Defence tactics

This page is dedicated to different kinds of defense tactics and the visualization of those.

Middle Game Tactics

The Death Room

Proposed time to start with this tactic: day 10+ or ASAP.

If you chose to use a mined out base you can use mines to make some "death rooms" in the entrance and just outside, by having ONLY ONE door exposed to the outside world, because raiders don't attack rock walls they will be close by each others when they are trying to break down the door which makes for a great mine place.

If the raiders are spread out and something like one raider attacks the door, then have one colonist (preferably the best repairer) stand on the inside and repair the door until enough raiders have gathered to make it worth activating the blasting charges.
WARNING! the colonist are not under any circumstance allowed to repair the door to 100% and must be drafted before finishing the repairs, because the colonists are stupid and might go out to grow potatoes or something and in the same time give the raiders free access to your base by opening the door!

It is also possible to stack this structure 2 or more times (preferably not more than 4 times because it takes relatively long time to traverse) to implement Defense In Depth security.

▣ - Door
◉ - Blasting charges
◎ - Optional Blasting charges
▢ - Explosion radius
▩ - Rock walls

▲ Outside
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▩ ▢ ▢ ▢ ◉ ◎ ◉ ▢ ▢ ▢ ▩ ◀ The Death Room
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▼ Inside

Good

• Extremely efficient deathtrap.

Bad

• Stupid colonists open the door when raiders are "knocking".
• cost some metal.

Late Game Tactics

Death's Cathedral

Proposed time to start with this tactic: day 100+

Make a huge room (outside, the roof will collapse if done inside a mountain) with stone walls that cover the entrance to your base.
The length of this room should be 45 tiles (use power conduits to measure the distance), the reason is that a M-24 sniper rifle can shoot that far.
The width of this room should be equal to the amount of colonists that you plan to have. or 45 tiles in that direction too.

Make the "inside wall" (towards your base entrance) a huge Fire Wall and in the center of the opposite wall make a hole where the enemies can enter.
Haul away all kinds of Debris, cut all Saguaro cactuses, and remove all other things that can be considered a Cover inside this room, cutting/burning away the Poverty grass is optional.

• Optional: make a Dumping zone around the outer wall and configure it to receive Debris, and designate a large enough amount of debris for hauling.
  
• Optional: build either expensive Sandbags or free Debris a second line in front of the Fire wall but with 1 tile gap between them, so the colonists can hide behind cover but in front of the Fire Wall.
• Optional: if the Blasting charges mod is activated you can line the outer wall and in front of the Fire Wall with blasting charges in such a way that the charges don't damages the walls, and a chain reaction of blasting charges is avoided, but anything just in front of the walls will be damaged or killed, in case of emergency.

Good

• Fun
• Can use weapons with a longer range than turrets
• Very low cost to maintain

Bad

• Very high initial cost
• Colonists can still be injured
• Requires most (or all) colonists to interrupt what they are doing

Other tactics and designs

The "Fire Wall"

An effective cover design is to alternate 2 walls and 1 sand bag, in this way you have 3 colonists shooting out from the same hole, and 2 of them are standing behind full cover, and one are behind low cover, and it can be expanded to be as large as you desire (or the map ends, with ever happens first). like this:

▢ - Sandbags | ▩ - Wall | ◉ - Colonist behind full Cover | ◎ - Colonist behind half Cover

▲ Outside
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◉ ◎ ◉ ◉ ◎ ◉
▼ Inside

Good

Gives very good cover.

sometimes good: because of the limited view angle the colonists will shoot at several enemies if there are a huge attack and the enemies all come storming in, if only sandbags where used almost all colonists would focus their fire on one raider at a time and make that poor bastard very VERY VERY! DEAD, while the others comes closer unharmed.

Bad

The design heavily narrows the attack area, so the attackers must come straight at the defenders.

See also

• Training