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Author Topic:   drop troop transports

drunkenkatori posted 05-17-99 11:54 PM ET
Drop troop transports are a cheap way to provide drop ability for all your ground units. A speeder chassis, drop pods and transport carrier plus the best armor typically costs as much as the going infantry unit and much less than the corresponding drop combat unit.
You also get to avoid cluttering up the design selection with redundant units.
They only carry one unit, but are versatile.
DK
Plato90s posted 05-18-99 12:17 AM ET
But you need to create two units just to deliver one unit to the battlefield. The combined cost of the two units can't be cheaper than just building one drop unit. If you really want to have a land unit which has two special abilities other than drop pod, it may make sense. However, I find it easier to build a drop infantry scout, drop the unit into a city and then upgrade it on the spot. I pay a slight premium and lose one turn, but it's flexible.
drunkenkatori posted 05-18-99 10:33 PM ET
In rebuttal, the cost in minerals for a drop troop transport and a current infantry unit is slightly more than a drop infantry unit but only about 10 -20%. However, you effectively get to put drop ability on ANY ground unit in your army. The upgrade tactic is good, but you can't upgrade a drop scout to a tank. Also a drop tank or artillery unit is very expensive.
I also didn't consider that a drop transport saves you a special slot. Thanks for pointing that out.
The downside is that since the transports aren't combat units, they can't drop into ZOC's. They also can't carry worms. I don't know if this is a bug or part of the rules.
What I recently used them for was as a spearhead for a "D-day" invasion. Air and missiles softened up the landing site and then I dropped rovers and artillery into the area to secure it. The main force landed in boats. I didn't go all boats because of the enemy's strong airforce.
DK
googlie posted 05-19-99 10:38 AM ET
Can't you cloak to render ZOC's inoperative? (But that would add to the cost)
Q?: if possible (and I have't tried the above suggestion) would the infantry unit need to be cloaked as well?
Plato90s posted 05-19-99 01:17 PM ET
Actually, Drop scout tanks are very cheap. Once you have at least the Quantum chamber, a Drop*Trained fission scout infantry costs 20 credits to make. A Drop*Trained fission scout tank costs 30 minerals to make. Almost any city with population of over 10 can make either in a single turn.
Also, I find myself not using artillery once I have orbital drop. I have no real patience to do a sustained artillery bombardment, so I just drop in more troops than strictly necessary.
korn469 posted 05-20-99 08:44 AM ET
have you ever actually successfully used drop transports? i have made them and loaded my units on them and they never actually worked. i have complained about drop troop transports not working many times, have you actually got them to work? if you have then tell me how you did.
plus speeders transports drop or not only move one unless you add antigrav struts to them...so infantry transports are cheaper than drop transports and are just as effective
korn 469
p.s. you can have highly armored drop transports and lightly armored assault units, and i have found in most cases that if you have the support avaliable that these two units togther are more cost effective than one heavily armed and decently armored drop tank
drunkenkatori posted 05-23-99 10:51 PM ET
Actually, I noticed that problem of transports leaving their cargo behind just the other day. The one difference I realized is that my initial assault was from a city onto land. But since then I tried city to city jumps. Perhaps one can only retain cargo in city to land jumps? That means it may be possible to transport worms.
Irritating bug. I'll have to check that out along with an exact mineral accounting for the units.
drunkenkatori posted 05-24-99 09:53 PM ET
I have concluded that drop transports just don't work since in my save game I can't transport anything. I imagine my delusion arose because my D-day invasion involved both drop and sea transports hitting the same beach head because of geography. Since there was a mix of a lot of units, I couldn't tell who had unloaded what in the end. (Plus it was late...)
Nonetheless, if drop units worked, in the era of fusion reactors, it would be cheaper and more flexible to use them instead of drop specialized units, especially against a foe of equal or greater technology.
Too bad it doesn't really work.
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Author	Topic: drop troop transports
drunkenkatori	posted 05-17-99 11:54 PM ET Drop troop transports are a cheap way to provide drop ability for all your ground units. A speeder chassis, drop pods and transport carrier plus the best armor typically costs as much as the going infantry unit and much less than the corresponding drop combat unit. You also get to avoid cluttering up the design selection with redundant units. They only carry one unit, but are versatile. DK
Plato90s	posted 05-18-99 12:17 AM ET But you need to create two units just to deliver one unit to the battlefield. The combined cost of the two units can't be cheaper than just building one drop unit. If you really want to have a land unit which has two special abilities other than drop pod, it may make sense. However, I find it easier to build a drop infantry scout, drop the unit into a city and then upgrade it on the spot. I pay a slight premium and lose one turn, but it's flexible.
drunkenkatori	posted 05-18-99 10:33 PM ET In rebuttal, the cost in minerals for a drop troop transport and a current infantry unit is slightly more than a drop infantry unit but only about 10 -20%. However, you effectively get to put drop ability on ANY ground unit in your army. The upgrade tactic is good, but you can't upgrade a drop scout to a tank. Also a drop tank or artillery unit is very expensive. I also didn't consider that a drop transport saves you a special slot. Thanks for pointing that out. The downside is that since the transports aren't combat units, they can't drop into ZOC's. They also can't carry worms. I don't know if this is a bug or part of the rules. What I recently used them for was as a spearhead for a "D-day" invasion. Air and missiles softened up the landing site and then I dropped rovers and artillery into the area to secure it. The main force landed in boats. I didn't go all boats because of the enemy's strong airforce. DK
googlie	posted 05-19-99 10:38 AM ET Can't you cloak to render ZOC's inoperative? (But that would add to the cost) Q?: if possible (and I have't tried the above suggestion) would the infantry unit need to be cloaked as well?
Plato90s	posted 05-19-99 01:17 PM ET Actually, Drop scout tanks are very cheap. Once you have at least the Quantum chamber, a DropTrained fission scout infantry costs 20 credits to make. A DropTrained fission scout tank costs 30 minerals to make. Almost any city with population of over 10 can make either in a single turn. Also, I find myself not using artillery once I have orbital drop. I have no real patience to do a sustained artillery bombardment, so I just drop in more troops than strictly necessary.
korn469	posted 05-20-99 08:44 AM ET have you ever actually successfully used drop transports? i have made them and loaded my units on them and they never actually worked. i have complained about drop troop transports not working many times, have you actually got them to work? if you have then tell me how you did. plus speeders transports drop or not only move one unless you add antigrav struts to them...so infantry transports are cheaper than drop transports and are just as effective korn 469 p.s. you can have highly armored drop transports and lightly armored assault units, and i have found in most cases that if you have the support avaliable that these two units togther are more cost effective than one heavily armed and decently armored drop tank
drunkenkatori	posted 05-23-99 10:51 PM ET Actually, I noticed that problem of transports leaving their cargo behind just the other day. The one difference I realized is that my initial assault was from a city onto land. But since then I tried city to city jumps. Perhaps one can only retain cargo in city to land jumps? That means it may be possible to transport worms. Irritating bug. I'll have to check that out along with an exact mineral accounting for the units.
drunkenkatori	posted 05-24-99 09:53 PM ET I have concluded that drop transports just don't work since in my save game I can't transport anything. I imagine my delusion arose because my D-day invasion involved both drop and sea transports hitting the same beach head because of geography. Since there was a mix of a lot of units, I couldn't tell who had unloaded what in the end. (Plus it was late...) Nonetheless, if drop units worked, in the era of fusion reactors, it would be cheaper and more flexible to use them instead of drop specialized units, especially against a foe of equal or greater technology. Too bad it doesn't really work.