AI War:Gate Raids
How Do I Prevent Enemies From Sending Waves Against A Planet?
Q: Once I have control of several planets, it can be a challenge to keep enough ships on all of them to defend them all. How would I possibly hold and defend something like 40 planets?
A: When it comes to enemy waves, it's all about planet adjacency. Enemies can only warp a wave into a planet of yours if there is a warp gate on one of the neighboring enemy planets. So, in this situation what you want to do is destroy the warp gates on all enemy planets adjacent to the planet you want to protect. You can do this by completely taking over those planets, of course, but 1) if they are low value planets you might be increasing the AI Progress more than it needs to be for comparably little gain, and 2) if there is a much higher-level planet adjacent to your planet, you might not have the strength to take that planet until very late in the game.
The solution in those cases it to simply make a "Gate-Raid" with bombers and/or fighters (or something else that moves fast and hits hard), and destroy the warp gate while ignoring everything else. When the warp gate is down, get your surviving ships out of there! This can work with Mark I ships even if there is an Ion Cannon on the enemy planet, but you'll have to bring in more ships, and you'll take more losses. If you're playing on one of the higher difficulties, however, make sure you also check out this topic: Why Are Waves Coming In Without Warning?.
