Siege defense

[dakenho]

Siege defense, I think the addition of siege is really cool however I think some time needs to be spent on on siege defense.  Currently there appears to be three valid defense strategies,
1.  assault the enemy position,  you may be out numbered and out gunned as a matter of facts its fairly likely, though I suppose if have a surplus of long  range sniper weapons this could benefit you by yielding rations.
2. counter siege I tried this my self at first with mortars, routing out colonists as they became tiered or hungry.  This becomes a problem though, even if you have a mortars odds are the siege will last long enough that you will have some heavy micro to make sure your people don't go insane.  This appears to be a losing battle, mortars are  to in accurate and your base is a larger target then there mortar then their setup.
3. wait them out, they will run out of food eventually and even normal raiders will give up after a while.  Their mortars are inaccurate as well, you may get a bit of base damage but the fire rates are slow enough that you should be able to keep up with it.  This seems to only be an option if things are spread out, one mortar to your power plant area and things could go bad for you quick.

so neither of these options are particularly compelling to use. maybe some sort of base shield that drains a lot of power?  but even at that well established colony would have no problem with it? have the sieges have less raiders making it easier to assault the position (that may just end up giving too much free food (though at that point they could come with less).   if anyone has any better methods of dealing with I would be happy to hear about it.

[putsam]

Normally colonist fire at the closest target so if the corner of the enemy base is the closest all the left right and low shots will miss. Instead you should force fire at the center of the base.

[UrbanBourbon]

This appears to be a losing battle, mortars are  to in accurate and your base is a larger target then there mortar then their setup.

Wanna try typing that sentence again?

Anyway, using mortars likely means micromanagement no matter what. However, as I read this, it occurred to me it might wise to make sure the mortar surroundings are beautiful and well-lit, to counter the hunger and fatigue. One might even put meal or berry stockpiles near mortars for quickest possible snack when the colonists finally undraft themselves. Tables? Chairs?

If you go outside against siegers, bring (nothing but) sniper rifles. Siegers never attack you unless they spot you. Approach slowly and carefully and take out their snipers and mortars, whichever ones are closest.

Personally, I don't start bombarding them with my mortars until THEIR mortars have been built. Unbuilt mortars do not explode. Once their mortars have been blasted to bits, it's time to leave the rest of the siegers to rot. Starve, ye bastards.

[christhekiller]

I usually bombard them with Fire mortars. The flames are good for distracting the raiders and they'll spread and (hopefully) damage or destroy their rations and even their mortars. However I usually also send a sniper team to pick off the raiders while they fight the fires. And atm I have four of both types of mortars so I'm able to heavily bombard them with fire, but even when I had two the fires got out of control for the raiders unless it rained.

If it's raining however I'll use regular mortars or none at all. And either just send in a bunch of snipers or hold out until the rain ends.

[HatesYourFace]

I find the Siege's to be one of the easier threats to deal with; 1.Just send out a few snipers, target the nearest mortar turrets, watch the resulting chain reaction blow up half the camp and send the remaining Raiders into a spiraling depression. 2.Go home and wait for the camp to tear itself apart. 3.Move in and clean up any stragglers, loot bodies.

Morale is really your greatest weapon against a Siege, even a handful of deaths can be enough to set the wheels in motion, once a few raiders go psycho and start shooting each other it's usually all down hill for them, the rest will either follow suit or wander off.

But I do agree with your idea of there needing to be more options. Some kind of energy shield or AA defense that drains lots of power doesn't sound too bad. Might conflict with the established fiction though...I don't think Energy Shields are a part of the RimWorld canon. (At least they seem out of place to me given what I've read in the "Fiction Primer" and what I've seen in game, RimWorld's lore seems to steer clear of "near-magical technologies" like FTL travel etc...)

[Somz]

But I do agree with your idea of there needing to be more options. Some kind of energy shield or AA defense that drains lots of power doesn't sound too bad. Might conflict with the established fiction though...I don't think Energy Shields are a part of the RimWorld canon. (At least they seem out of place to me given what I've read in the "Fiction Primer" and what I've seen in game, RimWorld's lore seems to steer clear of "near-magical technologies" like FTL travel etc...)

AA would be nice but...would it be doable? Not game-wise, but would it be possible to shoot down mortal shells in real life?
Also, energy shields may seem out-of-place but then again, charge blasters, mechanoid bugs, vatgrown people, VR just to name a few, there are some high-tech stuff there!

But you're right, dealing with mortal raiders is maybe the easiest. I usually send out 1 maybe 2 snipers and that's it. Mortals will try to shoot them (usually none hits) instead of my base but a few hits and their own mortals will decimate themselves.
Dropping-in mechanoid raids are the most annoying / hard in my opinion, especially when more than 20 centis just appear... I like those moments... 

[mikeash]

Defense against mortars is totally doable with modern technology, and systems are currently in use in Afghanistan and Israel. You can shoot down incoming rounds with a cheap guided rocket or with an automatic gun. They're not completely reliable and they're pretty expensive, but it can be done.

As far as the game goes, turrets that shoot at nearby in-flight mortar shots might work. For added mayhem, make the missed shots fall to the ground and cause damage where they land.

[ApexPredator]

But I do agree with your idea of there needing to be more options. Some kind of energy shield or AA defense that drains lots of power doesn't sound too bad. Might conflict with the established fiction though...I don't think Energy Shields are a part of the RimWorld canon. (At least they seem out of place to me given what I've read in the "Fiction Primer" and what I've seen in game, RimWorld's lore seems to steer clear of "near-magical technologies" like FTL travel etc...)

AA would be nice but...would it be doable? Not game-wise, but would it be possible to shoot down mortal shells in real life?
Also, energy shields may seem out-of-place but then again, charge blasters, mechanoid bugs, vatgrown people, VR just to name a few, there are some high-tech stuff there!

Look up sea wiz, goalkeeper and phalanx. All are able to shoot down missiles and mortars. I have no idea how you could apply this to the game other than maybe causing mortars to fail within the AA range rather than making a crazy mechanic that shot down mortars. I guess like a shield for a small area.

[user27]

i think mortars use the shooting skill ( i allways get better accuracy when i put a sniper on it)
and forceing the mortar to aim for an enemy mortar is the way to break the siege
allso i would put as much of your base as possible under a mountain and build a stone wall firebreak, those wild plants get crazy if you don't keep them cut or burned

[Jaxxa]

FYI there is currently a shield mod

http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=4701.0

I have taken over development of it and hope to add in missiles / cannons that can shootdown mortars at some stage.

[HatesYourFace]

Mods aren't really a solution for everyone as some of us prefer our games vanilla flavored. (Also, I don't care to have my game break every time it's patched, sending me trudging over the internet to 10 different sites to update all my mods assuming they have been updated for the newest patch...chances are they haven't so you wait and wait and wait...)

I really hope Tynan takes the time to address the game balance/gameplay whilst disregarding mods, the game should stand on it's own as a balanced product without having to download additional 3rd party material. (IE. "Why make a Mortar defense? If anyone wants it that bad they can go d/l a mod")

Now don't get me wrong, Mods are great fun, and I think they are very important for the lifespan/interest a game will have with the community but some of us just like playing the game purely the way the designer intended. Not saying that's the "right or wrong" way to play it, just saying.

FYI there is currently a shield mod

http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=4701.0

I have taken over development of it and hope to add in missiles / cannons that can shootdown mortars at some stage.

(Your shield mod actually looks pretty good man, Don't take this post as negative criticism on you lol, it just made me think about mods in general!)