Battlezone 1

Okay... I have some questions here that I want to get answered. I have been developing a strategy over the last few weeks and it is coming along nicely, however I have had mixed efforts.

Turrets:
I know you all suggest that they are useless, however I have found otherwise. I mainly use turrets with upgraded guns (sp stabbers). Why you ask? Because they rotate faster, they are mobile, and they do not need power. I have had great success out of this move, it seems like the turrets are able to repel enemy attacks a lot easier than gun towers do. Let's face it, once the power source is gone for the GT that is it, no more shooting. The other benefit is that the turrets are cheaper to get going (4 scrap I believe to make plus 8 scrap for the upped guns).

Howies:
Sometimes I use howies, however most of the time I find them too big and too slow to even be useful... when they finally start opening up on the enemy they are either already in my base or the shots go so slow they do not hit anything. This has kept me from using them defensively - however, offensively is another story! I find if I can get them in range of an enemies base, they will pound it into oblivion as long as they have protection.

Minelayers:
I have had mixed results with mine layers... they are great units, no doubt; however, I find it is difficult to keep them laying mines at a steady pace. Why do the minefields expire as they do? I do not understand it... I believe it would be better for them to lay mines and have the mines stay put! The mine fields are great when you can keep them up... however I am often doing so much micro with my units that I forget about the mine layers and the used to be mine field is no longer there when my enemy attacks.

Gun Towers:
I am actually at the point of not using them... they cost so much to get going (s-power + gun tower + any upgrades for said gun tower) which then is pointless when the s-power gets destroyed... it is like wasting scrap.

Comm Sat:
How many people host games with this enabled? Every game I host now I run with it on... it is so much easier to build a communications sat. tower and micro manage my units with it. Plus I get the benefit of being able to place Nav Beacons anywhere on the map that I feel like placing them, as well as day wreckers without needing line of sight. I find it easier to build, attack, defend... basically I find everything easier when I use the comm. sat. tower.

Unit Upgrades:
Is it worth it to upgrade your tanks or not? I cannot decide... on one hand it costs a ton to do, but you get the benefit of A. Mixing in with your units more (meaning you cannot be easily picked out of a pack of units because the units will be using the same weapons, whereas if you were in a pack of units who had default weapons and you were the only one who was upgunned then it is obvious which one you are) and B. More destructive firepower of your units. I find a good combination on tanks is either single or dual SP stabbers with a mortar... it allows the AI unit to use both the mortar and the SP stabber. On the other hand, It costs a ton of scrap to do this, and the AI units are not the best shots exactly... more often they miss more than they hit their target unless it is stationary. I have lost scores of units just going against a lonely single tank commanded by my enemy.

Micro:
What is the best way to micro your units? I have found out that telling my units to follow close instead of just follow puts them into a more defensive/aggressive type of mode when attacking... however I still have issues with trying to get my units to attack correctly. When I am in a tank with them on the ground, it is so hard it's not even funny... but when I am in my comm sat I have greater success with this.

Pilots:
Okay... I am lost on this one... how the hell do you keep your pilot count up? Yes I know how to build barracks... but you are limited to the amount of barracks you can have. Therefore once I am at full capacity for barracks and I run out of pilots... what do I do? I am never able to keep my pilot count up to par and often find myself in dire need of units but I have no pilots to make those units. Now pilots that have ejected are always running back to my base... where do they go? I never know.. they seem to just disappear.

For now this is all I have questions about. Comments on the units I use? Suggestions? Answers to my questions anyone?

Turrets & Gun Towers:

• turret + 2 sp's = -16 scrap; destroyed = +8 scrap
• power + tower = -10 scrap; destroyed = +14 scrap
• power + tower = -10 scrap; power destroyed = +6; power = -4 scrap

as you can see, with losing and rebuilding powers, you actually earn 2 scrap per each (in case you collect that scrap), while after collecting scrap from the lost upgraded turret you lose 8 scrap.
of course, there are more pros and cons for each, but that depends on a map, opponent, game situation... i personally prefer 2 powers & 2 towers with 1 upgraded turret.
cca tower is a different story, cause it needs 2 extra sp stabbers (10 scrap) or 2 extra blasts (8 scrap). power-ups when destroyed turn to dust, so you gotta be careful there... basiaclly, any upgraded unit should't be destroyed, it should be guarded and reapaired/reloaded when needed.

Howies:
yes, howies are under defense, but they are offensive unit.

Minelayers:
miners lay mines in 3 sets. you need a nav on the cruical place and after laying each set of mines, you have to tell the miner to go back to the nav and lay mines again. depending on your base set, you have to reload them from time to time or recycle when empty. it takes a lot of practice and 3+ miners to have always active minefield.

