The pain of repairs

[rumbit]

So I finally research, construct, arm, and equip my first Avenger, and place it on active status. Hurrah! I sell off the worthless Skyranger with the enthusiasm of a family getting rid of the old grubby station wagon. A big bad alien battleship shows up, and I shoot it down, suffering only minor damage in the process. Hurrah again! That'll show those bastards to perform infiltration missions. Avenger returns to base, cannons smoking, and begins repairs. Another battleship appears and I can't intercept it, out of range of the other bases' Firestorms. I sit and watch as it flies around for a while before landing on Paris. This is a golden opportunity, just across the border from my base in Germany, and I can do nothing. 200 Elerium (that I can really use) just sitting there for the taking, and I can't move a muscle. In addition, this ship is scouting out the area while it sits there. It leaves and my repair is still at 11%. Just a few minutes later, another battleship appears on a collision course with my base. Sure enough, it attacks and now it's base defense time. Grr! Have to be much more careful in the future, repairs take a long, long time. If I didn't just dump the ol' lemon Skyranger, I would have been fine...

[uncy]

Well... I always thought avenger shouldn't have been made for combat. Only firestorms should be used to counter big Alien crafts. But that is a risk you are taking...

 

Avengers make Firestorms and Lightnings obsolete, and that shouldn't be the case. I would balance the game so Firestorms are used as interceptors, Avengers for maximum amount of troops and lightning just for small missions.

[Zombie]

I always build my first Avenger at a dedicated manufacturing base, then transfer it to another base which already has a transport of some type. When alien activity is high, it's a blessing to have another ship to rely on in case of refueling/rearming/repairs. The thing to remember though, is you don't really need to shoot down the Battleships. Just let them be. If one lands, good, go after it. If it doesn't, well, who cares. At least the Avenger will be ready to go almost immediately.

 

Skyrangers are nice to have around even after you get Avengers. True, they are slow, but for this reason they can patrol for long periods of time too. Send it out to look for alien bases or extend your radar coverage into an alien hot-spot. Plus it's an emergency transport if you need it.

 

- Zombie

[Warface]

Skyrangers are nice to have around even after you get Avengers. True, they are slow, but for this reason they can patrol for long periods of time too. Send it out to look for alien bases or extend your radar coverage into an alien hot-spot. Plus it's an emergency transport if you need it.

 

- Zombie

 

This, plus, Avengers are actually very easy to make. 250 engineers can build one in about 5 1/2 days, and the materials are scraps from all your UFO missions. A few heavy plasmas off the ground will pay for the ship. You only spend Elerium when they are in the air. So ultimately the way to go is to mass produce Avengers till you have a dozen or two. This is assuming you have the engineers and workshops available. 6 workshops at at least 1 base is just right for an Avenger factory. After 2 weeks of production, you won't need earth-based aircraft anymore, and you'll even be able to intercept battleship after battleship while you continue producing new aircraft.

[[NKF]]

Each of the ships have their strengths for you to take advantage of and weaknesses to work around.

 

There's nothing terribly wrong with the old clunkers. If used right, placed in the right locations and (for interceptors) armed with plasma beams, they can get away with a lot. I find that I barely have to send the Avenger except during emergencies.

 

- NKF