Space Battle

"I have you now"

## Description

Space Battles are the means by which a faction gains orbital control of, or defends, a system. It is productive to split them into station assaults, station defenses, hit and run attacks, and open space battles. However, some important general principles will be considered first.

Players who are new to Empire at War are advised to read the page on space battle basics prior to this.

We also have a page dedicated to player tactics. Here you can read other people's suggestion on how to fight, or add your own innovative ideas.

## Station Assaults

The aim here is to destroy the enemy space station along with any other orbital structures. Note that the AI will recalculate its position once this has been achieved, often resulting in an unwise retreat on its part.

The structure of a successful attack will naturally be dependent upon the nature of the defences present:

1. **Hypervelocity Cannons****, Planetary Ion Cannons, and Plasma Burst Satellites.** In the case of the former option, it may be wise to conduct a ground stealth raid to remove such a threat, prior to carrying out a space battle. In general these weapons make it important for a battle to be conducted quickly, since the longer it continues for, the more shots they will be able to fire. Note that these weapons do require the defender to be able to see the unit being fired upon. In the case of burst satellites it would be wise to engage and destroy these targets quickly before they can inflict too much damage.
2. **The space station itself.** Different stations have strengths and weaknesses, but every station includes at least one hangar bay and shield generator, which are often prime targets for attacking forces. Destroying the hanger early on will reduce the volume of smaller vessels encountered in the battle.
3. **Defence platforms.** These come in varying shapes and sizes, also including economic structures for the purpose of this section. They can be engaged in a similar manner to the main space station, although they are naturally a lower priority.
4. **Shipyards.** These are usually well armoured and shielded, but lightly armed, often with little more than anti-fighter weaponry. Advanced shipyard variants provide a ship repair radius around the yard. The shipyard size determines the size of the randomly spawning defensive fleet that will join any units orbiting the planet. These spawning units are free and should generally be the first line of defense for a defending player. Often, upgrading the shipyard makes more sense than building another space station, given the larger reinforcement fleet a medium or large yard provides. And it's cheaper in the long run, as the larger number of canon fodder better protects expensive ships.
5. **Accompanying fleets.** This category includes any ship which is not part of any of the above, and is thus separate on the galactic map. The presence of these can make an enormous difference to a battle, in some cases dwarfing the actual defences themselves. It may be worth waiting until these forces have moved elsewhere. However, also consider that more orbital defences may be built by the enemy over time. There is a trade off to be made here.

The second key determinate of attack structure is of course the forces available to the attacker. It is impossible to cover every possibility here, but it is important to use strengths and consider weaknesses. If fighter cover is a problem, the advance must be made quickly and rely on larger ships smashing through enemy defences before enemy fighters can use their advantage. If fighters are a strength, they should be used to eliminate shields and hanger bays so that smaller warships stand a chance against larger enemy ships or structures.

A final point can me made regarding the direction of attack. If it is possible to engage a single structure with several of your ships, without other enemy structures being able to effectively provide fire support, it will almost certainly be advisable to do so.

## Station Defence

The aim here is to either beat off the attacking force, or, if this is not possible, to do as much damage to it as possible before defeat. The route followed will have a significant impact on the strategy which ought to be adopted. We will discuss these in the light of different available defences, as in the previous section:

1. **Hypervelocity Cannons****, Planetary Ion Cannons, or Plasma Burst Satellites.** If these are available, the focus should be on firing well placed shots as soon as the weapon is charged to fire. It may be worth deploying fighter squadrons as scouts, since the first shots cannot be fired until the enemy is visible.
2. **The space station itself.** This behaves much like the below, except that it provides the option of purchasing various upgrades. These are relatively cheap, but the cost will add up across multiple battles. If victory is expected they are often a worthy investment, since they will persist into future engagements. If it is not, then a decision must be made as to whether the cost is worthwhile for the limited benefits it will provide.
3. **Defence platforms.** It may be worth manually targeting the firepower of these structures to focus fire on individual targets one at a time. If defeat is expected, it is important to entirely destroy enemy ships, since any damaged vessels that survive will be effectively returned to full health on the campaign map. Likewise, the destruction of fighters from hangar bays is of little value beyond the present battle. If the enemy fleet is of overwhelming strength, attempt to eliminate one aspect of it if possible. It may be not be possible to eliminate those Star Destroyers, but those Ton-Falk Carriers are much easier targets if they foolishly come into range. Then when a response force arrives over the planet for the next battle, the enemy will find themselves without fighter support - a vulnerability which can now be exploited.
4. **Shipyards.** Besides the obvious desire to protect them, the key decision required here is whether to pay for expensive reinforcements or not. If reinforcements are to be purchased, do so at the start of the battle, since reinforcements will take time to arrive and will do so at the front of the defensive position. Reinforcements which arrive in the midst of an enemy fleet already within the target area will not last long.
5. **Accompanying fleets.** Unlike the rest of the defences, fleets present in the system have the option to retreat and fight another day. If defeat is expected these vessels should be kept behind defences, with appropriately chosen ships closing to provide long range supporting fire. Any hanger based fighters should be actively used to assist in the defence. When the battle is nearing its end and the last of the defences are being destroyed, the fleet should retreat. Even if defeat is not the expectation, it is advised on most occasions to keep ships grouped together around strong defences.

