[TC] XENON WARS by deca.death

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deca.death
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[TC] XENON WARS by deca.death

Post by deca.death » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:10


Xenon Wars by deca.death



Terraformer Company

First few words about my company (ie. my playtsyle): Terraformers Inc., is Argon company dealing mostly in high tech weapon industry, in fact they were same infamous company that help developing terraformers in a first place (but now they are "good", or so they say ; ) Their CEO is Thorwald Konnis, young genius playboy millionaire (that's me allright : ) who seems to like much more flying in high speed fighters and chasing women then making money, at least for his uncles (and only living relative) taste. Character is loosely based on Robert Downey Jr. in movie "Iron Man".

Terraformer Company (T.C.) treats all sentient beings in universe as potential customers, so we are friends to all sides willing to accept our friendship. That includes Pirates and Yaki (who are amongst ours best customers), but naturally excludes Xenon and Khaak (insects and robots somehow don't recognize concept of money, and that's bad for business : ) T.C. is about weapon production, and distribution but it deals in other products, especially high profit ones, that are illegal in some territories. We are in very good relationship with all governments, maintaining even personal friendship with some rulers. Although shady deals like industrial espionage (even stealing of war vessels) or even assassinations are also conducted, they are quickly covered up thanks to many connections. T.C. has substantial private army, which is used in keeping galaxy safer (war is good for business but not when all the customers are dead : ) T.C. also invest millions in vast chain of charity projects in Terran and Yaki space which are giving major bump to their economies.


Current situation in my game

I have finished all the major plots, build all that I plan on building, steal almost every ship that can be stolen including ATF and Xenon, (77 successful boardings up to now) have major war reserves in ammo, weapons and missiles (stored in several TLs) have several military complexes that are selling most of their goods away now. I have fully automated empire thanks to CLS script, which virtually runs for itself without any intervention. I have 10 fully upgraded and equipped TSes with fully trained pilots stored in my Aran, to fill in possible TS losses immediately . Almost every factory has detention of internal security forces (usually pair of Skirons).

My main bases are: ANH Twisted Skies sector (with PHQ and majority of ships I personally fly) and Elysium of Light sector with two EqD's (Atmolifter full of guns/missiles on each) as backup resupply point and home for boarding Cobra crew and OOS quick intervention forces (three Osakas, alpha, bravo and charlie and Odin with 44 Cutlasses /70 polters in each) - these guys help clogging Xenon outbursts on Xenon sector gates when necessary.

Also I have universe wide xenon sector-gate blockades, with 3 Terran warships at every gate /4 on critical points - all in all I have around 34 battleships on gate blockade duties, 21 Osaka, 6 Tyres, 3 Phoneixes and 2-3 others. All of them were stolen btw : ) Every battleship team is backed up with 100 LTs placed at OOS gate entry point. System works great and xenon are not present in my space. My financial state is stable on 2 billions cca, income is good.

[ external image ]
Greetings AI, welcome to Commonwealth space


The *BIG PLAN* /why all this...?

Universe is quiet in my current game - even too quiet. NPC economy is quite developed, I connected universe with HUB (argon prime - OL - queen's retrib.), built hundreds of factories for NPCs, always had certain number of my traders to help speed things up a bit (20-30) and universe is quite safe, little traders going up and down, blue pirates and everything - All is great but boring too : ) What did I build up that army for anyway? Stored away tenths of thousands of missiles? We need war my precious, oh yes we do. If you read intro about my company and the way I play this playthrough then it's apparent then I cannot go on some CW race, or any other race for that matter. It is just not in nature of this character I'm playing. Luckily my esteemed colleague Xenon hunter Bill Huntington noted me that if by some means SY in Xenon Core 023 would be destroyed, Xenon would go berserk, sending large fleets out of all other sectors, maybe even to the rest of the game (!!) The minute I read that I know that I want to try it : ) So major invasion, Xenon overflowing my blockades and laying waste to civilized space? Yes please! Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. That was the plan. Piss out the Xenon and endure the consequences, killing as much machines as possible in the process. Full scale Xenon wars.

