Mobile Base Maneuvering Tactics (and ram questions)

[Squaggly_Maggleton]

I have heard stories about people with vehicles larger than a tile. How is it possible to move something like that any reasonable distance without having to stop and repair everything? I’m currently using military composite rams on the front of my vehicle, and they get damaged enough when going through trees and pushing vehicles that I don’t see them working for something huge.

Also on the topic of rams, should I put them in a wedge shape or flat? I’ve been using flat and it’s alright at pushing vehicles, but would a wedge move stuff out the way better?

[_k1]

The displayed shape is purely cosmetic.

[Squaggly_Maggleton]

Sorry for being vague, I don’t mean the shape it displays on the frame, I mean when I place multiple rams.

1: flat
XXXXX

2: wedge
X
X X
X X
I use option 1 and I push things forward. Would option 2 push things to the side more?

[SpadeDraco]

[quote=“Squaggly Maggleton, post:3, topic:14209”]Sorry for being vague, I don’t mean the shape it displays on the frame, I mean when I place multiple rams.

1: flat
XXXXX

2: wedge
X
X X
X X
I use option 1 and I push things forward. Would option 2 push things to the side more?[/quote]

Pretty sure the shape is irrelevant. If you bump a vehicle with wheels it will roll in the direction its facing. If you bump a vehicle without wheels it will move in the direction you pushed it. As for you question about massive deathmobiles; they aren’t very popular right now. Repairing takes WAY longer than it used to and there is currently a trend of making tiny deathmobiles centered around a UPS charger. Mine is based off a slightly modified firetruck and I find that I rarely if ever need to even bother pushing things out of the way. I just go around.

[munbeam]

Impressions on the few collision I have seen imply that it is a simple “equal and opposite” affair. Collision may consider the object hit and the offending object, with the exception of some force being further dispersed to adjacent components. Your flat hitting a wall would probably damage the whole line, while the wedge would absorb most of the damage at the tip. Perhaps it is a convenient option should you want to minimize repairs or put a roller at the tip. While it is doubtful the wedge helps push things to the side it may be possible only because the flat option gives no space. Cars would probably be pushed in the direction of your travel and creatures may be pushed back or eventually “roll” off the sides. Consider shape as a means of minimizing damage rather than manipulating physics.

It would be best to avoid ramming trees or cars when possible. Young trees can be pulped with explosions such as the blaster cbm, with larger trees burned down. Cars can be grabbed and pulled with sufficient strength such as when using the hydraulics cbm. They can be quickly dispersed with the sonic resonator cbm, but be mindful of gas or any other explosives.

My own preference is to bias the wheels near the front of the vehicle to allow swinging the back in a wide circle while turning. So long as you have forward movement you can probably turn, and drifting into hoards can be as effective as ramming even at low speeds. Sometimes I can kill hulks outright. Hordes might eventually halt a turn. Since the point is to keep the front of the vehicle clear you could still get back to speed so long as they are at your side rather than your front.

[Squaggly_Maggleton]

Hmm, I might try to add a roller out in front of my flat ram next time I find one, might help in gaining entry.

When I’ve hit something moving quickly, it tends to move in a straight line away from center of mass, but sometimes when I’m pushing cars slowly the front will “kick out” briefly like it’s trying to turn but can’t. I’m definitely gonna build a wedge vehicle soon to test.

Most of the time, I don’t need to push stuff out of the way, it’s just convenient so I can get back and forth faster. CBMs do seem to work well, but most options require stopping and getting out which I’m trying to not have to do. I can cut through ~6 forest tiles at 20mph before having to repair (pretty sure it’s faster than fire for a straight line, when I’m feeling brave I’ll set a forest on fire and try to drive next to it to test) and hordes barely put a dent on my forward speed due to high mass and lots of engines (5x10 with a 7x2 ram on the front). Cars, especially on long bridges, are the main issue here. Trying to push them will move them parallel to the bridge until their wheels break off most of the time instead of out of my way. I also just love the image of clearing a road with some school bus that has a huge metal wedge welded to the front.

