Poor starting positions

Press CTRL-N if you don't like you're starting position and a new map will be generated

~SDC~

Shoot, thanks term, that sounds very useful.

~SDC~

RC,

You will need to get Quentin Tarentino medieval on the AI's very quickly.

Research Interstellar Tactics asap. Frigates are the first viable attack ship which can take out defending BattleAxes. BattleHammers will, however, defeat them, so you have to research (then build) fast:

1. Social - put Mfg Centers, Fusion Energy Plants, Banking Centers and Research Labs on every planet. Set sliders to 10/80/10 until these are done.

2. Science - Move quickly through Weapons Theory/Phasers/Energy Channeling and Defense Theory/Battle Armor/Space Militarization to get to Interstellar Tactics. Set sliders to 10/10/80 until Frigates are unlocked.

3. Military - Crank out Frigates. You will need 3-5 to conquer your first enemy system. Take no prisoners. Even if your first neighbor is the friendliest AI you've ever seen in all your games of GalCiv, keep heartless. Be Genghis Khan...or die.

4. Accept no peace in your time.

5. Once the first AI empire is totally subjugated, or you encounter BattleHammers, stay in Mongol-mode. Settle only when you are out-teched. At BattleHammer, your Frigates are obsolete. Settle down, take the peace, and survey your newly-found Empire.



~SDC~

why not just use battlehammers instead? they're available at essentially the same time as frigates, cost the same, same attack & defense, have twice the hp and cost less to maintain. their only disadvantage is they're slower and have a shorter range. i always use them for my first big offensive campaign.

cheers

h

RC,

A couple of other tips:

1. All Empires require a minimum, basic set of buildings - those listed in my point 1, post #3, above. Set sliders at 10/10/80 and research these buildings first, then start on your path to the Dark side... Trade anything necessary to get these techs to save yourself turns. You are after speed, not value.

2. Do not lease.

3. Keep spending as close to 100% as possible. You have few planets to colonize, so popularity should not be a problem. Stay Imperial...researching "Trade" (the Tech) to go Republic is a "red herring-path" as far as this strategy is concerned. You are going to "trade" your Frigates for their planets. You can enlighten your rule later. And their planets will probably be better anyway.

4. PQ improvements can wait until Conquest-mode is "off".


~SDC~

Horatio:

Very good point. You can do that too. For range problems, don't research...build exactly 1 (one) constructor and build a SB for range-attenuation.



~SDC~

Thanks for the tips guys. You seem right in that the Dregins or even the Torians start kicking my ass because I'm weak. I guess it's time to lock and load!

Rich: Military strength is a big factor in this game. Get a Fleet ranked 2nd or 3rd early.

Horatio: I decided to play two identical games (tiny map, 1 AI, "brilliant", saved at the first turn). "Game A", I researched & produced BattleHammers. "Game B", I researched and produced Frigates.

Initial impressions - BattleHammers are the better long-range investment. They live longer, level up better, and don't obsolete well into the mid-game (when Battleships/Dreadnaughts are available). Frigates are the better "blitzkrieg" ship. They have more MP's, and can get multiple attacks off. Against weaker opponents (Starfighters, Survey Ships, Corvettes) they can kill more during the initial invasion round. They also have further "reach" (range), meaning you can just physically get to more stuff on the first turn you declare war, and save 2-3 turns not waiting for a SB to get in place. Also, the planet producing the Constructor can, of course, be used for an extra Frigate or two instead.

In Civ3 terms, I look at BattleHammers as Swordsmen, and Frigates as Horsemen. The two units are roughly equivalent, imho.



~SDC~

JD,

Use the starbase "catapult" technique and you won't really need the added movement points in the frigates. I've played games with my Battlehammers arriving in hostile sectors with 12 movement points left over.

JD,

i always pick +1 speed at the start ( which should probably cost more points as it's so darn useful ) and make a beeline for gravity accelerators, so my battlehammers are generally faster than AI frigates anyway.

in any case, i rarely bother building a fleet until an AI declares war on me, since it's just a matter of switching constructor->battlehammer, which results in a fairly large fleet by the time the AI gets anywhere near my colonies. i may build a couple starfighters to go hunt freighters and constructors.

cheers

h

Wow! Good strats, guys! I'm usually too busy doing the "optimum production" thing with my SB's to do Grav Accel's or Reverse whatthemajingees (gee...in the time it took me to remember how to spell that, I probably could have alt-tabbed to the tech tree to see what they're actually called...)

Hor: I usually go for the oddball stuff... Creativity, Luck, whatever...basics (ATT/DEF/SPD) I leave alone. Not because I don't think it's a viable strategy (I do), but because I want to see how the game plays without my affecting its standard parameters externally. I consider this game to be one of the finest tuned (by the BT's) I have come across. It continually amazes me how carefully balanced everything is. The only reservation I have is PQ+15. But I will have to try your suggestion my next game. The speed bonus certainly would affect the decision between Frigates & BattleHammers. Thanks for the insight.

~SDC~