Battlegroup
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Introduction to Fleet Warfare
Another addition to the innovative cadre of features LotJ is offering it's playerbase, the Battlegroup System gives never before seen functionality to the world of space combat. The system is much like GROUP but much more ironclad. A Battlegroup is comprised of a leader and followers. The leader of the Battlegroup has many important abilities the other ships do not. Battlegroups save over copyovers, too, letting you set up your fleet and keep it that way until you want to change it.
The Battlegroup readout is comprehensive in that it shows information pertinent to the ships involved. All the information is drastically compacted to make it easier to read a large fleet's overview. The command itself is a powerful tool to keep track of your ships whereabouts, as it shows the current starsystem and starchart coordinates.
To make things easy to learn, here is a quick guide to using the battlegrouping commands.
Guide to Battlegrouping
There are currently two types of Battlegroup.
Capital Ships
This type of Battlegroup is comprised of a capital ship as a leader with other capital ships as part of the battlegroup. For other class ship see Squadron. Only ships of Cruiser size or larger are able to lead a Battlegroup, however any ship of size Frigate or larger may join one.
Battlegroups have three positions within them: Outer, Midguard and Central. These are like layers, with the first two layers obscuring the Central layer. In short, they give protection in numbers to the members of the Battlegroup in the interior. This is explained more fully in the next section.
Battlegroup Formation and Tactics
In order to explain the concept of the battlegroup we will use an example.
The flagship will be the Super Star Destroyer 'Vader's Fist', our capital class ship. If the Imperial Star Destroyer 'Palpatine' wishes to join the Vader's battlegroup, he needs only to input the command instructing the Palpatine to form up with the Super Star Destroyer.
This broadcasts a message to the Vader's Fist indicating the Palpatine's wish to join. Approval then lies on the pilot of the Vader's Fist, who inputs the command to accept the Palpatine into the battlegroup.
A large factor on the effectiveness of Battlegroups are the types of ships in the Battlegroup. The larger the ships, the harder it is to hit a ship in the midguard or central positions of the fleet. The same applies for the amount of ships as well, and Squadrons of fighters play a very large role as well. Squadrons will be discussed in another section.
Battlegroup Readout
The Battlegroup Readout is one of the most important aspects of the Battlegroup System: This readout shows the position, type, and status of all ships in the group, compacted into a small, easy-to-read list. This gives the Admiral of the Fleet a larger perspective over the battle.
Targeting information shows up in the Battlegroup readout. This, along with the power to set the battlegroup's target, makes it much easier to keep track of the fight.
Navigation Commands
By using the Battlegroup Nav command, one can control individual ships at a time or the entire fleet. Most of the controls that can be used normally on the bridge of a ship can be controlled remotely through this command.
Planetary Bombardment
Battlegroups can simultaneously fire salvos of rockets, torpedoes, missiles, and bombs on a planet, using the entire force of the Battlegroup to bring the fear of god into those on the surface.
The range for bombardment is 50 units.
Bombardment can perm people, so keep this in mind before you negligently bombard a planet. Most clans that are good-aligned (For example, the Galactic Republic) would not bombard a planet filled with innocent civilians except perhaps under desperate circumstances, but evil groups would not hesitate (the Empire is a good example).
Battlegroup Commands
Here is a list of the commands, with a brief indicator of what they do. Some of them are covered by later sections, so please read on if you are interested in one of those.
| battlegroup | When the Battlegroup command is entered alone it shows battlegroup info |
| battlegroup join <target> | Will send a message to target ship asking to join it's battlegroup |
| battlegroup quit | Leave current battlegroup |
| battlegroup position <pos> | Change positions |
| battlegroup message <message> | Send message to all ships in battlegroup |
| Leader Commands | |
| battlegroup <target> | If target is trying to join, will add them to your Battlegroup(Leader Only) |
| battlegroup disband | Disband Battlegroup |
| battlegroup eject <target> | Kick target ship out of Battlegroup |
| battlegroup nav <ship/all> <command> | Navigate remotely |
| battlegroup bombard <planet> | Bombard a planet |
| battlegroup target <ship> | Force battlegroup ships in range of target to target that ship |
Advanced Battlegroup Positioning
As stated previously in this article, there are three possible positions for ships: Outer, Midguard, and Central.
The outer position is most desirable for Squadrons of fighters. While they offer the first line of protection against inner positions being hit, if the battlegroup is large they can actually be the hardest to hit. Having ships out here will offer protection to MIDGUARD and CENTRAL positions.
The midguard position is in between the other two. They provide no cover for the OUTER position but both the midguard and outer positions protect the central position the most. Having ships in this position rather than the CENTRAL position will make them more vulnerable, but will make the ships in CENTRAL far more protected. This position is great for midship squadrons and capital ships.
The heart of the fleet and most likely where the leader would be, this place gives all the protection possible to those within it. The more ships you have on the outer positions, the more the central position is defended.
However, be warned! Formations only work when the ships in the Battlegroup are within one thousand units of the Lead Ship. Beyond this distance, the protection is completely nullified, but the system remains useful due to the controls.
Squadrons
Squadrons are groups of ships, most commonly starfighters, although any ship that can fit into the hangar of another ship is capable of being squadroned to it. It is common for these ships to reside in the hangars of larger ships, typically of frigate size or larger. A squadron can have a range of sizes, ranging from a single ship, to an entire fleet of twelve (12) ships acting under the command of one person, who must be on the bridge of the squadrons' home ship. File:X-wings.jpg The squadron command is used to form and control these groups of small and medium craft from a Capital class ship. Each capital class ship has three squadron slots, each capable of holding up to 12 ships. The squadrons are labeled appropriately as 1, 2 and 3.
The first step is to create your squadron. To do this, simply place small and medium craft into one of your hangars on your capital class ship, and use the following command while in the bay with the ships.
SYNTAX: Squadron add <Squadron #> <shipname>
Squadron remove <shipname>
Now that you have formed your squadrons, it is time to sort them into positions: Outer, Midguard, and Center. Positions are used to organize your squadron into protective layers. Only ships in the outermost layer can be hit or targeted, so it may be important to keep your vital ships in the center and surround yourself with your squadrons.
SYNTAX: Squadron position <squadron #> <Position #>
You have formed your squadron and set its positions! From the bridge, you'll be able to launch, control, and recall your squadrons. Scrambling a squadron automatically opens whatever hangar(s) they are in. To recall your squadrons, you must have the bayspace and hangar(s) open, or else your ships cannot be fully recalled! The recall flag is toggle-able, so that if you change your mind you can turn it off and leave them in space.
SYNTAX: Squadron scramble <Squadron #>
Squadron recall <Squadron #/all> <on/off>
The squadron AI is more advanced than traditional autopilot AI. Launched squadrons act like the old "scramble" system and act as semi-intelligent groups of interceptors.
With the squadron command, you can also control your squadron to just about anything you can do as if you were on the ship itself.
SYNTAX: squadron nav <Squadron #/all/shipname> <command>
Here's a full list of additional commands you can have your squadron perform via the nav command:
*Vector/Course/Trajectory/ Face *Velocity/Speed *Proximity/Radar/ Fleetstatus *Chaff/Fire *Hyperspace/Lightspeed *Recharge *Autopilot *Info *Shields *Openbay *Closebay *Aconfig *Selfdestruct *Calculate/Navstat *Gravitywell
Squadron target <Squadron #/all/shipname> <victim/none>
In addition to attacking ships, should you position the squadron over a planet, it will be possible to bombard the planet using projectiles. Bombarding can perm players, and may have serious repercussions if used flippantly. Use this command with care.
SYNTAX: Squadron bombard <planet>
