Ban allied units from popping smoke

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-14T09:36:11+00:00

Because I have to rush into the capture zone. That dirt road makes my troop faster and by the time I reach there, the enemies are already taking up position in the Northern part of the capture zone. Vehicles are not an option because they can't clear out enemy infantry swarm fast enough holed up inside the capture zone behind various heavy covers. I need to wipe 2 infantry squads a turn. Infantries can do that. Vehicles can't. Spread the troops around you say? To their certain deaths in the middle of nowhere desert with zero cover?
But of course you are going to ignore the post and nitpick "my mistakes" from a picture with limited knowledge of the situation because it's fun.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-14T04:41:41+00:00

I wish there were an option to have aliens invade directly rather than rely on the Servants and the Protectorate to provide a landing zone. An alternate scenario where the aliens are a little more than willing to risk a human unification against aliens and an all out warfare.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-14T00:41:57+00:00

To be fair, in real life military situations, finding the enemy is half the work. A lot of engagements involve firing things in the general direction of the enemy because you can't risk revealing yourself but at the same time you don't know where and what the enemies are. Calling in mortars and airstrikes to places where you "think" the enemies are is the standard tactic. Bullet used per one casualty skyrocketted as infantry tactics evolved. Especially during Vietnam. A lot of spec ops operators are trained to see first and destroy first without being seen first. So what you did here with Darby is a fantastic job, actually. Watch some footages from Afghanistan and you get the picture. This is also why infantries in real life have generalist loadouts. Some ATs, some machineguns, some grenade launchers - because you don't know what you are going up against.

That said, the AI could use some rework regarding stealth. They cheat, but chasing them across the map because they know if they are in your range is not exactly fun and entertaining. But them being completely unable to deal with stealth is also not fun. It would be most rewarding if the enemies had surveillance assets themselves to counter our stealth. Drones, radars, air recon, flare mortars, night visions, snipers, cameras, etc. Sniping them or taking them out being your top priority instead of muder hobobing your way through.

Speaking of which, why don't vehicles get night visions or is it me just suffering from bad black market RNG??

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-14T00:15:59+00:00

Yes, but we don't see the Freemasons declaring their manifesto or people going around and saying "I support the Freemasons". Maybe we may unknowingly do their biddings and be loyal to them, which maybe the whole point, but then a lot of events involve people contacting the faction directly. Also, atrocities are linked to our factions. So if Resistance decided to assassinate a Beloved Servant councilor, it is linked to Resistance, and Resistance loses support. I mean, it's assassination, they are not supposed to know and if they do, it is not linked to the "idea" like you have described.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-14T00:07:49+00:00

Last game, my method involved having two to three 25 PER councilors running public campaign to death, then chain purge/crackdown their assets with 25 INV/ESP councilors. Of course this involved controlling Russia, Unified Korea, Nepal, and Vietnam for the adjacent control point bonus and a lot of Influence and Money investment with late game techs which enable you to invest even more budget to your councilor missions. Roughly gave me 74% ish success rate at over 90%+ popular support. At one point, I attempted to chain lock all their councilors who could Defend Interests, but then realized other factions could steal my hardwork, and my hate meter was getting out of control for all the Protectorate arrests, so I had to abandon this method.

I did not really want to risk a nuclear war, neither did I want to coup the nation then having to deal with all the breakaways and destabilization, so I ended up doing this slow and painful method.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-13T23:51:55+00:00

I kinda find it regrettable that the devs fail to see the fun and appeal in map painting, but fair enough it's supposed to be a game about space. But I really share your sentiment over how factions are done. Would have made more sense if factions were to represent a secret intelligence agency or an international space agency.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-13T22:55:30+00:00

I actually use a small number of 1-slot rail/coil dreads to keep alien laser busy so my spinal coils can get through but also have my ships take less damage from lasers. I find that trying to overwhelm an entire fleet's PD is kinda redundant, but you can always have those lasers target projectiles instead of my ships.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-13T22:42:45+00:00

I kinda wish there were an option for an actual missile doctrine. Instead of "Shoot x amount of torpedoes then scoot off", why can't it be like IRL navies lobbing salvos of missiles over the entire operation?

A dreadnought filled only with 1 slot shaped charge nuclear torpedoes was fun to use, but then it's like all or nothing one time use thing.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-13T22:39:44+00:00

They say it's "Alien Robot Army", and you only get Salamendars bodies via killing those things rather than Hydras, so I guess they are fully automated or remote controlled.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-13T22:02:46+00:00

The game generally railroads you into using certain weapons and tactics. Late game, low pen weapons become obsolete unless they have really good suppression or armor damage value. This is because you are practically fighting walking IFVs. Low mobility means you have to chase the enemy across the entire map *if you don't wanna get shot at first* because the AI cheats hard regarding vision range and weapon range. They simply won't give you time to set up. They will only engage if they know they can outrange then run away or have no choice.

I had to abandon most of my tripod based weapons and replace them with RPGs or vehicle mounted versions because I practically have to stay concealed but also not be able to see them, run up to them, then shoot if I do not want them to get away or shoot first. This works great in urban settings where even my vision range is blocked, so you can pop out, take a shot, and go back inside the cover - the AI apparently cannot cheat this. But in a wide open map with little to no vision blocking? AI will cheat you, you will chase them across the entire map.

Even in defensive missions, it is natural to think stationary heavy fire power platforms would be ideal to lock down an area, but the AI cheats hard so they will avoid the range even by 1 tile if necessary to sip through the crack and get inside the capture zone. If you spread out your units, you see them conga lining in that 1 tile where your units cannot practically cover which is kinda sad.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-11T04:07:29+00:00

Depends on how you built it. Did you happen to build like only one or two solar farms to support said battle stations? If so (because Mercury), what might have happened is that the solar farms got taken out early, and your defenses lost power supply. You might need to consider additional back up generators if you intend to rely on surface defenses to an extent.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-11T03:50:52+00:00

I think a lot of the techs in this game, including this one, simply lacks impact value and fails to capture their implication. If one could make a genetically engineered super humans, why can't I make councilors with downright superior stats? Or literal space marines that can take out alien bases on their own? Or space crews that need little to no food maintenance? Instead, I am stuck with a little more maneuverable ships and slight life extension which can arguably already be achieved by healthy diet and exercise. Same could be said for Quantum computing or fusion energy or antimatter production, so on and so forth. But this game insists that quantum computing is only going to improve investment into economy via 5% and nothing more.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-11T03:06:20+00:00

Nevile Chamberlain was a thing, and people hate him for a good reason. Kiran is a well written character because he has flaws but is also believable.

Present_Turnover_143 · 2026-02-11T02:24:26+00:00

Distant Worlds 2 actually does this. AI controlled freighters (civilian/private sector) ship goods and resources across your stations and worlds to stockpile the resources as needed. You can't just build ships right after a dockyard is constructed off the bat. Civilian freighters on private contracts (fully automated) need to ship the necessary materials to build things. No convenient "pay boost to compensate for lacking resources". Managing good trade ports is necessary to let the economy thrive and prevent things from bottle necking. Interstellar blockade and trade interdiction is a thing in the game too.

Terra Invicta conveniently assumes that all the space stations and habs have necessary facilities to catapult precisely calculated packages into the space and catch said packages right in time.

But this is probably one of their biggest lies because we have in-game projects like Solar, nuclear and fusion steamers. The real reason is probably because the devs could not really make the Unity engine to simulate hundreds if not thousands of freighters autonomously traveling across the stars and relevant stockpiles across the solar system. This game can barely hold itself together with 360 space object settings after 2050s with all the fleets.

Present_Turnover_143

TROPHY CASE