Thargoid invasion - Next target systems?

[Aleks Zuno]

Alert victories in Asletae and HIP 38225!

Top targets at 01:00 8th April 3309:
HIP 116360 Invasion 84% — Raijin 21 Ly, 2 ports, 462 Ls 0.2g planet attack, 1211 Ls outpost damage
HIP 21380 Invasion 70% — Indra 27 Ly, 2 ports, 155k Ls outpost attack, 155k Ls 0.3g planet damage
Imeut Invasion 44% — Taranis 19 Ly, 2 ports, 54k Ls 0.3g planet attack, 12 Ls outpost damage
HIP 28150 Invasion 36% — Hadad 31 Ly, 0 ports, 1613 Ls outpost damage
HIP 19157 Invasion 34% — Indra 22 Ly, 0 ports, 705 Ls starport damage
Laumas Invasion 34% — Cocijo 29 Ly, 1 port, 255 Ls starport attack, 361 Ls outpost damage

Alerts:
Orong Alert 64% — Oya 27 Ly, 1045 Ls outpost, 564 Ls planet
Neites Alert 60% — Hadad 26 Ly, 2004 Ls starport, 2055 Ls outpost
Muncheim Alert 34% — Oya 24 Ly, 6 Ls starport

Clean-up:
Arietis Sector JM-W d1-57 Alert 72% — Taranis 61 Ly, empty
Pegasi Sector QE-N a8-5 Control 48% — Raijin 23 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector EG-N b7-5 Alert 42% — Taranis 29 Ly, empty

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Victory in HIP 116360! This cycle has started a bit more softly than the last given the Easter weekend, though with a lot of strong concentrated progress. All active Invasions should finish, many Alerts are being stopped, and an estimate is difficult because the theoretical number of 30 should not be trusted due to being higher than the number of systems with regular activity.

The eviction at Col 285 Sector JW-M c7-18 is an INIV job for which I can warrant completion; we may then help Bi Dhorora a bit if it gets attention after Neites is safe (well done!), otherwise I think the preference is to start eviction at those unpopulated Control systems which are attacking Neites in the first place. The Alert at Col 285 Sector VN-Z b14-7 is much more obviously too far forward, but I believe it cannot produce another Alert immediately after becoming Control (maybe @Ian Doncaster knows?), and we would prefer to clear it as a Control system.

Invasions at 18:00 8th April 3309:
HIP 21380 Invasion 78% — Indra 27 Ly, 2 ports, 155k Ls outpost attack, 155k Ls 0.3g planet damage
Imeut Invasion 66% — Taranis 19 Ly, 2 ports, 54k Ls 0.3g planet attack, 12 Ls outpost damage
HIP 28150 Invasion 60% — Hadad 31 Ly, 0 ports, 1613 Ls outpost damage
Laumas Invasion 50% — Cocijo 29 Ly, 1 port, 255 Ls starport attack, 361 Ls outpost damage
HIP 19157 Invasion 48% — Indra 22 Ly, 0 ports, 705 Ls starport damage
HIP 26926 Invasion 26% — Taranis 28 Ly, 0 ports, 1128 Ls starport damage
Sukurbago Invasion 26% — Cocijo 24 Ly, 7 ports, 1122 Ls outpost + 1489 Ls 0.2g planet attack

Alerts:
Neites Alert 92% — Hadad 26 Ly, 2004 Ls starport, 2055 Ls outpost
Orong Alert 88% — Oya 27 Ly, 1045 Ls outpost, 564 Ls planet
Muncheim Alert 70% — Oya 24 Ly, 6 Ls starport
Vukurbeh Alert 22% — Taranis 24 Ly, 265 Ls starport, 468 Ls outpost

Clean-up:
Arietis Sector JM-W d1-57 Alert 72% — Taranis 61 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector EG-N b7-5 Alert 50% — Taranis 29 Ly, empty
Pegasi Sector QE-N a8-5 Control 48% — Raijin 23 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector JW-M c7-18 Control 40% — Hadad 24 Ly, empty
SPOCS 280 Control 26% — Oya 27 Ly, empty

