Battlezone 1

I didn't know where exactly to post this as it is a hybrid of discussion.

I just had a simple question: when commanding units to "go to nav" they'll be on their way possibly being destroyed in the process without defending themselves. The Golem however will attack nearby units en route to nav including scavengers which are not a direct threat.

Was this intentional? Pro? Con? Any thoughts?

Walker AI does seem to be quite special indeed. I've seen Walkers not attack targets while on follow, and aggressively attack while enroute to a position or a Nav Beacon. Walkers should only be on follow if you want them to walk faster. Golems are very good at direct attack orders and can shoot at anything within 300 meters.

Whether it was intentional or not, players learn to use Walker AI the way it is, and I would say there is nothing wrong with Walker AI, or any AI for that matter. (ships getting stuck is different topic, all AI attack just fine.)

Yeah, if they attacked on follow, they would never get anywhere even more tan they don't get anywhere now. Plus, you'd be halfway to the enemy base, your golems having wasted all of their ammo on useless things like scavs, silos, and the like. I can't really explain the Nav beacon thing, though, unless the creators intended for the commander to map out a path of destruction with navs. A glorious destruction it is, as well, and with a direct attack order, things don't survive. I've not seen many things survive a pissed off golem, they aim very steady at huge ranges, and don't seem to mind evasive maneuvers. That TRO mission when they send those golems at your base WHILE you have to escort a golem? Horrifying. Worse still is that the guy had to come to your base IN a golem, rather than a nice fast flanker. But I haven't seen anything hit truer than a golem, it's a shame they are relegated to base defense. They are pretty useful as that, though, since for 12 scrap you just bought a gun tower that takes no power, can move, is already upgraded with twin blasts (10 scrap right there), and is always in that 299 meter bracket from the enemy at any given time the player drops his guard .

Now the sasquatch...that is the NSDF's saddest ships. If the AT stabber wasn't bad enough, they give it two, most of which cannot be concentrated on anything except profiles of APCs, bombers, and buildings. Getting sasquatches into offensive position is murderous since 2 tanks at 16 scrap do a much better job of not being dead than a 12 scrap sasquatch. Convergence would have helped the Sasquatch to an enormous degree, almost to the point of making it useful as base defense, but that's another story. Making the torso a little more narrow could help too, if only to make both cannons hit something at once.

No matter what AI any walker has, thumper changes ALL the rules...

I beg to differ uneducated one. I know of many games in which the sasquatch has decided the battle of many games among experienced stratters.

That statement shows you are simply a sad commander, there are no sad ships in BZ. Proper use of the Sasquatch makes it very dangerous. I won a tournament game thanks to proper use of the Sasquatch, and HyperFighter has murdered me with them. Sasquatch has 6000 hull, just like a Golem. If you're beat-up from previous fights and you see 3 of those headed your way, you're in serious trouble now aren't you? They each have 6000 hull and a lot of ammo. Golems have dual blast. They are soon out of ammo if not reloaded. Sasquatches have dual AT. They only aim with 1, but against an army of tanks, both AT's are likely to cause some damage. Also, you have to think in terms of cannon fodder. While your opponent deals with Sasquatches, you can do some other nasty things to your opponent.

3 Sas: 36 scrap. 3 Bombers to kill them with (plus me and my thumper): 24 scrap (considering me stock in a grizzly).

Since I cannot wade through single thread without hearing things such as "That statement shows you are simply a sad commander," when I have not in any way insulted you or your skills as a player once in any thread at all, I will simply stop replying or posting to threads, since the answer is obviously that I am a poor, sad commander with no skills as a player. Thank you for pointing that out to me constantly, or else I might have forgotten.

It's nothing personal and I meant no offense. I simply get tired of hearing how <insert unit here> is a "sad ship" or is "useless".

You forgot to factor in your opponent into the equation. Sure, you might have 3 bombers coming to kill opponent's 3 Sasquatches, but you've also got opponent with his thumper and probably some tanks, scouts and bombers of his own. If your opponent focuses his firepower on the bombers, they'll be gone fast.

Walkers (Golem and Sasquatch), due being slow units, don't have "hunt" command, needed for attacking enemy when "attack" menu doesn't show anything (when being far away). So when i.e. bomber gets attacked on its route to the nav, you simply tell him to "hunt", to get rid off the enemy. Walker starts hunting on its own, otherwise he would be a sitting duck.

A side note: scavengers are the biggest threat, because each carries (or plans to carry) 6 scrap. If my walker while heading to the nav would ignore them, I would be extremely unhappy.

However, scavs can be sent as decoys in order to properly neutralize that threat. At any rate scavs lack weaponry. Having said that, humans can pilot scavs as well

I apologize for not having the quote system learned yet

another side note: walkers lack the "defend" command. Was that intentional?

Agreed.

I'm guessing it not because walkers do seem to do well at defending if placed in the right spot. Even in the game they are referred as "Mobile Assault Turrets". It would make sense that they wouldn't neccessarily need that command. They do pretty well defending as long as they have ammo.



Don't rub it in....

LOL

If you want to know how effective and how to use a walker effectivly i suggest you watch the Strat games between Spock and HAL

Was it intentional topic is here. But I believe the answer is yes, cause walkers can't spin around the production units, like i.e. tank can while defending recy.

I don't know. Two golems patrolling around a recycler would look pretty badass.

The golem can meet enemy units in it posision or near it.When it saw them it start attacking.If you aren't near it it won't hear your orders it will contivue attacking. This is the bad with the golems.
but they are the best units! So you can use them for defend you base from a big attack or to attack an enemy with big defences.