Campaign Log

Gratuitous Forum Gratuitous Space Battles
1

it’s been well over a year since I was seriously playing GSB, and I’ve decided to rectify that. So I’ve got a clean install of GSB on a newly-rebuilt computer, and am going to play a few rounds of the Campaign. Yes I’ll be playing Rebels, and yes I’ll probably end up fighter spamming it. If only at first! While doing this I’m going to write down who the challenges are against, as well as what they were and what, if anything, I capture.
I’m not doing this to discuss technique or anything, just going to run through the campaign a few times and see what kinds of fleets I run into!

I’m playing Rebels, on Spinward Cluster, at Captain Difficulty.

2

First Battle:
Hilzel1980’s Order fleet of 3 cruisers and 6 frigates! Fought numerous times, beaten more times then it beat it’s foe.
I went with my standard fast missile cruisers, as this planet doesn’t allow for fighters. So while I built my fleets a bit more, I set out after this world first. I did NOT have direct control enabled, as I wanted to see how my orders worked. I think in the future I’ll be running direct control at least for cruiser fights, as the ability to precision target ships will be useful in the extreme. I ended up with the victory, capturing 2 frigates.
This is in FAR more depth then most of my comments will be.

Second Battle:
Scott581’s Federation fleet, of 3 cruisers 1 frigate and 2 tethered unit of fighters.
I was playing my fighter ball, and made short work of this fleet. Captured a full unit, and a nearly full second one, of fighters.

Third Battle:
Psycho-Jack’s Federation Cruiser build, of 4 eagles.
Still on a fighter ball, took minimal damage. No captures.

Fourth Battle:
Grepler’s Federation fleet. 3 cruisers, 6 frigates v my 5 cruisers.
First time I’ve been attacked. Dayamun, a planet not accessible by fighters. Testing out direct control to see how big a difference fire control makes. Turns out it makes a huge difference, but the frigates got inside my shields and ripped the small number of cruisers apart.

Fifth Battle:
Baddkarmma’s Federation fleet. 4 squads of fighters, 3 frigates and 2 cruisers.
I started with 60% of his HP, and ended up losing a third of my fighters on this conquest. However I did capture several groups of fighters.

Sixth Battle:
2 federation cruisers, and i regret i don’t remember who submitted the fleet.
I had 2 squads of captured fighters defending against this attack, and unsurprisingly lost it.

Seventh Battle: Retaking the planet lost last turn.
Molotof’s 2 federation cruiser fleet. Same as the one before.
I now had 8 squads of my rebel fighters, which are designed to take down small numbers of capital ships. I took 0 losses on the re-fight

Eighth Battle:
MONNST3R’s Nomad Crusier and fighter fleet.
The innitial trade didn’t go perfectly, however once i killed the cruisers it was just mopping up fighters. I had a 3:1 percentage advantage, so I won handily. Captured some nomad fighters!

Battle Nine:
Reclusirak’s Nomad dual-frigate and 1 squad of fighters.
I was defending with 2 squads of captured fighters, and was interested in seeing how they fared. Answer: horribly. Their orders had them fighting fighters and ignoring frigates, despite the fact they could have cut out the frigates then gone after the fighters. I retreated before 25% lost.

Battle 10:
Same as before, minus the fighters
I had reinforced with my other captured fighter designs, and gave them better orders. I ended up losing no ships

Battle 11:
Deltabord’s 2 Nomad Cruiser, 6 squads of fighters.
as always I focus cruisers, then mot up fighters. Captured several fighters.

Battle 12: I’d moved from a world for battle 11, it was attacked when empty.
Mpera’s 2 Nomad Cruiser fleet.
2 cruisers against 10 fighters isn’t really a challenge, even when both cruisers are fairly well armored.

Battle 13:
Greplet’s fleet from earlier. Now only 6 frigates and 3 capital ships.
Direct control is on, and I have a pair of frigates for close in protection that I captured. Then my fast missile cruisers cleaned the cruisers up.

