Just took the beast they call Episode 2 down.
This time I had to rewrite the whole thing. Started playing with the strategy from first episode and got to wave 3
1. No changes on the starting distribution of ppl as I figured I need marines to defend the station (although as it turns out, I built so solid defense that the boarding parties never got through
2. This time I started with focusing on station weaponry first, fighters second
3. I never touched the science section on this episode
4. The core of this strategy was to micromanage engineer allocation for every single wave. For this I noticed a slider controls would serve me better than the +- buttons, so the allocation could be changed faster. So for example I ran out of fighters, I put all my 40 engineers to hangars between waves and just when the enemy got close enough, ordered everyone to weapons as the 40% boost really made a difference between winning or losing. Around wave 45 I had to maximize repair just to hold off incoming missiles. At worst station's shield were down and was down about 5% hull.
5. Had 2 hangars, some bolters, 1 laser and 2 missiles (1 set to engage strongest enemys' shield, other turrets)
6. Had time/resources to build couple of missile boats and 2 battleships. I lost one of each.
7. One of the biggest differences between the first and second episodes was that this time I played it real close to the cheast. Had all my ships near the station and only on the last wave when I was sure of winning went all in with ships (fighters dropped like flies).
8. I think one key factor contributing to this times victory was to ignore the carriers which kept their distance. When I had destroyed the mothership, there were about 4-5 carriers still lurking around. Had I went after them, I could've left the station open to attack or boarding from ships jumping in near it.
Had fun this time around too and it was nice to notice how you really had to shuffle around with your game style to beat this one. One thing I noticed (not sure if it was planned this way or not) was that if you order a ship to jump and cancel the jump as it is underway, the ship gains great forward momentum with weapons active. This can be used as means to quickly advance on the enemy, so it really has some strategic value.
Now onwards to episode 3...
