Maximize Silo AA Ability

[Ace Rimmer]

Okay, look at this pic:



What is shows is what I consider a disadvantage of the Feud Silo Setup and something that a lot of players miss. That is, just like bombers, silos can shoot at object well outside their own radar. Not many people (could just be observer bias ) take this into consideration when placing units. Instead, they either place RADAR too far away from silos and end up going blind later and/or put one in the middle of a setup and end up becoming nearsighted. I.e., with only that single RADAR providing visibility for a whole group of silos who now are reduced to near half their AA range.

What I like to do is create a "bubble" of coverage around my silos. If airbases are close by providing immediate protection from incoming bombers, it becomes harder than normal to kill RADAR, yes even if it's outside that ring of nuke launchers. I.e., fill that red line with radar coverage but don't worry too much about extending radar beyond that ring as it becomes useless anyway, at least in the context of AA fire.

This is especially helpful in 1v1 where your neighbors ICBMs must travel over your silos first. Take it for what you will.

Edit: Changed to a much better pic.

[hi there (name sux)]

Yes I noticed this. This is most useful in 1 v 1. When I use the Feud silos I will still put the radar in the middle, because even with just that it's hard to kill. I'll also spare some to put on the outside for extra radar.

I don't see many good players make this mistake really. A mistake I see more often is when they put airbases behind the silos. In my opinion, they should be placed in the front. When I say the front I mean facing the enemy.

Radars near your silos in 6 player isn't important. You should use them for scouting. Radars near your silos in 1 v 1 however is very important.

[Ace Rimmer]

Yes I noticed this. This is most useful in 1 v 1. When I use the Feud silos I will still put the radar in the middle, because I'm just stubborn and can get 700+ points anyway. I'll also spare some to put on the outside for extra radar.

I don't see many good players make this mistake really. A mistake I see more often is when they put airbases behind the silos. In my opinion, they should be placed in the front. When I say the front I mean facing the enemy.

Radars near your silos in 6 player isn't important, unless it's Diplomacy. You should use them for scouting. Radars near your silos in 1 v 1 however are very important.

Fix'd

[MikeTheWookiee]

A quick one not worth its own thread - redundancy.

For when the radars do get destroyed, the more overlap you have in key areas the better.
OK, initially you think you want the most coverage, so you spread them out, but then the most important one gets destroyed and the entire defensive system is worthless.

Not only does Ace's scheme maximise silo ranges, but it also gives excellent resilience to losing a dish or two.

[Feud]

The solution is easy, don't put your radar next to your silos. But the silo setup isn't perfect, so problems like this do arise if one isn't careful.

[creator]

This is the most effeective defensive tactic i know. It effectively doubles your range.

[Feud]

I just realized I misunderstood the Op, oops!

[Tucsoncoyote]

I had a thought that crossed my mind, Ace, and in fact I was thinking, Why not set up the radars so that they border the inner ring, by doing that, wouldn't it increase Radar range by say about 20-50% of what it is now?

I mean think about it, If you create a Bubble of protection using the Airbases to protect Silos and you put the Radar at the edge of the Bubble wouldn't your radar be increased further and thus you can defend earlier?

Tucsoncoyote--

[bert_the_turtle]

The farther out the radars are, the more likely they are spotted by the enemy, and the easier they are to destroy, and adding even more radar range does not help too much: it only benefits the closest silo, and in a massive assault, the nukes that really receive fire won't be the ones at the edge of the radar range anyway.

That said, let me pull a "Pater" and claim that I've been putting radars around my silo formation long (*) before this topic was brought up here and I consider it a trivial and obvious thing to do.

Footnote (*): about a week

[creator]

oh and think about where the enemy nukes are likely to come from and make sure you have radars on that side of your silos. Also remeber your ships (especially carriers) can be used as radar for thsi purpose. (And fighters but i would only do this if you are certain you have alot and are not expectinga bomber rush)

[Hyperion]

While i also try to maximize my silo combat range...something else you should be considering is the downfall direction of enemy nukes...generally from your opponents silos (setting your silos up to defensively counter your opponents silo attack).

The point being that if nukes are raining down directly into your silos line of fire a higher percentage of that AA fire makes contact and you avoid the the circling AA fire trailing nukes.

[Cooper42]

I usually keep 1/2 radars close by my silos, towards the expected incoming direction.

But, in 6 player games (where silos are usually going to be launched asap, and are not expected to survive), and to a lesser extent 1v1, there are larger benifits to be had by 'sacrificing' a few radars to detect (and intercept) incoming bomber waves, naval fleets and people who leave their subs on active mode...

The outer radars may be lost pretty quickly, but it might just be what foils the first bomber wave, crippling your enemies further chances.

Also, if the nukes are all coming from one direction only, and the arcs are very similar, a wave of (empty) bombers or well-placed fighters is often enough to keep incoming nukes in radar right at the extent of silo range.