I'm wondering what everyone's preferred strategies are for fighting off enemies without funneling them all into a turret killbox. My go-to strategy has always been a series of walls like this, where '[]' is a wall and '=' a sandbag:
==[][]==[][]==[][]==
I would set those little two-tile repetitions all around my base, with turrets at either end. It works reasonably well, but not exceptionally so, and it's a strategy that I haven't changed up since... the pre-alpha, I guess.
So, what works best, in your opinion?
Death
Best defense? A killbox - its not like they aren't realistic. Choke points are a major part of combat RL and IG.
I enjoy flanking my enemies as they try to break down my front door. I have a few double doors set up on the sides/back of my base to prevent pathing for raiders there :) Just walk out the back door, swing around the corner and open fire on the group :D
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Standard corner defense in my colonies, allows for cover for my own guys without providing the enemy cover when I have to fall back to the next one.
I'll probably switch to killboxes next time I play with lots of mods; embrasures and better turrets make it too good not too, even with the threat of sappers.
I like to flank, similar to CB Elite, but I do use a form of killbox for it (so it's a guaranteed flank by knowing where the raiders will go).
I like to set up a covered V formation entrance (it's kind of a V - the point is a vague point to not give wall cover). At the point of the V, in the dark, is a small series of turrets, usually two or three with a wall between each to prevent chain turret explosions, but not a huge box of turrets. I then place sandbags about halfway the range of turrets down the entrance to these turrets with a ceiling light off to one side. This causes raiders to advance through turret fire in the open to take the nice cover behind the sandbags, well illuminated to increase their chance of being hit, and usually netting the turrets a couple of kills or at least softening up targets so their aim is hopefully lowered. Once the raiders are in the sandbag "cover" and the meleers are running up on the turrets, my colonists come out of doors off to the side behind the sandbags and hit the now-exposed raiders from the sides and behind while staying in the darkened alcoves where they are hard to hit due to wall cover and darkness bonuses. Works pretty well and you don't have to deal with the meleers who can just lop off a random limb since they rushed to the turrets, and the whole assault is fleeing before they can get back to the colonists after the turrets go down.
Over 20 or 30 raiders and non killbox designs fall apart unless you somehow have equal or better firepower than your enemy.
This is basically impossible in Vanilla.
Quote from: Mrshilka on September 16, 2015, 10:35:54 AM
Over 20 or 30 raiders and non killbox designs fall apart unless you somehow have equal or better firepower than your enemy.
This is basically impossible in Vanilla.
I do it all the time in vanilla. All about exploiting the gaping holes in the AI, leading the raiders to where YOU want to engage them. Every base has a kill zone, even those without turret filled killboxes.
Ever here of the tactic of divide and conquer?
It's very micro-managey but doors work extremely well and give better cover to a colonist. Blitzkriegsler does a good job showcasing this in some of his RimWorld LPs on the ol' YouTube.
Engaging the raiders before they reach your defenses (preferably with a sniper, survival rifle works for smaller groups) can often soften them up enough for you to drive them off without too much trouble. If you place little huts around the map for your pawns to hide in, you can often split up groups and cause raiders to bounce between a pawn poking its head outside a door and shooting and their initial target.
Still, even if you insist on not using a killbox design, you are going to have to engange the enemies on some sort of favorable terms, or you will lose eventually. Some kind of ambush area where you hold the advantage is the only real choice you have when facing overwhelming odds. I like to make the first 2 raids or so more skirmishey because the number of raiders more or less match your colonists. But after that, you have to start considering how you want future fights to progress and how to gain an advantage, and that usually involves using the terrain or tricking/distracting the AI somehow.
i do so extensively killbox, however i wanted to mention how i use turrets in what i imagine is a peculiar manner.
i'll observe where raids originate from and their typical path through my chokepoint towards the colony and eventually using what was observed it gets to a point where raiders never go anywhere i don't want them to, it might be a little wasteful on conduits, but sometimes running a long wire out to a single lone turret is very tactically useful for raider control and herding.
alliances with other factions.
I use the "more factions" and "hospitality" mods, so I try to make as many friends with the (realistically numerous) tribes. This way, when other factions come a-knockin', they get a one-two punch of my guys + 1, 2 or even three tribal war parties.
Quote from: TLHeart on September 16, 2015, 11:57:18 AM
Quote from: Mrshilka on September 16, 2015, 10:35:54 AM
Over 20 or 30 raiders and non killbox designs fall apart unless you somehow have equal or better firepower than your enemy.
This is basically impossible in Vanilla.
I do it all the time in vanilla. All about exploiting the gaping holes in the AI, leading the raiders to where YOU want to engage them. Every base has a kill zone, even those without turret filled killboxes.
Ever here of the tactic of divide and conquer?
Yes divide and conquer when you have 30 raider, but whats about 50? 100? how about 1200? I mean thats only 600 in 2 groups! so easy
Yes divide and conquer even with 1200 raiders coming in. Never engage the enemy on their terms....
And a 1200 raid in vanilla, without the wealth and colonist to easily overcome it just does not happen.
exactly because a raid of 50 or so killed you much earlier
I Havent used killboxes since alpha 1-3, they made the game so boring for me didn't want to play it anymore.