I'm going to try assaulting main Xenon invasion sources (as Xenon 598) on preemptive strikes - better kill them on time then allow them to trouble my blockade forces. Whenever my blockade sends "your ship is under attack" message, xenon sector neighboring will be laid to waste. That's a good plan. I expect low or none causalities - I plan leading almost every operation IS myself.

Personal Info:
Tycoon 44%
Battlemaster 71%

Stations: 342
Ships: 412
Satellites: 288
Lasertower: 966

43 M2's - vast majority on xenon gate blockade duties (around 34 M2's)
4 Carriers - I count Panther in, Aran, J waiting for RE and Odin, basically only two functional M1 vessels, clumsy Odin and fantastic Panther.
13 M7's - one M7M, one 'aggressive transport' (Aegir 'Guntruck', used for LT placement) one M7M, most of others my personal attack vessels.
M6's - 27, good part of them on factory security forces, several SBs for supplying /fast cargo transport /special tasks.
Hundreds of traders and dozens of TLs, irrelevant.

Here is list of my PHQ ship that will be flown personally in this conflict:
TC Boreas 'Kull The Conqueror'
TC Tyr 'Aegis' - Strategic AA command (8 PSP in nose /48(!!) SSCs : )
TC Brigantine 'Jolly Roger'
TC Odin 'Thumper' - 44 Cutlasses /70 polters each - 30% missile chance
TC Panther 'Vengeance'
TC Shrike 'Tlojolo'
TC Skirnir 'Toxeus' /last resort - has appropriate "private" shadow fab.
TC Hyperion Command
TC Springblossom 'Shakal'
TC Viper and Hades /filled with thawks, just in case. Also have fab /unlimited ammo.

Additional forces 'in reserve':
TC Titan Centaurus
TC Agamemnom 'Babylon'
TC Deimos 'Unholy Fire'
TC Tiger 'Entropy'

[ external image ]
Twisted Skies, Company HQ



Phase One - Testing

First I needed to gather some info about behavior of xenon when agitated and strength of my blockade forces. As you know when you level xenon sector up, other sectors generate number of forces and sending them to replace losses. Qs and Ks are also spawning in the sectors (except in 472) out of thin air. SY and bases are respawned after certain time too. So I took my Boreas, broke the ceasefire and level one xenon sector. Nothing special happened in next few hours so I leveled three sectors more : ) Then it begun. I never noticed a problem (there were no Betty warnings issued about attack on my ships) but I started to see K's and Q's in my space, and I haven't seen those guys for a while. My blockade forces actually held well but when Xenon really push out - number of ships do get past my gatekeepers, deeper into sector. Then my Osakas start chasing them and leaving their gate posts, then more xenon pour in and many of them succeed in penetrating further. Xenon seem not interested on my forces, they go deeper into CW space about their business, so I had to hunt them down manually.

My answer was - more battleships! I've send down Boreas, Tyr and Osaka, plus 4 gatekeepers there was 7 Terran M2's at gate. They had to be babysitted whole the time not to wander away - that has proven to be biggest nuisance of xenon increasing activity. Xenon luckily seem to push at one gate at the time. First they besieged Grand Exchange for day or two, then they tried at Nopileoses Memorial, but not as strong. After two days they pacified again. Good. Experiment was successful. War can begin.


Phase Two - Incursion

Of course, I wanted to test up as much of my fleet as possible. I attacked directly sector 598, below Zyarth's and north of Grand Exchange, I decided to take my new Odin and give it a test ride. Of course, trying to deploy your wings on Xenon gate ambush was not such a great idea. I've got killed few times (I'm quite persistent : ) before I've changed tactics. This time I brought tin can opener, Shrike. It was better but still...


Ship observations - Q

Contrary to popular believe - Q is actually quite dangerous opponent IS, the bigger ship you fly Q gets nastier. It's basically anti capital killer. Fast and agile, with tremendous firepower in his spinal + forward firing PPC lateral turrets. Sure you'll say he will spend it's limited energy fast - this is problem if YOU fly it - it's not a problem for AI - AI ships don't live for too long anyway. It was designed to deliver as much firepower as possible in short time and does this flawlessly. Three of those together (like on gate ambush xenon often set at their gates) will pose serious problem even for M2. Small and more agile craft do get upper hand. Weak turret placement with big defense holes can be easily exploited, even in MD armed M5. Q has all the power in his nose, if you can avoid him facing you you should be OK. If not - it will hurt.

