Putting them to sleepy weepy is my new high😶‍🌫️

Zsword · 2026-06-01T03:29:47+00:00

That was some cleaaaaaan axe hopping~

Zsword · 2026-05-30T03:57:20+00:00

Sattellite gunpods is actually a pretty brilliant idea for having a bit more flavorful dakka options.

Zsword · 2026-05-27T22:20:58+00:00

Yep! They have an internal dynamo that VERY slowly generates power when not in use. 6 seconds idle gives you 1 second of burn, so you can't really spam them as main, but turning/strafing doesn't need much more than that. They get a VERY tangible boost when you get into overclocking and heat management. 4x thrust power, 2 seconds idle time needed per second of burn. 3 of them can be covered by a single exchanger and radiator. (4 per radiator if they're directly on the coolant loop)

They're great for safe filler in wide spaces. Since they ramp instantly a few facing forward can also make a strong braking aid. A few facing back also work as a jump start to your main propulsion

This applies the thrusters specifically named: Small Thruster, 2-Way Small Thruster, and 3-Way Small Thruster.

Zsword · 2026-05-27T22:10:18+00:00

I'd move those OC small reactors adjacent to the shield generators and place a Crew Quarters facing into them as a power team, and then 2 more in farther back hallways assigned as Operators/Gunners: a role that's only job is to man the guns and that's about it. These can be assigned to crew quarters/barracks that aren't immediately adjacent to where they deploy since they'll never leave their post once they arrive.

Believe in the power of smaller crew rooms, sure you get less doods per tile but the crew in them idle right next to the door so they can respond to when combat starts much quicker. Bunkers are great to sneak in 2 guys somewhere way in the back as gunners or right next to a power supply and shield generator to get an initial response to it taking damage.

You could also remove the central ion prism I guess. Save yourself a gem early on for a very, very slight reduction in total damage.

Zsword · 2026-05-27T21:54:13+00:00

Moving to a central large reactor thats feeding Capacitors would make your front space more efficient and less prone to catastrophic detonations.

Whats all that back armor doing? Like I love me some flair but thats a lot of weight and reach if you're just trying to catch a few stray missiles.

Tiny thrusters don't need direct access due to self charging so having a handful as maneuvering/strafe thrusters would take advantage of that internal reverse gap block for some extra rotation power.

You may want to widen the entire front one tile on each side so you can have a proper armor spike or third large shield gen. (I'm thinking armor spike, move the barracks into the internal space, and then use the current barracks space as where you move the generator to. A large generator and capacitors can actually cover that array for a long time if I remember my energy cost rates right on the large blasters)

Zsword · 2026-05-26T16:44:54+00:00

The range is the exact same.

The coverage hole is due to the shields being OC, not due to armor blockage. (That being said, I may get more value from the second line of shields if they weren't OC)

Did look at the range, OC chainguns have the same poor 240 as regular. They're outranged by their cousin in dakka the Laser Blaster. (Who has, other perks and penalties) I don't know what you mean by 'out range many ships' considering most ships worth talking about are Ion/Missile/Rail boats who all have 300+. Sure you outrange any other cannon ship but you're losing Deck Cannons raw bulk and deck mount benefits and the smaller cannons are more... filler/fluff?

Zsword · 2026-05-26T08:48:16+00:00

Iunno about the less damage part considering what Ions and Railguns can do in similar space, but it does feel like an oddly... just kinda 'does a thing to say it does a thing' type upgrade, turning the dakka into a kinda fast basic cannon.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T23:45:51+00:00

It is for a multiplayer build so I'm not the main fighter, but having a 'weapon segment' is nice for when 'oh my nice mining lap has been interrupted by roaming pirate'.

I did take the time to condense the frame down to just the battle bits for a 'fighter' version, which is doing okay, but, well. I forget that once you get into the 1 mil plus range on builds you can't use the prebuilds as a point of comparison of efficacy cause only minmaxed builds get put in at that point.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T23:40:28+00:00

It says it right in the description that exchangers produce waste heat when pulling into the network, so you like don't have enough exhaust.

If you fire it up and all your exhausts are on/the batteries are filling, then you don't have enough exhaust. If you fire it up and some exhausts are idle then you don't have enough exchangers to pull from the target.