Battle 14:
shockhall’s 13 nomad frigate, 1 tribe frigate, 1 nomad cruiser and what looks like 1 squad of tethered fighters.
I’m running 9 squads of fighters. I take heavier losses then I like, but end up killing all the frigates and capturing some decent fighters.

Battle 15:
Commander Chris’s 3 Nomad Cruisers, 4 fighter squads.
As always my 12 squads of fighters ignore the enemy fighters and dive the cruisers. I take not insignificant losses, but end up capturing enemy fighters.

Battle 16:
Luminary’s 8 Order cruiser fleet.
I’m using almost entirely captured fighters, so i expect this to go poorly. I’m mildly surprised it doesn’t.

Battle 17:
Welensk’s Order fleet. 2 cruisers and 7 frigates
9 of my fast missile cruisers. Directed Mode’s on, so micro is being used. I capture 1 frigate.

Battle 18:
OT76’s fighter swarms, with 6 order frigates backing it.
My fighters rush the frigates, whereas the captured fighters focus on enemy fighters. End up retreating to keep my core fighter ball alive.

Battle 19:
venomshock’s Federation 5 cruiser 5 frigate.
I’m running 10 cruisers on directed mode. Easy win.

Battle 20:
OT76’sOT76’s fleet from above, however with far fewer fighters after the paring down last round.
A well designed fleet. I had numerical superiority this time, and crushed it easily. Captured some fighters, as well.

Signing off for now, some point later on I’ll resume this.

3

Hmm what’s the names of the difficulty levels again? Admiral is Normal right, while Captain is Easy?

Anyways, fighter spam with Rebels make the Campaign easy. They’re the best and without modded anti-fighter weaponry, fighter spam trumps all. Especially Rebel fighter spam. 12 squadrons are normally enough to take control of most planets.

I recommend improving Fighter Defense Laser and Anti-fighter missiles slightly when playing the campaign. It makes it more balanced and challenges you to build more clever fleet designs.

But I enjoy threads like this :slight_smile: keep it coming! I would like more info about your own fleets, though, when you use them. If there are any particularly interesting battles you could provide more in-depth info on them; how they transpired, your observations etc.

4

Difficulty levels, in order, are Cadet, Captain, Admiral.

Debatable. Swarm has some laser fighters which can beat Rebel laser fighters at cost, and Tribe fighters are exceptionally tough. Rebel fighters are certainly among the best, but I don’t think that they are the absolute best.

If I recall correctly, you usually face the same fleet that took the planet, unless you really mauled it before losing/retreating, have a large force sitting next to the planet you lost, and let the planet sit for a while.

5

You’re correct. Captain is basically medium/normal difficulty. I’m probably going to switch to admiral next time, just to see about getting some REALLY big fleets.
As for fighters. Frankly I’m of the opinion that credit for credit, the rebel fighter swarm’s the strongest. Or at least it was last time i was super active (around dec '11).
Finally Aeson, you’re correct. It is the same fleet. And if it took losses those losses are still gone when you face it next.

Stig: I pick the 1.46 rebel dual laser build simply because my playtesting of it showed it to be flat out broken. I started playing in the beta, and if you think they’re OP now? Imagine what it was like before crew and pilots were separate!
What’s more is I’m not actually playing the campaign to abuse this broken mechanic. I’m actually building 2 fleets, a fighter ball and a fast missile cruiser fleet.

I’m probably going to start over again later today. I’ll post builds if people would be interested in it!

6

I think Tribe’s two laser fighter swarm is roughly on par, personally. But I also usually prefer single-weapon fighters over twin-weapon fighters, so my perspective on and my experience with fighter swarms is skewed to interceptors rather than heavy-fighters.

