Take point broken

[Doomraven]

As far as I understand it take point is ment to focus all allied fleets to follow the one taking point. It does not do this for me. The allied fleets just seem to roam on their own until they get killed by the fleet we need to combine to kill. Its infuriating that your combined fleet power would demolish the guy who just declared war, but AI is allergic to my fleets it seems. I've had this problem as a vassel owner and as a federation leader, any way to fix it? Anyone else getting annoyed at this ♥♥♥♥?

[galadon3]

Actually activating that isn't FORCING them to rally there, its asking them to do that and sadly the AI often enough decides to be an idiot.

[Lorax]

I find that Allies tend to ingore you thinking they know best (they don't) but vassals will follow you into the depths of hell if you turn it on and are fiercly loyal. And if you don't have it on I find vassals rally to each other to over come threats. So Vassals > Friends

[gorbadoc23]

Originally posted by Lorax:

vassals will follow you into the depths of hell if you turn it on and are fiercly loyal.

I just had the opposite experience three wars in a row.

War 1:
I vassalize Tebbran United Systems.

War 2:
I declare war on Sacrosanct Qravadox Order, expecting a tough-but-short fight, because Tebran has a large fleet that will surely aid me.

• Tebran's fleet sits in his territory.
  
• I activate "Take Point" on my main fleet.
  
• Tebran's fleet sits in his territory.
  
• Thinking the "follow" concept might have limited range, I send a small "Take Point" fleet to Tebbran's fleet, then move it toward the fight.
  
• Tebrans fleet sits in his territory.

After years of attrition, I win the war and vassalize the Sacrosanct Qravadox Order, no thanks to my "loyal" vassal Tebran.

War 3:
At this point, I make three poor decisions in a row.

I declare war on Tchaaskeran Compact (mistake 1) and Tumbator StarCorp, and, uh-oh, Tchaaskeran's fleet is twice the nominal strength of mine. The AI doesn't realize that starter corvettes (with mass drivers or lasers) are better than battleships per mineral spent, but this fleet is just too powerful.

I see Tchaaskeran's massive fleet near his border with Qravadox (whom I vassalized in the previous war). Maybe I can ninja-invade a planet at the opposite end of Tchaaskeran space (mistake 2). No such luck; Tchaaskeran's wormholes tech lets him reach my invading force in just one jump. My fleet strength is dropping slightly faster than his, and by the time I retreat, I've lost half my fleet strength.

Now, after all these years, my vassals decide to fight. That's right. My fleet is enroute to a rally point in my own space, and my shipyards are churning out replacement corvettes. THIS is when my vassals decide to attack.

I figure, hey, my fleet isn't at full strength, and I'll arrive a little late to the fight, but this might be a fight we can win (mistake 3). A couple months later, I'm retreating again.

Despite these setbacks, I eventually win this war after discovering that, hey, it turns out the AI fleet is worthless if I blow up all his wormhole gates while the fleet is deep inside my territory.

I vassalize Tchaaskeran Compact and Tumbator StarCorp.

War 4:
I pick a fight with another wormhole-based opponent, the Pouz-Jok. Long story short, I trap his fleet and invade five of his seventeen planets. I don't keep a close enough eye out for constructors, though, and his fleet escapes.

My 16k main fleet (with accompanying transports) is deep inside Pouz-Jok territory, and I don't have much time before his 60k fleet reaches me. Oh well, at least I have enough warscore to get the Humiliate demand.

But wait! My vassals have shown up! And they have two more 16k fleets! Buuuuuut they're all in different star systems, and they aren't actually attempting to rally to any single location, judging by their listed orders.

Darn. I decide to cut my losses and end the war. Maybe I should have fought, just to see how it would play out (my vassals and I had to have WAY more mineral income for replacing lost ships). I'm playing ironman, though, and there's an Awakened Ascendancy rampaging about.

TLDR:
War 1, I vassalize my neighbor.
War 2, he has a strong fleet that he refuses to send.
War 3, my vassals send their fleets at the worst time.
War 4, my vassals send their fleets to different locations.
At no point has my vassal actually followed my "On Point" fleet.