Stars! is an old 4X game that I am very fond of. One of the features that I enjoyed was the ability to create minefields to ward off and to inconvenience my enemies. To replicate this element in Endless Space would be good in my opinion, so I present an suggestion for how to implement minefields in the game.

Minefields

Small and disposable devices, these are scattered around wherever the owner wants to prevent enemies from moving freely, be it through causing damage or reducing their ability to fight. Inexpensive to produce and maintain, minefields are part of the ideal defense.





Requires an system improvement to be built before these will be generated.



The number of mines that can be created by a solar system is dependent on the number of planets, with one mine being placed per turn. Minefield technologies would increase this rate by one mine each, and with all eight technologies, each owned planet can generate 8 mines per turn.



Outside of combat, an number of mines equal to the command-point size of the enemy fleet would be destroyed each turn, causing damage in the process. During combat, a dice roll is made to determine how many mines the enemy may set off, and lucky races tend to get a bonus.



The maximum number of mines that can be supported by a system is dictated by the population capacity of that system. For example, six planets that can hold three colonists apiece could hold up to 18 mines.



Mines are destroyed when enemies pass through territory that is generating minefields.



Colonies will field mines anywhere within their sphere of influence. Outposts can only field mines within their own solar system, and the warp corridors connected to it.



Requires research to create mines and to add features to them. Each research type adds an new quality to minefields.



Enemies that fight you within your minefield would have mines damaging them during battle. Mines will be destroyed as they cause damage, and may run out.



Ships can be equipped with an component that allows them to put down mines within the system and connecting starlanes. For each minefield damage technology that is researched, one mine would be placed per turn. That means up to three mines can be placed once the proper research is done. This is different from how planets behave when it comes to mine placement, since planets have more resources to support minefields. Ships can only generate minefields while within an system. This is an passive ability if the ship has the minelaying component.



Minelaying vessels can stack their minefield generation abilities together, up to the maximum that their current solar system could support.



Each mine is randomly assigned one damage type, provided you researched the type that adds that specific damage. When a mine attempts to cause damage, it does so only once and then expires.



Mines from different systems can overlap each other.





Cyclops : Damages enemies, based on latest kinetic weapon.

Firebird : Damages enemies, based on latest beam weapon.

Dragon : Damages enemies, based on latest missile weapon.

Tarantula : Slows down enemy forces

Basilisk : Shuts down some of the enemy ships in battle, reducing performance.

Piranha : Destroyed enemy ships are turned into Dust. Half of the buyout value of these ships is given to the minefield user.

Bloodhound : Latches tracking and observation devices onto the enemy hulls, and consequently allows the user to know the numbers, composition, and movement of the enemy ships. Wears off after three turns.