How useful is it to have fuel tankers in a fleet?

[bitmapkid]

I have 2 fuel tankers in my attack fleet template but I can't tell if it's really making a difference. It seems like my ships exhaust their fuel cells and then they go back to a Caslon mining station to refuel.

I would have hoped that fuel tankers would be constantly going back and forth between gas giants and the fleet to keep it fueled but I am not sure this is the case.

[karlnapp]

That is also my experience. I have never seen fuel tankers serve their purpose in my games.

There are many posts about this problem in this forum. The developers have not commented on it yet (as far as I know).

There are other people on this forum who claim that the fuel tankers work to your satisfaction. I can say that I have had a different experience.

[jorgen_cab]

They work... but they only refuel the ships if they stand still and do nothing. If the fleet are below 30% fuel they will automatically go and refuel at a refuelling point instead of refuelling from their tankers.

I hope the developers will allow fleets on auto to stop and refuel from tankers as first option and go to refuelling point as second option if the tankers don't have enough fuel or are far away.

But you can stop the fleet and have it stand still somewhere and the tankers will come in and refuel all your ship.

The thing about working with tankers is that they can only service your ship if you or the AI have not give them another order or mission to conclude.

The biggest issue I see with the AI is simply that the AI might not give the fleet time off for the tankers to do their jobs. This is especially apparent in wars where the AI rarely allow fleets to do nothing and allow themselves to be refuelled.

I hope the developers eventually create a specific move order for this. Move here and refuel from tankers... The AI should also be able to use that order.

When you know how the tankers operate you can have fleets operating entirely from their tankers, but it does require some manual labour to do this.

[Sagitta]

Only way to make them work somewhat I found:

- set automatic refueling of manual fleets to NO in the policies (thats automatic refueling at colonies/bases)

- make sure your tankers are automated

- set fleet to manual

- engagement range to zero

- park the fleet somewhere with no enemy targets.

Then the tankers will fill up your ships. The problem right now is that the ships prioritize movement with the fleet over refueling, even when they are completly dry. And since even a ship with empty fuel tank can jump the tanker never gets a chance to actually do its job, its just going to chase that empty ship forever. This definetly needs a touch-up by the devs.

[jorgen_cab]

Originally posted by Sagitta:

Only way to make them work somewhat is to set automatic refueling of manual fleets to no in the policies (thats automatic refueling at colonies/bases), make sure your tankers are automated, set fleet to manual, engagement range to zero and park the fleet somewhere with no enemy targets. Then the tankers will fill up your ships. The problem right now is that the ships prioritize movement with the fleet over refueling, even when they are completly dry. And since even a ship with empty fuel tank can jump the tanker never gets a chance to actually do its job, its just going to chase that empty ship forever. This definetly needs a touch-up by the devs.

Yes... there are several things they would need to add to the AI with fuel tankers.

1. Fuel tankers need to share fuel with each other in a fleet so some are always full and some can run off and mine. At least one tanker should always stay with the fleet even if it is not full unless it also is very low on fuel, say less than 25% capacity.

2. Fleets need to have a specific order to move to closest safe system and refuel from own tankers. The AI also need to understand how to use this order.

3. When using the "prepare to attack" order the fleet should stop in a safe system close to the target and refuel from their tankers before they attack.

A fleet stacked with enough tankers should rarely if ever run out of fuel.

[karlnapp]

The algorithm that sends the fleets to refuel in automatic mode is far from good and evil, in my observation.

An example that I observe again and again: The fleet is diverted to a gas station that probably has the most supplies at that moment. In many cases this is at the other end of the galaxy and when the fleet arrives there after many decades and fragmented (it flies with emergency program), there is of course no fuel left. So it is diverted again to another corner with the consequence that it is further fragmented.

The fleet has become completely worthless and is only worth committing suicide to avoid further maintenance costs.

This shows how important it would be to be able to give the fleet the order to stay together. Unfortunately not possible. In my opinion, the first priority for any fleet would be to stay together.

[CHOO CHOO]

Originally posted by karlnapp:

That is also my experience. I have never seen fuel tankers serve their purpose in my games.

There are many posts about this problem in this forum. The developers have not commented on it yet (as far as I know).

There are other people on this forum who claim that the fuel tankers work to your satisfaction. I can say that I have had a different experience.

Yeah, same experience here. I still bring them along, but that's just roleplay at this point. Tankers are completely useless unless micromanaged.

[bitmapkid]

Based on all this info, is it preferable to have fuel tankers in the fleet or just as independent ships?

I'm just trying to find a way to get my main attack fleets to stay in enemy territory as long as possible. Right now they run out of fuel way before they need repair.

Regardless I am going to try just stopping the fleet manually to see if it does anything.

[fidsquid59]

I had to turn off auto refuel in my current run. The AI decided that the best refueling spots were at various planets in other empires, some of which i was not on the best terms with.
My tankers spend most of tier time empty until the fleet is try THEN they go and slowly mine fuel somewhere. Also usually not at the closest place. Currently hoping enemies ignore my until i can get my fleets refueled.