GalCiv4 Forums
I continue to be bummed out by the fact that starbases are useless to defend a planet as you can't build it on the planet so the enemy simply goes around it to attack the planet itself. Am I missing something?
Starbases aren't great for defense. Their defenses are usually weak (so easily killed without a fleet to defend it), and military starbases are only effective in its AoE.
You should be trying to mine resources like Durantium (so you can build fancy stuff on your ships and starbases), or be collecting special relics that can do things like boost manufacturing or morale empire wide. To be fair, I don't really do much with galactic resources so you want to might consider skipping those.
There is usually a relic near your home world. You can put a military starbase near the relic and as close as you can get to your home world. At least your defenses get the bonus if they are within the area of effect. There are a couple of ways to extend starbase range so over time they will become more useful. Also consider putting a military starbase near a slipstream once you have secured your starting sector. You can put a fleet there to attack anyone who comes in. They're not great but they have some value.
As DivineWrath said, manufacturing starbases are a higher priority.
I was hoping for some sort of planetary or orbital based anti-ship defenses like you have in MOO
They have never been in the GC franchise. Which isn't to say they never will be in GC4 (it's always a possibility, right?), but don't count on it. If you want to defend your planets, you need a navy. Even the military starbases' primary purpose is to support naval combat within its zone of influence.
Luckily, it's easier to defend a small area (ie your planets) with a fleet, than it is to send a fleet across the map and successfully attack you. There are a few mechanics to this - but the defender does have the edge here. Plus, if you build enough warships, no one will attack you in the first place, this is probably the easiest defense - no one gets mugged when they're holding a gun (except for those two guys in the movie 'Snatch')...
Hope this helps,
-tid242
I used defensive star bases at sector choke points the military ones with fleet support rack up nasty kill counts. Especially when you are in a closed off sector which is why late game ways to counter sector choke points needs to be a thing. Hidden sectors or creating starlanes or teleportation or whatever.
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