[ external image ]
This is how Q greets


Ship observations - Shrike

I've concluded that my dear old Shrike is not as effective in demanding engagements as I've hoped to be. Simultaneous multiple capitals engagements do pose a problem. Three Qs at gate may get you killed. Shrike punches hard but can't completely outmaneuver incoming rain of fire. Q will face you, I usually avoid most of incoming fire but even lone Q aggroed by you in middle of sector will stripe down 20-30% of shield before it drops dead. You'll say that all that is expected more or less but there are other ships that do the job better. We are talking about most demanding and most difficult encounters here, not something that most of people face in TC.


Battle technique - avoiding fire

I believe I somewhat brushed up on my combat skills in this little war. On avoiding enemy fire I use not only regular strife, but steer away incoming bullets as well, so as accelerating decelerating often. Some experienced pilots will say that changing course and speed is more important then strafe in avoiding fire and I agree. I would estimate then I can steer 60% damage away, strife 30% more and avoid another 5-10% with acceleration /deceleration. I position myself outside of ship (F2), take some distance and put camera bit up. That way you can see incoming fire from all angles very well.

Here is how I engage capital with capital (M7 and up) now in most of cases: Usually I fly not directly but slightly leaning right - left side towards enemy, letting my lateral turrets fire as well, I wait for last moment before enemy fire stream hits me then I steer and strife at same side - towards left+down /edited +steering left /pushing slightly nose down (making mild letter U with bow) avoiding almost all of incoming fire. This is fairly effective, Boreas or any M2 can kill Q this way in single pass with almost none damage to the shields (1-2%)

[ external image ]
Approach phase

[ external image ]
Avoid phase

Some ships require certain modifications on technique obviously (shrike likes to charge head on /because of forward firing turrets, I like to keep him still while enemy approaches, longer it shoots and kites, the better)


Sectors 598 and 627 / Odin, Panther, Tiger

As I've said I tested few ships there. When I've cleared initial blockade with Shrike and Brig, I called Odin in, did a few test runs on big "real" carrier, not those small ones like Panther or other M7. For reasons I will explain shortly I pulled back the Odin and demoted it to OOS vessel, role he performs fabulously (though he is accompanied by three Osakas : ) unlike his first and last IS fight in which he proved completely disastrous. You know the tales of fighters crashing on Odin's tail /engine fins? Well they are true and worse. I've lost dozens on cutlasses on collisions with ship, that thing is just too huge. Seem that my stupid cutlasses could not find the way around. Not only from back to front but all routes around the ship posed immense problem for my fighters. They would collide with every possible part of the ship, again and again. "Thump...Thump...." sound just kept going on and on. Gentlemen, it was real horror story and I don't exaggerate one bit. Oh yes, i tried to pull up, strafe down etc. but that would only partially and temporarily solved my problem. I've tried performing somewhat successful engagement four times. Each time I had far more casualties from collisions then from enemy. I have plenty of pictures like this, all with different fighters and all on different part of ship, but I will post only one:

[ external image ]
"Oh c'moooon..."

[ external image ]
At least polter hailstorm did as expected.


Morale of the story is: Use Odin OOS. There he performs great, has a strength of almost M2. On the other hand, Panther .... yes well, the Panther : ) This vessel is jewel. Turrets allow you concentrating en evading enemies and speed and maneuverability allow you to pull off stunts Shrike could only dream of. You could engage enemy at any angle, you don't have actually to turn your nose at it. This advantage can be crucial if you know how to use it. I've cleared rest of 598 and good part of 627 not using fighters at all. Best thing is that you can evade anything. Split M7's accelerate and decelerate much faster then Shrike. If you know what you are doing you could just take down one opponent after other and remain virtually unharmed. Panther can pack 6+2 IBLs on single target making it among most potent M7 anti capital platform in game. He can mount up to 16 FLAKs making him arguably most potent AA platform in a game. He has among best speed and steer of all M7, best weapon generator in class, have most numerous gun mounts, and they gave it 32 fighters, just in case. From all other frigates in the game, Panther is just other type of animal. It was probably favorite ship of some Egosoft executive. That would be only explanation for that ship ; )

[ external image ]
Yeah, you are gonna hit me, riiight....