 

[Ian Doncaster]

but I believe it cannot produce another Alert immediately after becoming Control

That's the simplest explanation we've found for a lot of otherwise hard-to-explain behaviour, I think. Clearing a control in its first week should stop them getting any actual use out of it.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Victories in HIP 116360, Muncheim, Neites, Orong, HIP 28150 and Imeut! That leaves only four Maelstroms which actually have any Invasions ongoing where at least half of those should be a comfortable defence, and with so many Alerts being stopped, the Invasions could become quite rare. Ideally I consider it wise to keep that Invasion capacity alive by allowing a few to start while Research crews clear the unpopulated systems instead.

Bi Dhorora is a good example here; M. Hadad is now free of Invasions and would remain so by stopping the Alert at Bi Dhorora, but with two of three ports being low-gravity planetary and not far from arrival, this would be an ideal system to proceed to Invasion. As usual though, I will still support a strong Alert drive there as a sign that a good number of Commanders want it stopped. I would be interested to hear from those defending Invasions, whether one enjoys a good battle enough that it would be nice to allow some each cycle, or whether it would be as well to eradicate them!

Invasions at 08:10 9th April 3309:
HIP 21380 Invasion 84% — Indra 27 Ly, 2 ports, 155k Ls outpost attack, 155k Ls 0.3g planet damage
HIP 19157 Invasion 72% — Indra 22 Ly, 0 ports, 705 Ls starport damage
Laumas Invasion 66% — Cocijo 29 Ly, 1 port, 255 Ls starport attack, 361 Ls outpost damage
Sukurbago Invasion 46% — Cocijo 24 Ly, 7 ports, 1122 Ls outpost + 1489 Ls 0.2g planet attack
Khwal Invasion 36% — Cocijo 22 Ly, 4 ports, 89 Ls outpost attack
HIP 26926 Invasion 30% — Taranis 28 Ly, 0 ports, 1128 Ls starport damage

Alerts:
HIP 2422 Alert 62% — Oya 24 Ly, 4995 Ls starport
Vukurbeh Alert 42% — Taranis 24 Ly, 265 Ls starport, 468 Ls outpost
Wolf 121 Alert 20% — Leigong 29 Ly, 1708 Ls starport, 1666 Ls planet
HIP 20527 Alert 14% — Indra 23 Ly, 595 Ls starport, 834 Ls outpost
Jaoi Alert 14% — Oya 25 Ly, 317 Ls starport

Clean-up:
Arietis Sector JM-W d1-57 Alert 72% — Taranis 61 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector JW-M c7-18 Control 72% — Hadad 24 Ly, empty
SPOCS 280 Control 62% — Oya 27 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector EG-N b7-5 Alert 52% — Taranis 29 Ly, empty
Pegasi Sector QE-N a8-5 Control 48% — Raijin 23 Ly, empty

That's the simplest explanation we've found for a lot of otherwise hard-to-explain behaviour, I think. Clearing a control in its first week should stop them getting any actual use out of it.

Great—unless Col 285 Sector VN-Z b14-7 is stopped as an Alert, I will do so as Control next cycle!

 

[CMDR Aldebaran]

Hi Aleks, as someone who is still relatively new to the game, I've spent the last two or three months learning how to fight, and just got to the point where I've engineered my ships, and feel I can contribute to defending an invasion (so long as I can get repairs from time to time) so I'd be a bit gutted if those opportunities to team up with other cmdrs in invasion system were to be lost. It is also a lot of fun to do! It also feels to me, that actually defeating an enemy in battle is how you win a war rather than scraping bits off them but I guess intelligence and espionage are what really win wars!

It's great to see the progress we are making though. My opinion is it would be good to keep a range of options open for those who want to get involved. I like the idea of focusing tactically to keep the front line from moving and cutting off systems from the Maelstroms.