## Hit and Run Attacks

Although this is a tactic many associate with the Rebellion, and this faction is best suited to such tactics, there is no reason why either of the other two factions should not attempt this. The aim is to arrive, strike a high value target, and then leave, without fully engaging the enemy or taking any serious losses. The target in question can range from shipyards to transport vessels, and the strike vessels should be fast and hard hitting. Rebel Quasar Carriers have been known to be extremely effective in this role, able to arrive, launch strike craft to destroy the target, and remain out of range of enemy defences. Note that there is usually nothing preventing a player from bringing capital ships on such an operation, to guard vulnerable carriers such as this from enemy pursuers.

## Open Space Battles

Open Space Battles occur when no space station or defences are present, with the possible exception of ground to space weapons on a planet surface below. As such there is no real difference between the attacker and the defender. In such battles an AI opponent will advance towards the player, since it has no reason to defend a fixed point.

The exact tactics to be adopted will vary according to the two opposing fleet compositions, but generally speaking it is necessary to form a battle line, giving consideration as to which ships are best placed to take damage and which are best to remain a little further back in a supporting role. One thing to think about is whether to wait for the opponent to come to this line, or to advance to meet them. This will largely depend upon the level of fighter support available to each side. If the player has a significant advantage here, it may be best to deploy far back, allowing fighters time to significantly damage the enemy fleet before it comes into contact with the main battle line of capital ships and frigates. Likewise, if the enemy has a large advantage here, it might be worth advancing rapidly so that heavy ships can destroy the enemy before their fighters can do too much damage.

## Pursuit battles

A common source of frustration amongst players is when a much weaker enemy force is encountered, but retreats before it can be engaged and destroyed. This is of course an entirely logical response from the enemy, and any rational player would do the same thing in their situation. An easy fix to this problem is to obtain Interdictor vessels, but these can be hard to come by. In their absence the following tactic is recommended:

Only a small portion of the attacking force should initially be deployed, so as not to scare off the enemy. This can be done by making use of a pathfinder. A rough guide as to what such a force might be can be found by examining the population cap taken up by the opposing fleet. Deployment of more population worth of ships than the enemy is very likely to lead to their departure. Despite being slightly smaller on paper the attacking force should be more effective than that of the enemy, since the ships deployed can be carefully chosen to counter those of the enemy. This small force should then engage, and if possible destroy engine systems or use ion fire to prevent successful retreating. If at any point the enemy begins to retreat or the player is likely to suffer the loss of a significant vessel, the player should rapidly hyperspace in as many hard hitting ships as possible next to the enemy, and focus all fire upon engine systems. Some ships may still escape, but this technique should eliminate most of the enemy force on most occasions.

Alternatively, one can hyperspace all their ships directly onto the enemy right from the start. This is a "high-risk/high-reward" tactic, where one can either rapidly obliterate the enemy fleet or have ones fleet obliterated.

## Retreating: How to run away *properly*

An aspect of combat which many players neglect is falling back, and if they do attempt to fall back, they often do it in the wrong way. In this section we will cover two types of retreat, and when each one is applicable.

#### 1. Full Withdrawal (The big blue button)

For the purposes of this guide, and to differentiate retreating tactically to abandoning the battle entirely, we will term abandoning battle as a "full withdrawal."

Now, one may be thinking "Well... don't you just press the button?" One would think that, and one would be wrong.

The first thing to note is what can retreat. Strictly speaking, yes, all ships that can move on the galactic map can retreat. *However,* there are two cases where ships would be prevented from retreating. First, is if it's missing its engines. This is pretty self-explanatory. When vroom-vroom broken, you no go.

The second situation is that, during tactical battles, ships may suffer from what is known as "being ioned." This occurs when ships with no shields get hit by ion cannons or torpedoes, which drains a hidden energy pool. Once this pools drains to zero, then fire rate and movement speed are *severely* lowered, and this ship *cannot retreat.* If you try and retreat, then the ship will be left behind and lost. This is why your shiny new ISD who's been doing a fantastic job of tanking with its face died in the retreat. It wasn't bugged, it wasn't being a hero, it was hit by Ion cannons.

This is also the cause of the common complaint to the devs of:

"%#\*^! *My game is bugged! This ship had all its engines left but still died in the retre*at."