Tiger is almost equally good, he is even smaller target from the front and can mount (and charge) 8 IBLs at front /Panther only 6. Thing is that I often hit "energy low" mark with Tiger. 8 IBLs can shoot for 27 seconds while 6 of them can shoot for whooping 52(!!) secs. FAA on both ships did prove to be of least of my energy problems (Although Panther has 16 potential FLAK mounts /Tiger "only"10 /Shrike has 4 : ) IBLs are those who suck that energy like there is no tomorrow. In theory FLAK even suck more but it seems that hey rarely shoot constantly. For a dogfighting and general melee both ships are great, Tiger has slimmer profile and guns you control directly, you can also charge main guns, in certain scenarios both things can be very helpful. One other jewel about Tiger - his both turrets lateral turrets can shoot directly forward /and do this very often - they are fabulously placed (unlike on Deimos where I often wandered "do I have IBL in my left turret at all ...?") Not that you actually need front shooting lateral turrets with Tiger and his 8 IBLs in spinal - 12 IBLs do sound nicely (and I guarantee that they would fire much longer and do more damage then any Tresher weapon combination) but they are just too much, even for Split weapon generators.


EDIT/ADDED

For Tiger I devised slightly unorthodox weapon setup - only 6 IBLs at front ( grouped at 6 and 4 for more distant shooting /2 spaces empty : ) 2+2 IBLs in l/r turrets - they shoot directly ahead btw (when you do heavy maneuvering from outside turrets are useful, you need to put that pressure constantly) and pair of flaks up/down/back (enough, if I am swarmed I just fire several typhoons) and I must say that it works like a charm. You must still be careful because you can be swarmed with multiple capitals but for platform that goes 330m/s+ of turbo there is no more deadly ship then split M7 family. With this setup there is probably no more deadly anti capital platform in entire game. You can launch 6+4 IBL charge (manually, ahead of "time") on approaching capital (if it's smaller then M2/M1 it won't survive initial volley) and later you can avoid fire kiting /with outside view, while 2x2 strong IBL turrets can shoot forever in full strength fully on weapon regen.

[ external image ]


Needles to say sector 598 and neighboring 627 were cleared with little problems, it was good testing ground for several of my ships in heavy duty conditions. It showed the machines that they have no place in our galaxy, as small demonstration of grim things to come...

[ external image ]
Friendly Split government send in small battle group, they did get too late though but the effort was noted : )


(...to be continued)
Last edited by deca.death on Mon, 3. Oct 11, 21:45, edited 4 times in total.

deca.death
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Post by deca.death » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:10


War continues - The cleansing

To make long story short, I cleared out all xenon sectors testing out most of my dedicated remaining ships in process, most of them performed as expected, few exceptions and interesting facts will be mentioned. I can post tons of similar pics but I believe these will suffice: It usually started out like this:


[ external image ]
Welcoming committee

[ external image ]
472 and the red map

[ external image ]
472 aftermath


And ended like this. All in all Xenon put out a hell of a fight /in some sectors more then others. First time I was swarmed down with persistent fighter attacks, multiple capital engagements etc. Few notes:

Xenon put a hell of a fight around Xenon core and north, sectors 023 and 695. Sector 472 north of Black Hole sun is small sector but it was (as you can see in pictures) well populated. Sector 101 (south of Nopileo's) was filled with Xenon forces, they were worthy opponents (but not nearly worthy of thing I sent in there .... You'll see later : ) - 101 had especially nasty gate blockade. Here you can see Boreas attacked by big caliber guns from all sides:


[ external image ]
strife .... quickly ...


Further more, unnamed Xenon sector, next to TUS 3 was tough cookie as well. Rest of Xenon sectors, as 347(next to 18 billion) and far northern part of map, north of Getsu /Menelaus - 534 /597-596 were not nearly as impressive. Weak residual Xenon forces. Some of mentioned sectors were pretty large, and some of them were very beautiful, two pictures...


