Cornflakes_91 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2017 1:39 am
what does a swirly helix give me as a formation?
Like any formation that's pretty context dependent. What ships make up that formation? Is it defensive, offensive, or commercial? How flat or how deep is the formation in the 3rd dimension? Are there other formations of different ships that accompany the swirly helix formation, or is it stand alone?
Perhaps each dot in the swirly helix is a carrier and not shown are the support ships around them. Perhaps each dot its a piece of long distance artillery nesting among a larger fleet and you want to concentrate firepower in the center without leaving your flanks exposed so youre tapering off the firepower density. Perhaps the swirly helix is a very deep formation surrounding a warprail, and each dot represents an automated turret, and the helix formation is a way to encase and defend the rail from all directions.
Is the swirly helix the only way to defend a warprail or concentrate firepower? no. But it's not necessarily better or worse than another formation until proven. Perhaps it's entirely aesthetic and some cultures prefer their fleets to be shaped like helixes and others like their fleets to be cubes of ships others like spheres, others like cones, others like swarms with no real macroscopic organization.
Humans have spent thousands of years developing formations on the relatively 2 dimensional planes of land and sea and found that certain ones give them advantages in some situations.
We don't have as much experience making formations in 3 dimensions where the enemy can attack from any direction, and as at least one space empire can tell you, giant sphere's aren't always the best.
Yes, i know it's not a formation, just a cheap shot at SW
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