advice for building bunker bases?

[Reno Story]

One day, I wanna try my hand at making my own Bunker base to contribute to the defense of the homeland, and while I already looked up how to make one, I'm still a little concerned about some things that weren't explained to me (at least from the source I used).

For instance, how long it takes on average for an upgrade to research, moreso if you happen to be the only one there. Or if things keep researching even when you aren't there, or if you have to be online the entire time to ensure that an important upgrade becomes available.

It would be nice if people could share a bit of info and maybe some tips for good BB design to better help people such as me when we eventually attempt to tackle designing our own Bunker Bases, which in my experience are very valuable as I learned personally, as well as the importance of having an operational AI (having it shut down for whatever reason is the most dreadful thing...)

[Draconie]

some clans keep information secret, and there are a ton of misconceptions so everyone has a different explanation on how the nitty gritty works, i dont know how colonials do it, but for warden side you are best off joining one of the clans that make bunker bases and have them give you a walk through on it.

[Horny Rooster]

I am very experienced Reno Story, I can teach you. I am on warden side though, so not sure if you are colonial or warden.

[Reno Story]

Publicado originalmente por Horny Rooster:

I am very experienced Reno Story, I can teach you. I am on warden side though, so not sure if you are colonial or warden.

I'm a warden, but that doesn't really matter.

I'm mainly just asking for some explanation for things, like how long it takes on average to "research" certain bunker upgrades, or if they stop when the last one connected to a base logs off or if they keep running on their own?

[Lantantan]

First.
Getting T1 AI (= AI if 10+ people spawn) and rifle bunkers take about 30min to 2 hours max.
Second.
Getting T2 AI (= permanent AI) is what takes longest, this takes 1 to 4 RL days.
Third.
Getting AT bunkers, takes 1 to 2 days.

So don't make more than the 4 beds needed for rifle bunkers, getting permanent AI is critical. That said, if you're using nearby permanent Townhall or Relic base AI (within 150m) you can start building AT bunkers in just one day.

An important factor in how fast upgrades are, is if that area counts as "friendly" starter territory, I dont know the exact multipliers, but my guess is twice as fast.

Dont forget to supply enough garrison supplies (once you unlock T2 AI) every day to prevent everything from decaying.

[Sundial]

soloing a BB cost your life. literally.

[Lantantan]

Publicado originalmente por Bural:

soloing a BB cost your life. literally.

It's pretty tedious but important work. Share the load and don't try to finish the whole thing in one go.

[Horny Rooster]

Making a lot of small low garrison cost bunker bases is way better than making tons of big bunker bases. Generally when the front gets to your bunker base, the team will build it out.

[VstaR]

I've solo made T2 bunkers a few times with AT unlocked and large garrison when having enough time. It does take allot of efford on maintaining it for sure.

First off all, make your main bunker only 6 tiles big, to keep the structural integrity the highest. Then make sure you camp/afk those Bunker Base Upgrades, rifle garrison upgrade is useless if you are alone with no small garrison, unless you man one yourself. On the other hand it only takes 10-30 minutes upgrade time, and enemy can't easily take you out in there.

Now that you have your bunker base, start designing and digging the bunkers. Try to only make trenches where you need to connect, and dont forget you can connect trenches under the road.

Now comes the upgrading part, start running logi yourself to get Bmats, so that once you have the small garrison upgrade you can start upgrading the trenches and bunkers into T2. And if your regions upgrades slower to unlock, make sure you have garrison supplies (Normal decay hits at ~24h), and if you are not to far from the front lines, make sure you supply shirts and all other stuff ppl could use to when the fight is close.

Before you go to sleep/work etc, fill up those garrison supplies! Or you will have a sad suprise the next day. Also every trench/bunker/sandbag etc takes 2 garri supplies per hour, so keep only the most important points where partisans would try to pass covered at first, that saves you allot of extra logi runs.

And think about how to prevent a satchel charge attack, your enemy will try to rush in with a truck, block one or 2 of your bunkers line of sight, and blow up your Bunker Base Core. This is your most essential part to think about when designing a functional bunker.

If you are in more dangerous territory, it could be wise to start off with a Forward Base, these are very quick to upgrade to T2 so you can have active foxholes and anti tank cannons up very fast to protect the bunker a bit.

When you are solo, dont waste your time on T3 with concrete, unless you really have the time for that and want to offer up all your time in it, and are mostly certain your base will get to be a frontline so it would not become a waste of those many rMats. (And then you still should get friends or a clan to help you out)

Soloing a storm cannon is a dream that rarely ever comes true, since most wars are over before you can solo reach the required Command tech. And even the ppl that work together are rarely unlocking it.