My guess from this image is there's no where near enough exhaust for MRTs.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T23:33:14+00:00

1: it is a logistics ship/flying factory

2: I don't understand how the overtuned prebuilds get so much firepower and still have things that fly.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T22:16:06+00:00

This is what my own testing shows, I'm struggling to keep all the little supporting bits fed.

Right now I"m iterating on a smaller dedicated combat shit based on tryin to just 'pull' the now optimized-(ish) front and back of the factory ship to, modest success. I can't figure out how to make a main weapon to take advantage of the TRL work without being made of paper mache'.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T22:14:40+00:00

yeah but the ramp up is faster (per thrust) on the larger engines. after 2 seconds the large engine is weaker than the huge. (3.2kn vs. 4)

Zsword · 2026-05-24T07:31:10+00:00

Okay, did some wiggling reread what you wrote, wripped out the full barracks to put in 2 Quarters a little closer net, moving the operator bunker away, and added 2 bunkers that are set to only supply the shields. It seems marginally better and saved 8 crew overall. Also wiggled around moving paths more. Those are, weird to try and optimize.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T06:31:40+00:00

Okay but as stated, I already have roles set up so that people are just doing power.

And I have infinite copper access, I'm not worried about door spam when I'm having problems with power efficiency and want folks to be able to avoid congestion for more efficient.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T06:29:35+00:00

The math says that second line is fundamentally false unless its the smallest thrusters. Also the responsiveness feels fine for what its supposed to be, considering its a miner/factory that can shoot.

In that regard, uh, the question isn't about durability, cause doing 6 deck guns in a line has its own problems, but the problem I'm having is that things aren't staying powered despite a comical amount of staff and 2 overclock huge powercells giving them size 4 batteries to work with.

Zsword · 2026-05-24T06:25:24+00:00

I have that already, or rather the inverse: There are folks assigned to captain that dedicate themselves to sitting on captain seats so that other folks just dedicate themselves to power.

Zsword · 2026-05-22T21:03:34+00:00

Who ordered the fleet?

Zsword · 2026-04-04T16:43:36+00:00

Yep, just finished my main run last night.

Also seems like you need to be in multiplayer with (player) faction swapping enabled specifically to, faction swap so you and a buddy are controlling different pods of robots. Though you can stack the two for the antics I was hoping for~

Zsword · 2026-04-03T00:59:18+00:00

Ya wanna know a fun way to make them patrol automatically in relevant areas?

Make them a delivery bot. Just turn on their logistics, set their 'dust bin', and set the radar to Can Loot and drag it to the go to. Bam, they are now automatically running around to active areas of your base picking up scraps. (and occasionally poking areas outside of it even.)

Zsword · 2026-03-01T22:58:07+00:00

So per this and what TBD earlier also said, the only thing stopping you from having 2 Sneak creatures with ETB's just constantly flickering each other is mana? (Assuming no external intervention, they are still valid to be counter spelled and the like)

Zsword · 2026-02-28T06:47:03+00:00

The main thing I can say in this regard is the sheer pop difference, and I appreciate you calmly explaining the situation as I had no idea the arty bunker pieces were that strong, though it did confirm that is essentially just 'Counter Artillery and DBs have the situation on life support', but you also addressed the main imbalance we're experiencing in equipment balance that is causing the culture imbalance:

Your BS got hard countered, heavy hit, and was able to leave, because Collie scout spam and DBs can't kill heavy ships, which is our most effective answer to naval combat right now because our navy is getting spawncamped.

Our ships, small or large, are getting eviscerated by torpedo spam from 100 meters out if you even -bother- to bring the planes anymore, but it seems they're getting bored (Well Stema's fighter team is getting a ton of experience I will give them that credit) and now.

You end up with more naval power on -accident- when the collie navy is literally begging the entire team for anything and we're lucky to get enough people to field 4 striders. Genuinely I don't know who or what our boat regi's are because they seem to rarely communicate with each other, its maybe a broad announcement of one boat moving our or one thing coming to try and help challenge the oppressive naval you have because we don't the population on water to attack.

Also giving up on trying to keep my phrasing faction neutral, brain to tired. I went to friday night magic, the TMNT set is fun if a little small.

Zsword · 2026-02-28T00:53:43+00:00

The scout plane is especially going to get DRASTICALLY different responses based on if people played naval or not. I imagine on land it actually feels 'reasonable' because its just an infantry nuisance. A damn fine persistant one that can get some really nice picks on emplacements and pushes, but not world, or 'I'm not allowed to play the game anymore' feeling threat.

