Stuck in a quagmire

from Stardock Forums
What do you do when you can’t seem to win, but you can’t seem to lose either? ;)

I’m currently in year 2202 of a small galaxy and essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place. The evil Drengin Empire are at war with everybody, including me. They’ve succeeded in taking a good number of worlds from the Altarians, who are only hanging on because both the Yor and the Torians have surrendered to them rather than the Drengin.

I’ve been selling technologies left and right to pay for a massive military build up and so far it’s working to hold off the Drengin assault. We seem to be in a no-win situation: their ships and mine seem to be canceling each other out; I take out theirs, they take out mine. I’d like to do something to improve my situation, but I can’t seem to make headway. I’m at 17% for a military victory, 4% for a cultural, and only 2% for research (probably because I sold all my techs). I’ve researched Alliances but no one likes me enough to commit. If the game were to end right now the Drengin would be considered the winners, but they don’t seem to have enough to defeat me any time in the near future.

Any ideas? What does one do in a situation where no one is sufficiently progressing? All AIs were set to Fool or Beginner except the Drengin, who I set to Sub-Human.


~SDC~
444 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Try increasing your research rate. Focus on miliatry techs to improve your existing ships and hopefully to get a ship class they can't make yet. You can quickly turn the tide of a war with a new ship class.

Also, have you built the +starship buildings on your planets (shipyard, advanced quality control, etc)? Ships produced at planets with these buildings have better attack and defence. This could give you the edge you need to make headway.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Sounds like an uphill battle. It depends on how many planets you have, and what your "interior lines" look like. I would choose a sector which they come through the most, and build up a star base loaded with military upgrades, so you can fight with an advantage there. Try to fight them in at least 2 to 1 battles. Get a large fleet, or two if you can to cover a larger area, and have them standby to hit them when they come knocking. Stay defensive until you've built up a good force and a few transports (combat transports preferably). Scout their systems and choose a close one with little defense (they can't be everywhere at once).

When they come back and attack, knock them down, then run for the system you chose, and capture it (hopefully ;) ). Repair your ships there, and build back up for another attack run on another system. Attack systems so that you can keep "interior lines". In other words, make it so that they can't get to your rear systems without you knowing about it, or without opening themselves up for attacks. Keep sensor drones deployed all over, and some on standby ready to be sent out. This way you can see individual ships which they have scouting, and you can hit them at your choosing with superior numbers. Remember, make them rebuild their ships, while you repair yours. Build a starbase in your new sector, and clear them out of there. Keep doing this one sector at a time.

You'll probably find out that when they lose a system or two, the others who are at war against them will start to find success themselves. If you guys are strapped just fighting the Dregins, they must be really spread thin and hurting too. Sell your research you have to the Alterians and any minors for tribute (I usually sell 2 at a time and have on average 200 to 400 a month income from it). This will do 2 things. It will make you money which you need, and it will make the races you sell to friendlier to you. This may solve your problem with Alliances, as they will gradually warm up to you and become "close", at which point, given your common problem, they will probably agree to an Alliance.

Good Luck, and hope you come out on top!



~SDC~
Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
consider declaring peace, use the time to stockpile and aid the Altarian with technology, get the minor races to declare war on the drengin, it will put a lot more pressure on them, if they lose the election, they will lose their bonuses :)

~SDC~