 

[Cori]

I too would miss invasions; I kitted a Krait out to take part in invasion conflict zones, but I don't think there's much I can do - or have time to do or capacity to learn to do - in alerts. Plus I will miss the supply of my favourite Odyssey reactivation missions in recovering systems.

We shall see how things go.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Hi Aleks, as someone who is still relatively new to the game, I've spent the last two or three months learning how to fight, and just got to the point where I've engineered my ships, and feel I can contribute to defending an invasion (so long as I can get repairs from time to time) so I'd be a bit gutted if those opportunities to team up with other cmdrs in invasion system were to be lost. It is also a lot of fun to do! It also feels to me, that actually defeating an enemy in battle is how you win a war rather than scraping bits off them but I guess intelligence and espionage are what really win wars!

It's great to see the progress we are making though. My opinion is it would be good to keep a range of options open for those who want to get involved. I like the idea of focusing tactically to keep the front line from moving and cutting off systems from the Maelstroms.

Great to hear, and definitely understood regarding a possible Invasion drought! I get cautious about speaking for anyone else by asserting that we need an Invasion supply, but it seems clear; I hear Commanders saying they like the Invasions¹, I see builds specific to defending ports, and often I discover ports being defended spontaneously without the system progress even being a factor (some hopelessly low, others already completed). That was also very much the impression from both Hutton Radio and Galnet News Digest shortly after the Aegis article, and most evident are the unwavering Invasion progress numbers.

Definitely while Invasions are conceivably endangered, I will continue with Control progress and leave alone those populated Alerts! Unpopulated Control at the moment, though I would not mind attempting Fotlandjera if making it move is feasible. Admittedly I am also eyeing Yukait above and wishing partially that I had started there earlier this cycle, though my thought was that those lower systems are creeping towards Brestla, an important system for pilots without an Elite rank.

I too would miss invasions; I kitted a Krait out to take part in invasion conflict zones, but I don't think there's much I can do - or have time to do or capacity to learn to do - in alerts. Plus I will miss the supply of my favourite Odyssey reactivation missions in recovering systems.

You should still have a supply of Recovery systems despite a lack of Invasions, assuming that at least some Control systems are retaken! If anything, completing Invasions too enthusiastically would also deprive you of Recovery opportunities given the one-week Recovery if nothing was damaged.

Speaking of Control systems, and not to suggest it replaces a good port defence of course, the upcoming next step will be to take your Krait into those Control systems which are closest to civilisation, where Conflict Zones are present. You will not be able to rearm within the system of course, though I am hoping that a good Research drive in such a system will create both a credible target to defend usefully and also a Fleet Carrier resupply location!


1. For varying reasons; good for getting started with destroying Thargoids, good for getting started with contributing, port defence is profitable, port defence is fun, port defence builds are fun/powerful.

 

[Retyu Ranger]

Victories in HIP 116360, Muncheim, Neites, Orong, HIP 28150 and Imeut! That leaves only four Maelstroms which actually have any Invasions ongoing where at least half of those should be a comfortable defence, and with so many Alerts being stopped, the Invasions could become quite rare. Ideally I consider it wise to keep that Invasion capacity alive by allowing a few to start while Research crews clear the unpopulated systems instead.

Bi Dhorora is a good example here; M. Hadad is now free of Invasions and would remain so by stopping the Alert at Bi Dhorora, but with two of three ports being low-gravity planetary and not far from arrival, this would be an ideal system to proceed to Invasion. As usual though, I will still support a strong Alert drive there as a sign that a good number of Commanders want it stopped. I would be interested to hear from those defending Invasions, whether one enjoys a good battle enough that it would be nice to allow some each cycle, or whether it would be as well to eradicate them!

