How to do Missile strikes

[Thom]

I have had several players send me a note that goes something like this. I sent a missile strike in to a planet but the strike never goes through. Instead I keep getting this.

-Action 21-
Fleet 55 navigation computer reports destination star QQQ1111
is a Yellow/Blue Bright Star Type Y
Fleet 55 reports system orbit achieved at QQQ1111
Fleet 55 entering strike range on QQQ11115 from QQQ1111
270 Missile(s) ready for firing from Fleet 55
Alert ! Alert ! System and planet defenses have been activated.
-Action 22-

So for all those out there that this has happened to. Here is the problem.

1. 270 missiles in a fleet means you have lot of ships in the fleet. When your missile ships line up for a run at the planet they blot out the sun. Not to hard to detect them.
2. If you fleet does not launch an attack but the planet doesn't fire at you either then your fleets aggression level + the planets aggression level is not 100 or greater so they don't fight.
Yes I know that sounds odd but more of the way the game was programmed rather than an intentional design.
What happens is your fleet is launching missiles from a distance on the way to the planet.
If the planet defenses are activated and your fleet is detected then it goes into planetary orbit and combat is initiated between the planet and the firepower of the fleet.
Missiles are off the table for launching now.
If the combined aggression level is not 100 or greater or the planet has no forts or fighters left on the planet then the fleet enters orbit and stays there, again odd but true.

So how do I get the missiles to launch.

1. Only send missile fleets of 20 or less ships. Any more and it's pretty much an automatic detection. 5 or less is preferable and they will get through about 90% of the time.
2. If your sending multiple strikes against the same planet the first fleet should have 5 or less ships and each succeeding missile fleet should also have 5 or less ships, fewer is better after the first attack but 5 is always a good number. The missile fleet has an element of surprise the first attack with a much lower detection chance but later waves are not as lucky.

I am in the process of redoing the routines with some better messaging as well as not having a 100% detection at 20 ships. What I'm also doing is writing some routines so if the planet has no space born defenses, forts or fighters, then the missiles will always launch thus eliminating the odd circumstance where there are no defenses but the planets defenses are alerted anyway and the fleet just ends up in planet orbit.

[ImperiumLafayette]

What is the current situation in regards to this?

[CHARON EMPIRE]

I've not had any trouble with missile strikes, I launch them from a System, or Sub Sector space, use a location 1 as the starting location for the ships to strike from, and location number two is the target world. I think someone was trying to launch them from a target planets orbit, which won't work. Don't forget to tell the fleet how many missiles to launch, and don't use more than 5 missile ships in each fleet for optimum results.

[Thom]

What is the current situation in regards to this?

I think most issues have been fixed. Although starting a missile run from the target planet location still will not work. Reason. I really didn't dig into it very much because there are other options.

[ImperiumLafayette]

Kewl!

Not that I had a need to missile but was curious about the current status.

Although starting a missile run from the target planet location still will not work.

Can I assume (be it every so dreaded) that a regular battle that kicked off because your fleet move to a planet location or you invaded or just any battle that got started while you were in "orbit" of the "target planet", other than a MISSILE STRIKE, missiles would be used in the battle? OR are missiles just for the MISSILE STRIKE orders?

IL
Seeking Peace In All The Wrong Places

[Thom]

Missiles in a fleet are only for a missile strike on planet installations and you have to use an action code to tell the missile ships what to target, i.e. 89 for forts.

If you move a missile fleet to a planet location the ships in the fleet will fight with their firepower but the ships will not launch any missiles.

[Tregonsee]

You can also lessen the probability that a planet will attack your fleet if you reduce the aggression using AC 21, and/or use only ships that have 0 tonnage (Explorers, ECV1s, etc)