Micromanagement of the base and its workers

[Martian base commander]

Evening.

 

One of the most important and downright fiddly aspects (for me anyhow) of :AL is the micro-management of both your base and its workers.For example,who should be dedicated to the workshop,and the the lab,who should be doing all the surface work ect,all the while trying to be as efficient as possible.

To start with,its obvious that the workshop needs running at least 75% efficiency in order to churn all your kit out quickly.The same can be said for the lab,with 100% being preferable at all times.Its even more important to remember who takes part in your active squad/s while ever they are doing other work elsewhere.Example,is one of your surface workers actually a member of your main assault squad?,then if so,should he REALLY be outside?.

Another important thing is the science dept,do you create specialists in scientific areas?,or do you create your eggheads with a wide range of skills?.

 

You get the idea by now.There are so many approaches to this area of the game,and I am interested in how some of you have dealt with it.I myself have designed my own workforce allocation tables on my comp and printed em off,in an attempt to form a rough copy of who should go where! (in my opinion that is).

 

For those who dont already know,this is my second campaign,as my main base was destroyed before,through no APPARENT fault of my own (read an earlier post of mine in the 'bugs and crashes' section)

[Crazy Gringo]

Due to the constant fightning I decided to send the singleclass scientists/technicians outside of the base and keeping the dual class soldiers home at base.

When you only have one workshop or lab this tactic is sound as you are grabbing all the territory/resources as fast as possible.

Later in the game when your people has gained some experience they can be specialized in various areas. Two or three areas of expertise is not uncommon in my game.

Specialization in the later game can really cut production time down. I guess the same goes for research. Just remember to train those people you got outside the base as well or they will be out there throughout the length of your game.

[Martian base commander]

Nice strategy CG.

 

In contrast,I have the pure scientist/techs at base (as it seemed a natural choice for me),and the others outside.Even so,I am constantly updating my notes ect as I come up with new ideas/strategies.

 

I know what you are getting at though,by putting your most XP'd workers OUTSIDE you cut down the outside work (only marginally),as opposed to having slightly lower XP'd workers.As you say,territorial expansion is probably more important early on than any other area.

 

By the way,did you ever pay much attention to their pathetic histories/pasts?,it DOES sometimes give you an idea as to their possible role at the base.Like I have Edgar as the chief workshop foreman and thats his job,Neil is the chief architect and sometimes conducts surface work,Fernando is the chief egghead,and the lab is his home...and so on

[duezeone]

I keep my main lab at 4/4 at all times, and workshop rarely goes to 3/4. The main thing I do is only take the territories I need for resources and stuff. This frees up a lot of scientists/techs and enables me to get the proper training done asap while running decent efficiency in my labs/workshops. When I do decide I need territories I usually run with a 4/2/2 between my lab (or workshop)/training/trucks. When I don't have anything left to train I will either use the idle guys as extra soldiers or send them in the trucks.

[NickAragua]

Well, right now, I've allied with the *spoiler*, so I've got a total of 10 scientists. 2 of them are up to par with my soldiers in terms of combat ability, so they 'part-time' it in the labs. Otherwise, I have one lab full of experts in the field of research, and one lab which I tap for people to go out and build geosondes/excavation sites/etc or train. The main tenet though, is the lab full of experts. For example, let's say you're researching "Firearms", an Earth technology. This will go faster when one or more of your guys in the lab have "Earth Technology", Major is even better. So, whenever I research something, I reshuffle the lab/training guys to maximize the number of guys with training in its field working on it.

 

Unfortunately, I only have 9 engineers, so I pretty much have to have one of two workshops not full. This is usually the one that's producing non-essential stuff, like extra small-arms ammo and weapon accessories. Otherwise, same principles apply.

 

Also, the other thing that I will try on my next run through is to make sure that groups of four guys have similar training, and that I never have more than four guys with the same training. So, for example, four guys with Earth, Reticulan and Planetology training, and four guys with Medicine, Martian and whatever else.