Invasions at 08:10 9th April 3309:
HIP 21380 Invasion 84% — Indra 27 Ly, 2 ports, 155k Ls outpost attack, 155k Ls 0.3g planet damage
HIP 19157 Invasion 72% — Indra 22 Ly, 0 ports, 705 Ls starport damage
Laumas Invasion 66% — Cocijo 29 Ly, 1 port, 255 Ls starport attack, 361 Ls outpost damage
Sukurbago Invasion 46% — Cocijo 24 Ly, 7 ports, 1122 Ls outpost + 1489 Ls 0.2g planet attack
Khwal Invasion 36% — Cocijo 22 Ly, 4 ports, 89 Ls outpost attack
HIP 26926 Invasion 30% — Taranis 28 Ly, 0 ports, 1128 Ls starport damage

Alerts:
HIP 2422 Alert 62% — Oya 24 Ly, 4995 Ls starport
Vukurbeh Alert 42% — Taranis 24 Ly, 265 Ls starport, 468 Ls outpost
Wolf 121 Alert 20% — Leigong 29 Ly, 1708 Ls starport, 1666 Ls planet
HIP 20527 Alert 14% — Indra 23 Ly, 595 Ls starport, 834 Ls outpost
Jaoi Alert 14% — Oya 25 Ly, 317 Ls starport

Clean-up:
Arietis Sector JM-W d1-57 Alert 72% — Taranis 61 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector JW-M c7-18 Control 72% — Hadad 24 Ly, empty
SPOCS 280 Control 62% — Oya 27 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector EG-N b7-5 Alert 52% — Taranis 29 Ly, empty
Pegasi Sector QE-N a8-5 Control 48% — Raijin 23 Ly, empty




Great—unless Col 285 Sector VN-Z b14-7 is stopped as an Alert, I will do so as Control next cycle!

I would like a range of options. I’m just finishing my AX upgrade from my Challenger to Anaconda… so I would like to be able to kill some bad guys in my new ride.

Long live Hunanity! Death to the Thargoids!!

o7

 

[Retyu Ranger]

Yeah! That was awesome! I've never seen Thargoids pop so quickly lol. Though the Hydras were a different story altogether. Definitely want to do some more of that. Defending Lovaroju was the first time I actually went head to head with a Thargoid so I have a long way to go to gain proficiency and learn the tactics, but it's great fun. I just need to sort out my caustic sink so I don't have to disengage to allow decontamination limpets to do their thing without being shot by scouts every time! o7

Looking forward to it. I’ve been out of town traveling… but will be back in the fight tomorrow night! Hope to see you out there.

o7

 

[Kayvan]

Tried a Sampling run meanwhile, however instead of a fat facetank I thought I could use a Clipper built for cold orbiting. The concept was, zap away the swarm with flak, then keep cold with a beam while spamming research limpets.
In practice, it works, but not that well. On my first 2 or 3 attempts I only drew Basilisks which I didn't dare to engage. Then when I finally found a Clops, I managed to collect a total of 7 samples until it went into rage mode, and suddenly my hull melted like butter in the oven. I barely managed to bail and had 10% hull left when I docked.

So, yeah, the bit I missed in my design was the "be prepared to take damage" one. With just about 1750 hull integrity there's just not enough to go around on.
Well, I guess the process could be optimized, by boosting away into safety and repairing, then reengaging (got enough limpets after all), but that drags things out so loooong and that's boooooring!
And even with that strategy, the maximum you can pack is 32 samples. I don't know how effective that is. :/

 

[Neilski]

Sukurbago Invasion 46% — Cocijo 24 Ly, 7 ports, 1122 Ls outpost + 1489 Ls 0.2g planet attack

Just been trying to fly combat at Sekowski Camp, and maybe I'm doing something different & wrong tonight, or maybe the game is broken tonight, but either way it ain't working.
I drop in (have tried Open and PG without any differences), hang around for ages, and then - sometimes after killing Scouts, sometimes not - an Interceptor shows up, and chucks the usual neutraliser field at me; when I react in the usual way and boost with FA off, the instance seems to reset somehow, and the Interceptor disappears. I head back in the direction of the settlement after I regain control, but nothing to be found. What the flup? On one occasion I actually used the external camera to watch - the Interceptor was firing at an NPC and then simply vanished before I regained control.
This has now happened 3 times in a row and I'm done for tonight, but if anyone has insights I'd love to hear them - thanks in advance

Edit: I forgot to mention another odd thing: at no point did I get the usual request to join the combat endeavour in the comms panel. The NPC ships in the instance turned green in the radar each time some Thargoids showed up but then reverted to yellow each time they disappeared.

