Just a question, this is the first time I play on impossible mode so it could be that setting. But I find capturing or bombarding systems to be, well, impossible at this setting!

I attack a system with 2 orbitals with 6 veteran Heavy Cruiser II's and I lose 2 of them in the process!!! How the heck is that possible! 3 Battle Cruisers should do the trick without losing anything! Does someone has any advise regarding this since there are also systems with 12 orbitals. I don't even dare to guess what I need to bring those down!

I doubt this will work in 'speed mode', but this is how my strategy usually works. Playing Romulans on even hard causes me to lose about 1 starship per orbital. (but only me, other races can do this without losing anything at all ). Even Battlecruiser II's aren't immune. So.....

1. I achieve strategic space superiority early in the conflict, using a mix of 'blitzkrieg' and hit-and-run tactics. If I can catch and destroy their main fleet, so much the better, but the AI usually cheats, sees through the cloak in impossible situations, and escapes. Then I unleash wolf packs of destroyers and battlecruisers to destroy installations, raid, catch smaller fleets, and cause general havoc. I usually have total space superiority after about 20 turns, 50-100 if everyone tries to gang up on me.

2. I stake out production systems and ship routes to prevent the (idiot) AI from ever rebuilding. The game's pretty much over by now, but I haven't taken any major systems.....yet..... for the reason of the prohibitive losses on my battlefleet. Seriously, I've played "hard" games as Romulans and my ONLY losses were to orbitals

3. I create large fleets of standard cruisers, about two per orbital in the target system. I've found that with Romulans, at least, the strike cruisers are pretty much useless, and will surely die, while battlecruisers are too expensive to lose over mere conquest. Anyway, those medium cruisers will also likely die, but they get the job done. Once the orbitals are gone, take the system.

This takes a long, LONG time, but you are rarely in any danger of losing after step 2 unless the Borg send 50 or so cubes!

Another (much faster and even safer) route is to wait for the tech level to max out. Warbird II's can take the pounding of orbitals and then some. An equal number will take 'em out with no losses at all, at least on hard.

In your case, I'd try either using cannon fodder poh-dunk ships or lots of battleships. The Klingons have even thinner skins than the Romulans, so that might be your problem. If an orbital gets shots off before being destroyed, some ship important to you will probably die. Check to see if the Attack Cruiser II can take it, then just wait around for them and take the systems that way, with no losses!

So I'd recommend seperating your fleets into 'Combat' fleets and 'Invasion' fleets. The Combat fleets carry your best and most experienced ships, the Invasion fleets contain cannon fodder to kill of orbitals. You'll need to constantly replenish the latter, but it should work in the long run.

My theory is that Fed and Cardassian ships after cruiser II's are pretty sturdy and can take the pounding most orbitals can dish out. The Ferengi are just a mess of AI cheating and programming errors, so discount them! The Roms and Klingons, though, have pretty weak hulls, and only the very best ships (Warbird II hit points or better) can survive an orbital past 'Hard' difficulty level.

Try Attack Cruisers on a small, weak system, even AC II's, if you can spare them for the test. If they all survive with acceptable damage (i.e. still there), you're ready to start pillaging. If not, though, cannon fodder cruisers may be your only option!

I tried with one Attack Cruiser I vs one orbital. It didn't destroy the orbital and was reduced to about 20% of his hit points! :S

But your story is strange, though. On Hard I never use any ships in orbital bombardment. Even with the Romulans, my formula of: cruisers needed = number of orbitals + 1 works wonders. Even with Cruiser I's.

Realy strange. I posted some thing about ground combat as well, but the thread was hijacked within 5 posts (matress..... )
But anyway, the problem with that is that I tried to attack a system with NO orbitals using more than double the ammount of needed troops and I LOST! I just hope that BotF II gets a bit more clear on this. I think ground combat should not have a random factor or whatever. You should need to have a certain ammount of troops and than succeed no matter what. It should be known to all parties up front.

In my Klingon game I took a damn 50 turns to subjugate the Talarians simply because I failed THREE times in a row. Talk about a war, huh

Now what about the challange? Anyone played "his" speed-game???

Hey, it was just a weekend one - the one before was our 'big' family holiday.

My dad doesn't get any more time off until Christmas now, so we had to go! (As if we needed an excuse)

We are in agreement then, if you can go, then go!

Hey, welcome to the site, Mentat. I noticed the thread you created about the Civ3 mod. It looks promising. I've got Civ 2 and 3 myself, but i've never downloaded any mods for them. I just used the editor that came with Civ 3 to make my own changes.

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Centurion, surely you understand patience? Watching...waiting...biding our time, is that not the way of the sons of Romulus?

There is only one way around the enevitable crashes, and that is saving regularly. And I have to admit, my 3,496 turn game did take about 6 months to play...