[ external image ]
Wallpaper 1 ... Norh of Getsu Fune

[ external image ]
Wallpaper 2 ...Near Menelaus Paradise


EDITED-ADDED

Few notes on Sectors /based on prolonged observation

I quickly found out that (surprisingly) 472 was one of sectors that will rebuild most quickly and that was among most restless Xenon sectors in universe! Was it coincidence I can't say (both times I found SY in, maybe that spawned increased activity) but every time I returned to this place I had serious fight on my hands. Unlike most other places I returned to. And another thing, Xenon ship of all sizes do respawn 'out of thin air' in this sector, as in every other.

As previously noted far northern sectors(getsu/menelaus) are among most quiet. I never encountered serious opposition there. TUS1 gates, and sector east of TUS3 somewhat disappointed me. That was probably most dangerous Xenon exit route for certain period. But since I've build strong blockade in TUS1 they somehow tranquilized. Terran forces in TUS3 may help a bit. Anyway, sector still respawns substantial xenon forces but they seldom reach out in larger numbers. Among dangerous sectors I count 101, core and 695 next to core.




War continues - The prevention

Plan was as follows: Every time I detect Xenon pouring through the gates I clear out neighboring sector/s. Meaning if this happens:


[ external image ]
the breach of machines


I respond like this:

[ external image ]
brig takes down two xenon capital simultaneously.


This is how was my enhanced blockade looked like (If you remember i had three Osakas + Odin as rapid response team - my previous experiences showed that xenon /luckily/ breach one gate at he time ...)


[ external image ]
you... shall... not... pass...


So I followed with fast recon raids with my personal Springblossom in all sectors I deemed problematic or long-time unvisited. I dumped countless satellites which were promptly destroyed (I hope game does not take count of "ships" you lost OOS ; ) I have done many preventive raids on many Xenon sectors, destroying any kind of opposition in their embryonic phase. Result? Well to be honest when skilled player with bunch of war assets, missiles and ships devotes his full time to machine wars - xenon can't compete. Not one of my blockade come on siege, ever. Xenon were destroyed before they could stir up any trouble. My attacks were forceful and frequent. They actually never recuperated. Slightly disappointing If I may add.



What next..?

So I call on to esteemed forum colleagues. What to do next? How Can I take it up a notch? Make things more challenging?

Here is what I had in mind...

Xenon sector invasion. Occupation, yes. I have significant forces to dedicate. I can put 3+3 Terran battleships in every detached western xenon sector (with two gates) on map. I can put 4+4 battleships in sectors neighboring Zyarth's dom. plus 4 strong rapid response team. 12 battleships total maybe could hold 598 and 627 - maybe even the core itself? I could buy more Osakas if needed but how should I proceed? What would be best method of holding Xenon sector? You could count that I will jump in to aid my forces frequently IS, but it would be nice if defenders were self sufficient.

I'm interested in ...

What groups should I put may forces in and in what commands? 3 Osakas + carrier /wing, patrolling the sector on "defend sector" command? Or maybe snail ranch/EqD in the middle of sector surrounded by 200 LTs with 3 battleships with "defend LT" /defend position command? Will -all- Xenon automatically attack my military installations in their sector /or they will still try to pour out the gates on occasion? If they will concentrate on aggressors it will make my job much easier. Any input or experience would be appreciated. Btw and JFTR; I have read " A Guide to Controlling the Xenon Menace /by Pilot Bill Huntington " I still want more info and input. Thnx.



[ external image ]
skirnir comes to aid...


Ship observations - Skirnir

Sick. Just sick. Those things it fire, they are not clumsy torpedoes, nosir. Forget about wraiths and firestorms. I saw shadow chase down lone N. It was an exception but illustrative one. I wanted to write about of his tough shields and pair of SSCs in tail just in case but there is no need. When Shirnir gates in whole sector explodes minute later. I would predict that small factory of shadow missiles + 1 ship would be enough to control Xenon pests all by itself. It's that badass.