 

[yttrbio]

The combat zones around some stations just don't work. This is one of them.

 

[CMDR Aldebaran]

The combat zones around some stations just don't work. This is one of them.

Yes, the same thing was happening to me there too.

 

[Phill P]

I would be interested to hear from those defending Invasions, whether one enjoys a good battle enough that it would be nice to allow some each cycle, or whether it would be as well to eradicate them!

That's a typically AX centric question as if nobody goes to Invasions for any other reason. With Invasions gone you lose the attacked ports that people like but beyond that there will be plenty for those who "want a good battle" because there's nothing else to do. There are a lot of people doing the non combative activities who feel they are being pushed into doing AX in some form or another whether they want to or not. They don't like it and they don't want it. I'm somewhere in the middle as I dabble in AX but not enough to dedicate myself to it.

I'm all for the stopping of Invasions and Alerts, that's the ultimate goal. We wouldn't be doing what we're doing if that wasn't the aim. Ultimately the aim is to stop all Invasions and Alerts then start retaking the Controlled systems, possibly by focusing on the Frontline systems since they were put in to show where that was. We all understand that and I never expected to be doing rescues forever.

But when it gets to the point that there's only AX to do I will not be trying to fight Thargoids all day if they can't think of something else, or something more interesting, to add. It's vital for them to create new activities for people to do who don't want to fight, and it would be nice if those who want to do nothing else remembered that once in a while.

This has the potential to be a high concept science fantasy war. If it's just going to be a replay in space of tired old wartime clichés about supply lines and chokepoints while we wait for the equivalent of the bouncing bomb that will turn the tide or the ultimate weapon that will end the conflict, then what a waste of an idea and all its potential that is when it could go somewhere genuinely new.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Victories in Imeut, Col 285 Sector JW-M c7-18, Arietis Sector JM-W d1-57, HIP 19157, HIP 21380, HIP 2422 and Laumas! The next few Invasions include the last of those which have active ports, after which the only further options involve evacuations and otherwise handling them like Control systems.

Invasions at 08:00 10th April 3309:
Sukurbago Invasion 82% — Cocijo 24 Ly, 7 ports, 1122 Ls outpost + 1489 Ls 0.2g planet attack
Khwal Invasion 58% — Cocijo 22 Ly, 4 ports, 89 Ls outpost attack
HIP 26926 Invasion 44% — Taranis 28 Ly, 0 ports, 1128 Ls starport damage

Alerts:
Vukurbeh Alert 98% — Taranis 24 Ly, 265 Ls starport, 468 Ls outpost
Jaoi Alert 92% — Oya 25 Ly, 317 Ls starport
Wolf 121 Alert 28% — Leigong 29 Ly, 1708 Ls starport, 1666 Ls planet
Bi Dhorora Alert 24% — Hadad 18 Ly, 2734 Ls outpost, 1857 Ls planet
HIP 20527 Alert 20% — Indra 23 Ly, 595 Ls starport, 834 Ls outpost, 4806 Ls planet

Clean-up:
SPOCS 280 Control 86% — Oya 27 Ly, empty
Arietis Sector EW-N b6-1 Control 80% — Leigong 26 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector EG-N b7-5 Alert 78% — Taranis 29 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector WC-C b13-2 Control 56% — Thor 35 Ly, empty
Pegasi Sector QE-N a8-5 Control 48% — Raijin 23 Ly, empty

Tried a Sampling run meanwhile, however instead of a fat facetank I thought I could use a Clipper built for cold orbiting. The concept was, zap away the swarm with flak, then keep cold with a beam while spamming research limpets.
In practice, it works, but not that well. On my first 2 or 3 attempts I only drew Basilisks which I didn't dare to engage. Then when I finally found a Clops, I managed to collect a total of 7 samples until it went into rage mode, and suddenly my hull melted like butter in the oven. I barely managed to bail and had 10% hull left when I docked.

