A lot fo the games I watch involve armies being sent to their deaths even though theres a bit in the enemy base that's easily exploited for major kills. Lots of missed opportunities to deal crippling blows or make comebacks.
Whya re these golden opportunities missed? Why are players eltting the chance to win flutter away while they choose to waste their resources throwing units at the enemies frontline msot well defended points?
Scouting.
Apparently scouting is worthless, at least most people think so. I just watched a game were nobody scouted and then i said to scout. Then somebody built a single scout plane, and in doing so saw for the first time beyond the front line since that weasel/jeffy at the beginning, and the game suddenly turned. All the tactics started shifting from fighting the front line to going after the undefended guy with the bertha, fusions and no anti air..
If they'd scouted theyd realize that the northern bs was totally udnefended on one side and hadnt expanded either or that the guy with all the gunships had an enemy command across the river on a cliff with no anti air to protect it and a juicy lvl 2 factory newly built.
So many wasted units.... All because players didn't build the cheapest unit in the game.
Scouter Apathy
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SwiftSpear
- Classic Community Lead
- Posts: 7287
- Joined: 12 Aug 2005, 09:29
Scout planes give away the fact that you have air. Alot of players play on 1 chance hit or miss gambles. We've shot ourselfs in the foot building a system in which 90% of scouting ability belongs to a build line that has 1 counter, and that counter will be spammed as soon as someone knows that the buildline has been initiated.
#1 reason why people consciously hold off air scouts.SwiftSpear wrote:Scout planes give away the fact that you have air. Alot of players play on 1 chance hit or miss gambles. We've shot ourselfs in the foot building a system in which 90% of scouting ability belongs to a build line that has 1 counter, and that counter will be spammed as soon as someone knows that the buildline has been initiated.
If you send a scout that means you have air, and thus bombers and air to ground are likely to follow. You don't want to give away this element of surprise.
Other than that, its simply people forgetting or are too distracted by the main front.
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Mr.Frumious
- Posts: 139
- Joined: 06 Jul 2006, 17:47
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Mr.Frumious
- Posts: 139
- Joined: 06 Jul 2006, 17:47
I still gotta get used to all those "just reclaim the building you don't use anymore" tactics. They blow my mind, since that's something I've never seen in any other RTS.Hellspawn wrote:You make lvl 1 air, spam some scouts. Enemy thinks you will air rush him and wastes more money on defence then you had for factory + few scouts (its usually like that) you can reclaim lab back as well.
So even if you use it just for scouting, is still isnt that bad.
I usually just send a spare ak or flash out from my horde to probe the enemy.
Mid game or alter it isn't that expensiv to quickly build an airfactory and send a scout plane or two, or if its fusion eco, a continuous line. Idealling you should send in lots of scouter's in a big group late game. Sending scouter planes in amongst bombers and gunships is also better as it makes the gunships last longer and reveals more of their base.
Then you have jeffies and fleas. Sending a single unit out to an unexplored frontier to probe it and see what defences the enemy has is very useful.
Mid game or alter it isn't that expensiv to quickly build an airfactory and send a scout plane or two, or if its fusion eco, a continuous line. Idealling you should send in lots of scouter's in a big group late game. Sending scouter planes in amongst bombers and gunships is also better as it makes the gunships last longer and reveals more of their base.
Then you have jeffies and fleas. Sending a single unit out to an unexplored frontier to probe it and see what defences the enemy has is very useful.
On a low resource map, its utterly vital to consider as an option. A lot of strats work very well with it- Det has been doing this thing on Sands of War where he makes a shipyard, makes 3-4 cons, reclaims the lab, moves the cons over to my island and hlt/tl's it so i cant get out. It can be devastating against an air, kbot or amphib start. It is the singular reason why i stopped playing Hovercraft regularly on that map, he'll have my island ringed in HLT's before i even get my first hovertank out.
As for scouting, a lot of players wont respond to level 1 air with a super-aa-porc, so if they see conplanes (and having conplanes reclaiming wrecks is vital mid game) or scout planes flying over wont make them spaz out and make 100 flaks. A lot of players wont even bother making much AA until they are attacked, so you can safely scout his weak spots and reclaim the wrecks to build a massive t2 airforce.
Though i have to say, when i see 100 scout planes fly overhead, i FEAR. It usually means im gonna get nuked (because thats what it means when i do it to the enemy).
As for scouting, a lot of players wont respond to level 1 air with a super-aa-porc, so if they see conplanes (and having conplanes reclaiming wrecks is vital mid game) or scout planes flying over wont make them spaz out and make 100 flaks. A lot of players wont even bother making much AA until they are attacked, so you can safely scout his weak spots and reclaim the wrecks to build a massive t2 airforce.
Though i have to say, when i see 100 scout planes fly overhead, i FEAR. It usually means im gonna get nuked (because thats what it means when i do it to the enemy).
