Easier Nuking

[cha0slord12]

I've been playing DEFCON for about a month now, and I've found an ingenious plan for nuking cities guarded by silos quicker.
When you're about to nuke, launch 4 or 5 fighters over the target area, assuming it's just one silo, it will be too busy trying to shoot down your fighters to worry about your nuke, however this may not always work as the guy you're nuking sees it, he can swap the autotarget system of the silo to the nuke, and your fighters can't do anything about the silo.
HOWEVER, Silos rip apart nukes, so launch 3 or 4, it may be a waste, but if one gets through, you can see about 5-20 million dying, depending on what city, whether it's a small one, or a capital.
Thank you

[ynbniar]

I've been playing DEFCON for about a month now, and I've found an ingenious plan for nuking cities guarded by silos quicker.
When you're about to nuke, launch 4 or 5 fighters over the target area, assuming it's just one silo, it will be too busy trying to shoot down your fighters to worry about your nuke, however this may not always work as the guy you're nuking sees it, he can swap the autotarget system of the silo to the nuke, and your fighters can't do anything about the silo.
HOWEVER, Silos rip apart nukes, so launch 3 or 4, it may be a waste, but if one gets through, you can see about 5-20 million dying, depending on what city, whether it's a small one, or a capital.
Thank you

I think you'll find as you play a bit more that this isn't much of a strategy at all.

First, I wouldn't expect your fighters to get anywhere near most major cities*, plus, and I might be wrong, silos automatically target nukes anyway...your fighters will be ignored as the nukes come in.

If you check out some of the threads in the Debreifing Room section you'll see some quite advanced silo arrangements.

*EDIT
This depnds on who you are playing...some players do not defend their cities.

[NeoThermic]

silos automatically target nukes anyway...your fighters will be ignored as the nukes come in.

Correct. Silos target in order of threat:

Nuke
Bomber
Fighter

If one above it in the list appears in their kill zone, it'll actively engage the greater threat until it is gone, and then resume with the next one, etc.

NeoThermic

[reaps]

the only time a fighter would give a nuke any advantage is if the defending silo just fired at the fighter as the nuke came into range giving the nuke a small amount of time before its engaged, even then its not much of an advantage if any at all.

Now on the other hand, with correct timing and a good deal of micromanangement, nukes can give bombers an advantage. Ive had it happen (by accident) in a game when silo nukes were heading to europe and getting shot at, whilst carrier bombers were flying over the EU to hit Russia. The nukes were getting shot out of the sky at an impressive rate so i micro'd the bombers to launch when they were close to a silo or city. The pre-occupied silos didnt shoot the bombers (but a few were lost to fighters) and when the bombers launched there missiles they were so close to target that the silos didnt have time to switch and engage before the missile hit.

the only time i use fighters to aid a strike is if my airbase bombers are going to be flying over my carriers to there target, ill launch a wave of fighters to merge with the bombers then micro them to engage enemy fighters, or if needs be ships.

[Trident]

I had the same idea and realization it didn't work within about 15mins of playing my first game. useless.

*EDIT
This depnds on who you are playing...some players do not defend their cities.

I had my ass handed to me by Feud, when he used that very strategy.

[Ace Rimmer]

Pretty much everyone has had it handed to them by Feud.

[Trident]

ah, then i wont feel so bad.

... ill launch a wave of fighters to merge with the bombers then micro them to engage enemy fighters, or if needs be ships.

are fighters really effective against ships?

[Feud]

I had the same idea and realization it didn't work within about 15mins of playing my first game. useless.

*EDIT
This depnds on who you are playing...some players do not defend their cities.

I had my buttocks handed to me twice by Feud, when he used that very strategy.

Fixed.

Pretty much everyone has had it handed to them by Feud.

I aim to please!

