I had an idea for including more auxiliary units in the game. Lar Bergen had a suggestion in the same vein that was shot down, but I do think there is a place for having more Auxes, especially if/when DO happens.
The issue I'm trying to address here is that auxiliaries are relatively expensive for ships that are slow and easily killed by direct damage, so people rarely build them. They potentially have a lot of utility in shoring up EW, providing backup
ground support, fighters, etc for empires short on ships. People rarely build them, though.
The idea is this; say there is a small facility in the shipyard/capital SB that can ready freighters/merchant marine for combat duty in wartime. Say perhaps this facility can produce an SAA a turn (or LAA a year) for free. On their own these units are useless (and don't exist in the current version of the game except on the SIT anyway), but such SAA/LAAs can then be converted to a useful auxiliary variant more cheaply than a new build. I know *I* would be much more willing to produce vulnerable auxes if I'm only spending 1 or 2 EP vs 3 or 4 (or more). Of course more auxes, if desired, can always be produced at the higher regular rate.
Although an obvious boon for defenders, it would also translate to a discounted SAF every few turns which might interest the coalition. Might also see more MCs in the game.
Upgrading the Auxes still takes up conversion slots, so there is low potential for abuse.
Maybe it's a ridiculous idea, but I think Auxes could play a bigger role in this game. Tell me if I'm way off base here....

By Richard Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 07:55 am: Edit

I sometimes build LAVs for the Coalition. Otherwise, I don't build aux's except for the LDR, maybe.

The problem with aux's isn't the cost, it's that they usually die when a hex they are in is taken by the enemy. Slow unit retreat is a deadly thing to them.

By Karl Mangold (Solomon) on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 10:58 am: Edit

Quite right; the fact that they have such a short lifespan is why I can almost never justify the cost of building auxes. But if you can get one for just a few EPs? Cost/benefit evens out a little

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 06:01 pm: Edit

I think that ADB might say that adding additional auxes (including local defense ships) to the game will blunt the offensive of the Coalition.

If we ever want these units to be added to the game, then we will need to balance them somehow (like a negative BIR if they are used or something else) or give the Coalition capabilities that balances their introduction. Ideas might include (but are not limited to):

Add a massive stockpile of free drone bombardment points for the Klingons;
Allow more stacks of cloaked movement under (203.85) for the Romulans;
Allow the Coalition to conduct more pre-war raids;
Add pre-war PRDs to Coalition fleets;
Better repair logistics for the Coalition (like a stockpile of free "repair points");
Add more repair ships/FRDs to the Coalition fleets.
Add the Prime Trooper with a 'G' factors to the game (PTG) and give Coalition fleets several to help garrison captured planets.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 09:53 pm: Edit

>> Maybe it's a ridiculous idea, but I think Auxes could play a bigger role in this game. Tell me if I'm way off base here....

Personally, I am not a fan of auxiliaries. They don't really fit into my view of the game. I like the idea of real warships fighting big battles amongst themselves. Retrofitted freighters just don't do it for me. Of course, I am 100% accepting and supportive of those players who like them.

If auxes are not included enough for some people's tastes, why not package the idea succinctly and make it into a balancing factor? Then the player could choose "Enhanced Auxillaries" if they so choose and then a certain number of balancing points would flow to their opponent, who could then choose something roughly equal.

And for those folks who are not into aux ships, well they can leave it all behind and play as they wish. And hopefully everyone has a way to make the game more fun for themselves and their opponent.

--Mike

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 10:02 pm: Edit

>> Add a massive stockpile of free drone bombardment points for the Klingons;
>> Add more repair ships/FRDs to the Coalition fleets.
>> like a stockpile of free "repair points"

I like these as generic 653.0 balance factors. In fact, 653.1 F already speaks to the repair ship idea. I'd make each one of them smaller and generate a smaller number of balancing points, so they could be used multiple times if needed.

--Mike

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, March 19, 2022 - 10:13 pm: Edit

I think DO would be very dangerous to do and that the very interesting suggestions by Chuck Strong would be a very imprecise method of balancing that.

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Sunday, March 20, 2022 - 02:12 am: Edit

...just spit-balling a quick response off the cuff...

By Richard Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Sunday, March 20, 2022 - 03:26 am: Edit

It might be more interesting if you added LCA's and such to the empires, but also gave the Coalition a bunch of aux combatants to offset them.

By Karl Mangold (Solomon) on Sunday, March 20, 2022 - 10:24 am: Edit

I guess my idea stemmed from playing around with the LDR; thinking that their use of Auxes came out of necessity, and wouldn't an empire that had their backs up against the wall (say with their capital threatened/fallen) do the same? It realistically wouldn't make a lot of sense for a standard navy to push the build/conversion of these units, especially since they can't be used offensively in any meaningful way (carrier Auxes an exception.) But a race in dire straights could use this as a method to ease the pain of a restricted build schedule/wrecked shipyard.
P.S. I didn't know DO was a dead-in-the-water project
P.P.S. To be clear, I didn't want a proposal that ends up adding hundreds of Auxes to the game. Just some that make sense.