7

[size=50]I’ll give a tribe playthrough a try, then. This post will include my battles.
Playing Tribe on Captain, as i’m still getting back into the game and I’m quite inexperienced with the Tribe.
Battle 1:
Federation, 2 cruisers and 3 squads of fighters.
I’m using 7 squads of a Serenity hull fighter. Dual laser just to test it out. Captured some fighters.
Battle 2:
Blog In Space!'s Federation 3 cruiser, 8 frigate fleet.
I have more HP going in, expect an easy win. Got it, captured 3 frigates in 2 different designs.
Battle 3:
JazzBear’s Federation fleet, 1 cruiser 6 frigates and 4 squads of fighters
My losses are unusually high, over 30%. A victory nonetheless, and 2 frigates captured.
Battle 4:
ResetTheWorld’s Federation fleet. 4 cruisers, 8 frigates
The battle goes smoothly, ending with 4 captured frigates and no losses on my end,
Battle 5:
I retreat against an invading attack, losing 2 captured frigates in the process.
Battle 6: Retaking the world.
Piggyd’s Federation fleet. 2 cruisers, 1 squad of fighters.
My retreating frigates did a valliant vanguard action, destroying a squad of enemy fighters on their way out. No captures, as the entire enemy squad was destroyed on the way in.
Battle 7:
Shephuphan’s fleet. This is an attack I immediately retreat from, and will retake the world shortly. I lose a captured frigate on the way out again
Battle 8:
Bricked Keyboard’s fleet. For the third time in a row GSB crashes when attacking this world, with no popup error message. I’m done for now and might start an admiral play in a few hours.[/size]
I’ve had to delete this file. Bricked Keyboard’s fleet is causing me to crash w/out an error message. So I’ll be posting below this with my new try.

8

Anything in error.txt or any other files in the debug folder ?
(If i can help solve these issues now, it might prove useful if someone gets really rather far into the campaign and hits the same error)

bother, I was about to ask for the save file as well :stuck_out_tongue:
Never mind.

I might fire up the campaign on my PC and see if I can recreate the errors from here.

9

Yeah. In Errors.txt there’s a bunch of D3DZCreateEffectFromFile failed and Untranslated HRESULT’s.
The debug says it’s an error in with deleting NoBrickedKeyboard’s fleet.

I made sure it wasn’t an encounter with modded parts/Outcasts/Parasites (the DLC’s i don’t have) etc first.

10

Hmm, that is an interesting point. The game should avoid fleets that have used DLC that are not installed in your GSB. In addition (According to cliff) the game will never upload a fleet that uses modded content to the list of campaign fleets to fight.

I might test the campaign with the original install, no DLC
See if i can re-create the error and post a solution.

But before i start the campaign, i might read up on some of the better fighter designs that commonly used :stuck_out_tongue:

11

Tribe take 2: File name “No Bricked Keyboard PLZ!”
Battle 1: Baneslave’s Federation fleet. 2 cruisers, 4 squads of fighters
They were using Fighter Torpedo, which meant they went down easily and gave me all the ones i didn’t kill. 0 losses.
Battle 2: philipfreidhoff’s Federation fleet. 2 cruisers, 3 frigates 3 squads of fighters
Simple battle again. 2 squads of fighters, 1 frigate captured. 13% losses.
Battle 3: legoelias’s Empire fleet: 5 cruisers.
I was using my attempt at a Utopia Plasma cruiser design. No armor or shields, just 2 tribe repair devices, 6 Heavy Plasma and 2 MWM’s. 0% losses
Battle 4: SaveMe2Jebus’s Federation fleet. 1 Cruiser, 14 frigates.
Heavy losses. His cruiser armor, repair modules and tractor beams while laser frigates in teh back ate my fighters. 2 frigates captured, 34% losses.
Battle 5: Reverend08’s Order fleet. 7 cruisers, 2 frigates.
My design for these cruisers is flawed. The lack of even rudimentary shields or armor means EVERYTHING is getting through, and while the Tribe repair bays are good they’re not able to fix more then 2 things at once. 2 frigates captured. 0% losses.
Battle 6: q4x2’s Federation fleet. 3 cruisers, 4 frigates and 2 squads of fighters
I wasn’t overly worried. Pretty simple fight. 3 frigates captured, 1 squad of fighters. 19% losses.
Battle 7: Primer’s Alliance fleet. 7 cruisers.
the mass of fire was a concern, given the unshielded unarmored nature of my fleet. I had a HP edge going in though, so we’ll see what happens. Ended up losing most of my ships, even though i was trading roughly 1 for one in ships. Once I destroyed most f their ships I ended up winning, in part thanks to the valiant sacrifice of the two order cruisers i captured earlier. 72% losses. Cruiser design: back to the drawing board!