EDITED-ADDED

Shadow has effective range of 80km and speed of 245, with medium maneuverability. Which means it's a threat to any ship, except most quicker ones (it kills them too but you cannot depend on it). One head strips 0,755 of 1 GJ shield. 8 of them (swarm - one missile actually has 8 heads, like big mean angry wasp ; ) will strip 6GJ, which is shield of lighter destroyer (like brigantine) or very heavy M7 (like deimos). Anyway. one of those kills Q (few missiles even continue further) and two of those kill anything that exists in game, except terran M2. Procedure is like this, enter sector, Fire two to big capital, one on smaller and one in large fighter group. Watch the firework. Missiles do retarget, so they will hunt down one target after other. They stay active for very long time.

Another thing, someone mentioned friendly fire /killing yourself with shadows? I'm pretty certain that I've seen on few occasions shadows passing through my ship harmlessly, not immediately after firing, but some time later. If anyone can confirm...?

[ external image ]
skirnir weaves web of death...
Last edited by deca.death on Mon, 3. Oct 11, 21:26, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by deca.death » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:10


Endgame



Xenon Sector 598

So ... Invasion. Right into the snake's nest. First I took 598, between Zyarth and Grand Exchange. This sector showed to be tricky, it's mid sized and capitals that spawn in will most often attack right away. K pack spawns on certain intervals, Q spawn almost non stop.(or should I call them mini pack, K followed by fighter /vette group, I actually never saw spawn of large battle group Bill sometimes mention (few Ks,few Js +Qs together), numbering several capital ships. I wander why. Someone even mentioned that killing SY in core does not trigger "AI insanity" every time. Is it possible that I gain "pacifist" Xenon faction? :o Oh man, what a luck. Maybe I should let SY in core to respawn and try kill it again.) I put Snail ranch L in middle of sector, put two groups of 70 LTs at roughly 5km away towards north and south-western part, and plant my special intervention squad on top of Ranch. (3 Osakas and one Odin with 50 cutlasses). For command setup I experimented; Osaka Alpha was leader, Bravo and Charlie were on "attack enemy closest to" Alpha. Odin was on "protect" Alpha (I wanted hit to include in combat with some pause, last that is), and the Alpha itself was on standard "protect area" command. In theory this should minimize dissipation of ships. Setup proved OK.

[ external image ]
Snail Fort in Xenon 598. Note passing traffic : ) It's not the safest route but still...



Xenon Sector 627

Similar scenario was repeated in 627. Sector is relatively large and somewhat quieter then neighboring sectors. Q's spawn on sector borders and seemingly don't detect Snail Fort in the middle. Sometimes they loiter border areas for hours before attacking. Funny. K spawns seem somewhat rarer here too. I pulled out 2+2 Osaka from blockade neighboring 598 (ZD and GE, my invasion relieved gates significantly) leaving two Osaka per blockade. Here I assigned all ships to "defend position". It works fine, ships stay in one spot /on top of Fort and travel-attack together. I expected more messy travel routine I confess.

[ external image ]
Terraformer Company military presence. Xenon core 023




Xenon Core 023

Frisky neighborhood this one. Often spawns capitals, as expected. I put EqD in the middle, two Snail Forts on northern and western side, 2x35 LTs (tonight I will double that) near Snail Forts. I bought 5 new Osaka for here (named after angels, I ran out Japanese themed names :) Seraphim, Mikael, Gabriel, Sariel, Uriel) and I had to pull one out several times on zero shields. Once it had like 2% of hull : ) Need to keep an eye here but with 5 destroyers, things are relatively manageable.

[ external image ]
Snake nest pacified


I have invasion in progress for several days. This quantity of ships makes things go more or less smoothly. I remind you that I devote my full end game attention to xenon, all plots, buildnigs and things finished. I have occupation in progress almost a week now. LT losses are quite common, much more then on gate blockedes (on the other hand, I have no gate blockade losses now, xenon have other worries ; ) Battleships losses are possible, I lost My Osaka Alpha in 598 (I didn't reload, it's a war goddamit! ; ) And one Odin (again 598, this time I had to reload, it's only Odin in the fleet) I usually don't go IS to help, just pull damaged ships out. Terran battleships manage well OOS ; )

I concluded that I can pull this off in every Xenon sector without too much problems, but still I won't. First it requires plenty of micromanagement. Xenon have no limited funds, they come at you constantly. It would be manageable I believe, but there is really no sound or economically justified reason to do it : ) It requires extensive amount of battleships, resources money and time, and offers nothing but pain in return : ) Micromanage more, lot LOT of more investment (I kept my full scale gate blocked forces, machines sometimes ignore invaders and just head OUT) so you basically need 20-30 M2s in blockade and 30-40 more for somewhat safe occupation. You could do it with less but I wouldn't be comfortable with less ships.

