When last we discussed, we had established many things that were required for a Fortress to work, and many things that are supremely useful for it.
This time, I wanted to discuss another side of the Fortress: Positioning.
- The ideal fortress is positioned so that all firing arcs cover range 1-3 of all friendly ships.
- This is impossible.
- Therefore, the more overlap we have with firing arcs, the closer our fortress is to ideal.
- Range 3 coverage matters more than Range 2, as we intend to explode out of the fortress at the closer ranges. It is also the hardest range to provide full coverage.
- It is impossible for the enemy to be threatening from certain positions. We can therefore ignore any "threats" that would come from those positions, and should devote as little of our firing arc to covering them as possible, as it's wasted geometry.
- One clear example: We do not need to worry about the lane less than a ship's width down the side, as any ship positioned in them would be considered dead already.
- Another example: We can ignore the sphere of influence of an Asteroid, as an enemy ship positioned on one cannot shoot, and is therefore not a threat.
- To this end, we ought to place our asteroids very carefully, as plugging that hole allows for greater concentrations of fire.
- Large Ships in our formation will create larger holes in our firing-arc net than Small Ships. However, they also block fellow ships more efficiently, allowing for turns and banks to cause the fortress maneuver.
