Flagships, Invading planets, and Stacking

from GalCiv2 Forums

Hi there, newbie here with a few questions. I have read the Beginner's Strategy guide and some AARs (with pictures; the one at Galciv2Guide.com is good). However, I can't find anything on the campaigns except the through Wiki site and that only gives the same info that you get in the game. By the way, I'm playing the campaign through the Twilight of the Arnor interface and I'm on the first mission 'An Unexpected Visitor'.

The mission objectives state that we need to take the 3 planets that are controlled by the Drengin and protect the outpost (which I'm assuming is the Altarian outpost mentioned in the mission description. Sounds easy enough but once I get into the mission I realize there's a long way to go to complete it (for a newbie).

I start with a colony ship and a scout ship; no flagship. I start exploring the universe and finding other planets that I can colonize and I do so. I'm researching techs as well. Stuff like New Propulsion Techniques, Ion Drive, Planetary Invasion, and many others. At certain points I see that I can make new ships (like little fighters and stuff) and at some point I was able to build a transport (but I'm not sure what tech unlocked that).

So I created my transport and moved him to the enemy Drengin planet and nothing happened; he wouldn't attack or anything. So then I see that I need a flagship to take down the planetary defenses before the transport can land and invade. That's where my problem lies. How do I create a Flagship? I've figured out how to use the Shipyard and create my own ships but there is nothing about creating a Flagship (at least not yet). There was one tech(I thought it was New Propulsion Techniques) that mentioned that we could now create a Flagship in its description but that it required two other techs; and then it didn't mention what those other techs were!

Main question: How do I create a Flagship and what do I need to put on it to take down planetary defenses?

Second question: Is invading the planets the way to win this particular mission by 'taking the Drengin controlled planets'?

Third question: Sometimes when clicking on a single ship I see something in the information window about 'stacking' and then a number like 3 or 5. What does that mean? I thought I only created a single ship. Did it really create a group of ships?

Thanks for any input. I'm sure stuff like this was answered long ago (or recently) but the Search function on this forum is broke.

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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

1.  You don't need a flagship per se, you just need a ship with weapons on it...like those fighters you noticed.  Researching new weapons, new hull sizes and even the minituriaztion techs will make for better and better fighters.

2.  Yes, you need a planet that has no enemy ships ships in it's orbit to send in a transport for the ground combat.

3.  The number (3 or such) is how much room it would take up in a fleet.  If you put 2 ships on the same square, you can attempt to create a fleet of them, limited by your Logistics skill.  For example, if via your Logisitics you can have a 10 for a fleet, then you could get threee ships of size 3 or two ships of size 5 in a fleet.  A fleet helps you out in combat since you essentially have more firepower in the battle.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

You might try sending this to us offically, support@stardock.com, and our Game Devs may be able to assist.

 

 

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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Some of the terms might be confusing you.  "A" flagship could be just about any medium-large ship, depending on the context, while "the" flagship is the survey vessel you start random map games with.  I don't remember what tech allows you to put survey modules on your ships, but I seem to remember it's not one I usually get that early.  In any case, a survey vessel has nothing to do with planetary invasion.

First, before you can invade a planet, you must destroy all enemy ships in orbit around the planet, that is, all ships on the same tile as the planet.  Any ship with weapons can do this, but you must be able to overpower whatever ships he's using to defend with.  Research Space Weapons and the subsequent technologies to get better weapons.  Since (if memory serves me right) the only defense you can get for your ships is armor, and theyuse beam weapons, then armor is irrelivant.  What you need to defend against beam weapons are shields, and I don't think you can get those in the first couple campaign missions (the only ones I've played).  So focus on weapons.

Second, you need transports to carry troops to the surface to invade.  Research (as you said) Planetary Invasion to get access to transport modules.  Be aware that, like colony ships and constructors, once a transport ship is used it disappears.  That means your transport ships should be separate from your fighting ships.  Don't stick guns and transport modules on the same ship, because you will lose that ship when you invade.

 

Now, on to your other questions.  You do not need to invade the Drengins' planets to win.  You only need to take them.  However you do that is up to you.  You can surround them with influence starbases and make them "flip" to you.  You might even be able to research a technology victory (not sure about that, though).  You only need to win, by whatever means.  That will usually mean taking all the Drengins' planets, but there are also a few ways to do that, invasion and infuence, for example.

As per that number, it's as Loupdinour said.  That number represents the "size" of the ship.  When you form a fleet, the "size" of the entire fleet is limited by your logistics stat.  So if you logistics is 10, then you can have three ships of size 3 or two ships of size 5 in a single fleet.  I believe you are also limited by your logistics stat in the total number of fleets you can have (not certain of this, I'm more focused on the economy/technology aspect, I don't usually do much fighting until I can build megaawesomsuperduperbombad capital ships i.e. have researched all techs that might enhance my ship designs).  The benefit of a fleet is that all ships fight (and move) together.  In a very simplified example, let's say you had three ships of strength 2, and was trying to kill one ship of strength 5.  That other ship might very well destroy all three of your ships without taking much damage if you send them in one by one.  But if you combine them into a fleet, now they have a combined strength of 6 and have a much higher chance of winning.  If the enemy ship kills one of yours, the other two will still damage it, and you should win the battle almost for sure.  Of course, combat is more complex than this, but it should give you an idea.

Hope that helps.

Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

By the way, I'm playing the campaign through the Twilight of the Arnor interface and I'm on the first mission 'An Unexpected Visitor'.

Hey, when I started playing the campaign through ToA 2.02, I finished the first mission 'An Unexpected Visitor', finished the 2nd 'Ixith' and finished the 3rd 'Darkness Rising'. After completing that mission, the game skipped missions 4 and 5, and threw me straight to mission 6 'Apocalypse'. I didn't even realize it did it until I checked the gal civ wiki. Let me know if you run into this problem as well.

If anyone else has had this prob, or heard about it, please let me know. After the 3rd mission, the game seemed to get stuck in a 'loop' per say, I won and hit continue, but it brought me back to the same 3rd mission which was at the same point (in which I won), I would hit next turn and it would do it again. After a few times of this, it finally went straight to mission 6... strange. Maybe something didn't install correctly, who knows..

Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Egon, thanks a ton for the information. Very helpful stuff!

 

Galacticdoom, I also finished the 1st through the 4th missions without any skipping. I'm now on the 5th mission: Achilles' Heel.

Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

Also, to search the forum, you can Google "site:forums.galciv2.com blah blah blah," where "blah blah blah" is the term you want to search for.  For instance, to search for "flagships," you can Google "site:forums.galciv2.com flagships."