Tactics: How to deal with kamikaze bombers?

[nephilimnexus]

I constantly face AI bombers that go after my buildings. While I can shoot them down with same buildings' AAA guns just fine, the problem is that the bomber wreckage invariably ends up landing directly on top of said buildings, which completely crushes & destroys them. I've probably lost ten times as many buildings to falling bomber debris as I have to enemy bombs.

Is there any way to counter this?

[FourGreenFields]

Spikes on top of the buildings help. Especially if you build a separate "roof"-structure to be able to cover the flak-guns.

[Lord_Greyscale]

Another option is to go full-on insane, and just make all of your buildings *very* tall pillars so that bombers can't get above them.
(this has a *single* advantage of allowing for a truly horrifying number of musket/rifle/cannon/rockets on one structure, and oh boy is it fun to watch it kill things)

But even though I've done that, it's un-appealing, expensive, and easily destroyed.
(and a horrifyingly pricey loss when the enemy *inevitably* blows out the bottom levels and the structure implodes)

FourGreenFields' suggestion of Spikes is probably better.
His suggestion of a second structure arcing over the first as a roof is allso good.
(I've gotten the "arch" structure as my starter once, put a mess of flak cannon into a hut between it's legs)

[nephilimnexus]

Good ideas, I'll try them both - see if I can make an arch and put spikes on top of it.

[Skirlasvoud]

Originally posted by Lord_Greyscale:

Another option is to go full-on insane, and just make all of your buildings *very* tall pillars so that bombers can't get above them.
(this has a *single* advantage of allowing for a truly horrifying number of musket/rifle/cannon/rockets on one structure, and oh boy is it fun to watch it kill things)

But even though I've done that, it's un-appealing, expensive, and easily destroyed.
(and a horrifyingly pricey loss when the enemy *inevitably* blows out the bottom levels and the structure.

I usually build my sky “walls” using struts. My Skywatcher building is basically a stone orb, standing high on three legs entirely made of these struts. You don’t have to build any corridors or ladders towards the ground. The crew apparently climbs struts.

I don’t have any defences on these strutty legs either, just to cut cost. If I want mid or low height fire coverage, I build buildings behind the skywatcher.

Meanwhile, the three strut legs are suprisingly durable. Attacking the stone globe on top, is in fact more effective.

Each one of the legs is capable of holding the skywatcher upright. They’re hard to hit, have high HP and even if an enemy manages to gradually cause a cut in all three, the Skywatcher will simply fall down upon the rest of the remaining length. Attacking the legs will only decrease the skywatcher’s height - not its combat efficiency.


I’ll post a picture when I get home. I was just as annoyed by suicide bombers before I came up with my skywatchers.

[Skirlasvoud]

My SkyWatchers:

https://i.imgur.com/YOJU8fn.png

Attacking the inert legs below is actually pretty inefficient. You'll see the legs breaking and all of them being counted as "fragmants", but they're still enough to catch and support the stone globe on top, while it and any defensive building behind it will continue to operate and shoot at real targets. At best you'll bring it down to ground level, where it continues to be a useful bunker.

https://i.imgur.com/IOX3ysO.png

[nephilimnexus]

That's... brilliant!

[Crow Whiskey]

Have some cheap rocket/cannon fighters ready to blow up the bombers before they reach your structures, or make sure your ships are fast enough to get where you need them before the battle starts. If you're allowing bombers to roll into your cities unchecked you've already lost the battle. Stationary ground targets are at a major disadvantage and aren't usually worth a big investment.

[nephilimnexus]

Actually, and this is total cheese, but you can just build up a 1 square thick column of dirt all the way to the top of the map. Doesn't prevent weapons from shooting but keeps the enemy ships stuck on the other side of the map.

[cataclysm]

Originally posted by nephilimnexus:

keeps the enemy ships stuck on the other side of the map.

The wall