Do Anchors need additional counters?

If you are trying to invade a planet in the current stable build, you've already lost. Invasions only work when they haven't covered the surface or orbital layers in anti-orbital defenses of any sort, be they anchors or Stingrays.

This is why I tend to go straight for nukes and superweapons in an orbital game - it takes less effort, a bit more time, and a bit more resources to pull off. In other words, you can rush a nuke and coast to victory while your opponent is having a panic attack over where your next Unit Cannon will land.

Attacking anything fortified in the orbital layer (unless it involves Jigs) is a waste of your time and resources. Use them to build nukes - at least then you could snipe the commander, or clear a landing zone for a UC shot.

Sure, it works, but it's amazingly unsatisfying. I'd rather the game be fun.

Then let's make orbital into something exciting and interesting.

Let's make OWOM vanilla.

You are welcome to keep suggesting as such, but it's still not the answer everyone wants. I liked the *orbital* changes in OWOM, but I felt the super charged SXX and Hailfire were a step to far. The new surface base defenses look cool, but the only reason they are needed is because of the first two units I mentioned. The changes to the anchor (splitting it into 3 structures with distinct roles) is OK, but is fairly superficial. If you build all 3 structures side by side no one can tell it isn't a single vanilla anchor.

This was my solution to the OWOM... already done on my own system.

I removed the Hailfire and rolled back changes on the SXX and Haley.

I removed ALL surface unit rebalancing. Without new orbit to surface units, there is no need to rebalance the surface to orbit either.

I rolled back the changes on the Anchor and removed the overlapping satellites.

I kept the Flak cruiser and Avenger cost reduction.... but, the only reason avengers need to be cheaper is because the flak ship can kill so many. The only reason you need a flak ship is because avengers are so cheap. It's a pair of changes that can be skipped with very little consequence, however, keeping them around does encourage players to use the excalibur on defense to counter enemy flak ships so I kept them.

I kept the Excalibur... this is a change I'm 100% behind and agree needs to be in vanilla. Something in orbit needs to out range the anchor. It's also the theme of the first post.



Overall I can't say I believe OWOM belongs in vanilla. It does a lot more than change the orbital layer and I'm not a huge fan of all of it. I respect the work that's gone into the mod, it's just not something that I would want to use all the time. My biggest issue being that it shifts the *entire* late game focus to orbital combat and bombardment. I still prefer my orbital combat as a support only environment.

But it isn't a support only environment.

It's the only way to travel between planets. The only way to establish a foothold in the late game. The only way to protect a catalyst rush.

If invasions are the only way we are supposed to defeat enemies on other planets, then I am done. The game doesn't need any more additions. Just remove the Avenger, Jigs, and Orbital Factory.

I hear so much whining from people on the forums about orbital. "It's too boring! It's so laggy! It doesn't fit with the rest of the game! It's a gimmick and I don't think it's worth my time."
The Orbital Warfare Overhaul mod is the most comprehensive, logical, and detailed change to the orbital layer yet presented by anyone in the history of Planetary Annihilation. It's exactly what the game needs, and people are complaining that it made too many changes or too little!
Seriously?
It's never going to be perfect. PA will never be perfect. It has but one goal: to be AWESOME. These orbital changes are, without a doubt, AWESOME.

Let me explain each change individually, so someone else who hasn't ruled it out because *it changes too much* can understand why the changes were made:

First off, the splitting of the Anchor. It doesn't make sense that a unit can shoot at everything in the game that isn't a special unit. It makes it a prime rush tactic (as we've already seen). But, if you split it up, rushing the ground attack sat leaves you vulnerable to avengers, while camping their orbital factory with an anchor leaves you vulnerable to umbrellas. It's rock paper scissors, and it works.

Second, the new ships. The Hammerhead was created to counter the Avenger (it trades better metal for metal against the avenger). The Excalibur was added to counter the Hammerhead's tankiness (it also trades better metal for metal against the Hammerhead). The Avenger was given a series of buffs intended to make it behave like an air fighter (it strafes and turns while moving, for example). In the end, the dev team decided to just implement Awesome Avengers, an older mod I created with burntcustard's help back in October or November.

Now, for the orbital -> ground changes. These really make orbital worthwhile - after all, there really is no reason to build a massive fleet in orbit if you cannot attack the ground to kill the commander. The Hailfire is an extremely expensive meh damage, high health missile ship. It is very slow and extremely vulnerable to other orbital vessels, especially Excaliburs. It is meant (just like the sentinel) to slowly cleanse an area of enemies. However, it has the added bonus of being very good at sniping enemy anti-orbital structures.
The SXX became a "mini-nuke" for a very simple reason: as a sniper weapon, it did not have utility. Sure, those of us in the higher tiers of play could experiment with it, use it for base defense, etc. Most of the time, however, it is solely used to snipe HVTs like the commander or Halleys. In OWOM, the SXX is now the primary weapon used to crack the "full turtle* planets in the late game. It's best coupled with a massive fleet as a *shield* of sorts. Its new effect is now freaking awesome. Were it given some love by Uber's wonderful arts and crafts team ( ), I'm sure it could become something even more amazing. (Alpha, we love you too).

And finally, the economy and ground to orbital changes.
Jigs were given an energy production of -2000 to counterbalance their tremendous metal production. Solar Panels were converted back to a structure (now they are more vulnerable! Yay!), and Jigs no longer explode violently to destroy entire bases in moments. These changes were made to ensure the importance of Gas Giants in games without making it *all about the gas giant.* I've won plenty of games by letting my opponent have the gas giant - I just took more planets and then went after his homeworld.
The Lancer, the G2O railgun, was originally made to counter massive orbital fleets just tanking all the umbrella fire. The downside to one-shotting every mobile orbital unit is a massive reload and fragile health. They are very vulnerable to hailfire spam, so it is wise to cover them with Tesla towers. These towers are dedicated Tactical Missile Defense structures, and they are balanced around the Hailfires. They are also comparatively very cheap.

One last note: The entire rest of the game still exists. I can tell you have not played the mod more than 3-4 times because you speak as if the orbital units are all there is. FYI: Nuke rushes still work. Unit Cannon spam still works (and lags.....). Halley rushes still work. Massive invasions work....if you use the Unit Cannon.

The mod has everything I wanted for orbital:

1. It addresses the imbalances and weird, unnecessary features the vanilla orbital balance possesses.
2. It adds variety and counterplay to a layer that has been utterly neglected throughout the development of PA (until recently, ofc)
3. It makes the gas giant into *just another planet,* in the sense that your eco generation is limited and must be vigorously defended. It also can be defended, unlike vanilla.
4. Super weapons like the Catalyst, Halley, and SXX have been brought in line with Nukes as a viable and fun option with different ways to counter each.

TL;DR
This bandwagon is the most awesome bandwagon you've ever seen. Jump on.

The t2 rocket bot targets anchors and destroys them pretty fast. But the always target groud units first and only aftter they fire at orbital things.
And the umbrella fires at equal range of the anchor and if the anchor is already build it is very hard to build an umbrella there...

The umbrella does not fire at an equal range to the anchor. It outranges the anchor by 100+

A few days ago i totally got my umbrella outranged by an anchor. It was obviously on a small planet, as always and im not sure if it was stable or pte.

If I remember correctly, Umbrellas have a range *nerf* that happens on smaller planets due to the curvature, but that's just something that comes with physics

I've only played 2 matches of the orbital warfare overhaul mod, and one was with a friend just testing out the new stuff, but man I got to say reading this post makes me want this merged into vanilla even more.

I thought I was going to hate jigs taking energy instead of making energy but it actually gives me a reason to build solar and T2 energy again.