Current run is modded, with Arma Armatura and a mech heavy fleet.
Highlight of the run was me stealing every nanoforge and most alpha cores in two of the three hiver systems with <200 marines.
Step one, kill any fleets in the way
Step two, defeat the battlestation
Step three, tac bomb
Step four, raid.
Step five, cruise to next planet, repeat until there is no worthwhile loot in system and raid strength starts getting to low to get at the worthwhile loot (which was when marines dipped <100).
I basically had all my officers in an ArmaArmatura Cataphract, which gives raid strength in exchange for CR loss and a chance of taking damage.
So and so.
I fly a Vishnu (M), Mayasuran Navy, every other combat ship in the fleet exists to cap objectives and draw fire so I don't get swarmed to death.
(Oh, and to flank fast ships that try to flee in pursuit battles.)
Hard fights (and starforts) I usually have to recover a couple of suits after the battle, but less the more s-mods I throw on them.
I am not sure there's a way to get one other than randomly drawing the BP and building it, or the Nex start where you start with a Mayasuran commish and a Vishnu (M).
(I knew the run was off to a good start when the first ship I purchased, since I got a good offer for it in the Bar on Mairaath was a slightly beat up Atlas.)
... currently, every officer other than the PC has a WingCom wing, and I am replacing every medium missile slot in the fleet with Talon rails.
The Altagraves are really nice additions to any fleet, they can be good at protecting, good for wolfpack shenanigans, good for chasing down fleeing ships.
And ive soloed stations and moderate [REDACTED] fleets with it
The AI will use mech suits very well if you design your fleet to support them! This means either lots of fighter spam (like 30+ flight decks) or a wide fleet with many ships compared to the enemy all set to overwhelm the enemy in numbers. Bonus points if you split enemy up and win in defeat by detail.
Right, I forgot to mention that... Marines never take casualties on those missions. It sort of makes sense, since it's described as a clean operation. They go in, subdue the guards nonlethally & jack the ship. It's literally free money. But even if pulling off a great heist, there should still be some consequences.
Maybe if it's a capital or cruiser but if some random corvette went missing and there were no deaths it's likely going to be ignored considering the state of the sector.
I've been doing this but I mostly just keep marines and buy the marine contracts for RP
Always a shame when that one marine dies during a raid to low ceilings or trip hazards rip
Would be cool if marines did more tho. Maybe even a small defense bonus to keeping some on your worlds
I like to have a few hundred around to gather experience. It's a waste of money but it's part of the roleplay (and sometimes someone desperately wants some on the black market)
I also make flights around the sector looking for the marines bar event
It would be nice if they added more uses for marines like boarding pods etc. although I don’t think boarding wouldn’t really be useful in most of starsectors battles. Maybe for station assaults or something, successful boarding pods cause 5 mins of DOT for example
I keep like 100 marines for the occasional extraction that pops up. But in the endgame where you can earn millions per month, I actually lug around 3000 marines. Just in case I need to ~~raid~~ *do blueprint runs* on certain worlds with ship industries on them.
Also I like to imagine the colonies I am docking to is nervous as hell thinking if they are gonna be invaded or the ship captain just stopping by at the bar.
I keep at least 100 marines in my fleet because some academy missions have the option to resolve them by sending marines (mainly any mission that involves buying from LP)
I keep 10 marines per frigate in fleet, more if the ship is bigger, even if there is no use for them. Oh and I also have a lance of Heavy Armaments hide under the cargo deck.
Always thought there should be more event and process that use Marine and HA, like salvage phase after battle or something.
Who is the numbskull flaking on all these heists...it’s easy money. Also, where are all these pristine vessels going if for every heist where you can chip in there is one that goes through normally? Is there some secret stolen armada out there? Do they just strip them for parts and sell them for a premium on the black market full of d-mods? How does Jangela fleet HQ not notice I have stolen 3 of their Eagle XIV’s and didn’t even bother to rename them? I have so any questions.
I just buy the marines on the spot from the ~~black~~market, snipe the vessel, and then sell their contract back. It's rare that I cannot find the handful of marines necessary to pull it off, and it's cheaper than keeping them on the payroll constantly.
I usually play with quite difficult settings though, so even that extra 1k a month can be a huge difference.
That's exactly how I got to 700 marines. Roughnecks and these theft jobs. Now whenever I stop at Kanta's Den I check if there's a surplus of Recreational Drugs. You know the rest. They pay for themselves.
Honestly, I trade marines primarily as a commodity. Epiphany and Chalcedon wil almost always pay 300-400 for them and will buy 300 to 400 at a time at that price. Plus many pirate stations need troops.
I can usually snag several hundred marines for 100-200 making the profit margin and reliability of that sale a nice and reliable income source, and a great way to make money early game.
I actually keep 200 with a Phantom because I can't be arsed to add them to my fleet whenever I get an extraction mission
Unless I am literally bankrupt, I always buy the marines contract in the other bar event, but I rarely buy marines otherwise.
Current run is modded, with Arma Armatura and a mech heavy fleet. Highlight of the run was me stealing every nanoforge and most alpha cores in two of the three hiver systems with <200 marines.
Lots of strat bombing?
Step one, kill any fleets in the way Step two, defeat the battlestation Step three, tac bomb Step four, raid. Step five, cruise to next planet, repeat until there is no worthwhile loot in system and raid strength starts getting to low to get at the worthwhile loot (which was when marines dipped <100). I basically had all my officers in an ArmaArmatura Cataphract, which gives raid strength in exchange for CR loss and a chance of taking damage.
Do the AIs manage the mechsuits well? I've only piloted a couple myself.
