Why don't my wingmen attack capital ships?

[babaton]

I've had a few bbs assasination missions and my wingmen don't seem to attack the larger capital ships. I just had to assasinate some guy in an orca.

We killed off his escorts easily my wingmen obliterating the figters in a hail of AHEPT and BIRE.When it comes to the Orca though they just float about occaisionally firing but more often getting fired at.

I had to take the Orca down on my own.

I tried telling the ships to attack the orca explicitly and also by using the attack my target command, both methods produce the same lame result.

Any ideas?

[Sandalpocalypse]

Orcas are notoriously fatassed. Fighters have problems attacking large targets. You'll probably have similar problems with the Albatross. Don't keep issuing the order though, they will abort their attack runs. And don't worry about the kind of order, they use the same fight logic no matter if they are on protect, attack, attack all, or attack my target.

[Davy Jones]

Your wingman aren´t some suicide kings! And an Orca? Please... kill it yourself, that´s somewhat easier!

It would be different if we talked about M1-Kill-Missions here. There you should sent your wingman per direct "Attack..." command to engage the escorts so you can concentrate on the M1.

Best solution: abandon wingman and use an M2!

Greetings

Davy Jones

[babaton]

I'm not saying I had problems killing the orca, it just took a while and was boring quite frankly.

There's no need for the wingmen to go on suicide runs just open fire when they're facing the ship.Not too much to ask is it?

Does anyone know of a fix for this, it's pretty lame that they don't attack.
I sat back and watched them for a while, they stay within firing range most of the time, they just don't fire.

Surely this isn't intended behaviour?

[Carlo the Curious]

It's a side-effect of collision avoidance, I think. By the time the fighters are lined up to fire it's time for them to take avoiding action again.

[Sandalpocalypse]

in x2 ships were more aggressive (release version) and it pretty much resulted in collisions all the time. the problem is complicated but essentially comes down to collision avoidance vs weapon range.

you could try ejecting the IREs and seeing if that helps. I'm not sure if ships range logic changes if they have multiple weapon types installed. I don't think so, but fighters armed with AHEPTs ought to be engaging an Orca - if ineffectively - not ignoring it.

the other problem is that TLs are quite fast for their size which makes attack runs more difficult.

And wingmen are awesome, don't abandon wingmen.

[XanII]

Orca has a dirty little secret: it is so fat fighters are afraid of it. (insert optional mom joke here)

It works the other way around also when you buy your first Orca TL ship. Pirates may harrass it but they cant kill it because they will break their attack runs early in order to avoid hitting it. I guess same goes for the enormous Albatross.

Though dont count too much on this 'bug' or 'feature'. a torpedo or a few typhoons and Orca goes bye bye.

[babaton]

To be honest the only ship I saw actually firing was my falcon kitted out with 6 bires. The other ships which have combos of ahepts and apacs didn't open fire once. Pretty weird since the ires have a shorter range.

I might setup a few ships with purely one type of weapon and see if there's any difference. Perhaps I should spend some cash and give em missiles too.

[Sandalpocalypse]

In that case, I would say its an unfortunate combination of timing, reissuance of orders, poor positioning, and bad luck. *shrug*

[babaton]

bugger

[ezra-r]

Orcas are notoriously fatassed. Fighters have problems attacking large targets. You'll probably have similar problems with the Albatross. Don't keep issuing the order though, they will abort their attack runs. And don't worry about the kind of order, they use the same fight logic no matter if they are on protect, attack, attack all, or attack my target.

Are they set to "See as hostile If hostile to me" option is active? If not they see the orca as neutral and they dont attack.

[JMCorp]

i am not sure about orcas but i've had really good luck with LX's equipped with a couple PBE and AHEPT + 4 apac firing at ships. i KNOW they were attacking an albatross effectively so like i said i am not sure about the orca, but it might be worth a try.

[wolverine005]

Orcas are notoriously fatassed. Fighters have problems attacking large targets. You'll probably have similar problems with the Albatross. Don't keep issuing the order though, they will abort their attack runs. And don't worry about the kind of order, they use the same fight logic no matter if they are on protect, attack, attack all, or attack my target.

Are they set to "See as hostile If hostile to me" option is active? If not they see the orca as neutral and they dont attack.

it wouldnt matter whether it was neutral, hostile, or the wingmans lover. if he issues an order to attack they must attack.

[jlehtone]

it wouldnt matter whether it was neutral, hostile, or the wingmans lover. if he issues an order to attack they must attack.

No it does not. If the ship does not consider the target a foe, the attack command aborts right at start.

[juanitierno]

My theory: try slower ships.

With fast ships they get in range before lining up with the target, but with a slower ship (since they turn faster than they fly, comparatively) they should line up faster and fire a few shots b4 the collision avoidance kicks in.

might be worth trying it with AHEPT falcons with no engine tunings... just for testing.

[Davy Jones]

And then these ships are to slow to avoid the fire from the big guns, good idea!

Greetings

Davy Jones

[Sandalpocalypse]

...assassination targets are always considered foes, they spawn as Enemy Race

[jlehtone]

...assassination targets are always considered foes, they spawn as Enemy Race

More like neutral race. Turn "Show if enemy to me" off on your personal ship if you do not believe.

(Assassination targets do shoot at all player property and Pirates, but their hatred is one-sided.)

[babaton]

I don't think it's the show as hostile option as my wingmen had no moral problems carving up the fighters.

Haven't had a chance to check it out yet, hopefully I'll be able to check it out tonight.

Thanks

[Carlo the Curious]

...assassination targets are always considered foes, they spawn as Enemy Race

More like neutral race. Turn "Show if enemy to me" off on your personal ship if you do not believe.

(Assassination targets do shoot at all player property and Pirates, but their hatred is one-sided.)

Indeed. I had all my ships with 'Show...' set to No, and some leftover M3s from an assasination mission destroyed a few of my trading ships under the noses of an M6 patrol before I changed the setting.