Losing units = base pop reduction

[Question]

Okay can anyone tell me how this works exactly?

I noticed that if all garrisoned units in a bases are destroyed, the base pop will drop by 1. This is true for most of the time.

But in my latest game there is a caretaker base, the ONLY facility it has are recycling tanks, and everytime i kill the garrison the base pop stays at a steady 3.

Why?

Caretakers have no secret projects that could be doing this, no facilities....so whats going on?

 

[Petek]

This is just a guess, but it probably has to do with what happens to Alien bases when they are captured (approx. half the remaining population splits off into Colony Pods). I recall that if you use Nerve Gas weapons on Alien bases, the population does decrease.

 

[Question]

But ive reduced alien bases via destroying units before.

 

[Petek]

Well, then please post a save game that illustrates the problem. Thanks!

 

[Question]

If i use airstrikes to destroy the garrison for Vinculum base(on a small island to the west), the base pop doesnt drop.

But if i destroy the garrison unit for Thought : Seed(near where some of my infantry are), the base pop drops from 4 to 3.

 

[Petek]

I can reproduce the situation from your save file, but I can't figure out what's going on. The problem doesn't occur with the attached save file. Deidre can declare vendetta against the Caretakers and then attack each base, eliminating the single Caretaker garrison. In each case, the population drops by one. I can't say whether your problem is a bug, a corrupted save file, or something caused by your mod. At least it isn't a game breaker, IMHO.

 

[Question]

So deidre can lower the population of vinculum base?

 

[Petek]

Yes. All seven of the Caretaker bases, including Vinculum, in my save file suffer a population decrease when the last defender is removed.

 

[chuft]

I don't think air strikes have the same effects as ground battles.

For example they don't do collateral damage to other units in a tile (outside a city) while eliminating a ground unit in a ground battle does.

I don't think airstrikes reduce population. It's hard for me to be sure since I am usually doing nerve gas attacks with airstrikes when fighting aliens or playing as aliens, so the enemy bases are always getting reduced regardless.