Alright, my tribe cruiser #2: A Freedom hull with 7 MWM’s, 3 Ultraheavy armor’s, a fast recharge and reflective shield, 2 supercharged engines 2 Tribe repair modules, a power plant 3 and the largest Crew hold.

Battle 8: reabel’s Federation fleet. 5 cruisers, 2 squads of fighters.
The initial dogfight was VERY close. But as always focusing the cruisers gave an easy win. 10% losses.
Battle 9: Ponderer’s Alliance fleet. 2 cruisers
2 alliance cruisers v 2 of my flawed design plasma cruisers. They seem not to have weapons? They fire nothing, take the hits and die. Strange battle, strange battle indeed. 0% losses
Battle 10: Novarius’s Federation fleet. 3 cruisers, 8 fighters.
Most of his fighters are fighter rocket fighters, meaning easy pickings. his dogfighters have a piece of armor which slowed them down enough I could pick them off easily. Plenty of fighters captured, 10% losses.
Battle 11: Laufzeit’s Swarm fleet. 10 cruisers, 5 fighters.
if i play things right I can capture a cruiser… although that won’t happen unless I can kill a ton of fighters quick. Nope, no cruisers just some fighters. bits of all 5 squads actually. 14% losses.
Battle 12: RJTTU’s alliance fleet. 2 cruisers, 2 frigates.
I’m frankly startled how strong this pair of cruisers is. Directed mode means I’ll focus down cruisers quickly, and hopefully get a frigate or two. Captured 1 frigate, 0% losses.
Battle 13: Kumnaa’s Rebel fleet. 10 cruisers, 3 squads of fighters.
Picked up 2 squads of fighters and 1 cruiser! 18% losses Turns out the fighters were rocket/pulse laser hybrid fighters. If they’d gone with dual laser’s or even triple engine 1 rocket fighers they’d have been deadly.
Battle 14: Neighbour’s Alliance fleet. 1 cruiser, 4 frigates.
A good fleet, he had his cruiser be a tank/lure and his frigates focus my ships. Shields would have stopped their effectiveness. 0% losses
Battle 15: Sparkling Pork Boy’s Allieance fleet. 7 cruises, 5 fighters.
his fighters dogfight well, and while I’m focusing the cruisers they’re VERY durable. Worst fight yet. 6 squads of fighters captured. 61% losses.
Battle 16: Jax Hammer’s Alliance fleet. 2 cruisers
2v2, I’m expecting to come out on top. Despite the lack of defenses these two tribe cruisers are DURABLE. 0% losses.
Battle 17: def123’s Alliance fleet. 2 cruisers
I’m almost sick of these 2 cruiser alliance fleets. They’re pretty much always alligators, and never shoot back! And as I type that this fleet starts fighting back. Not effectively, but still trying. 0% losses.
Battle 18: MoJoJOJO’s Alliance fleet. 2 cruisers.
ANOTHER one of these. both are fast, and could potentially be a rush fleet. which would probably win. They’re using the alliance lighting gun, a weapon i’m quite unfamiliar with. I come close to losing a ship, as they were able to burn through my repair unit’s supplies. However the relatively early loss of one means that I pick up the 2v1. 0% losses.
Battle 19: Harlequine’s Federation fleet. 4 cruisers, 5 fighters.
As always I dive the cruisers. The captured rebel fighters are basically my design, and they survive while my tribe fighters die. 2 fighters captured, 76% losses.
Battle 20: I forgot to write down the name. Swarm fleet, 1 cruiser 1 frigate and 7 fighters.
Easily swept the non-fighters, dog fight went very well. 2 fighters captured. 2% losses.
Battle 21: Ramcat’s Alliance fleet. 4 cruisers, 6 fighters
At last a face i recognize! Ramcat’s fighters overwhelmed my armor, but the repair modules meant i took no lasting damage. The wall on my redesigned cruiser fleet ate the fighters, then it was time to deal with his cruisers. Easily done. 1 fighter and 1 cruiser captured. 0% losses.
Battle 22: Double A’s Nomad fleet. 4 frigates, a ton of fighters.
Sadly a pretty 1 sided fight. Frigates died easily, dogfight was fast. 2 fighters captured. 13% losses

