It does. They are called MG turrets and they come at 50 res a piece Sure they won't stop any dedicated attacker at level1. But they provide you with all the early warning you need and make sure that the enemy can NOT just walk into your base.
I totally agree with you , couldnt have put it better Check out my poll on "how long should a game last" , i think thats where we need to start.
sorry, "ninja" attacks are a valid strategy. there are counters to every thing. I shouldn't have to tell you how to counter that, and don't forget, your comm tank has wheels!
As comm you can drop as many turrets at the base as you want. it doesn't mean there gonna get built. Most people are out securing resource points, building forward base's/defense's, fighting, and wasting time sneaky into the enemy base to ninja the enemy CV. All of which are things they should be doing to win the game. Except for wasting time sneaking/ninjaneering the enemy CV. Why because it only takes a little bit of effort to prepare a defense agaisnt the ninja, or respond to counter it. Which means the ninja just wasted the time it took to cross the map, sneak around the enemy, and sneak into the base. Alternate scenario: the time to order the jeep, navigate it across the map, bypass the ml turrets and the walls, and cost of the jeep(80-500+). Time and resource(human, money) that could have been spent to help the team build and fight. When the ninja fails they try again and again and again. Wasting wasting wasting and then if finally succeeding wasting everyones time ending a game that was just starting to become alot of fun. Ninjaneering the CV is easily stopped. But this does not happen because everyone is focussed on the other aspects of the game over looking something as simple as building a turret or two. The commander sometimes doesnt even notice till its too late because the are caught up in building, researching, and giving commands the warnings and signs of a ninja can be easily missed by a commander. Sometimes theres not even a commander and no one knows or seems to care because they are having so much fun. My whole point here is that it is not a valid strategy. It can be easily stopped, but isn't only because of the inherent quirks of an online multiplayer game. If the ninja were skillfully circumventing properly planed and laid out defense's and sensor's then I'd be impressed and accept this a valid tactic. Yet that situation, "the super fotress", rarely manifests itself in empires. And is limited by the types and functionality of the defenses that a team can emplace. The sensors that can be placed like camerra's and the radar. Dont work half the time. When they do see something they just show up in the mini map which can be overlooked , missed, and unclear(cause its so small and jumbled). Or the diamonds pop up and thats not always a clear indication of range and location. ofcourse this information is only relevant to the perspective of the veiwer. Most peopl are on theyre way out of the base and concerned with were theyre going. The commander is the only one who is immediately concerned about his own arse and location. He's busy doing a million other things. When in the comm veiw im not even sure those diamonds. Even show up. There needs to be a verbal/visual warning that says an enemy is pressent when a camera/radar near a commander spots an enemy. The commander under attack warning needs to be more clear for the commander when in comm view. The commander should be given a new option of dropping a limited number of pre-built items. All within the perimeter of a location defined by an area around a new structure well call an "perimeter controller". Once placed it will exist till destroyed or recyled. If destroyed or recycled it can not be placed for another two minutes. And all allready placed items will still count towards the limits even when a new one is built. Only one "perimeter controler" can be place at a time and only by the commander. When the "perimeter controller" is place it would enable the commander to drop 4 pre-built sensors, cameras or radars in any proportion they chose. 2 "level2" MG turrets and 2 "level2" ML turrets. Neither of which can be further upgraded or down graded. "pre-built" means they do not have to be built. Why? Because people dont help or have time to build defences and the commander has no time to do it himself. This new option would enable the comm to set up a proper defence agaisnt ninja's with out the help of the team. And this number of turrets within a limited radius will not have to much of a significant effect agaisnt conventional attacks on the base or the comm. An alternative would be to let the commander drop 2 "prebuilt" sensors and 2 "prebuilt" turrets at the level at which all turrets are curently upgraded to by research. Without having to place a preliminary structure like a "perimeter controler". EDIT: im not sure if a structure like the "perimeter controller" should come prebuilt itself. since you are getting all that "prebuilt" fire power( 4 turrets) once the perimeter controller is placed. So I was thinking that it should be the only part of this scheme that would have to be built. What do you think? Also I figure the "perimeter controller" shoud be a small, turret sized, radar like looking thingy. EDIT: I was just thinking that some revisions should be made to further limit the potential abuse for this system to be used offensively. (1) If the "perimeter control" is destroyed all systems asociated with it should cease to function untill another "perimeter control" is placed. (2) Instead of having 2 "level2" MG turrets and 2 "level2" ML turrets. Reduce the amount of ML turrets too 1. My primary concern is that having 2 "level2" ML turrets in early game is to much defense power. The initial reasoning for having 2 "level2" ML turrets was to counter ninjaneer jeep rushes. 1 "level2" ML turret should be enough to do this. Other revision I have thought of was to have the 4 sensors all be cameras and make it so that they can be placed a little further out from the "perimeter control" yet still have the turret place ment limit further in. Have a slightly extended range radar integrated into the "perimeter control" itself as well as a camera. EDIT: Even better than using the existing turrets in the game would be to add specialized turrets designed primarily to defend against ninjas. A smaller version of the MG turret that can track targets faster and even hit things at point blank range, it would still have the same range as the normal mg turret, do less damge but have a higher rate of fire. An ML turret that can track targets faster, targets like jeeps, fires 4 smaller guided warheads at the same time for a better chance too hit the target, but each warhead is half as strong as the standard ML missle, rate of fire would be equal to the other ML turrets. Has the same range as a level2 ML turret, but structurally is not as strong. EDIT: The perimeter system could give warnings when any of its componets are being attacked. As well as identify which one in particular is under attack. visually and audibly.