[Trident]

I

I had my buttocks handed to me twice by Feud, when he used that very strategy.

you did but you only used that strategy once. Well have 2 play again i mostly endup playing with (yawn) noobs, sorta flatlines my learning curve.
I didn't know i couldn't use that word sorry i've been watching alot of the AVGN lately. funny shi....ah..stuff

[Feud]

I

I had my buttocks handed to me twice by Feud, when he used that very strategy.

you did but you only used that strategy once. Well have 2 play again i mostly endup playing with (yawn) noobs, sorta flatlines my learning curve.
I didn't know i couldn't use that word sorry i've been watching alot of the AVGN lately. funny shi....ah..stuff

Good point, I forgot about that detail.

Also, it's not that you can't use that word, but that I won't. So, since it is a word that I will not use, I don't think that I can hand it to someone.

[bonedaddy]

I'm telling my best tactics here (I call it the atomic rain), so listen up:

We can learn something from it. Silos target nukes first, then bombers, then fighters.

So why don't we bring all our bombers airborne (I mean ALL of them!), launch some silos (let's say 3, if you feel safe then go for a full launch!) and aim for the back Country. If our bombers are coming from the east, then place ibcm missiles in the west. They are only for distracting air defenses. Bring bombers in atomic launch mode (in our case, aim for the west, as these target's will stay long enough out of range) an let them fly by in a line north or south (if you nuke targets under airplanes, they will be destroyed, so you should side-nuke). Make sure to guard them from fighters by escorting them with your own. Spread your bombers all over the country and make short distance attacks (they are already in launch mode, just change the target). Make sure to launch their bombs before they get destroyed! Destroy some silos from short range!

Try it, it's massive! Try to get half of them home. If you did your job, then your opponent will be pretty much f*ed up!

And make sure to fly waiting circles in order to concentrate your bombers. (That's the moment my opponents start nagging "speed, please" *g*)

[caranthir.pkk]

ah, then i wont feel so bad.

... ill launch a wave of fighters to merge with the bombers then micro them to engage enemy fighters, or if needs be ships.

are fighters really effective against ships?

Take 12 carriers, set to fighters, launch fighters on top of enemy navy = death of enemy navy.
Small groups of fighters are ineffective, but if you swarm your enemy, especially carriers are very vulnerable. I wouldnt try to pull this on a dozen battleships, but if you only got a few of them mixed in with carriers you can incinerate em. The great thing about the fighter wave is that you can reload your carriers quickly from airfields in your territory, effectively avoiding any losses since airfields regenerate fighters.

Fighters are maybe the most underestimated weapons system in Defcon, just takes a lot of practice.

car

[shinygerbil]

ah, then i wont feel so bad.

... ill launch a wave of fighters to merge with the bombers then micro them to engage enemy fighters, or if needs be ships.

are fighters really effective against ships?

Take 12 carriers, set to fighters, launch fighters on top of enemy navy = death of enemy navy.
Small groups of fighters are ineffective, but if you swarm your enemy, especially carriers are very vulnerable. I wouldnt try to pull this on a dozen battleships, but if you only got a few of them mixed in with carriers you can incinerate em. The great thing about the fighter wave is that you can reload your carriers quickly from airfields in your territory, effectively avoiding any losses since airfields regenerate fighters.

Fighters are maybe the most underestimated weapons system in Defcon, just takes a lot of practice.

car

Where have you been?! Get yourself into the tourney, quick!!

[reaps]

Fighters arent the most effective at taking out ships, thats why i said if needs be.
Having the fighters merge, then overtake the bombers means that enemy fighters can be engaged, and the forward fighters give me a heads-up on fleets. I will allways retask a few bombers to naval engagement to properly deal with enemy ships after my fighters have engaged them, but if i did that without fighter escort my first wave of bombers would be crippled by naval units and my opponent would probably launch fighters that would piss all over the rest of the wave.

If i get desperate in a naval engagement or realise the enemy fleet outmatches mine i will swarm my fighters over the enemy because whilst they are active they have a chance of killing the enemy ships, and then when they are eventually shot down or crashed theres a chance they will take something much more valuble to my enemy with them.


to me my fighters are primarily a scout unit, then an anti-bomber/bomber escort unit and finally they are a 'scraping the bottom of the barrel' attack unit.