/civ4xg/ Endless, Stellaris, Civilization, and 4X

it's not out so I can't fully judge it but none of what they've shown so far looks like it would be enough to save the game

Don't have Civ 6, what's wrong with it besides the art?

Civ VI lobby open come play. Look for Cute Slut's game.

I absolutely would if it wasn't so late.

Well currently, the only use of space forces is in all out battle. The only successful strategy is in complete concentration of force for the purpose of a decisive battle with the enemy fleet so that one of you can begin seiging worlds in preparation for army landings. Aside from destroying mining stations, fleets have no other purpose, and there's no other strategy you can employ.

There's no trade lanes with other empires, nor can you modify your ship templates to pursue different strategic priorities (because there aren't any). You can't, for example, build a fleet of fast corvettes and destroyers, sacrificing armor, and some weapon slots, for additional speed from engines/reactors. Their purpose being one raiding tradelanes, and general harassment; forgoing decisive battle for a decentralized strategy based on using superior speed to be where the enemy is not, and if being able to concentrate your forces faster than an enemy who focus on firepower/armor over speed.

Trade lanes, and planetary vulnerability to raids (for example, slavers kidnapping pops, or use of a strategic bombardment weapon, to destroy some buildings and leaving before the main fleet can arrive) from ships, would both add more strategic depth to the space combat system- as they both add choices. Without choices, and incentives to go one way or another, you're basically stuck with the simplistic rock,paper, sissor, spork weapon/armor system that Stellaris currently has.

Trade lanes could also add opportunity for smuggling, privateers, and even diplomatic lend-lease operations under diplomacy. It could also add very important strategic reasons to focus on ship designs that are based on fighter capacity, instead of simply more weapons/armor.

Long story short: the only viable combat strategy in Stellaris is concentrating your fleet, and there's no substancial choice to be made regarding ship design regarding strategy; the choices are more for the "tactics", than for the grand strategy your fleet is based on. More economic detail adds more options for grand strategy, which in turn gives more choices for optimization of ship design, and the grand strategy you empire peruses.

Useless

sorry

>Waypoint an explorer ship through a pirate portal
>NAP with pirates expires
>explorer ship is stuck in interstellar travel for 18 turns

Seems like another benefit from the Spiritual path, along with taking the Harmony tradition, would be that you'll get significantly less unrest from colonizes of the "wrong" planet type when you colonize them.