Comm Sat:
yeah, sat can be very useful, but don't use it for a long time cause then opponent sees where you are...
quick in and outs is what i do.

Unit Upgrades:
in short, you should always upgrade units if you have time and scrap. you mentioned tanks (i figure you talk about grizzlies and czars)... the most efficient is to give them 1 SP cause then they will link it with the AT they already have and fire 2 weapons instead 1 (they don't use chaingun). to mortar slot they should get only pop gun, cause only then they will be able to fire SP/AT combo straight. Special weapon is not need cause they would waste ammo for nothing.

Micro:
i don't think there's a diference between follow me and follow close. for how to manage units read my strat guide, there i explained how you should command each unit.

Pilots:
when you reach 5 pilots, rebuild barracks or rebuild factory (that means recycle and build again). each will give you 5 more pilots, with a loss of few scrap for rebuilding. try to always be between 5 and 15 pilots.
33% of the ejected pilots survives, they then try to reach the recycler (or factory if recy is destroyed). after they "disappear" they increase your pilot count.

Hey Jawbrkr. Nice to meet you. All my comments are my own thoughts and sometimes gameplay.

1. Turrents are always good. I remember a game with furykiller on Theater o' Pain. He had just destroyed my factory with some apc's and I was trying to build defenses to defend my rec. I built a silo that would block the way to directly attack my rec and assigned five turrets behind the silo. One was directly behind the silo and the four others were in a U-shape across the entrance. When he attack silo destroyed, turret one died shortly after, but by he did not expect the rest of the turrets along side with me, a bomber, and a few scouts to come from the left flank. He lost his final life and the game ended.GG.

I do think that turrets are useful if you know how to use them right.

2. Having howies are always a must for base defense, especially if enemy howies are attacking and they are defended well. Howies are always a good way to surprise attack enemy bases. Jon Blund and I had a game where I was attacking his base with howies defended by several gun towers and myself along with some tanks. I destroyed several small things but then his howies started to attack me . He only can by once to see what was attacking his base and then soon after my howies were destroyed and my gun towers. I kept trying to find his howies but with no luck (I think they were out of my tanks radar range).GG.

3. Minelayers are okay. I personally do not use them .

4. Gun towers are the best defenses besides yourself. having multiple power supplies always helps ensure that the towers do not get disabled quickly. Also only the CCA gets to upgrade weapons.

5. If an opponent has an upgraded tank and you do not ( 2 SP and mortar) it is very hard to destroy him without losing a lot of units yourself.

6. Pilots that get ejected return to the rec and they go back into the available pilot number (23/35). You can only have thirty units that use pilots: tanks, scouts, scavs, turrets, etc. Having multiple barracks help apc's resupply pilots to their ships also.
If I am wrong about that let me know

Everyone plays differently. Everyone strats differently. Everyone likes certain units over others and like one team of another. Finding your place in it all will come and one day you like everyone at some point will become great strats.

Masterchief (ShipWraith)

It's great that your making your own strategys.

[googlevideo][/googlevideo]Minelayers:

A good way to keep their reload count up is to either build a supply near where they are mining.
Or place a nav beacon near a supply and when the minelayer runes out of mines, send it to the nav beacon and order it to reload.

Gun towers:
The NSDF gun towers can be formidable and are cheaper than the CCA guntowers (no need to upgrade).
Also, 3-4 gun towers with as many 3 powers near by is always handy.

Howies:
These are very handy for 'breaking bases', work a treat vs the defensive players.
They can also work well if your opponent uses APCs.

Unit upgrades:
I upgrade units if i have the scrap and time to do so, dual SP isn't such a good idea as your tanks run out of ammo and various other reasons.

Pilots:
Always keep an eye on your pilot count, it can cost alot of time if you realise you havent got any pilots left and you need to build yourself a tank.

Dieing:
If im on field and i die and i know my pilot is going to die, i usually send a tank to my spawn ready for me to get in, this can save alot of time and scrap. You should always leave a nav at your spawn anyway. If your retreating as a pilot, try not to lead your opponent to your base if it is ungaurded or hidden.

Scavengers:
Always try to have 5+ scavengers, these are what can save you in dire situations.

Turrets:
I totally agree on what your saying about turrets, but i always find it handy leaving a turret near a scrap field.
As you know scavengers retreat as soon as they get fired upon.

Nice to meet you to. NSDF can upgrade gun tower weapons, you can give it a new cannon. I often upgrade mine (when I do use them) with SP stabbers as they are far more effective.

Good points everyone, I will continue to develop my strat.

I don't think SP upgrade on NSDF Towers is very effective (waste of 5 scrap), I think they're better off with the blast they already have.