Taking a break for now, will resume later today or more likely tomorrow.

12

I was reasonably certain it wasn’t a modded file to begin with. Back in Beta I submitted a bug report about that issue and Cliff said it was fixed. But it never hurts to review the enemy parts list to be sure!
i THINK what was going on was an encounter with 2 different fleets from the same person. For some reason it hadn’t deleted the fleet from the first one, so when it tried to put in the fleet it thought it was there already but when it tried to load it failed. Just a guess, though

13

I wanted to do the same thing, but decided to post it here first, in case of thread redundancy.

I chose Rebels in the Spinward Cluster at Captain difficulty too. Please note that I have modded Defence Lasers and Anti-Fighter Missiles to make them a little bit better for all parties - this makes fighter spam less efficient. I think I got it just right, as fighters are still powerful but not overpowered in the campaign.

First turn, I made two MWM cruisers and a Anti-fighter cruiser for support, and next turn attacked Rana II.

Battle #1:

2 MWM cruisers
1 Anti-fighter cruiser
(4410 health)

VS

Skunkyisme’s Tribe fleet with

4 fighter sq.
7 Missile frigates with EMP
(5926)

Their weapons are ineffective against my fleet. The fighters are escorting one frigate, which is not set to Last Stand so it retreats when damaged, causing the battle to last a while.

My shields never went down so I didn’t take damage.

Battle #2:

Attacking Kasheemun.

2x MWM cruisers
1x Anti-figher cruiser
1x “Multisupport” cruiser
(5968)

VS

Tribe fleet
2,5 figher sq.
1 cruiser with Rapid-fire cannons.
(5498)

The fighters were unable to do enough lucky shots to take do damage before they were killed off, and the cruiser couldn’t take down the shields in time.

Didn’t take damage.

Battle #3:

Defending Kasheemun

3 MWM cruisers
2 Anti-fighter cruisers
1 support cruiser
(8800)

VS

Order fleet with
3 MWM cruisers. No shields. Heavy armor. No point defence.
1 Fighter sq.
1 Frigate
(5703)

The fighters obviously go down quickly. The cruisers are immune to MWM damage, though. Luckily my scramblers prevent the shields from going down the entire battle, so even though I messed up the Formation instructions I still won without taking damage. Inevitability was on my side because of the lucky shots. This was a loooooong battle!

Battle #4 Attacking Gesustine:

Same fleet as above

VS

Tribe fleet with
3 cruisers. No shields. Plasma weapons.
2 laser fighter sq.
2 rocket fighter sq.
(14882)

This was the first tough battle for this fleet. The scramblers don’t work vs plasma, so eventually the shields went down on my formation leader MWM cruiser, destroying it soon after. At the same time the first of their ships was destroyed and my formation dispersed, releasing the three support ships from their “shackles”. The two other ships went down rather quickly after that so I was not worried, but I did lose two MWM cruisers and the third was damaged.

… if I should make my own thread, please just say so :slight_smile:

14

I don’t mind sharing the thread. It might be a good idea to edit that onto the first post on page 2, just to keep page 1 from being TOO oversized.
I’ve been busy with school but when classes end this week I’ll have more time to work on this.

15

I would say make your own thread, that way it’s easier for readers like me to follow one players progress at a time. It might be that you or Ikohime update regularly while the other doesn’t, making it easy to lose track of where the one who hasn’t updated for a while has got to.