Blocking a war factory or ore refinery

zinc · Post by **zinc** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 12:16 pm

deliberately getting your own tank destroyed to block things from working. Cheat move that should be removed? Or acceptable game tactic?

Speedy · Post by **Speedy** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 1:32 pm

Not sure why you would destroy your own tank to do so- the husk disappears after a while.. and a living tank blocking the path would have the same effect anyway?

Still, it seems like a legit tactic in some way. But one I doubt would have much success.

Unit158 · Post by **Unit158** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 9:02 pm

Fixed in next playtest.

sphyrth · Post by **sphyrth** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:07 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkLBFDzqo9c
In the game above, Microbit has abused this tactic successfully 5 out 8 attempts, using Light Tanks as the blockers.

I have them marked by time.
3:35 - Ore Refinery
3:50 - Fail
4:55 - Fail
7:15 - Ore Refinery
7:30 - Ore Refinery and then Barracks
8:30 - War Factory
9:35 - Fail

It's legal, but I consider it cheap.

----------

I'm only considering that the husks are only valid outside structures. Like a failed attack by the red side (in the game below on mark 15:15) when a tank exploded right into the choke point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T3ea-shXYs

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 1:30 pm

We have made several attempts to fix this exploit:

https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/pull/4941
https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/pull/4867
https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/pull/4517

Some will be shipped in the next playtest.

Speedy · Post by **Speedy** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:03 pm

sphyrth wrote: ↑http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkLBFDzqo9c
In the game above, Microbit has abused this tactic successfully 5 out 8 attempts, using Light Tanks as the blockers.

Oh wow, geez, that IS cheap. I didn't realize it was that effective.. it always seemed to me that husks disappear pretty fast, but the husk was there for an awkwardly long time...

JOo · Post by **JOo** » Thu Mar 27, 2014 1:09 am

JOo = MicroBit

so let me make that clear , it IS a cheap tactic , and it HAS to be fixed .. and it exists now quite some time ...

it is annoying when it happens as early tactic to disturb the economy (aka. block warfs early , so harvester cant out , also blocking refs to stop harvesters unloading) ...

now its fixed , so dont worry about it

im also a fan of "pure skill" , so im happy with some changes against blocking !
but i had to point it out ... streamed games are actually one of the best ways to get ugly gameplay/strats/tactics quickly fixed (ask ripley about engineers)

specially when playing vs devs

dn_ · Post by **dn_** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 1:47 pm

It is a cheap tactic and I am a regular user of it. Good to hear that it's going away

zoidyberg · Post by **zoidyberg** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 1:09 am

This tactic appears to still be in use.... I had a player who rolled a heavy tank in front of my war factory, let it be destroyed, then block off my production until the game ended.

af · Post by af » Fri Nov 27, 2015 4:49 am

It's cheap and tacky, IMO. Does force-firing on the husks still work? I've never seen anyone do that to get rid of a husk.

noobmapmaker · Post by **noobmapmaker** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 9:46 am

Not if it's on a refinery, then you attack the refinery.

An idea is to make husks disappear sooner, based upon heaviness. Light tank disappears in 5-10 secs and only mammoths, harvesters and mcvs take the full time.

But a solution has been found? I do think it's a valid tactic, just way to easy, low risk and gamewinning. Flamethrowers in anapc actually are risky because of the cost.

Post by **Sleipnir** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 11:13 am

The refinery husk force fire issue will be fixed in the release after next.

Post by **Murto the Ray** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 12:27 pm

Firstly:

zinc wrote: ↑ deliberately getting your own tank destroyed to block things from working. Cheat move that should be removed? Or acceptable game tactic?

IMO anything that can be done in the game is valid, even if it is unintended by developers. No such thing as a cheat move or "Cheap" move; cheap is really just another word for insanely time and resource efficient.

Whilst it is irritating to have it done to you if you take it out before it does damage to your eco then you have put the other player behind. The light tank block-off is useful as long as you have a single refinery; with good macro a light tank shouldn't get to you before you have two refineries with a standard build. If it does then it means your opponent has sacrificed something early on for it; it may be eco or units. A few riflemen at key points should be able to detect a light tank in time to get a couple of rocket soldiers made. However, i do agree with changes such as target-able & crush-able husks etc. But then again, how are light tanks useful now?

pulse · Post by **pulse** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 3:52 pm

What if I blocked a refinery with a refinery?

zoidyberg · Post by **zoidyberg** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 11:01 pm

Insanely time and resource efficient tactics have no place in a well-balanced game.