Post Best Defense Systems/"Kill Boxes" Here!

[sparda666]

Here is something Ive been trying on my current build.



the wall at the bottom hides the turrets until raiders get close and when they are in range, the colonists can pop out from behind the doors and start shooting.

They get cover by peeking out of the doorway and I think they get a bonus for being in darkness while enemies are in the light. The butcher tables prevent enemies from storming in.
This has worked somewhat decently. colonists can duck back inside the doors to avoid explosive shells from centipedes, and beds are right there for people who need treatment.

[keylocke]

here's my current colony.

1) i call this the "forked tongue" defense : the top is the main entrance leading to the turret kill box. the bottom entrance leads to my "open area" facilities. the clear path in the middle is part of the trap to lure the enemies to rush in. this path also allows my troops to enter/exit the base faster. while the sandbagged "sheltered" twists near the entrance prevents enemies from using the walls as cover.

2) i usually close this 2nd entrance during raids. but on peace time, this basically allows me to have easy access to my "open area" facilities, while forcing any raiders to still pass through the killbox to reach the main base which holds my "essential" facilities. it also has it's own "sheltered" twists and a series of turret-explosion killbox (good against squirrel apocalypse, which gives my troops enough time to reach the main killbox)

3) these are my backup farms and flower patches strategically placed to give morale boost for every passersby.

4) this is my "open area" facilities which includes solar panels, trade beacons, mortars, and my spaceship. the trade beacons are placed near the entrance so it acts as raider bait, so there's a chance that they leave rather than causing further damage or casualties. also, mortar overkill. even a single troop can cycle between mortars.

5) i placed the prison area here as my final buffer against attacks so i can use my prisoners as "meat shields". it's also a good gathering place for people to chat up and boost morale.

6) dining and kitchen area. i placed it near the prison and med bay for faster feeding.

7) med bay for healing injuries

8 ) "recycling" area : for stone/metal production and cremation

misc :

* i surrounded my base with stone floors to prevent fires from spreading.
* i use double walls in my primary steam generator to prevent accidental ceiling collapse under siege.
* i use each bedroom to hold batteries

[SubZeroBricks]

@keylocke

I like your base a lot and good explaination (y)

[keylocke]

@ SubZeroBricks

thnx thnx. 

i modified the base recently and changed the doors/walls arrangement of the mortar area to make it easier for troopers to cycle between different mortars.

also, i forgot to note, that i keep my turrets turned off to conserve energy and only turn it on before the attackers reach the main killbox. which allows the batteries to soak up to full which lets me use all of my turrets in short bursts before battery depletion.

and another note i forgot : there are pathways in front of the turrets in the killbox for colonists. i basically place them in front of the turrets as "meat-shields with miniguns". it's also a good pathway for quick rescues of incapacitated troops.

also, the "essential" interior part of the base starts from the prisoner area down to the main generator. these are the first things i build, followed by the main killbox. the rest are just "expansions"

i should also add a room to store a pile of disconnected "backup" batteries (disconnect after full).
for emergencies..

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further improvement notes :

* i'm planning to change the wall composition of the main killbox in my next colony. since the conduits i used to power the turrets are too vulnerable to siege attacks. so the killbox walls will become a metal wall / stone wall hybrid rather than pure stone. i'm gonna do the same thing with the walls leading to the turrets near the secondary entrance.

* i'm also thinking of removing the turrets in the side nearest the entrance. (they barely get much use anyways)

* also, i would probably make the trading area and solar panel area larger next time. in case i don't get lucky with two steam geysers, and for larger trading capacity.

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edit :

* oh yea, the research table used to be within the med bay. but i relocated it after i finished all useful research (asides from ship tech). i rebuilt it in the new location, when i was finally ready to start ship tech research.

* also, i use mortar barrages against scythers as well (asides from siege raiders). i just send a troop to hit the "hornet's nest" and then run away allowing the mortars to damage and eventually aggro the scythers causing them to charge towards my killbox.

[SubZeroBricks]

@ SubZeroBricks

thnx thnx. 

* i'm planning to change the wall composition of the main killbox in my next colony. since the conduits i used to power the turrets are too vulnerable to siege attacks. so the killbox walls will become a metal wall / stone wall hybrid rather than pure stone. i'm gonna do the same thing with the walls leading to the turrets near the secondary entrance.

