Not Ready for War!

[PaulMClem]

Only 25 years into my current (first real) campaign. Have (had ) 25 vanilla corvettes. Was declared on by some dudes with about 60 corvettes, some of which seem to have been upgraded. Result was inevitable. I haven't ceded anything yet, not in my nature. How the heck do you survive such an attack in the early game. Have I been remiss in not building more of a fleet - problem is my cap is only 18 i.e. I'm already over it.

Looks like the only option is to cede and come another day.

 

[PirateJack]

Settle more planets and build as many ships as your economy allows, fleet cap be damned. Also try to tailor your fleet so that it directly counters the most likely opponent.

 

[Emraldis]

Build spaceports, they up your fleet cap. Is also possible that they are an advanced start.

 

[PaulMClem]

So after 23 years I should have a fleet capable of defending against 60 upgraded corvettes?

 

[Emraldis]

So after 23 years I should have a fleet capable of defending against 60 upgraded corvettes?

If you're fast. Best bet is probably to try for defensive pacts, not pissing off your neighbors, or turning off the "spawn near advanced start empires" option before you start.

 

[Stadhouder]

Built a defensive station with Snare in the area of your Spaceport, park your fleet there and use a single corvette to jump to the system with their fleet and lure them to your ambush. A space port plus defenive station plus full fleet should stand a decent chance.

 

[PaulMClem]

Started a fresh game as I had no fleet and was just getting steamrollered by 80 corvettes. This time I won't let that happen

In my new campaign I experienced my first real pirate raids. Bloody pain in the arse. Took down a research station, a couple of mining stations and a frontier post. At that point I decided enough was enough so I focused 100% on corvettes. After a few months I had a big enough fleet (with an Admiral) and I waited. They returned and were stomped. Now I need to find the base and get rid of them for good.

 

[Serenity84]

At that point I decided enough was enough so I focused 100% on corvettes

That's pretty much the point of the event. To force you to invest into a fleet when you otherwise wouldn't

 

[PaulMClem]

One good thing about the pirates...by blowing up a couple of existing mining stations it made it easy to get the next Govt Mandate thing i.e. build 4 mining stations for 200 inf - just rebuilt the blown up ones and found 2 more. Easy

 

[PaulMClem]

Having dealt with a fleet of pirates (who were my own species) I would now like to find their base and get rid of it. However, space is a kinda big place and I'm not finding much so far. Is there a general rule of thumb for how far from your homeworld your pirate base will be?

 

[sdeezie]

Having dealt with a fleet of pirates (who were my own species) I would now like to find their base and get rid of it. However, space is a kinda big place and I'm not finding much so far. Is there a general rule of thumb for how far from your homeworld your pirate base will be?

It won't be far, usually. Check nearby star systems where you don't have sensor coverage.

 

[Emraldis]

It won't be far, usually. Check nearby star systems where you don't have sensor coverage.

Especially ones you've visited before, but haven't had sensors on recently.

 

[PaulMClem]

Hmm, ok. This sounds like a potentially annoying game of hide n'seek

 

[macd21]

Yeah it shouldn't be too far away. Consider the systems they first attacked and check nearby systems first.

 

[PaulMClem]

Yeah it shouldn't be too far away. Consider the systems they first attacked and check nearby systems first.

Would you need to re-survey (didn't think it let you do that) systems or simply queue up some corvettes to re-visit all neighbouring star systems?

 

[macd21]

Just re-visit them with corvettes.

 

[Stadhouder]

It will be a system with an astroid belt.

 

[mackau]

If you have trouble in the early game I reccomend using the following empire setup:
Rapid Breeders & Extremely Adaptive
Sedentary, Slow Learners & Repugnant.
Fanatic Spiratulist + Militarist
Theocratic Republic (although I prefer Divine Mandate because of Ethics Reduction)

You have more planets to develop, faster growth on those planets, and a boost to military damage.

Worry about:
1) Building Spacefleet
2) Building Spaceports
3) Building Mineral & Credit Resource
4) Expanding New Planets

 

[ColZimin]

Build spaceports, they up your fleet cap. Is also possible that they are an advanced start.

Also, remember that you can actually field more ships than your max capacity, as long as you can afford it. They'll cost more maintenance (not that much more for corvettes) but as far as I know their fleet power is unaffected.

 

[PaulMClem]

It will be a system with an astroid belt.

Found it. Dealt with it.