I just got done playing a little bit and captured a Khaak M3 fighter. Granted this isn't the first one but it was in near perfect condition hull wise so I kept it and fixed it up. I have, in total, captured 5 KM3 and 3 had weapons but I sold the first two because I needed the money for the Titan. Now I am hunting the Khaak and capturing many in hopes of getting more of their weapons to equip my fighter. I have also tested it out on the local pirates and found that even with one weapon it is more than enough for any pirate. The Pirate Ship transports go down in 2 full shots (from full energy to no energy) or in 3 strafing runs. I have also captured 3 out of 5 pirate ships I attacked in it. They appear to be more willing to abandon ship now.
Here is a pic of Lords of Steel with 4 Khaak ships on it, one you cant see between the engines on the bottom:
Here is a pic of my new fighter getting ready to head off and get some equipment and repairs:
It is starting to get harder and harder to stop playing because I keep finding new things to do or getting myself into something new that really excites me such as having this KM3 and wanting to get it two more weapons! Damn, I may need to go to X2 anonymous.
*EDIT*
Gambit, are you still playing this or did you start playing another game? I have to wonder how your empire is doing and what things you have learned in the game.
I also went and gave the Pirates Anarchy Base a visit. Sadly they did not like my presence and I was mad about all the squash mines I kept finding so I destroyed it. I get more of a challenge from the regular Pirate Bases with their dozen or so fighters. It was after that that I went to the sector to the south and picked up those 4 Khaak ships, 3 M3's and 1 M5.
I have my Perseus and Buzzard all geared up for fighting now, but neither have trade system extension yet which is nothing major since I am not in them that much. My Nova is slower than the Lords of Steel (M2) so the Khaak M3, which is faster than the Lords of Steel, will become my primary battle ship. I am also trying to bring my UT's all back online. Several had become stuck in an area due to lack of E-cells. Some of them have been sitting there long enough for E-cells to become available again, others I have had to turn into SE's for a while to get the area built up. Then there are those replacements from the ones I lost to the Xenon march. They are all but ready to become UT's, they are lacking the shields needed to activate the UT system and I don't really feel like baby sitting them at the moment to get them the shields. I also still haven't gotten the last GPPC for Lords of Steel, so it is still running around with 18 out of 19 guns. But at least it has 4 out of 4 fighters stationed at it. I haven't had the need to deploy them for defense or attack yet, but I may just take them as an attack wing the next time I play.
I am currently debating if I should build factory loops to supply me with weapons and shields to equip M6’s with that will become sector defenders. This will allow me to just buy the unit, equip it with the needed software then either have it meet up with the TL or a TS to receive all the hardware. It was a pain in the butt to equip my first M6 and M2. But currently I have about 56 million and it costs about 50 million for a TL, but still need to buy shields and weapons for it. Once it is setup then I can quickly start putting together stations and loops from it instead of having to rely on the AI’s TLs that move like snails. Also some of the stations I will need are from races other than Argon and Boron but I would like to have them in Argon space for the time being.
*EDIT 2*
I am starting to learn the limitations of the Titan.
1. Don't let more than one enemy capital ship target you at the same time, they will drain your shields faster than you can destroy them. Example: last night I was blockaiding the Xenon from passing through Thys Abyss when 3 Xenon J's (M1) came in and approached me at the same time from three different angles. By the time I noticed I wasn't going to kill the first one quickly enough my shields were almost gone and systems on my ship started to be destroyed. Needless to say I died.
2. Don't let too many missile carrying fighters with trigger happy AI around you. Example: I was attacking a Xenon sector and had just destroyed several Xenon J's (M1) but their fighters were not dieing as fast I had hoped. The constant pounding of their gun fire prevented my shields from recharging and the constant pounding from their missiles kept draining my shields. I ended up jumping out of the Titan and into my Perseus with its 3 BPSG's and wipping the fighters out of the sector to save my ship.
3. Don't sit still and use the strafe drive without paying attention to how far you have moved. Example: I was blockaiding the Xenon convoy through Thys Abyss and had been using the strafe drive to avoid being hit from Capital ship fire and to get myself into a better firing possition to get most of my guns shooting them. I had unknowingly moved a distance equal to a quarter of the width of the sector and bumped into a station. The station quickly launched its fighters, turned red, and called on the Sector Patrol for help. I quickly noticed that several guns were destroyed along with a quarter of my internal systems. Time to load from last save.
You may have noticed that most my action has been taking place in Thys Abyss. This is due to the fact that the Xenon ship yard is located next door and that the three Xenon sectors up north are emptry of ships, but some station have returned. This means tere is a constant flow of enemies through this sector. This also allows me to get paid for every unit I destroy by the Split empire, and if any unit is captured then they only have to fly to a near by station for cover or the next system up to be sold. I have made about a million credits sitting still in my Titan destroying everything that came in my firing range, only strafing to avoid fire from Xenon K's (M2) and J's (M1).
