So you logged off the game to, I don't know, SLEEP, and you come back to find one of your bases attacked and occupied. What do you do now?
There are four phases when dealing with an occupation: Evaluate, Assassinate, Liberate and Retaliate. These aren't steps, or a strict order to how things are done, often they occur at the same time, but they all happen.
Evaluate
First thing you do when you see that attack message is to check the base screen. You need to know what, if any, fleet are on the planet holding the occupation, what debris are left, and who else has come or is coming to the party.
Occupiers come in three flavors:
1. The Profit Player. They'll attack weak bases, scoop up the debris, maybe the trade routes, then leave a single fighter (or other similarly easy to kill unit) behind to hold the occupation as long as possible.
2. The Farmer. They attack and want to sit on your base and feed off your econ. Luckily, they are very much like the Profit Player so once you cost them enough in manpower and time, they'll leave.
3. The Jerk. These guys will leave massive fleets on your base and ignore any attempt (short of overwhelming force, and even then. . .) to dislodge them.
By checking on the size and type of fleet left to hold the base, you can get a general idea of what kind of occupier you're dealing with. The first one is easy enough to get rid of, build enough fleet to pop the occupation force and move on with rebuilding your defenses.
The second and third are harder to deal with, so we'll get back to dealing with them in a moment.
If there are debris on the base, there are probably recyclers. KILL THE RECYCLERS! Nothing else matters, not even your liberation. Farmers and Profit players HATE losing recyclers, kill enough and they'll leave, just to protect them. Jerks will not, but as I said, that's another story.
Pull ALL commanders except for tactical commanders. Once a base is taken, all BUT the tactical commander are worthless. I would go through the reasons why, but only tactical commanders can help you LIBERATE your base later, so all the others must go.
Well, there is another reason: With every pillage, there's a chance that ANY commander on the base, even those NOT assigned there, will be killed. Losing a Production commander is a tragedy and will weaken you in the long run. Losing a tactical commander doesn't hurt nearly as much.
Check the rest of the system. Look for scouts, other fleets and any allies that might be nearby. Warn the allies, make note of the enemy fleets and kill the scouts. You'll never be free otherwise.
If you're lucky enough to catch an attack just before it begins or in progress, do the following:
1. ATTACK! Fighter defenses will tear up fighter drop carrying carriers. You might catch some recyclers too.
2. Spend your money. All of it. There's an automatic amount attackers get for taking your base, PLUS a percentage of what you have in the bank. Spend every last credit and deny them as much profit as possible.
3. Cancel your trade routes. Make a list of who you had the routes with and cancel them quickly. Often a player will make a profit on debris from your base plus the trade routes. DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!
ASSASSINATE
Build fighters to kill enemy recyclers and fodder. Fighters are the main weapon occupied planets have, so build them and use them liberally. The best strategy is to build them in clusters, timed to come out just before the recycling tick, and attack immediately.
DO NOT BE AFRAID OF FAST PRODUCTION! Occupied bases take a 50% hit in production speed, so doubling that will make for normal produciton. It's also a great way to spend cash before a pillage. Make sure they suffer for every hour they're over your base, and this is the best way.
Also build a destroyer to finish clearing out scouts (NOT a corvette, it won't be strong enough to take out other corvettes). Move it around a lot and keep hitting scouts and other small units throughout the sector. Do your best to minimize the number of ways your base can be seen.
Once the recyclers and fodder are cleared, switch to Heavy Bombers and keep up the bombardment.
Farmers will often place large units (Dreads and up) to hold bases. For these build Ion Bombers.
You do have 15+ command centers, right? Then Heavy and Ion Bombers will SHREAD the units like they were made of paper. Crank them out by the hundreds if you can, and make the enemy weep.
Jerks will park MUCH larger fleets over you base, but luckily most jerks are idiots. Adjust your strategy to get the biggest advantage.
Occupation warefare is a slow process, so keep chipping away and you'll be fine.
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Liberate
Freeing your planet is the ultimate goal of occupation warfare. Blowing the enemy off your planet is hard, but completely doable.
As I said, Profit players will leave pretty quickly. Farmers take more effort, MUCH more effort.
You do have another planet in the galaxy, right? RIGHT? Then build a rescue party. Heavy Cruisers, dozens of them, can clear out just about anything short of a freaking Levi. Farmers won't risk Leviathans to hold a planet under normal circumstances, so that's not an issue.
Send in your rescue party and blow the occupier to hell. Then get the debris.
Liberation, however, comes with a cost. Your base defenses will be down and will take time to rebuild. Double production should still be in effect and build up those fighters and other defense fleet as quickly as possible. Farmers may come back, and Jerks DEFINETLY will. Make sure you make it as costly as possible, BUT protect your liberation fleet by moving them off after the first few units come off the line. You might need it later.
Once free, it'll take time for your economy to grow back up, so you'll have to wait on that, but production will be at full strength, so use it. Until your defenses are at full strength again, DO NOT move your commanders back in or let your guard down. Some players will look to take advantage of your weakened state and reoccupy you. Be wary of them.
Retaliate
Of course, the first thought you had when you saw that conquest message was "I'm going to kill that bastard." Don't deny it! But should you and if so how?
Profit players strike and leave, and they're usually massive. Getting all pissy and declaring a personal KOS on the guy probably won't do any good. Instead, consider WHY they attacked you. Odds are good your defenses aren't up to snuff, making you a very profitable target. Revamp your defenses and they'll never comeback. In many ways, Profit players do a good service: They make your bases stronger, if you listen to their advise. Incidentally, you should ask them why they attacked you, you might get some good suggestions.
Farmers may or may not come back. Retaliation against them should be proportional to their response. There's no reason not to talk to them and you'll probably find they'll leave you alone after a while.
When speaking to your occupiers, always be polite. You may end up making friends with the guy. It does happen, trust me.
Jerks, however, are harder to be rid of. Basically, you're going to have to seriously carve a chunk out of them to keep them away. Bring in your guild mates (no shame in this) and pound him into the ground nice and good.
Then leave. No sense repeating the mistake the Jerk made in the first place. The ultimate rule of occupation warfare is this:
Against an active and determined opponent, an occupation will cost more than it's worth.
Make it cost them enough, and no one will ever come back to bother you again, unless they're really stupid. Those guys are the most fun to grind under your heel.
Well, that's it kids. Thoughts?
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