Buying/Trading for Minor's ships

I hear it's because it makes it too easy to exploit, eliminate them.

~SDC~

Mentioned last night that I have been trading techs for transports and the aliens are nice enough to load them with troops before they give them to you. Makes for speedy invasions of major races. Bet this gets changed soon

That works on Maso too. The AI shouldn't be selling ships that cheaply.

~SDC~

Settle Ray. I don't think we need any more adjustments on silly things the alien civs do.

Here's a fun one. If you're getting ready for a major strike (fleets parked one sector away to avoid upsetting the AI), buy out the defending ships. Conquer with your transports the same turn. Then, move the newly-bought defenders into orbit to placate the howling masses. You don't even need a warship to take a planet!

I pulled this off once against the Yor by trading away a few battleaxes that were clear on the other side of the galaxy. The war was over before they were halfway home...

If Stardock thought of this, that's probably why the minors won't give up their ships - few systems, etc.

They still get upset at the higher difficulty levels. That's when you see the message
"I better deal with you before you deal with me."

~SDC~