War time versus non war time production

[richardjohns]

The tides of war against two empires have forced me to rethink my position in Draco. The Zulu is a must. A second empire is nearing my controlled space. I believe both are from the same group.

1. Does anyone have any good advice on defending against two empires?  

2. Both empires are moving at two AP using lots of engines. Should I stay at AP 1?

3. I believe both empires are prisoners. Does anyone have any info on prisoner ship designs or tactics?

4. Initial contact with the first saw them asking for peace but they immediately rushed toward my homeworld to scan the warp points. Has anyone had positive responses from them in Draco? In Victory, they are just a bunch of backstabbers.

5. Would you say iron is more important than other materials in war?

6. Both empires are within 3 of my empire side by side with fleets. Is there a way to increase my defenses of warp points in a nexus?

 

 

[Lord Deependra]

1. Keep exploring in other directions to see if you can connect with a potential ally. Plus, if you stumble onto their colonies, they will have to shift forces to defend against you.

2. Since they have twice your production, making them waste a lot on engines seems like a good idea. Your 1AP ships should be able to destroy their 2 APers. I would only deploy cheap multi AP scout ships on long range scouting.

3. I have only fought a few low tech scouts so I have no advice there.

4. I haven't had any problems with them yet, but since they have limited communications with non-inmate players, I would except that could foster a strong "Us vs Them" mentality.

5. If you are defending, you primarily need armour (=iron) and guns.

6. Not readily. To defend a warp point, you need a fleet. If you can build ships in system, you can build Orbital Installations and tow them to the warp point. In a Nexus, you are limited to warp capable ships. You COULD build ships without fuel tanks and use a tanker to ferry the ships to the nexus system. That would give you a stronger fleet (less mass wasted on Fuel Tanks), but also one that would be difficult to re-deploy on short notice.