* also, i would probably make the trading area and solar panel area larger next time. in case i don't get lucky with two steam geysers, and for larger trading capacity.

Well first your welcome.

If you create a two layers of stone wall that sandwich one metal wall the turrets still are powered as the range is about 3 on wire, I think.

My most recent colony's map had no steam geysers I made an external power solar farm. (shot below)



note 1 at the top left of the module there is a lead going through a mountain to batteries cells and the main base.

note 2 I had about 2 arrays of these by the time i was bored with the colony at year 3

[Funkmachine7]

I'm working on a castle, the idea it should remove any cover of the attackers.
It need's some mortars and the inside filling in.

[Raufgar]

I'm working on a castle, the idea it should remove any cover of the attackers.
It need's some mortars and the inside filling in.

Nice castle, do keep in mind that drop pods and ship parts can get behind your defenses and drop right in your courtyard. Would suggest planning for a few turrets pointing inside and defensive positions setup in your courtyard on top of everything else.

[Funkmachine7]

For some reason raiders always seem to drop on to my trade beacons.

I'm working on filling up the inside with rooms.

[Raufgar]

Just keep in mind that mortars punch through thin roofs. Since you are using the shield mod, get some CRAMs up for mortar deflection. Also, Jaxxa's shields currently wink out when you are not viewing them, and they need to be recharged after each loading of a save game, so if possible don't save when someone is shelling your colony.

[Funkmachine7]

Thanks of the tips.

I'm hopeing that with two walls, i can avoid having the base blown open too badly.
The inner wall probably need more defences, im thinking of thickening the inside of the outer wall and placeing a few sniper turrets in the middle of the inner walk way, probably with doors as well to slow down any attackers that get inside.
At the worst the door ways will be stronger than wires and make the power grid stronger.

[RemingtonRyder]

Explosive mortars will very rarely punch holes in stone wall, and incendiary mortars simply cause fires, which are fairly easy to take care of.  If you have about three explosive mortars to fire back with, the seigers are going to have a bad time.

I like using metal for an inner wall, because when it is destroyed you can recycle the slag back into metal.

[RemingtonRyder]

Here's my lastest idea:



So as you can see, I've got turrets in the killbox, but on the other side and in the bottleneck before the killbox, I've got embrasures, and there are stone walls behind those embrasures to hide behind.

The reason for this is that well, standing next to the embrasures to lean out and shoot is all very well, but the attackers can use it against you by attacking from a certain direction, or so it seems.  By shooting from behind the stone walls and through the embrasure, it seems to negate that trick.

[Adamiks]

This is one of my best defense systems. I think you guys know how this work ^^
I also have 4 beacons in the center so i can sell things very easy.

Mods that i used for create it:
Defend That Colony!
The Inspection - Floor Spikes
More Vanilla Turrets
Glitter Tech (only canister turret)
Miscellaneous (only automatic turret base and MAI android)

[baekdal]

Here is my latest defense system... and it's practically invulnerable.



The way it works is that colonists can repair objects at an angle, so by creating a room with diagonal walls like this, you can lock in your colonist during an attack, and whenever a wall or a turret gets hit, they will rush over and repair it. Of course, it helps that every wall and every turret is made from plasteel

But you can basically sustain any attack indefinitely, and since the outer door is locked, your colonist can keep doing whatever they want to, even during an attack (although, I usually have 4-5 people exclusively on repair duty during attacks).

As for power? Well... you do need a lot of it for this many turrets. But, as you probably know, setting up a wind farm outside is completely safe. It's never attacked, even when my wind farm is in the middle of the map out in the open.

High-res here: http://imgur.com/a/jU3Cm

[code99xx]

One thing i dont understand about some of the defense ideas posted here.

There are several defenses that make it very hard to get in the base but how about get out of it?

What i mean is, I've seen long hallways/corridors filled with either chunks or sandbags to slow down the attackers and maybe even dark so they go nuts or something. But how do your colonists get out of the base?
Unless you are self sufficient inside your base (doubtful you can achieve that without mods) you need to go out to hunt, farm, mine and so on.

Having alternative entries/exits doesnt work because sometimes the enemies just ignore your main fortified entry and go for the other one.

And, what about sieges? How do you deal with them?