Many peopel have been talking about the Ani laser being un-counterable. I had the suspicion it can be countered by just haleying something into it's northpole (before it is completed as it can shoot down moving objects). And now I had just the right GW map to try. Had to rush it a bit since my Support commander was killing the AI opponent, but it worked out. After applying some "planetary terraforming" to the north-pole of the metal planet the Catalyst spots just vanished from the view. I had no time to try out if you could still place them anyway (there used to be a bug taht ground units could "drive" over the no longer existant surface), but I highly doubt it. Lobby ID: 1839582389093808040 I will try if a hit anywhere else on the planet works too. I have some hope it does (the planet must be "undamaged" for the ani laser to work), so you could actually go for the commander/eco on this thing at the same time as disabling the Ani-laser.
I haven't seen anyone say that the Annihilaser is un-counterable. It's very counterable. However, it's an instawin no matter the size of the game and number of players.
If you see somebody building the Ani laster and you being confined on a haleyable object (or need it for that econ to not loose), would you: A. accept defeat after they completed the building? B. just haley into their northpole out of spite? You have lost either way! So at least you can prevent the enemy from getting a win this way. So at least you can go out on your terms and give them a "take that". Maybe even coordiante with the others, inform them so they do not attack you for a while/attack him for a while, etc. I know the AI does not mind haley both thier planets into both your planets if that means your's get destroyed totally (100% chance of commander kill). That damn red gw faction got me that way so often... If there is nobody else in the orbital game, then that guy could have just as well prepared a nuke salvo against you in the same time.
I would stop panicking and start getting intel on their commanders. If someone is building an Annihilaser, you should be well past the sniping threshold of mid-late game. If you can find their comms, you can kill them before the laser gets up, using the moon as a last resort. A smart all-in move would be to build a nuke launcher or two on your moon, throw the moon at the metal planet, then just spam nukes on the enemy commanders from the moving planet. If you have enough eco and the metal planet is far enough away, you'll have launched three or four nukes by the time they get smashed. Or you could just be cheap and build 3-4 nukes or 5-6 SXX lasers and just kill their commanders. Either option is way cheaper than an Annihilaser.
You can do this. I've done it and seen it done in several games now. Halleying any object into the northern pole instantly loses the Annihilaser the ability to fire. It's a common counter-tactic. The annihilaser isn't really overpowered in any game where you have several Halleyable objects. If one team can control the Annihilaser planet AND all Halleyable objects, the other teams already lost.
I wanted to check if hitting the Metal Planet with a haley anywhere would disable the laser. The answer is a yes & no. No, being hit anywhere does not disable the catalyst spots. But even a crater that only goes close to a catalyst spot will disable that spot. And one spot means the whole thing is useless. So as long as the target area is not to far from the northpole, you can also target the commander/base with that haley and still have a decent chance to disable the laser in teh process. A prices hit on the northpole is not nessesary. Game reference: 9146280293198933496 I also found out that hard AI is apparently not smart enough to build the catalyst, but it does build nukes and even anti nukes within limits. Final test: Will a impact on teh southpole or near it disable the laser?
I had a ffa game where someone halley'd the planet 5 mins into the game (under no threat) riding it in like a mad man. And they don't work if smashed in the pole.
Not the worst idea. In FFA it is very easy to loose sight of an enemy for so long he can complete it before you can nuke it. Plus that also took the haleyable out of the equation. Granted if you dislike the laser that much, just play on a map where the metal planet is replaced by the metal_boss variant (a version with a chasm and without the laser spots from GW Faction Leader Battle). You need a mod to unlock that biome type in the editor, but it is a way to deal with it beforehand.
