Tips for conquest?

[EpicRice]

My ships usually cost 600-900 gold and by the time they finish building, i've lost territory. When I try to reclaim territory, it seems like my units cant hit the broadside of a barn or get sunk quite easily.

Example: I build a bomber vessel, it flies over the enemy base. Takes about 2-3 minutes defeat an enemy base but heavy damage sustained.

I've tried for doing small cost effective ships and medium sized Keel ships for armor and nothing seems to be working for me. Any Advice?

[FourGreenFields]

Some screenshots of the design might be good, in case there's some efficiency there.

But iIrc most of winning high-difficulty conquest boiled down to recapping territory the moment the enemy moved his fleets away, and potentially retreating after destroying just one building, to be able to retreat and repair (and repairing armour is free and instant after a retreat). Then again, I think there were some changes to the AI since I last played.

[EpicRice]

Originally posted by FourGreenFields:

Some screenshots of the design might be good, in case there's some efficiency there.

But iIrc most of winning high-difficulty conquest boiled down to recapping territory the moment the enemy moved his fleets away, and potentially retreating after destroying just one building, to be able to retreat and repair (and repairing armour is free and instant after a retreat). Then again, I think there were some changes to the AI since I last played.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1877173385

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1877173436

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1877173335


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1877173172

[EpicRice]

Originally my ships didn't have keels so I tried adding them in to increase the hp. Even though wooden armor gets a bonus against small arms it still gets absolutely destroyed by normal rifle fire from enemy defenses while alot of my bombs tend to miss.

Im not sure how to improve the ships so that they fight better+cost efficient. By the time I can build my first ship its usually out classed by an enemy ship using a flamethrower, gatling gun, or a rocket. The only time I can beat them is if they're using a pretty 'standard' ship design and even then I can still lose if they manage a lucky hit.

[Talezteller]

I have just wrapped up a "hard" conquest mostly by spamming this ship:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1877532293

It's a tech 0 $650 fighter-bomber. Note that it uses muskets instead of rifles (higher close-range damage).
I've had my ships on aimed fire for most of the campaign.

Then again i've probably had some luck in terms of not getting put up against many esoteric AI ship design. All in all these are the takeaways from this campaign:

• Be crazy aggressive in the early game
  
• Don't bother attacking capital cities until you have a proper assault fleet going
  
• Cheap ships is your number 1 priority for the early game.
  
• Get rid of those keels and cram more weapons on.
  
• Forget about coal, use massed sails
  
• Use muskets instead of rifles. Higher damage per shot.
  
• Grenades are stupid good for early-game bombers
  
• Boarding is very good against ground defences (and makes for nice RP)

Ultimately luck plays a big role as well, if 4 of your AI neighbors decide to dogpile on you no amount of optimal ship design will save you. Just be prepared to restart early for minimum frustration.

Don't bother with landships until you can make one that is a mobile barracks, which you can use to storm capital-city fortifications.

[EpicRice]

Originally posted by Talezteller:

I have just wrapped up a "hard" conquest mostly by spamming this ship:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1877532293

It's a tech 0 $650 fighter-bomber. Note that it uses muskets instead of rifles (higher close-range damage).
I've had my ships on aimed fire for most of the campaign.

Then again i've probably had some luck in terms of not getting put up against many esoteric AI ship design. All in all these are the takeaways from this campaign:

• Be crazy aggressive in the early game
  
• Don't bother attacking capital cities until you have a proper assault fleet going
  
• Cheap ships is your number 1 priority for the early game.
  
• Get rid of those keels and cram more weapons on.
  
• Forget about coal, use massed sails
  
• Use muskets instead of rifles. Higher damage per shot.
  
• Grenades are stupid good for early-game bombers
  
• Boarding is very good against ground defences (and makes for nice RP)

Ultimately luck plays a big role as well, if 4 of your AI neighbors decide to dogpile on you no amount of optimal ship design will save you. Just be prepared to restart early for minimum frustration.

Don't bother with landships until you can make one that is a mobile barracks, which you can use to storm capital-city fortifications.

Great advice and I'm not sure how badly I roll against the AI. Sometimes its a straight forward AI using muskets, other times they've got a combination of flamethrowers and gatling guns or the super heavy turret on steel bunkers defending a tiny village.

Only thing I have to ask is how to make use of balloons+Sails? The reason i started going coal more is due to ships using ballons typically getting shot down alot easier compared to the suspendium chambers. Is there a trick to making your dust tanks less targetable or less likely to implode?

Secondly, how many guns would you recommended for ships from start of the game to mid game? and is water tanks worth the cost early on or just go for quantity. How much is a cheap ship, Most of mine are usually in the 560-750 range but only spot 2-3 guns

[Talezteller]

Originally posted by EpicRice:

Only thing I have to ask is how to make use of balloons+Sails? The reason i started going coal more is due to ships using ballons typically getting shot down alot easier compared to the suspendium chambers. Is there a trick to making your dust tanks less targetable or less likely to implode?

Secondly, how many guns would you recommended for ships from start of the game to mid game? and is water tanks worth the cost early on or just go for quantity. How much is a cheap ship, Most of mine are usually in the 560-750 range but only spot 2-3 guns

1. Balloons+sails is key to keep costs down.
   
2. Keep your baloons at the back of your ships and only use however many you need to gain the drop on your enemies.
   
3. Just move your blimps around a lot. That's the single thing that's going to keep them in the air the most.
   
4. As many guns as you can fit, really. The Vanguard series has 5 guns, with either grenades or muskets depending on tactical role. That worked well enough against hard AI.
   
5. $600 is probably the floor you're looking at for a cheap but useful ship.
   
6. For the problem you're heaving with mega-bunkers I recommend beelining the tech tree for air marines and landships, and deploying boarding tanks against them.

[Pwnicus]

^ All solid advice, I'll emphasize early blitz tactics are indeed very effective. I try to make a fast corvette or destroyer type ship, nothing too big, that can be used in groups of 2 or 3 of itself to capture as many towns nearby as possible.
I also use these small ships to intercept enemy fleets whenever possible. When you intercept, you can choose to back out of the fight and not lose any territory. Intercepting can also be used to wear enemies down from attrition, since ammo / etc refills after each encounter, and if your ships are faster they can just re-intercept and attack again with relative impunity.

[EpicRice]

Originally posted by Pwnicus:

^ All solid advice, I'll emphasize early blitz tactics are indeed very effective. I try to make a fast corvette or destroyer type ship, nothing too big, that can be used in groups of 2 or 3 of itself to capture as many towns nearby as possible.
I also use these small ships to intercept enemy fleets whenever possible. When you intercept, you can choose to back out of the fight and not lose any territory. Intercepting can also be used to wear enemies down from attrition, since ammo / etc refills after each encounter, and if your ships are faster they can just re-intercept and attack again with relative impunity.

Does that mean you would utilize 1 or 2 bridges? Currently I only use 1 bridge or even just a cockpit to minimalize costs/crew

[Pwnicus]

I usually use 1 bridge. If the command times are way too high (I like to keep them low so I can react quickly to the enemy) I might add a cockpit too. Never hurts to have a backup in case one is destroyed, so you can still issue commands.