SAM sites and radar: my eyes and my arms

[talon]

2.3 love the new same sites and radar
allows me to really extend my russia/asia coverage for my main base without a huge cost

also great way to chuck some missles at the aliens without endangering my expensive aircraft

Pop and shoot

couple of quick questions

how close to your bases are you radar sites

where do you put your sam sites in relations to your radar site, how close together

Do you use 1,2 or more sam sites clustered together

bit confused do the same sites require you to equip them with missiles or is it all automatic , i'm getting conflicting posts

[Kenner]

couple of quick questions

how close to your bases are you radar sites

where do you put your sam sites in relations to your radar site, how close together

Do you use 1,2 or more sam sites clustered together

bit confused do the same sites require you to equip them with missiles or is it all automatic , i'm getting conflicting posts

I rarely use radar sites (go only for filling in gaps between my bases), but I do like to surround my main bases with SAM sites (usually 5 of them). It's rare for the aliens to slip through that many and attack my main bases. Yes, you do have to equip your SAM sites after building is completed. It takes another two days.

[talon]

5 sam sites that would give even a harvester a run for its money add to that what your aircraft are shooting

are they close to your main base or spread around a bit

[Kenner]

5 sam sites that would give even a harvester a run for its money add to that what your aircraft are shooting

are they close to your main base or spread around a bit

They surround my bases, but are not too close, as I prefer to have enemy craft shot down before they reach my base. The trick is to have just slightly over-lapping coverage from the SAMs and the base itself. I also have 2 or 3 missile defenses built right in to the base itself.

[talon]

i did not realise you could only have a total of 3 'external' buildings

e.g. 3 sams, 3 radar, 1 sam 1 radar  1 ufo store space,

i can understand the admin not wanting you to be able to place 10 sams around the area but this seems a little bit restrictive

3 sams sounds like a nice limit per base
 but i would like to be able to have 3 sams and at least 1 radar

since you need at least 2 ufo storage  this limits you to 1 sam or radar
you pretty much have to have a ufo research base

[geever]

i did not realise you could only have a total of 3 'external' buildings

The aim of the limit of 3 installations per base (beside the max 16 limit) was to lead players building bases instead of overusing the installation feature. We've seen players covered the whole Earth right at the beginning with radar towers which simply kills the gameplay, they gave too much advance.


Frankly, I don't build radars or sams but ufoyards to store as many ufos as I can. I build them next to disassembly bases so bases' defence systems can protect them. Building ufoyards close to disassembly bases also a must-do, you'll find out...

-geever

[Kenner]

i did not realise you could only have a total of 3 'external' buildings

e.g. 3 sams, 3 radar, 1 sam 1 radar  1 ufo store space,

i can understand the admin not wanting you to be able to place 10 sams around the area but this seems a little bit restrictive

3 sams sounds like a nice limit per base
 but i would like to be able to have 3 sams and at least 1 radar

since you need at least 2 ufo storage  this limits you to 1 sam or radar
you pretty much have to have a ufo research base

It is a little restrictive, but I get around the problem by just building basic bases that contain nothing but radar and missile defenses. If they get attacked and destroyed, I just rebuild them. In the meatime, I'm able to use the extra three installations to build SAMs and ufoyards around my main bases. And, unlike geever, I don't build that many ufoyards - maybe one or two in total. I'd rather sell the UFOs and get the credits, especially when you consider how unrealistic the disassembly times are. If I had a workshop in real life that took that long, I'd fire their lazy asses!

[talon]

well they work well for an initial cheap defence to weaken a ufo
 saves my buying expensive missles  
until i get more sacrens flying

you can give them other weapons once you have researched them

what defensive ground to air weapons does the game currently have
and what air to air alien weapons are actually functional in the game that you can use

[Brasher]

Yea, I feel you on the disassembly time.  I built my UFO yard I think on the same pixel as my production base with 5 workshops and it still takes forever.  FYI, just build sam sites around your workshop bases at four overlapping points and nothing stays in the air.  Radar tower seems like a waste to me, especially in the long run when i research advanced radar.  If you find yourself short on cash, pump out some Aircraft ECM, fast to produce and great for money.  I always have them queue'd in bulk and prioritize additional items above that when the need arises.

[Ufanatic]

I used to produce stuff for cash in 2.2 but in 2.3 I tried producing a small item (a pistol it was I think) to check on those "production-costs" mentioned: Indeed, not only are the production-costs just as high as the market-price, they were actually withdrawn from my cash.

I don't see the point of producing things other than badly needed alien-equipment ... or am I missing something here?

As for SAM-sites etc. ... I can't seem to actually buy those Cicada-missles for onbase missle-defenses in 2.3.
Have they been taken out? Is the AA51 onbase-defense now free of ammo? ...

[geever]

As for SAM-sites etc. ... I can't seem to actually buy those Cicada-missles for onbase missle-defenses in 2.3.
Have they been taken out? Is the AA51 onbase-defense now free of ammo? ...

Maybe not free, but included in maintenance cost.

-geever

[rayman86]

I think there should be allowed to build more sam sites strictly within the coverage of the base's radar and restrict those outside like is done now.

[dfscott]

I used to produce stuff for cash in 2.2 but in 2.3 I tried producing a small item (a pistol it was I think) to check on those "production-costs" mentioned: Indeed, not only are the production-costs just as high as the market-price, they were actually withdrawn from my cash.

I just noticed this as well -- I haven't found anything that's profitable to produce for resale, and my workers are costing me a fortune to keep around when there's nothing they're making that I really need.  I think I'm going to tear down some of my workshops and fire those workers.

[dingoperson]

My main goal of using SAMs is to avoid base attacks and to down UFOs so I don't have to bother with sending out interceptors.


So for my main base in Europe (covering Europe and parts of Russia, Middle East, Africa) I plonked down a workshop base and a hangar base right next to it, all with a couple of missile bases, and SAMs around them. Nothing ever gets through (until the aliens attacked by land).

I have also found that missile bases are more useful in bases than laser bases, just because of their greater range. Laser range is so small that you usually only ever use it in the case of a direct attack, while with lots of missiles you can often cover a nice area as well.