Secrets of Troop Transports Revealed
(1) If your troop transports have enough sensor range and speed to avoid enemy combat ships then they don't need to be escorted!
I usually wait until I have Eyes of the Universe and the advanced troops modules (playing on very fast research) before launching my first war around in early 2226. I place 3 adv. troop modules on a cargo hull with as much speed as I can fix (remember to include enough life support). Once I have Hyper Warp III, I can build transports with speed 40. At that point I don't need to worry about escorting them because with Eyes of the Universe and 40 speed, they can fly circles around any enemy combat ships! In my last game an event gave all ships a 50% speed boost giving my transports 60 speed; I was able to launch my transports and invade the enemy planets in just a few turns! I have not tried DA yet but I have read that engines are nerfed to prevent this tactic.
(2) Troop transports may also be used to move your population from maxed out planets to low population planets (e.g., newly conquered planets).
If the destination is one of your planets then the transport does not disappear!!! Also when invading an enemy planet you will always lose one transport but if using more than one you might not lose them all. Each transport that can be filled with troops after the invasion will survive! For example, if you invade a planet using two transports, each holding 3 billion troops (for a total of 6 billion) and 3.5 billion survive then you lose one transport and the other will survive.