Be sure to also check the foxhole fan wiki: Foxhole wiki bunkers [foxhole.fandom.com]

[Lantantan]

Publicado originalmente por Horny Rooster:

Making a lot of small low garrison cost bunker bases is way better than making tons of big bunker bases. Generally when the front gets to your bunker base, the team will build it out.

I agree with Rooster a lot here, preparing multiple small BBs that can then quickly be expanded when frontline moves in, is much more valuable for the team than one huge BB which can be avoided or flanked.

Publicado originalmente por VstaR:

First off all, make your main bunker only 6 tiles big, to keep the structural integrity the highest. Then make sure you camp/afk those Bunker Base Upgrades, rifle garrison upgrade is useless if you are alone with no small garrison, unless you man one yourself. On the other hand it only takes 10-30 minutes upgrade time, and enemy can't easily take you out in there.

When you are solo, dont waste your time on T3 with concrete, unless you really have the time for that and want to offer up all your time in it, and are mostly certain your base will get to be a frontline so it would not become a waste of those many rMats. (And then you still should get friends or a clan to help you out)

Vstar has a lot of good tips, but I dont quite agree with these ones. Slightly bigger core that can shoot back (both AT AND RG) and has no blind spots is much tougher to crack and can make for extended, painful last stands. I especially hate the core 2x3 designs, at the very least add 1 RG so enemies cant spawnkill.

Once you've created 2 or 3 BBs, I would also recommend you try concreting your small bunkerbases. Core concrete can also safely be 9 tiles big. Its adds much more strength per time invested than making your T2 bunker complex bigger, while not increasing the Gsup drain. It's also super satisfying.

What do you think OP?

[Reno Story]

The main reason for this entire thread was so I could get a better understanding of bunker bases, after learning the hard way that you can't rely on foxholes to help hold a position.

After witnessing an expertly crafted Bunker Base that was able to hold off invaders for several days (which I was a part of, in fact), I came to realize just how valuable a well placed Bunker base can be for holding vital positions and choke-points.

One time, after being pushed back in a skirmish during the early war period, I desperately fled to another position that had hardly any defenses, and in a panic, built a line of foxholes covering every possible entry point to help suppress the attacking force, which worked... Due to the small scale of the skirmish and the lack of tech at the time.

So eventually I refined it, adding more foxholes, barbed wire, radio towers and a few carefully placed trenches (even some landmines here and there), and after several hours of holding and eventually pushing back, I felt confidant that it had what it took to last until reinforcements could eventually arrive. But when I logged in the next day... It was gone. Thousands of Bmats, hours of work, down the drain. And then I learned that foxholes were, in fact, very fragile against field machineguns, which aren't intimidated by such things.

In all my fighting, both as a Warden and a Colonial, I realize that in order to ensure that if ground could be held, at least in early game to mid-game, a tactfully placed BB Is a much better investment, since players are not always going to be around to help defend and foxholes are only good pre-heavy weapons, which isn't very long. So I thought about sometime, probably in a fresh war, tackling the challenge of building a bunker base somewhere in the world where it could contribute to the defense of the homeland, close enough to the front to be useful but also far enough to be useful as a fallback point .

I appreciate people's posts in this thread and am learning quite a few things, although I'm also disappointed to hear how long it takes for a base to fully activate, let alone the implication that it only upgrades if there is at least one person online connected to the base, meaning that creating a defensive position really is far more time consuming than I thought.

Getting the Bmats to make it isn't the hard part, I don't mind mining and refining and all that. It's just the wait that sucks.

[Lantantan]

We're all glad we could be of assistance! And yes that T2 bunker HMG/FMG immunity means that early game even a small bunker base is a very significant roadblock. Once AT turrets get added, these fortifications remain very valuable throughout the mid game.

Publicado originalmente por Reno Story:

I appreciate people's posts in this thread and am learning quite a few things, although I'm also disappointed to hear how long it takes for a base to fully activate, let alone the implication that it only upgrades if there is at least one person online connected to the base, meaning that creating a defensive position really is far more time consuming than I thought.

Oh don't misunderstand, you don't have to stay online! The lower estimates I gave you assumed nobody had their spawn set or voted. But just 1 or 2 people nearby with a set spawn and voting speeds up the process a lot (like, +50% speedish), and progress is gets rapid indeed if it's an active frontline (levels out around +300% speedish). These numbers are very rough guestimates. So protip: ask local logi/scrappers or long distance logi passing through to set spawn and vote!

But yeah, because of the waiting time, bunker building takes also a lot of crystal ball work. Which is also why Rooster recommended you make multi small ones. Get that AI upgrade ticking in a tiny bunkerbase, on as many possible future frontlines. Then only expand where needed as war evolves.