On a side note, did you know you can place rams in front of other rams? As long as the front row has one connection to the main vehicle you can delete the frames behind them, and other rams count as connections. This means you can place the front row and replace the frames behind them with rams, or overlap your rams past the edge of your vehicle! I know it’s probably a bug, but with the extra time it takes to install it seems balanced enough (it take 45 extra minutes per ram if the frame used is an extra light).

[Mantar]

Generally I do a quick assessment when something’s blocking me on a bridge. If the car’s in good shape, I’ll do minor repairs (jumper cable, fill the tank) and drive it aside. If it’s in poor shape but has wheels, I’ll gently nudge it at 10mph until it moves. If it’s a pile of wreckage, I’ll hit it with a couple of 40mm concussive grenades from my vehicle’s grenade launcher, then plow through what’s left, as it should be weak enough to destroy it without me taking much damage.

The only things that are problems are wheel-less vehicles in good shape, then I have to decide whether to turn back or do something about them. Military examples are the worst, since they’re so heavy and durable. Even with wheels, I have a hard time pushing the biggest ones, and without wheels, forget it. It’s either find another way around, borrow wheels from another vehicle, or spam dynamite until it’s a pile of scrap that doesn’t weigh so much, because I’m not spending that many of my 40mm grenades.

[TheFlame52]

Don’t make a ram out of rams, make it out of frames.

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Then just take that basic idea and stick it on the front of your vehicle. Try to balance strength and economy, since you’ll be repairing and replacing parts often. I usually make it out of heavy duty frames armored with heavy plating, since metal is cheap. The nubs on the sides there are to prevent the ram from breaking off completely when broken. The bar extending it forward is to protect the main body of your vehicle from shocks.

Don’t ram though forests or other vehicles unless you absolutely have to. Trees are surprisingly tough. With cars, the bigger your vehicle is compared to the other, the better, but no matter what you probably won’t get out unscratched.

[Squaggly_Maggleton]

[quote=“TheFlame52, post:8, topic:14209”]Don’t make a ram out of rams, make it out of frames.

=========
=...=...=
....=....
....=....

Then just take that basic idea and stick it on the front of your vehicle. Try to balance strength and economy, since you’ll be repairing and replacing parts often. I usually make it out of heavy duty frames armored with heavy plating, since metal is cheap. The nubs on the sides there are to prevent the ram from breaking off completely when broken. The bar extending it forward is to protect the main body of your vehicle from shocks.

Don’t ram though forests or other vehicles unless you absolutely have to. Trees are surprisingly tough. With cars, the bigger your vehicle is compared to the other, the better, but no matter what you probably won’t get out unscratched.[/quote]

Heavy duty frame+ military comp plating has 1600(frame)+2000(plating) durability and weighs 256.9 lbs. total.
Military comp ram has 3250 durability and weighs 36.4 lbs.
Parts on the same tile don’t seem to add their durability together they get damaged per part. After you take 2000+ damage either both parts will be fairly damaged or you’ll break your plating(seems random where damage is put on a single tile during an impact so there will be some variance) while a ram would always be damaged but not broken, meaning you just need a welder and power to repair it instead of parts. That and the massive difference in weight more than makes up for the extra 350 total durability you’ll lose switching to rams IMO.

[TheFlame52]

Well, my ram pulls double duty as a minesweeper. Maybe my next Solar Roller won’t have one. Can you stick rams on rams?

[Squaggly_Maggleton]

On a side note, did you know you can place rams in front of other rams? As long as the front row has one connection to the main vehicle you can delete the frames behind them, and other rams count as connections. This means you can place the front row and replace the frames behind them with rams, or overlap your rams past the edge of your vehicle! I know it’s probably a bug, but with the extra time it takes to install it seems balanced enough (it take 45 extra minutes per ram if the frame used is an extra light).

Just call me the Ramomancer!
They don’t just have to be used as “rams” if you use this trick either. They are really low-weight armor for other external utilities. This is my Tardigrade. I have 3 external tanks on the back surrounded by rams just in case I back up into anything.
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
^^^^^
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+=#=+
+&=&+
+H=H+
"==="
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XOOOX
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