The 'perimter controller' idea seems cool, because you can't really use that offensively if the controller isn't prebuilt, unless you manage to get the controller up, and then keep the turrets alive long enough; meh, it would be hard but you could use it. Also, the sound buffer should be extended devs! Right now, if a "Commander under attack" sound is about 4ms into playing, and someone says "I need a medic!" or some other random thing, you won't hear the commander under attack. Or, if they both play at the same time, it's jumbled and is just ignored. One time I was comming, and I had put 1 mg and 1 ml turret near the CV, for anti-ninja, with a few turrets outside the base. The game had continued for a long time, and was at a standstill between our team with most of the map but the other team with nukes and a heavy base defense (entire thing was walled!). I let someone else comm, (Kobalt) who did a great job moving us closer to the enemy. However, there was a building limit, which was the source of this standstill. We had the res nodes, but couldn't build refs on them without sacrificing defenses. I told Kobalt there were 2 turrets near CV for anti-rush, and he recycled them to help us. We were doing pretty good, and making it near the base, when all of the sudden defeated. We got ninjaed, and it was because we couldn't even build a good base. Building limit is the gayest thing in the world. Evar. I can see how a moderate limit would be ok, maybe for emp_money, but not for the huge maps.
I believe they are working on fixing/implementing "enemy/friendly comm under attack" warnings. Radars do show enemy units in base once every few seconds. A good way to stop ninjas. 1. place a U shape wall around the comm tank, with the rear of the tank covered and the front exposed. 2. place a --- wall near the U exit that blocks direct shots but allows you to pull out so you can escape. 3. place a few ML/MG turrets near the entrances 4. place your own radar or camera based on the time in the game in the perimeter or become a grenadier and lay mines in front of the entrance. X=turrets solid line =walls T= comm tank M=mines XX----XX M...M...M .X| T |X ....\_/ this is what I do and I have only been ninja'd once ever, and that was when I did not build my safety box.
I have just won about 10 times during the last few days, many of the times in a row of rounds, by building a VF, then an APC, and then sending the whole team in the APC right in the heart of the enemy base, and it doesn't take 10 seconds for the barracks to go down. Their own people were scattered aroudn the map trying to scout or build refineries, while we literally annihilated the base during the first one or two minutes of gameplay. My newly invented tactic was learned by the enemy commanders afterwards, though, which resulted in what we have began calling blitzkrieg. Both teams rushed here and there and built new bases, while old ones were being taken down. Main bases shifted to opposite locations on the map when both of us commanders tried to APC-rush each other, and I had to keep driving my CV into safer locations. During 10 minutes of gameplay, the main base (barracks + armory + VF) had changed places 3 times. All resources went to tanks and artillery, and if we did not keep moving, the enemy would have destroyed all of our barracks, and vice versa. Starting to build defense would have taken money away from tanks, and it would be wasted anyway, since staying in one place would just have resulted in a quick ninja rush that would have left us with no bases at all. So everybody went across the map in a chaos. What currently would have been eg. barracks surrounded by a turret farm, could have easily been an enemy base including barracks and VF, in less than 2 minutes My point is, that you just have to get used to rushing and ninja'ing. What would be the fun in knowing how to counter a tactic before it has even commenced? It's rock-scissors-paper, but you can always try putting defense and rush in a balance. A better commander will obviously defeat a weaker one, if the weaker one isn't even slightly prepared. The rush tactic enforces the usage of walls and few turrets as the first things to do. Especially building walls to prevent the APC rushes could have given the other team better odds to win the match.
dude the BE comm that match was a noob. Both of your 'stragies' are flawed. Too bad the 11th game was against me ;p
yeah, these are really good games. it's fast paced and requires a good team, but it could work well. BUT. I have the ultimate solution to stop all ninjas forever. I'm not talking about rushes because those are FAIR and good ways to end the match. THIS: is the ultimate way to stop one man engineer ninja assault people. be prepared. ready yet? you will be whoa! not there yet. this honestly isn't a joke post. you just need to appreciate it's greatness. THIS IS IT: a limit of 5 meters ALL THE WAY AROUND your Command Vehicle as to where ENEMY walls can be placed. this means that you can still wall in your comm vehicle if you want to. it means you can STILL trap comm vehicles if you are fast. but you CAN'T just build tiny walls and trap the comm forever, beause within 5 meters he has room to manover. technically, using 2 Engineers it would be possible to make a ring around the CV, but that requires 2 people and would be difficult to do before the comm has made a gettaway.
I don't have a russian accent....and I ninja quite a lot..amazing how undefended a comm vehicle is left although i tend to go for the barracks or radar first..
