Morgan, Punishment Spheres and Free Markets!

[Slaughter]

I once played with Morgan using a Free Market... TOTAL DISASTER!! The Gaians bullied me and I had no chance against them, as I was forced by these mad drones to STAY AT HOME!! Since ever I've never touched the Morganites again!

I'm thinking about getting back to the Morganites again, but now with warmongering intentions. Punishment Spheres end the anoyance called Drones, right? Sure, I get no Talents too and minus 50% research, but I think my free market Morganite Economy can cover this well while giving me the possibilty of going into offensive wars!

Is this possible?

 

[Norbert]

I'll give you a little secret. Morgan's +1 Econ means that with wealth, (which dosen't offend Gaia), he has +2 econ, and the +1eps. This, (particularly in the early game) is functionally little different from +3 or even +4 econ...so run Wealth/Democ/Green, with Clean reactors, and you'll ignore you're supply problems while reaping +1eps, a paradigm economy and friendship with Deirdre to boot! Throw in the Command Nexus, and feel free to ignore even Wealth's disadvantage!

 

[TROOPERBLUE]

The best Faction with Punishment Spheres is the University. I just tried Punishment Shpheres with them and i did better than average. Basically, the -50% tech, knocks off the Network Node advantadge and then you dont have to build any Recreation Commons, Virtual World, or anything dealing with happiness. I picked Democratic, Planned, and Power with it and did well. My Research Path was: Information Networks (Given), Centauri Ecology (Free Tech), Planatary Networks, Social Psych, Ethical Calculus, Industrial Base, Industrial Economics, Industrial Automation, Biogenitics, Gene Splicing, Mobility, Flexibility, Polygraphic Software, Optical Computers, and then finally Advanced Miltary Algorithims!

In the beginning I built a Scout Patrol in each city. Explored a little. Built 2 formers first per city before doing anything else, went farm and mine crazy. Got Children's Creche for a Population Boom! and then I Built more Colony Pods. After my cities were finally (truely) ready to grow, after the Children's Creche and Colony Pods, I built a Punishment Sphere!!! immediately, followed by a Hab Complex, and the rest is history. Needless to say, After my growth spurt, they didnt stand a chance. By the way, my allies in the game were Lal and Santiago. It was a great game!!!

 

[TROOPERBLUE]

One thing I noticed with CEO Morgan choosing Punishment Spheres, is that city improvement is worthwhile to have in "big cities" and to "get big" you need the Hab Complex. Also, with Free Market, and not Planned and not Golden Age, how exactly to you expect to "get big" when there is no population Boom?!

 

[Symphony D.]

Also, with Free Market, and not Planned and not Golden Age, how exactly to you expect to "get big" when there is no population Boom?!

Morgan, the Builder: This approach to the Morgan game takes his mercantile nature to heart. You don't profit by killing off your customers, and Morganite-Builders can make utterly obscene amounts of cash. The commerce bonus gives you the kind of windfall normally reserved for the Planetary Governor (magnified further still if you ARE the Planetary Governor), and by running Free-Market,Wealth, and "doping" your citizens into a golden age, you not only achieve pop-boom status (if you're running Dem too), but also get +5 Econ, which does amazing things to the energy you get from your base squares!

Psych slider FTW.

Morgan more or less must run Green if going offensive, but that's more or less obvious from the Police hit Free Market gives. The main utility of Free Market is stockpiling cash that you can then upgrade basic cheap units with and turn them into front line units--Morgan (and most anyone but maybe Yang, actually) never wants to actually build the Army he fights with, and should instead upgrade to it, or simply steal his enemy's.

 

[Stylesrj]

Morgan for teh win!

Don't mock the Morganites. Running a Free Market IS suicide for anyone. Just don't run a Free Market, and you'll be fine...
Funny thing is that if Morgan is an AI, he'll hate anyone running a Green Economy, even though it's more profitable in the long run (Free Market isn't when you have to clean up Fungus and deal with troop problems)

 

[amicusterrae]

It's been a while, but I know I've won with Morgan and Free Market. Of course, it wasn't on the highest difficulty! You really have to go for energy credits, because you'll be a submissive faction paying a lot of ransoms to aggressive factions. If you have a good territory, focus on credits, and stay out of trouble, you should be able to corner the market and acheive an economic victory. Well, unless you wait too long, or have selected a huge custom map of Planet. If your playing Alien Crossfire, though, war is almost guaranteed. As for the police and support problems, there are several secret projects that you should go for to offset Free Market's negatives--the Ascetic Virtues and the Living Refinery come to mind. Clinical Immortality, The Virtual World, also help with drones, and the Longevity Vaccine will increase profits at your best energy base (probably headquaters).

 

[Diviner]

i think getting wealth / green is much more efficient with morgan than free market. basically +2 and +3 economy differences aren't so significant. all you need is the +2 which you will get with wealth. and whats more, your efficiency get also boosted. though your growth will suffer, you don't need that, because morgan has his hab limit strongly reduced.

 

[CamBot]

But running FM/Wealth gives a BIG boost for bases starting out; since Morgan generally squeezes out a lot of bases to get around early Hab complex limitations, the extra energy adds up fast. I usually stay in FM market all the time, and switch to Green/Wealth on a war footing.

 

[Stylesrj]

To solve the Growth problem with Morgan using the Green Economy, I go for Democratic. It balances the growth out back to normal levels and problem is solved... right?

 

[Bllasae]

I always play as the Morganites. It's easy once you get used to them.

 

[Diviner]

To solve the Growth problem with Morgan using the Green Economy, I go for Democratic. It balances the growth out back to normal levels and problem is solved... right?

and that would be -3 support, which bounds the warmonger ambitions, doesn't it? though clean reactor units would solve something of course, but one needs some techs...

I always play as the Morganites. It's easy once you get used to them.

strange, i think they are the hardest to play among the original factions. if its easy you say, what of the others?

 

[Norbert]

and that would be -3 support, which bounds the warmonger ambitions, doesn't it? though clean reactor units would solve something of course, but one needs some techs...



strange, i think they are the hardest to play among the original factions. if its easy you say, what of the others?

Miriam and Gaia are easily harder to play. Lal and Zak? ...not so much.

 

[amicusterrae]

I have always enjoyed playing as the Gaians. Efficiency bonus leads to lots of energy credits, and I enjoy terraforming with forests. The Weather Paradigm and the "green" projects (Pholus mutagen, etc.) are essential. The morale penalty isn't too bad unless you start next to the Believers or the Spartans. Then, get ready to bride them. With the PSI bonus secret projects, a high planet rating, and biology labs, you'll have formidable native forces for military actions. Try to use fungus as a natural barrier with your neighbors, if possible. So, all in all, I wouldn't consider the Gaians a tough faction to play. As for the Believers, I don't know--haven't tried them. That research penalty is harsh, so the first strategy I would try would be to trade tech through diplomacy, and strike against my neighbors as soon as possible with the attack bonus. One think that I would enjoy about this game would be: NOT dealing with Miriam as an enemy!

 

[Milly]

Quite frankly, I don't like free market in the game, peacetime or not. I usually just run wealth and eudaimonia for my money-making needs.

 

[Stylesrj]

I remember my first time playing SMAC, and it wasn't a 100 turn demo. I was the Morgans... I won that game, or I thought I did, but I had fun as Morgan (building cities everywhere for no apparent reason and trying out Colony Needlejets only to find they only deploy over land)