Let's talk about advanced / non-standard ways to manage the endgame. It's easy enough to misdirect the AI right now, even on Apollo. When you consider playing against an equally intelligent opponent (or even an AI that could counter your most basic moves), the theoretical possibilities are endless. Post your own, or try these out! (At least a few of these were created by others, like the phasal transporter attack - I'm just trying to consolidate thinking on sophisticated / non exploit end-game strategy)
Purity: Do you create a few defensible fortress settlements, or scatter them across a wide terrain? Human players are presumably much smarter than AI players about identifying and eliminating Earthling refugees, and may be able to perform smash-and-grab techniques that wipe out your carefully defended, 6-pop settlement a turn before victory.
Wide Play: Because of late-game strike power, it may actually make sense to have many smaller settlements, so that the blow of losing one won't cost you the game. (1 turn versus 6 turns) Enemies could counter this by splitting their forces in many directions, but this itself would open them up to counterattack.
Hidden Elf Village: Don't found any settlements until the very last turn, assuming you can keep your Earthlings protected until then. This way, they won't create any telltale one-hex culture squares giving away their position, and you keep your enemies from knowing exactly where to attack.
Emancipation: How quickly should you burn through your military superunits as you defend the warpgate? Mass-producing ANGELs and throwing them into the gate works well enough against AI. The main strategic choice for the warpgate seems clear enough: fewer stronger units, or more weaker units.
Pulling the Plug: Save your ANGELs for the last x turns, throwing in Level 4 Infantry or whatever first. Use outlying cities to protect the core of the empire, fighting a scorched-earth retreat.
Traitor's Reward: Use all of your spies to Recruit Defectors from whoever has unlocked the highest-strength unit. Time these defections to occur on the turn your Emancipation Gate is built, and you may not even need to build another unit.
Transcendence: How do you balance the three divergent tech paths needed for victory? How do you deal with alien hostility when you turn on the Mind Flower? And how do you balance protecting the capital with building expansion outposts for the Mindstems?
Alien Betrayal: Aliens will become irrevocably hostile when you activate the Mind Flower. However, you benefit greatly from Miasma and can easily tame aliens early on if you settle near a nest. So be friendly to aliens for the first 2/3 of the game. Make sure to grab the Might virtue which gives you science for alien killing. On your last tech to get the Mindflower, go on a rampage and use your Tier 3-4 units to wipe out all of the aliens on your continent (or the world, if you have a few spare Orbital Lasers). You shave 5-10 turns off victory, wipe out a military threat, and gain veterancy for your units in one fell swoop.
Contact: Do you take the chance for early victory, throwing out dozens of Explorers across the map? Or do you min-max your civilization to get to Deep Space Telescopes ASAP? Is there a competitive way to pursue this strategy that doesn't depend on the RNG?
Early Bird: Early focus on exploration, namely Purity Level 1 and producing many explorers. If you get the Signal piece from a Progenitor ruin, you're in a simultaneously advantageous and vulnerable position. Once you clear the three Wonders and the 1000 energy bottleneck, you still have to hold the fort for 30 turns. Spend your time leveling up an Affinity and grabbing some powerful units before you commit.
Coy Savant: Refrain from overtly seeking a Contact victory, but do two other things: tech ASAP to Deep Space Telescopes and create a SUPER production city (aim for 150+ cogs). Build 5-10 DSTs and launch them all at once over all of your cities. Suddenly you will be just 50 turns away from victory - 10 (or less) for Decoding Signal, 10 (or less) for the Beacon, instantly turn on the Beacon, and then 30 to victory. If you can pull this off by turn 180-200, you have a decent chance at winning.
Domination: How quickly can you conquer everyone else? How can you prevent others from forming alliances against you or turtling to victory?
Phasal Gambit: Others have posited the Phasal Assault tactic. Launch a Phasal Transporter next to enemy capital, transport a bunch of affinity units next to enemy capital; next turn, kill the PT, throw up a Planet Carver or Laser, fire it at the city, and mop up. The only thing stopping you from doing this to every enemy capital simultaneously is orbital coverage ...
Naval Denial: With either Harmony (Rocktopus), or Purity (50% orbital coverage) / Supremacy (firaxite) and coastal settlement, you can usually extend orbital range to cover an arbitrary amount of ocean. Throw up Planetary Lasers or Rocktopi, defended by a naval unit/hovertank/whatever, and you can effectively dominate the seas forever. Thus you can expand wherever you like, keep an eye on your enemies' borders, monopolize naval trade, etc.
