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Trapping a Fleet

Forcing a fleet to either stay put or move away from the direction you intend to attack is must learn tactic for every would-be Xenocidial General. Below is an example of how to "trap" a fleet the same size as yours or smaller. In this Scenario, which really happened by the way, Madam Thunderbolt is forced to keep her fleet on standby in order to prevent the nuke of her builder at 63,69. Both fleets are large, so building a fleet in another location is out of the question.

 
59
82
(0)		 50
51
(10)
System (63,69)
     
Gandalf (0,3)
   
44
38
(10)		 45
50
(0)
System (62,68)
23
5
(0)		 9
0
(0)
System (63,68)
24
21
(0)		 21
0
(0)
System (63,67)
100
100
(0)		 100
100
(0)
Madam Thunderbolt (63,67)
27
12
(0)		 17
50
(0)
Lestat (63,66)

Turn 0: Why is Madam Thunderbolt in trouble in this scenario?

System 63,69 is a builder. Currently she has 9 attacks and one minesweeper there and could easily handle Stormer's fleet of 9 attacks and 1 sweeper as well. In fact, both have the ability to build 2 to 3 ships next turn so if either one attacks the the other, the 2 extra ships will be more than enougth to destroy the incomming fleet and have the ability to counterattack and nuke the oppossing builder. Madam Thunderbolt has the the econ edge, but Stormer has just hit br 4, at least a couple of turns before her.

Normally this would be a standstill except for one small fact: Her Home World is 2 systems away. In another direction

 

 
59
82
(0)		 50
51
(13)
System (63,69)
     
Gandalf (0,3)
   
44
38
(2)		 45
50
(0)
System (62,68)
23
5
(10)		 9
0
(0)
System (63,68)
24
21
(0)		 21
0
(0)
System (63,67)
100
100
(0)		 100
100
(0)
Madam Thunderbolt (63,67)
27
12
(0)		 17
50
(0)
Lestat (63,66)

Turn 1: Threatening the HW

Madam Thunderbolt wisely keeps her ships in her system and builds three more to destroy any incomming fleet. If stormer had attacked. His fleet would of been destroyed and she would of been left with 8 ships that would of been ready to move in the next turn for the nuke. Stormer builds 2 new br 4 ships. 1 Attack and 1 Minesweeper and moves the rest of his fleet out side of Madam Thunderbolts HW.

The only way that Madam Thunderbot could prevent Stormer from nuking her HW is to

1: Destroy the one minesweeper as it moves in and destroy the rest of the fleet with a mine.

2. Dismantle the fleet in 63, 69 and try to build a new on in Lestat

 

 
59
82
(0)		 50
51
(0)
System (63,69)
     
Gandalf (0,3)
   
44
38
(0)		 45
50
(12)
System (62,68)
23
5
(2)		 9
0
(0)
System (63,68)
24
21
(0)		 21
0
(0)
System (63,67)
100
100
(8)		 100
100
(0)
Madam Thunderbolt (63,67)
27
12
(0)		 17
50
(0)
Lestat (63,66)

Turn 2: The HomeWorld Strike

Madam Thunderbolt opts for option 1. Probably the best choice since she would of had to overbuild 15 ships in Lestat to prevent the nuke if she was not at br 4 yet. ( stormer had 10 br3's and 2 br 4's comming in for support)

She manages to build 5 br 3 ships to destroy 2 out of 10 ships, unfortunately for her, she does not manage to kill the single sweeper to set the mine off. ( 1 in 5 or 20 % chance)

She moves into System 62,68 with a vengence, killing two br 4 attacks. Stormer destroys a Sweeper but she has one more so there is no way he can save his builder. However It is unlikely that she will be able to take out both Sweepers to prevent the nuke on her HW.
(If she destoyed 2 ships, the odds of both of them being sweepers is 1 in 90!)

 

 
59
82
(0)		 50
51
(0)
System (63,69)
     
Gandalf (0,3)
   
22
19
(0)		 22
0
(0)
System (62,68)
23
5
(0)		 9
0
(0)
System (63,68)
24
21
(0)		 21
0
(0)
System (63,67)
50
50
(7)		 50
0
(0)
Madam Thunderbolt (63,67)
27
12
(0)		 17
50
(0)
Lestat (63,66)

Turn 3: Nuke-O-Rama!

With the help of her nearby ally, Madam Thunderbolt manages to destroy 3 of stormer's nuking fleet. Only attacks are destroyed and her HW is nuked. She puts an end to stormer's builder as her parting shot and every system on this section of the map reverts to it's uncolonized status.

So how could of this of been prevented? Not very easily. If Madam Thunderbolt had moved her fleet into Stormer's builder the very first turn, if he had decided to build 2 ships and keep his fleet there. Her fleet would of been destroyed and he would of moved in with a fleet of 8 ships to nuke her builder. If she moved in and he had moved out to nuke her Home World. He could of returned to his system and she would of been forced to move to system 63,68 to protect her HW in case Stormer moved in. Her fleet would of then been trapped on the east side of 62, 68. If she moved back to 62,68 with insufficient force, her fleet would of been destroyed and Stormer would be able to nuke 63, 69.

This is an advanced version of the double attack described by Gooseberry on the topic of the Map Edge

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