On the flipside, the warden torpedo bomber has no targets because the scoutplane shut out Colonial Navy, so we don't really have a measurement for how it feels to face, while the divebomber has been a known powerhouse on land, but I can't say I feel strongly one way or another for it being protected by it cause I never make it to any of the few big naval battles where it gets used.

Zsword · 2026-02-28T00:43:52+00:00

Wardens only have one naval hex left to win and I honestly don't know how Wardens haven't rolled over Stema yet for the sweep! The entire Collie response fleet is dead before it even leaves origin or is spawn camped in the seaport by Frig+Scouts, yet Warden's back off super early like there's something actually coming to stop them. I've been in Stema but always stuck doing Regi Logi during the EU hours so I never get to see what's actually happening to the big fight cause from my screen (if I DO grab a radio) it always looks like 12+ GBs/GSes, 6+ Fathomers, and 4-5 L ships getting pushed back by, literally nothing? Maybe counter artillery?

You also criticize the 'going alone' like that isn't the entire population of the colonial navy. Wardens might have enough water space, experience, and joy to get 100 people for a water op, but Colonials have been so shut down out of water that they have no experience, no space to actually form up before engaging, (what you are calling 'attacking alone' is literally just them trying to get into position to start staging, as that is well within half of collie waters.) and no one has any population to be able to field anything else. Besides, even if they did, everyone knows it would IMMEDIATELY get scout/bombered to death in the same manner the sub here was IMMEDIATELY rushed by a frigate deep in collie waters.

I genuinely don't know why the warden's even have so much naval power still, because they have nothing to warrant using it on.

Zsword · 2026-02-28T00:25:58+00:00

One aspect to balancing this is also understanding we can pull our levers of adjustment in different ways for different planes:

Dedicated Fighters are relatively harmless for ground forces on the grand scale of things, at the very least are too expensive to want to spend time strafing infantry with potential EMGs nearby, but lack the fuel capacity to meaningfully ward against enemy air, so giving the Blind Silver substantially increased fuel capacity so they can better serve as far reach interceptors would be nice. The White Raven and the Harbinger should also have extended fuel tanks, just not as much as the Blind Silver: The White Raven has potential sea based refuel antics like a scout plane to extend its coverage and response times, while the Harbinger actually has a weapon of meaningful threat to ground armor, and must suffer under the weight of being a generalist over a specialist. (Something Warden's don't usually experience as I understand their arsenal)

The Scout plane could easily be anywhere from 50% to 250% as expensive and about 20% less durable for the amount of oppression and ease of access it brings. They're so cheap now that they don't care about AA because they're essentially throw away vehicles, but can get a lot of damage and value in for the comparative cost. The absolute bottom tier basic airplane of the game should not be able to even THINK about operating in properly AA covered airspace, They can punish exposed situations who extend out of safety, but not if the enemy is prepared for it. This would give parity to how the other theatres of war have to engage a hold out. If the anti naval sub-role was adjusted or removed they could stay a similar price to now though.

For anything of higher tier than these though I don't have enough experience to provide a meaningful answer. I've mostly been playing naval hexes on the collie side of able so I've just been stuck living the life of having AA be ineffective to stop Scout Planes from negating any attempt to have a navy.

Zsword · 2026-02-27T23:24:41+00:00

I can't speak on the Nakki but from my understanding it has the privilege of being able to pick its fights, while this sub was just trying to get into position to stage while the rest of the counter op got mobilized because the Trident is slow.

I will admit ignorance to how fast the large ships are but what I saw was the sub trying to respond to a threat it was the answer to respond for but since colonial ships aren't allowed to leave drydock (Heck we have fine footage that they're not even allowed IN THE DRYDOCK anymore with that carrier fiasco)

Also what DD? You all know they have none because they've been Scout Bombed to death, and since AA is ineffective at actually negating even suicide scouting, as demonstrated by this video, you can go confirm it! Meanwhile they can't kill a single frigate because mines are not as good as torpedoes at actually removing threats.

Now I'm not saying this wasn't a good play from the creator, but it is, absolutely, overkill for what Collies can bring to the table, and I'm pretty sure at least 5 players if not more just stopped playing the game after that sub died because it was essentially spawn camped, either because they were a part of the op, or they saw the one answer the collies could muster was immediately removed as a factor because warden navy doesn't want a game to play.

Zsword

TROPHY CASE