Overall
The primary resource of the late game is information. Knowing how many turns you have before your enemy achieves Transcendence, where they are distributing their Earthling settlements, or whether they have the technology to throw a Phasal Transporter up on that Firaxite by your capital - everything from top-level strategy to single-turn tactics depends on information. Players that can maximize their line of sight, orbital coverage and espionage will in general be the best prepared to win (or prevent others from winning).
Purity: Do you create a few defensible fortress settlements, or scatter them across a wide terrain? Human players are presumably much smarter than AI players about identifying and eliminating Earthling refugees, and may be able to perform smash-and-grab techniques that wipe out your carefully defended, 6-pop settlement a turn before victory.
Wide Play: Because of late-game strike power, it may actually make sense to have many smaller settlements, so that the blow of losing one won't cost you the game. (1 turn versus 6 turns) Enemies could counter this by splitting their forces in many directions, but this itself would open them up to counterattack.
Hidden Elf Village: Don't found any settlements until the very last turn, assuming you can keep your Earthlings protected until then. This way, they won't create any telltale one-hex culture squares giving away their position, and you keep your enemies from knowing exactly where to attack.
Emancipation: How quickly should you burn through your military superunits as you defend the warpgate? Mass-producing ANGELs and throwing them into the gate works well enough against AI. The main strategic choice for the warpgate seems clear enough: fewer stronger units, or more weaker units.
Pulling the Plug: Save your ANGELs for the last x turns, throwing in Level 4 Infantry or whatever first. Use outlying cities to protect the core of the empire, fighting a scorched-earth retreat.
Traitor's Reward: Use all of your spies to Recruit Defectors from whoever has unlocked the highest-strength unit. Time these defections to occur on the turn your Emancipation Gate is built, and you may not even need to build another unit.
Transcendence: How do you balance the three divergent tech paths needed for victory? How do you deal with alien hostility when you turn on the Mind Flower? And how do you balance protecting the capital with building expansion outposts for the Mindstems?
Alien Betrayal: Aliens will become irrevocably hostile when you activate the Mind Flower. However, you benefit greatly from Miasma and can easily tame aliens early on if you settle near a nest. So be friendly to aliens for the first 2/3 of the game. Make sure to grab the Might virtue which gives you science for alien killing. On your last tech to get the Mindflower, go on a rampage and use your Tier 3-4 units to wipe out all of the aliens on your continent (or the world, if you have a few spare Orbital Lasers). You shave 5-10 turns off victory, wipe out a military threat, and gain veterancy for your units in one fell swoop.
Contact: Do you take the chance for early victory, throwing out dozens of Explorers across the map? Or do you min-max your civilization to get to Deep Space Telescopes ASAP? Is there a competitive way to pursue this strategy that doesn't depend on the RNG?
Early Bird: Early focus on exploration, namely Purity Level 1 and producing many explorers. If you get the Signal piece from a Progenitor ruin, you're in a simultaneously advantageous and vulnerable position. Once you clear the three Wonders and the 1000 energy bottleneck, you still have to hold the fort for 30 turns. Spend your time leveling up an Affinity and grabbing some powerful units before you commit.
Coy Savant: Refrain from overtly seeking a Contact victory, but do two other things: tech ASAP to Deep Space Telescopes and create a SUPER production city (aim for 150+ cogs). Build 5-10 DSTs and launch them all at once over all of your cities. Suddenly you will be just 50 turns away from victory - 10 (or less) for Decoding Signal, 10 (or less) for the Beacon, instantly turn on the Beacon, and then 30 to victory. If you can pull this off by turn 180-200, you have a decent chance at winning.
Domination: How quickly can you conquer everyone else? How can you prevent others from forming alliances against you or turtling to victory?
Phasal Gambit: Others have posited the Phasal Assault tactic. Launch a Phasal Transporter next to enemy capital, transport a bunch of affinity units next to enemy capital; next turn, kill the PT, throw up a Planet Carver or Laser, fire it at the city, and mop up. The only thing stopping you from doing this to every enemy capital simultaneously is orbital coverage ...
Naval Denial: With either Harmony (Rocktopus), or Purity (50% orbital coverage) / Supremacy (firaxite) and coastal settlement, you can usually extend orbital range to cover an arbitrary amount of ocean. Throw up Planetary Lasers or Rocktopi, defended by a naval unit/hovertank/whatever, and you can effectively dominate the seas forever. Thus you can expand wherever you like, keep an eye on your enemies' borders, monopolize naval trade, etc.
Overall
The primary resource of the late game is information. Knowing how many turns you have before your enemy achieves Transcendence, where they are distributing their Earthling settlements, or whether they have the technology to throw a Phasal Transporter up on that Firaxite by your capital - everything from top-level strategy to single-turn tactics depends on information. Players that can maximize their line of sight, orbital coverage and espionage will in general be the best prepared to win (or prevent others from winning).