So, yeah, the bit I missed in my design was the "be prepared to take damage" one. With just about 1750 hull integrity there's just not enough to go around on.
Well, I guess the process could be optimized, by boosting away into safety and repairing, then reengaging (got enough limpets after all), but that drags things out so loooong and that's boooooring!
And even with that strategy, the maximum you can pack is 32 samples. I don't know how effective that is. :/

Indeed; you noticed many of the reasons why a Clipper will not work quite so well there! I would add:

• Orbiting is a nice idea while harvesting, though mind that it also becomes difficult for the limpets to return to you!
• Given the swarms, being shielded protects your external modules a lot. Over the time involved, I expect to handle a few dozen swarms, ideally thinning them rather than destroying them to increase the time between swarms in return for absorbing a few missiles.
• With a shielded Cutter and total shielding balanced with hull to absorb phasing damage, Cyclops and Scout damage is negligible; the Swarm is the only real concern!
• I hold 64 samples with the Cutter, and in practice I end up returning with 66–70, taking some module damage from the overflow into my extra limpet storage. Some of the large group builds are using 80 corrosive cargo because they can share the damage more.
• More so than being dull, boosting away for long enough to repair detracts from your harvesting time.

That's a typically AX centric question as if nobody goes to Invasions for any other reason. With Invasions gone you lose the attacked ports that people like but beyond that there will be plenty for those who "want a good battle" because there's nothing else to do. There are a lot of people doing the non combative activities who feel they are being pushed into doing AX in some form or another whether they want to or not. They don't like it and they don't want it. I'm somewhere in the middle as I dabble in AX but not enough to dedicate myself to it.

I promise that the spirit of the question was far more about gauging to what extent causing an Invasion drought could be a mistake, due to combat or otherwise! While minding that port defence combat is not fully comparable/transferable to Control systems, I think your main point is that evacuations also belong in the set of reasons to keep a manageable number of Invasions active, and that is both true and very much why I asked.

For the moment at least (see below!), clearly Commanders running evacuations form a important part of that. It very much strengthens my support for allowing some Alerts to finish, especially those with an easily-evacuated starport close to arrival.

I'm all for the stopping of Invasions and Alerts, that's the ultimate goal. We wouldn't be doing what we're doing if that wasn't the aim. Ultimately the aim is to stop all Invasions and Alerts then start retaking the Controlled systems, possibly by focusing on the Frontline systems since they were put in to show where that was. We all understand that and I never expected to be doing rescues forever.

But when it gets to the point that there's only AX to do I will not be trying to fight Thargoids all day if they can't think of something else, or something more interesting, to add. It's vital for them to create new activities for people to do who don't want to fight, and it would be nice if those who want to do nothing else remembered that once in a while.

I do not want to fight Thargoids exclusively either—I am actually a bounty-hunter, at first applying what I know from flying a Mamba to make something which can help in a AX Conflict zone, and now applying what I learned from that to collect Research samples instead.

More to the point, I think that very much highlights Recovery systems and their lack of significance. If moving evacuees and supplies back to a Recovery system also reinforced it against future attacks, perhaps translating to some amount of future war progress being completed automatically, the retaking of Control systems would then give you no shortage of options!

On the combat side, we would still have to inspire port-only defenders to venture out into Control systems before reducing the Invasions, but definitely nudging Frontier to raise the importance of Recovery systems would be a great start there and presumably great for PDES.

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

For the moment at least (see below!), clearly Commanders running evacuations form a important part of that. It very much strengthens my support for allowing some Alerts to finish, especially those with an easily-evacuated starport close to arrival.

If it really comes down to that then people can keep fighting in invasion systems that have already finished until the end of the week even though that contributes nothing to the war. I'm pretty sure the CZs stay up until the tick unless something changed recently. Haven't checked stuff lately but there might be the Witch Head invasion that's still going on that doesn't use the maelstrom/war system that might provide permanent invasions.

