Diplomatic strategies on Maso Games

I normally pay attention to who builds diplomatic translators and try to trade for it (eventhough it is most offently wery expensive).

I keep one trade route with each of the majors and direct the rest to minors. It might be a coincedence but Caranoids always seems to last longest of minor in my games.

If i can each major at war with one or more other majors with same military strength as their one (more or less) i don't mind them dropping to "cool" (the never seem to get any lower if they already have their hands full).

Btw: I think that Alexians are the only of the starting races who will trade techs for cash

On Maso levels the minors will be unlikely to survive again majors in any wars. YOu need to keep this in mind. The Alexians will also be culturally converted fairly quickly, while the carinoids are very very resistant to cultural flipping.

As mentioned above. Don't waste your time trying to get the early trade goods or wonders. Trade for them instead. Trade for Diplomatic Translators as soon as you can afford it.

Paul.

~SDC~

Walldorf: Hmm...I just wrote about this in your vagabond terror star thread. Well, I suppose I can write *on* topic for a change!

In my maso experience the Alexians will usually buy tech, and the Kwilasians/I-League will usually buy tech. I have had maso games where the Alexians will NOT buy tech, and it takes me a long time to get back into the black.

If I want to preserve a minor as a trading partner (for freighters, for tech trades, or for tech sales) I "blockade" that minor by surrounding it with sensor drones and scouts (and an occasional warship if *I* am at war with a major). If the major isn't at war with me, they can't get at the minor. Mini-freighters come and go freely, and the minor's warships can apparently get out through my blockade.

If you are pursuing a non-military strategy, you will fall very far behind the AIs in military techs, but you will pull away from them in green techs and often in yellow and orange techs. These you can trade for the smaller range, speed, and military techs. Once you have a good economy you can even buy the "biggies" like Battleship and Dreadnought, if you pay over 100 turns. However, if you have some juicy techs of your own, eventually some major will offer Battleship or Dreadnought tech in a one-for-one trade. I've even had Dreadnought offered in a one-for-none trade, which surprised me. Mind you, by the time they offer Dreadnought they probably have Ranger tech, but by then your research base should be strong enough to get any tech you want fairly quickly (with some obvious exceptions).

At that point you can continue your non-military strategy (culture bombing, terror star alpha striking, etc.), or you can switch to a military strategy using your strong economy and strong research.

At one time or another all the majors can be good trading partners. None will give you more than pocket change along with the tech trade, but you can garner a lot of IP.

I like to make my trade routes with the majors while fomenting war to disrupt their trade routes. If most of their trade is with me, they are much less likely to attack me. This is especially important with majors of opposite alignment (which is why I try to remain neutral).

Yeah, I know about giving them techs that can be used against me, but I can use the techs more effectively than they can. I do try to trade or give the same tech to most of the majors to maintain a balance of power. However, you can hoard your techs if you give them cash, and occasional gifts of 10-20 bc for 100 turns seems to work nicely.

One thing I don't know: is it bad to refuse a tech trade that is offered to you? You know the sort: weapons theory for your terror star tech, or something equally fair! What I've been doing successfully is refusing the imbalanced trade, but immediately offering them the tech they want in return for techs that I actually want (or even giving them the tech outright, if relations have fallen to neutral). -- HtL

On maso: Never ask for money except from alexians (not always) and minors that pop up later. Try to take all their money for as long as possible giving them everything you can for it, because the majors will drain their money a few turns after they meet them anyway.

If you want diplo translators, either hops a minor will build it or stop your colony ships and switch to 100% social early. The extra colonies will probably do you little good anyway if you can't stay at peace. The majors will meet you sooner, and declare war sooner. Let them build colony ships instead of warships.

Don't be afraid to sell a tech to the ai. Selling 2 good techs of yours for one crappy of theirs is a good idea if you can resell the 3 to the next major and and up with 5 or 6 techs for your own two. Usually, though, you won't be able to because the only thing the ai will have to sell are military techs which they cling to even for enormous amounts of money.

Hermann is correct about keeping techs for one on one trade. That's the best way to get dreads and battleships, and that means that getting the othercrappy techs of the ai is worthwhile.

I'm surprised that works at maso. If I don't build enough colony ships I don't have the economic base I need to compete later on (assuming I'm not trying a One Sector Challenge or some such...which I guess scotches my argument that I need more colonies!)

Assume that you *do* want the DTs (so to speak). What approximate starting sequence would you try? Something like 4-6 colony ships (including ones from secondary worlds), and then 100% social to DTs? Probably need some research in there to have some mfg capacity: manufacturing center? fusion?

I usually have enough time for DT at Maso - possibly depending on the map size. I tend to research Nano-Metal Composition and then switch to 100% social and build Manufacturing Capital first and DT second (without even having build soil enhancement). You may also be able to trade N-MC for some good techs. I allow myself to go a few hundred in debt while doing this.
In the midgame, you can often find a fairly expensive tech that none of the AIs have, research it (100% research for a while) then trade it to all the AIs in one turn. Try to get the techs off them that the others don't have, and then trade those too. You can catch up from a big technological shortfall that way. I hardly ever worry about AIs using techs against me - I only hold off trading them if trying to build a unique project. Trading techs a lot seems to improve relations. I don't trade for IP much, though I do sometimes trade techs for freighters (first checking that the freighter isn't heading for one of my stars).

~SDC~

My trading policy is to send freighters to the majors with the largest military. I need the diplomatic edge with those guys to make sure they don't whomp on me. This is especially important if they are of opposite alignment. I never waste trade routes on minors.

However, I have found that in some games the Carinoids will buy tech. And sometimes the Kwisilians will buy tech. Of course, the newbies always will buy techs, but they start with everything, so it might take a while to get something to sell them. And by then, they are usually taken over (hopefully by me!). I always check to see who will buy tech each game, because it seems to change randomly.

In almost every game I've played, the Carinoids wound up building Diplo Translators. In my most recent game (my first stab as maso) they were only one sector away. I used this strategy to get the translators: take a chance that the trend continues, and then conquer them before they can build anything that can shoot. It's kinda risky eliminating a minor so early, but since I started out with nine planets in three star systems I figured I'd have enough staying power to make it work.

The key to winning that game (tiny map, war party, +2 speed, can't remember the other bonuses) was a) very early conquest, try to take out all enemy star systems in the same turn (usually not applicable on larger maps), and c) if someone else (in this case the Altairans) builds Tri-Strontium Steel), conquer them before they can build a capital ship!!!

I don't even wanna know about those Drengin aphrodisiacs...

In my my higher difficulty games (nowhere near maso however), some minor always get diplo translators, except if I'm very lucky. I can rush buy it, and then try to survive while being with -4000 to -5000 treasury for a long time.
It worked once, but only because I had the revolution event, which brought me a lot of money...

I have one question regarding what Spacepundit wrote (and which I quoted): if you buy a trade good from another civ (minor or major) and afterwards that civ is eliminated, do you keep the benefits from the trade good? It seems to me I read somewhere that youwould lose it (but I'm not sure).

I tend to get Diplo Translators almost every game now, but only because I bankrupt a minor and turn Social spending waaaaay up. But it's definitely worth it.