Late game advice on declaring war on federations (tedious, too much micromanaging)

[Wolf]

I'm in late game, not a in federation (since they never end up going to war), and I'm the top empire. Problem is, mostly everyone is in a federation. I can't imagine going to war with one of the larger federations due to all the mircomanaging involved in the wars.

I have maybe 1/3 of the map so I'll be attacked on ALL sides and I can't possibly keep up with having 20 different fleets spread out on all fronts. It's already incredible tedious when I go to war with defensive-pact empires that have 3-4 allies, and having to take out their fleets, transport my armies safely/invade their planets, all while simultaneously defending my planets.

I was in another late game where not everyone was in one big federation, and I even had a few vassals that provided armies on the planets I bombarded, which made it a bit easier. This time, it's just me and 2 defensive allies (which is useless since I'm the aggressor in all wars), so has anyone been in this situation that can help with finishing wars quicky?

Also, I have no real diplomatic options (that I can think of). I can't demand vassalizations since everyone is in a federation (the option is blocked off). I can't join one of the larger federations since I'm labeled as a "threat"... I only have the option of conquering everyone.

Particularly, is it a good strategy to maybe bypass the landing of the armies and just focus strictly on chasing/destroying fleets and bombarding planets? The whole landing armies is way too tedious and takes forever (I'm talking about going up against multiple empires here all on different fronts). And not only that, but if I actually took the time to win a war against the big federation, it's not like it's a one time thing. I'd only be able to take x10 planets due to the warscore (won't be able to vassalize due to exceeding the warscore demands), and it would take forever to completely wipe out the entire federation and get the total victory. Also, I'm on ironman so I can't cheat or anything.

[Knight.R]

In my time of purging and going up against pathetic federations that perfer to host tea parties than do something about the unbidden i learned a great manythings. First you don't place your trust on the AI tis was the first thing i learned. Second for some reason the AI tend to send their as many ships as they can on whichever planet you occupy the moment i first declare war. Primaraly their capitols. What i am trying to say is if you bumrush an important planet(s) of whatever civ you are at war with They WILL try and liberate it. Just know if you are dealing with a large federation the amount of transport ships they send will be staggering and they also tend to send any newly built ships to bombard that planet as well. So doing this can be effective at keeping the annoying reinforcements from flying all over your space. Just know that you might have to sacrifice a planet or two i don't really care so much since the planets they go after tend to be the ones on the edge of my borders. Hope this helps in some way.

[Azrael]

Fight a guerilla war. Go behind enemy lines and destroy as many mining stations as you can.
My experience is, that the AI doesn't rebuild them immediately, I guess because it wants to spend ressources for ships.

In the long run, the AI will run into problems because it can't rebuild its fleets that fast and can't sustain a fleet as big as at the start of the war.

So, if you don't fail at defending your own territory and mining stations, you can weaken the enemy constantly until you can deal the final blow.

[Lucifer]

I find that when fighting on multiple fronts or when up against heavier odds, the guerilla war works well. the enemy fleets will always go for what ever enemy (yours) fleet is in their terrority that is closest to their homeworld. they will turn tail from attacking your planets if only one ship of yours enters their space. so, its a bit of a chump move, but when out gunned, ill send one ship into every one of the enemies i face's space, and jump that ship to another one of their systems the moment their ships rock up. using this tactice to keep their fleet busy (keeps you busy too as it gets pretty 'down to the second' at times) you can start mopping up their starbases. these are your best targets, wipe out enough of these and their fleet will start dropping in size on its own. secondly you can use this tactic to quickly send in troops to take their planets and move on. this will ultimately win you the war

[Wolf]

Guys, thank you, appreciate the advice. I did notice chase movements of enemy fleets when I entered their territory but I didn't realize the extent of it. I may try that but it still seems like it would take forever. Plus, it would mean going into 10 different empire's territory to knock off their mining stations. I'm almost very disheartened to know that I will spend hours upon hours doing this (or any other tactic at this point) to get domination victory.

I've noticed a lot of ppl have this similair complaint, about these tedious wars. I feel like I'm punished signficantly for surviving to end game, being the top empire, now, what should be a downhill ride to overall victory ends up being a tortorous, time comsuming micromanaing hell. I'll try it and see what happens though...

[Azrael]

Noone said that conquering other species has to be easy, of cause they'll try to make it hard for you, when they see you as a threat ;)

Don't forget: This is an 4X after all with a great emphasis on Grand Strategy, probably because Paradox is famous for their Grand Strategy Titles, atleast that would explain the Influence of Grand Strategy.

[Wolf]

Originally posted by Azrael:

Noone said that conquering other species has to be easy, of cause they'll try to make it hard for you, when they see you as a threat ;)

Don't forget: This is an 4X after all with a great emphasis on Grand Strategy, probably because Paradox is famous for their Grand Strategy Titles, atleast that would explain the Influence of Grand Strategy.

So here's the thing, getting to this point wasn't easy. Choosing my battles wisely, allying with the correct person, winning tight wars, getting through the unbidden, etc.

Well the thing is that at this point, it IS easy now that my fleet easily outnumbers everyone 3 to 1 but with all these tiny stupid empires in the same federation, it turns to an incredibly tedious, tiresome end game. There's no challenge, just have to be patient and pause to split your fleet, send them to wherever the enemy is attacking, etc. Not only that, but think about how LONG it will take win the overall war with this (huge, 10-empire federation). It's not like I can win in one war, it's gonna take 6-8 wars to capture all their planets, and remember, after each war you have to wait 10 years to declare war again....ffs