Hi Guys i gotta question I could do with advice on.
If i issue launch orders to my 10 subs 2 minutes before an enemys 30 are due to hit the outpost will they escape or be destroyed?????

I believe it takes 10 minutes for the sub to be loaded (when the sub is moving back and forth and holds a dotted line to the location). If the sub is interrupted while its in this state, it reacts as if it where still at the outpost.

Basically the closest calls you can make are in ten minute intervals. However if it works out in your time machine, then it should hypothetically work out.

Sometimes, you can get lucky with timing. Because Subterfuge works in 10 minute intervals, the game uses the "Combat in progress" timer to set the battle at a 10 minute interval. If you can launch a sub at that time, it can escape. There is an exploit related to this if you have a shield increasing specialist (Queen, King, Security Chief) on an attacking outpost and you pull them out at the last second, so that the enemy gets the extra shield damage but your specialist can survive if the enemy was going to win. However, it's best to test out yourself with the time machine.

Trust the time machine. As long as no one changes anything, what the time machine shows is accurate (in my experience. bugs not withstanding).

But the launch window is the Wild West of subterfuge mechanics. If someone can accurately explain to you how it works, they know more than I do.

In a recent game I used the launch timing to counter an attack on one of my outposts.

Thinking about it - I wonder if it is a timing exploit and it's easy to use if one sub travels at a different speed than another sub.

In my case, a sub traveling a 1x speed was landing at my outpost. I launched a sub at 2x speed to leap over the sub so I could counter attack that player's outpost.

I used to think that the launch was done because my "10-minute" ticks were different than other players - but perhaps it's the speed that determines the order of launch and attack.

Because my speed was 2x, the subs position is determined first, so at the 10-minute tick, my sub is now in open water. Then, my opponents 1x speed sup determines it's location at the same tick and finds itself landing at my outpost missing my sub.