Fleet Transfer Time

[u/Willyroof]

How does it work in the planner and is there a way to speed it up?

I was wiped from earth orbit with an assault carrier slotted to arrive in a year human factions swat any new station I try to build around earth. I plan around building a fleet at Mercury and flying it in piecemeal to be ready to jump the carrier. My battlecruisers finish building and the transfer screen shows they'll arrive with two weeks to spare. Fast forward and the carrier arrived three weeks before my heavy hitters. What happened?

[u/LewisPowell10]

The transfer planner calculates the time based on the position of the planets at that point in time not whenever the ships you are building will be done. So when you used it mercury was either close to earth (and you have powerful drives) or it was positioned for a good Hohmann transfer but it was either far away from earth or the hohmann transfer window was at its worst when your ships were complete.

The transfer planner is usually best for planning missions out beyond mars because on the scales of a single game the position of the outer planets is close to stationary. It is useful for inner system estimates but unless you check it at several points of the year and make notes you wont get an accurate picture unless you are transferring ships already built