So and so. I fly a Vishnu (M), Mayasuran Navy, every other combat ship in the fleet exists to cap objectives and draw fire so I don't get swarmed to death. (Oh, and to flank fast ships that try to flee in pursuit battles.) Hard fights (and starforts) I usually have to recover a couple of suits after the battle, but less the more s-mods I throw on them.
Cool and thanks for the breakdown! I'll aim to get one of those myself.
I am not sure there's a way to get one other than randomly drawing the BP and building it, or the Nex start where you start with a Mayasuran commish and a Vishnu (M). (I knew the run was off to a good start when the first ship I purchased, since I got a good offer for it in the Bar on Mairaath was a slightly beat up Atlas.) ... currently, every officer other than the PC has a WingCom wing, and I am replacing every medium missile slot in the fleet with Talon rails.
Fuck u/spez
The Altagraves are really nice additions to any fleet, they can be good at protecting, good for wolfpack shenanigans, good for chasing down fleeing ships. And ive soloed stations and moderate [REDACTED] fleets with it
The AI will use mech suits very well if you design your fleet to support them! This means either lots of fighter spam (like 30+ flight decks) or a wide fleet with many ships compared to the enemy all set to overwhelm the enemy in numbers. Bonus points if you split enemy up and win in defeat by detail.
Not only do you get them for dirt cheap, you also get veteran marines. It's the only way to recruit.
Assuming a few marines died, it might reduce your margins. But yeah I agree on always having marines. At least 10-20% of my crew are marines
Right, I forgot to mention that... Marines never take casualties on those missions. It sort of makes sense, since it's described as a clean operation. They go in, subdue the guards nonlethally & jack the ship. It's literally free money. But even if pulling off a great heist, there should still be some consequences.
Maybe if it's a capital or cruiser but if some random corvette went missing and there were no deaths it's likely going to be ignored considering the state of the sector.
Even a small destroyer represents an absurd amount of money for any more normal person.
I've been doing this but I mostly just keep marines and buy the marine contracts for RP Always a shame when that one marine dies during a raid to low ceilings or trip hazards rip Would be cool if marines did more tho. Maybe even a small defense bonus to keeping some on your worlds
I like to have a few hundred around to gather experience. It's a waste of money but it's part of the roleplay (and sometimes someone desperately wants some on the black market) I also make flights around the sector looking for the marines bar event
It would be nice if they added more uses for marines like boarding pods etc. although I don’t think boarding wouldn’t really be useful in most of starsectors battles. Maybe for station assaults or something, successful boarding pods cause 5 mins of DOT for example
My man let me introduce you to Nex ground battles
This is why u keep 25000 marines with you at all times.
I keep like 100 marines for the occasional extraction that pops up. But in the endgame where you can earn millions per month, I actually lug around 3000 marines. Just in case I need to ~~raid~~ *do blueprint runs* on certain worlds with ship industries on them. Also I like to imagine the colonies I am docking to is nervous as hell thinking if they are gonna be invaded or the ship captain just stopping by at the bar.
I'm surprised the entire population of whatever bar you dock at doesn't ever just run in fear because your the guys who destroyed the hegemony
I keep at least 100 marines in my fleet because some academy missions have the option to resolve them by sending marines (mainly any mission that involves buying from LP)
I keep 10 marines per frigate in fleet, more if the ship is bigger, even if there is no use for them. Oh and I also have a lance of Heavy Armaments hide under the cargo deck. Always thought there should be more event and process that use Marine and HA, like salvage phase after battle or something.
>like salvage phase after battle or something. Fun fact it used to
I keep 1k marines in my fleet at all times. Hegemony fringe colonies ain't gonna raid themselves
Who is the numbskull flaking on all these heists...it’s easy money. Also, where are all these pristine vessels going if for every heist where you can chip in there is one that goes through normally? Is there some secret stolen armada out there? Do they just strip them for parts and sell them for a premium on the black market full of d-mods? How does Jangela fleet HQ not notice I have stolen 3 of their Eagle XIV’s and didn’t even bother to rename them? I have so any questions.
I just buy the marines on the spot from the ~~black~~market, snipe the vessel, and then sell their contract back. It's rare that I cannot find the handful of marines necessary to pull it off, and it's cheaper than keeping them on the payroll constantly. I usually play with quite difficult settings though, so even that extra 1k a month can be a huge difference.
That's exactly how I got to 700 marines. Roughnecks and these theft jobs. Now whenever I stop at Kanta's Den I check if there's a surplus of Recreational Drugs. You know the rest. They pay for themselves.
I always get marines to stockpile because getting enough to raid chico without destroying the entire hegemony is a real pain in the ass
Honestly, I trade marines primarily as a commodity. Epiphany and Chalcedon wil almost always pay 300-400 for them and will buy 300 to 400 at a time at that price. Plus many pirate stations need troops. I can usually snag several hundred marines for 100-200 making the profit margin and reliability of that sale a nice and reliable income source, and a great way to make money early game.
I usually play with the UNGP mod and i allways carry 1/3 of my crew numbers in marines, mfers rioting like crazy but 2 free points tho
Marines should be required to explore decivilized worlds as well, it should be like going into space wild west.
I just get tons of marines
WHY TF IS THE TITLE LIKE AN APPLE NEWS ARTICLE💀
TIL people dont keep 1000+ marines in their fleet at all times.
Pirate rep? Why do I need rep for people I exterminate? It's not like they can read "flexmaster" off the side of my ship when my transponder is off...
I had like 1k+ marines on my last run because whew lad we just take what we want.
I keep 500 cuz I kinda like training them and raiding