I like to make a realistic scenario, such as, a standard building in the middle of a field so it can be attack 360 degrees, and I like to use sandbags with a few turrets scattered around pretty simple defense really, like I said adds a nice feel of realism to the defense, combat, and injuries of course, have to get gory to get the stories.
When melee got added to the game this released a whole new fun method of ambushing raiders, I like to get 4+ Brawlers behind a fragile wall, then I have 1 deconstruct It, and all my brawlers just flank the enemy taking out all the snipers and such, makes raids much more possible on extreme difficulty with no killboxes
HOWEVER this game is super alpha still, and mechanoids are completely op and make no sense, there is almost no method other than luck to be able to take them out with GUNS (Im talking about when they assault your colony, not standing around a ship wanking) on extreme difficulty , maybe challenge too, So killboxes are pretty much needed to take them out, but I have done it before so I like I said luck can sometimes help you with a mech raid
Rimworld is basically created for killboxes only. That you don't put walls around your turrets doesn't mean this isn't killbox.
In general - there is no figthing in the open in Rimworld. Only ambushes and killboxes/killzones.
This is why Rimworld is so boring after like 10 games - everything is that same. No challenge at all. Well... You can create challenge by not building turrets or something but this isn't the point of challenging game - i can make every game challenging without saving game etc.
Quote from: Adamiks on September 17, 2015, 02:08:42 PM
In general - there is no figthing in the open in Rimworld.
But that's just not true, YOU may not fight in the open, but I always have sniper teams using the worlds terrain to get shots off at raiders, not to mention I like to take the fight to the ships personally, yes I could blow them up or mortar them but hey you could just box urself into a mountain with no door to the outside if you wanted (Although the sapper raid now in game would be your only threat)
"You can create challenge by not building turrets or something but this isn't the point of challenging game"
You can play without buildings, steel, guns, turrets etc. but after all killbox strategy is the best one. Sure, you can figth in the open but you must be a pro or you'll die soon when something will fuck up. Also, it's about what i was saying - it's making a game more challenging by yourself, you don't need to figth in the open to survive, you want to do it.
Quote from: userfredle on September 17, 2015, 01:44:22 PM
I Havent used killboxes since alpha 1-3, they made the game so boring for me didn't want to play it anymore.
I like to make a realistic scenario, such as, a standard building in the middle of a field so it can be attack 360 degrees, and I like to use sandbags with a few turrets scattered around pretty simple defense really, like I said adds a nice feel of realism to the defense, combat, and injuries of course, have to get gory to get the stories.
When melee got added to the game this released a whole new fun method of ambushing raiders, I like to get 4+ Brawlers behind a fragile wall, then I have 1 deconstruct It, and all my brawlers just flank the enemy taking out all the snipers and such, makes raids much more possible on extreme difficulty with no killboxes
HOWEVER this game is super alpha still, and mechanoids are completely op and make no sense, there is almost no method other than luck to be able to take them out with GUNS (Im talking about when they assault your colony, not standing around a ship wanking) on extreme difficulty , maybe challenge too, So killboxes are pretty much needed to take them out, but I have done it before so I like I said luck can sometimes help you with a mech raid
Actually, mechanoids are not difficult to beat if you take their vulnerabilities into account. The trick is to never, ever, engage the in 1 on 1 scenarios. Unlike raiders, they will almost always win going head-to-head due to their invulnerability to pain.
EMP grenades wreak all types of mechanoids, even with adaption mechanics. One or two EMP Grenadiers can keep mechanoids stunned for most of a day easily.
Scythers are vulnerable to snipers and high-quality gladii(the latter are DANGEROUS to use). They can lose limbs, and the loss of a leg or arm is utterly crippling to them. (The latter lets you recover their claws for a good buck too!)
Centipedes are vulnerable to explosives of all stripes, as explosions damage multiple components and are more likely to shatter/destroy the first three ones (which are the "vital" parts of the centipede, along with it's processor). In addition, explosions can destroy equipped weapons, many of which are non-salvageable from mechanoids anyway. Their weapons also cannot penetrate personal shields, as shields recharge faster than a minigun, charge blaster or inferno cannon can damage it. Meaning a single melee guy can distract a number of centipedes at once by simply running around behind them, while his buddies work on blowing them up. And don't get me started on rocket launchers. Some people who have made it into very late game have tested the effectiveness of launchers against all types of mechanoids to great effect.
Finally, centipedes are far slower than scythers. This allows the player to pick off he speedy, agressive scythers before dealing with the slower, much sturdier, centipedes.
I normally build my colony structures close to one another so it is easier for my defenders to get to a different defensible position. I also set aside my "Rangers" as my main fighting force, they take the fight to the fields. If I am faced with an overwhelming force, I get all my colonists inside and let the invaders swarm my city. Meanwhile my rangers have already left the city and flanked around. I then send them in, block by block, to defeat the divided army.
Colonists inside the city would melee swarm enemies that have strayed too far from the main force. Eventually the enemy would retreat or they would all die off.