Other thing is - it reduces my Xenon hunting grounds. I like going in and attack the machines sometimes /often. I 'm also kind of grinding for my combat rank ; ) And I've learned that with decently defended Xenon snail fort it's best to keep OOS. Terran M2s rip everything apart OOS. IS damn agile Q will take third of shields of Osaka before stupid M2 gets himself in firing position. And there are plenty of Qs inside, needles to say....



The End

So, I've more or less came to the end of my little adventure. I'll keep the game (whole installation probably) and start anew as a pirate! Now i know mechanics it should be lot of fun and introducing mods such as "advanced races" and "ship rebalance mod" should keep things more challenging and interesting in the same time. There are few things that I haven't manage to do in this game yet, but only few, really - one is to capp Khaak ship /Godknows how many times I raided Khaak sectors for that - but that's OK, you should leave something for later too ; ) And I still haven't test out that carrier full of Fenrirs : ) I would like to grind my combat rank few notches up too. Maybe I'll just go exterminate galaxy with my Skirnir, followed by super mistral full of shadows : ) When I'm tired of being poor and pathetic I would return to my older save and enjoy myself cruising/destroying in any ship of my choice.

Thanks all for listening/reading this, thanks for contributions, I hope it was interesting reading. C ya. deca out.


[ external image ]
Xenon sector. Typical look : )
Last edited by deca.death on Wed, 5. Oct 11, 22:11, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by StarSword » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:15

Nice guide, #deca.death!

One question though: what's the ship in the last two images?
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Post by deca.death » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:33

StarSword wrote:Nice guide, #deca.death!

One question though: what's the ship in the last two images?
Well I wasn't aware that this was a guide : )

Ship is my Brigantine, "Jolly Roger"

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Post by rwhiteruff » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:48

I don't have nearly the battle fleet you do, deca.death, but my experiences were quite similar a week ago when I decided to get my Fight rank up by taking my Boreas into various Xenon sectors and lay waste to them single-handedly.

Essentially I'd often get pounced on by multiple Q, J, and K battle fleets waiting at the jump gate in ambush and had to learn fast how to survive. I ended up learning the exact same techniques you mention here, bringing lateral and forward turrets to bear whilst simultaneously strafing and moving at oblique angles, avoiding fire streams at the last second.

I'll also back up your findings on the Q. Those babies pack a mean anti-capital punch, and they're quick. They aren't just dangerous OOS opponents, but quite dangerous IS as well!

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Post by SIMON POPPLEWELL » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:51

No one whos used a Brig can mistake it for anything else, best player M2 in the game (wipes tear from cheek). 8)

I must admit Deca at this stage I generally start a new game. :lol: It gets a little boring when you own the galaxy. :D

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Post by cmdnenad » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 21:53

Stirring up a hornet's nest, eh? Sounds interesting! :mrgreen:

I had my own little Xenon war after I leveled X101. Zyarth's Dominion saw some quite intense battles until the Xenon rebuilt their shipyard in X101.

Good luck!

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Post by blackfire83 » Tue, 20. Sep 11, 23:24

Three cheers for the Brigantine! Can't wait to see more, deca.
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Post by Triaxx2 » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 00:34

I've also heard good things about the Akuma, though the Brig is extremely dangerous.
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Post by deca.death » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 00:54

Triaxx2 wrote:I've also heard good things about the Akuma, though the Brig is extremely dangerous.
They are very similar vessels. One big difference though - Akuma is much faster (67 vs 50) but brig steers much better (0,8 vs 0,6 and trust me those numbers are not giving away real situation - it seems smaller numbers are difference is more pronounced) They both have same (low) shields of 3x2Mj but akuma recuperates shields faster (14.4 vs 11.5 k). Brig has little better weapon regen and cargo. They are both infamous for up /down turret CFA /IonD combo - they have stronger up /down FLAK batteries then common CW destroyers (8 gun mounts vs 6) They are ideal battleships in any situation except in Xenon gate ambush penetration - you just take Boreas then.