Otherwise causing a full invasion drought for a while might be a good thing if it exposes flaws in the war system that FDev should change - if even starting to push back the goids (let alone winning) means griefing people out of content then that's a bit bad.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Haven't checked stuff lately but there might be the Witch Head invasion that's still going on that doesn't use the maelstrom/war system that might provide permanent invasions.

Very good point; the Galaxy map shows attacked, damaged and abandoned ports there. As a question for anyone who might know, do we know whether those have quantified progress in the absence of using the war system?

Those definitely are worth keeping in mind, though I would want to give that as a well-informed suggestion regarding whether defending them has any effect, whatever the case may be (yes, no, unknown).

 

[Kayvan]

I would be interested to hear from those defending Invasions, whether one enjoys a good battle enough that it would be nice to allow some each cycle, or whether it would be as well to eradicate them!

Good point. My first reaction was "If you manage to extinguish all alerts, go right ahead", but in the current war mode that would remove a lot of players from the fight. AX CZs are fun, after all!
So maybe it would be wisest to allow maybe 8 Alerts or so to "slip through" to Invasion state, so we have enough space to pew-pew. This should free up resources for those dealing with Alerts, which could be directed at reconquering Control systems. After all, there are over a thousand of them! If from now on we denied the Thargoids any territorial gains and started retaking systems at a rate of 10 per week, we'd be busy for the next two years, IF the current rate of involvement can be maintained, which is doubtful.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Otherwise causing a full invasion drought for a while might be a good thing if it exposes flaws in the war system that FDev should change - if even starting to push back the goids (let alone winning) means griefing people out of content then that's a bit bad.

I think the problem is that both sides are now in a position where they're stronger defensively - we can shut down Alerts in large numbers (especially now they can't place anywhere near as many) so it's hard for them to add extra territory (and certainly hard for them to add it anywhere useful) ... but equally, because they prioritise taking close territory first, a lot of the systems we'd really want them to lose are within the 20 LY line and incredibly tough to shift, and even 40 Alerts/week is enough to keep us busy and make it hard to retake controls on a net basis.

A shift to something where the difficulty order was Alert > Invasion > Control would make both sides stronger on the attack, which would make things a bit more dynamic.
(And I thought their old Alert budgeting was more interesting, too: they could either a hit a small number of inhabited or a large number of uninhabited, which made up for the difficulty of uninhabited being lower)

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Victories in Jaoi, Sukurbago and Vukurbeh! Please note that the completion of the Invasion at Khwal will leave no others which will continue next cycle, and we have only eleven populated Alerts remaining to become new Invasions. There is time aplenty to finish a couple more of those Alerts, but if I may suggest, it should be no more than that!

With utmost thanks to those stopping so many, the same summoning and harvesting methods can and should be used to stop unpopulated Alerts rather than to prevent all Invasions. The Conflict Zones in the inward-facing Control systems are also very much more convenient for harvesting than having to summon a target!

Targets at 17:30 10th April 3309:
Khwal Invasion 72% — Cocijo 22 Ly, 4 ports, 89 Ls outpost attack
HIP 26926 Invasion 62% — Taranis 28 Ly, 0 ports, 1128 Ls starport damage
Wolf 121 Alert 38% — Leigong 29 Ly, 1708 Ls starport, 1666 Ls planet
Bi Dhorora Alert 28% — Hadad 18 Ly, 2734 Ls outpost, 1857 Ls planet

Clean-up:
Arietis Sector EW-N b6-1 Control 98% — Leigong 26 Ly, empty
SPOCS 280 Control 88% — Oya 27 Ly, empty
Hyades Sector EG-N b7-5 Alert 80% — Taranis 29 Ly, empty
Col 285 Sector WC-C b13-2 Control 70% — Thor 35 Ly, empty
Pegasi Sector QE-N a8-5 Control 48% — Raijin 23 Ly, empty
Arietis Sector EW-N b6-2 Control 24% — Leigong 28 Ly, empty