Sadly, there isn't a gauge or meter which one can use to determine whether a ship's energy gauge is empty or not. While one can look at the crackling ion effect around a ship as a hint, this isn't a reliable indicator, as ships with the effect have fled, and ships who do not have also failed to retreat. Therefore, it relies on you to keep up tactical awareness and know which ships are likely to be unable to retreat. Also note that a ship can slowly regenerate its energy pool if it's not actively taking ion fire.

So, what does this mean for you? Well:

1. When retreating, make sure a ship has all its engines left.
2. If You're trying to retreat, take a look at all your ships to see if any have been taking persistent Ion fire. If shields are still up, you're fine. If not, you'll have to weigh up the risks. Generally, the most forward ship tends to take the brunt of fire and is likely to be ioned if its shields are down.
3. Plan ahead. If your Star Destroyer is taking a pounding on its shields, and you don't see your force being able to take down the enemy before it kill you, then preemptively retreat. Don't wait until most of your Star Destroyer is floating through space in multiple pieces before retreating.
4. Remember, while in the 10 second gap between clicking the button and jumping to hyperspace, your ships will not fire at anything.
5. Also, as the AI is ~~becoming Skynet~~ getting more intelligent, they are beginning to use interdictors. These will block you from entering hyperspace for as long as their gravity well projectors are active. Thus, if you may wish to destroy them first to give yourself the option to run later.

This also means you have to plan ahead. If you're thinking of retreating to save your ISD who's taking a beating, chances are, its probably going to be pointless, as if its taking heavy ion fire, its not going to be able to get out anyways.

So. How do you save your fancy new ISD? Well, glad you asked, imaginary person. This is where the second type of retreat comes in.

#### 2. Tactical Retreat

A tactical retreat is where you move one or more units off the front lines and away from the battle. This can be in a nebula, or simply further back beyond sight and firing range of enemy units. This means that you can pull back ships to regenerate shields and get repairs. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Many players will doggedly advance their units like a First World War General with equally similar casualty rates. Do not be like these people. It a perfectly acceptable strategy to pull back, let your units regenerate their shields and health before re-engaging. This will yield much better results than simply charging the enemy and hoping for the best, especially on expert where, for every one unit you build, the AI can build 4.

This leads into the next point. *Bring Repair Ships.* Many deride the GR-75 Transports as useless as their have little combat power. They also clamour for a buff to the heal ability as "*it doesn't heal fast enough to keep my from loosing my ships."* This is not what it they are for. Repair ships such as the GR-75 are meant to repair you units *after they pull back from combat, not during*. Pull back, use repair ships to hasten the recovery process, and then attack again from a renewed position of strength. Bear in mind you don't have to evacuate *all* your forces at the same time. You can pull back ships one at a time to maintain pressure on the enemy while healing up slowly.

Additionally, if you are in a particularly untenable position, then it is often wiser to pull back than keep advancing. For example, if your MC-80 is loosing shields fast and is taking missile fire from a station at the same time, it is better to fall back than to keep pushing and loose the MC.

Generally speaking, here are some rules to follow:

1. Pull back units that are taking a pounding
2. Use repair ships to speed up repairs
3. Make sure the enemy can't shoot you while you're doing this. There's no point repairing *while* you're getting shot at.
4. Know when you're overextended and pull back if you are.

So, now that I've covered when and why to retreat, I'l explain *how* to fall back.

When retreating, there are some steps that you should always follow to make sure your unit gets out alive.

1. Plan ahead, the bigger the ship, the further the ahead. A Tector Star Destroyer will take far longer to get out of danger than Rogue Squadron. A large capital ship should be pulled back just before its shields fail in order to get out with all its hardpoints intact.
2. Ships can't reverse. If you get a ship to fall back, chances are, its going to have to present its broadside to the enemy. As this is equivalent to painting a big "shoot me" sign on your ship, you need to ensure it has a decent amount of health to survive.
3. When pulling back a crippled ship or indeed any ship, push up the rest of the fleet to give the enemy better targets to shoot at. If you pull a badly damaged capital ship back (which, mind you, you should have done way earlier), push up the rest of your fleet so that the enemy has something to concentrate on that's not your dying ship. This is known as "covering a retreat"
4. Remember Pathfinding issues. EAW has had many a pants-on-head moment with pathfinding, and, when pulling back a large ship, it is likely to try and go in every direction except the one you want it to go in. This is unavoidable, so factor this in.
5. Think of who's going to replace the ship you've pulled back. If you withdraw the central ship in the fleet, you're going to have to get someone else to fill the gap, both physically and metaphorically.
6. And finally, don't run all the way to the other side of the map. While it will be safe there, it will also take a long time for your ship to get back. Ideally, it should be just far back enough that the enemy can't see it.