OMF x 2 (20.5k) (Co-op) { 10 vs 36 } BG group wins, all 10 survive.
TK+TK (25.4k) vs OMFx2 (21.9k) { 10 vs 36 } OMF group wins, 11 corvettes survive.
*BG: FAE, 2x SF autocannons, 2x Flak artillery, 1 Scout Wing, 1 Amoeba, 1 Neutron Launcher.
*BG 2.0: FAE, 2x SF autocannons, 2x Guardian PD, 2x Advanced Strikecraft. 1 Kinetic Artillery
*BG 3.0: TL, 2x SF autocannons, 2x Guardian PD, 2x Advanced Strikecraft, 1 Kinetic Artillery
*BG 4.0 FAE, 2x SF autocannons, 2 Flak Artillery, 2x Scout Wings, 1 Neutron Artillery
--------------- elimination and final designs based on the tests ------------------
*BG 1.1: FAE, 2x SF autocannons, 2x Guardian PD, 1 Scout Wing, 1 Amoeba, 1 Neutron Launcher, PRECOGNITIVE LINE COMPUTER. (the only design to use it, all others used Sapient)
*BG 3.1: TL, 2x SF autocannons, 2x Guardian PD, 1 Scout Wing, 1 Amoeba, 1 Kinetic Launcher.
No comments:
Post a Comment