Anyway they exterminate fighters extremely fast. Poor bastards don't even get time to bail : ) Here is CFA IonD combo in action:

[ external image ]

Scott C.
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Post by Scott C. » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 01:14

Such awesome pics.

Speaking of no time to bail.... Flak is awesome but if you want tech, it's as unfriendly for you as it is for those "poor bastards".... I've had some luck farming fighters with an FBL/PBE combo. I'd love to hear your opinions/suggestions on the matter though.

Great story, btw. Very cool stuff you've got going in your universe.
Cheers,
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heratik
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Post by heratik » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 01:20

Nice plan there, I look forward to pics of full scale Xenon incursions into core sectors! Followed by your subsequent clearing out :D

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Post by StarSword » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 08:09

deca.death wrote:Well I wasn't aware that this was a guide : )
Huh. Looks like a guide to anti-Xenon tactics to me.
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Post by deca.death » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 08:18

Scott C. wrote: I'd love to hear your opinions/suggestions on the matter though.
I had neat results with Tiger, so FLAKs yes, but no more then two per turret, otherwise they tend to kill too quickly. I even capped elusive LX yesterday, in xenon sector next to TUS3, twice. I've been hunting damn thing for months and then I capp two in one day. Welcome to X3, where RND generator does thing out of spite : ) Cerebrus is OK too but Tiger can clear whole sector out by himself : ) I usually see 2-5 abandoned ships in every sector after my cleaning ends.

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Post by deca.death » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 08:21

StarSword wrote: If you can believe it, I've never actually gotten close enough to a Brigantine to be able to recognize it on sight.
Just pay a visit to Gaian Star and neighboring sectors. They tend to keep up in there but I've seen them in the pirate alley too.

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Post by Infekted » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 11:30

If you used fighters instead of laser towers for your blockades, nothing would make it thru ;p And even if something does, you do not require anything else to be sent in. Just send the fighters after them.
It's why I disagree with your assesment that laser towers are the way to blockade xenon gates. Sure they help, but fighters perform better imo.

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Post by Scott C. » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 11:45

Ahh... Didn't even think about nerfing the gun count.

I always get blued ships with flak, but they're only ever claimable for as long as it takes the next round to get there. Less guns sounds like a good solution. Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott

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Post by Lbano » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 13:22

deca.death wrote:They both have same (low) shields of 3x2Mj but akuma recuperates shields faster (14.4 vs 11.5 k).
You mean GJ?

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Post by deca.death » Wed, 21. Sep 11, 13:36

Infekted wrote:If you used fighters instead of laser towers for your blockades, nothing would make it thru ;p And even if something does, you do not require anything else to be sent in. Just send the fighters after them.
Well yes, I would agree on that, even we cannot be 100% certain. If only one 'N' would succeed in passing through, effect would be the same - every ship in 10 km radius would try to catch it. But I agree that it would probably be more secure blockade.
Infekted wrote: It's why I disagree with your assesment that laser towers are the way to blockade xenon gates. Sure they help, but fighters perform better imo.
Hehe how can you "disagree" with something proven beyond doubt : ) I have blockade in place for weeks, maybe even months. Nothing ever got through. Ever.

Now there is exception on actively teasing the Xenon. Having the blockades in place AND actively going to war with Xenon could induce certain ....difficulties (...you wouldn't say!). But that was to be expected, wasn't it.

Fighters are tactically viable solution, but logistics is a mess. I tried that once and I didn't like it : ) I produce LTs from closed loop virtually for free. I can mass deploy hundreds of them in a minutes. I have 1000 LTs on the place throughout the universe. Not only that 1000 Nova raiders would cost 2.5 billions to buy and equip, but can you imagine task of buying, equipping and deploying 1000 ships in damn TC? It's a bloody nightmare, that's what it is. One more thing - LTs are tough. 200MJ shielding, three times as tough as NR.

So, as you can see better can mean lot of things, and it's not same for everybody ; )

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