OSG1 - Team One - Da n00bz

[Jabah]

Got it.

Will play within the following hours.

Jabah

 

[Jabah]

Pre-turn

Check Races.
War with Alkari & Silicoids.
Silicoids have ClassIII and Hyper-X Missile (for their bases) and gatling laser and warp3 (for ship)
Alkaris have ClassIII and Hyper-X Missile (for bases) and Ion and warp2 (for ship)

Our base can have shield 8 (PlanetV+ClassIII) so are safe except from Bio attack and classic Bomb. --> try to have a least 1 on all planets.

Check Races.
War with Alkari & Silicoids.
Silicoids have ClassIII and Hyper-X Missile (for their bases) and gatling laser and warp3 (for ship)
Alkaris have ClassIII and Hyper-X Missile (for bases) and Ion and warp2 (for ship)

Our base can have shield 8 (PlanetV+ClassIII) so are safe except from Bio attack and classic Bomb. --> try to have a least 1 on all planets.

Remove all research from the 'front line' planets without at least a base.

There are 2 inferno systems (NE and SE corner) to colonise in our
Remove all research from the 'front line' planets without at least a base.

There are 2 inferno systems (NE and SE corner) to colonise in our backyards
Bootis is set to a colony (toxic as I don't want to scrap or wait)
Dunatis as well.



We also need some gunship with warp3, but that will wait the discovery of weapons, propulsion & force field. Here is what we know (reminder for later)





Sent some ships to Klystron to start attacking the Alkari SoD.

Hit enter

IT
Klystron battle.



Move forward but wait for their fast ships to arrive, 1st volley hit the warhawks, killing 4/7 and badly damaging the 5th one. Ions finish the 5th, 2nd volley at the falcons, 14 to the bin. 5 Sparows shut down by Ion (not very efficient, but the only at range), Merculites retreat (1 lost), Ions retreats before taking too much hits (no lose, but not far) killing another 4 Sparows. Unfortunatly, they bomb and raze the system ...

Primodius (Silicoids, radiated system within our borders) bombing with far too few ships, just scratch 2 factories !!!

TURN1 : 2441
Gion is at max industry.

QUESTION : is sending retreating fleet back to attack the same system considered a cheat or not ? while waiting for clarification, the Klystron fleet retreats to the closest system (1t away)


Jabah

 

[Jabah]

IT

Primodius battle, 1 morey (1 Hyper-X missile boat) defends the planet and retreats against our 27 merculites. bomb 4M this time.
Build the colony at Tauri (Toxic 20).

TURN2 : 2442
Trax, Ursa, Jinga, Gienah (artifact) are at max industry.
The alkari didn't colonised Krystron after razing it, strange or they know they can't keep that safe.
4 techs are already in % stage.

Chat with Sakkra, get Anti-Missile for Improve-Industry8 (old), in case we want a really anti-heavy base bomber. (could help our weapon level ? now we are lvl25).

Send a small task force (+45 troops) to Obaca (UPoor Ocean)in 4t to start removing the Silicoids from the SE quadran.


IT

Primodius battle, same deals

Discovers ClassV & Control Radiated.
Choice between ClassIV (no), RepulsorBeam (?), Personal Absorb Shield, PlanetX or ClassVI -> difficult choice, either bonus attack or defense base... I take the PlanetX.
Choice between Soil Enrich, Terraf40, Cloning, Atmo Terraf or Adv Eco Restor. I go for the cheapest Soil Enrich to let the next leader(s) to have the same problem and decide what is better for later.
Build a colony at Mu Delphi (inferno 40) in the NE and Misha (inferno rich 25) in the SE.

TURN3 : 2443
Bootis, Argus, Dunatis, Proteus are at max industry
Scrap the Toxic colony for a Radiated.
Send troops to capture the radiated Primodius.
Send the fleet to Krystron to intercept a small Alkari fleet (28 pelican & 1 warhawk).

IT
Alkari retreats at Klystron.
Discovers Fusion Drive, start the Impulse Drive

TURN4 : 2444
Helos is at max industry.

IT

Our spies manage a steal in Psilon, chooce between all the tech but Computer, look at my notes (from the 1st turn), Propulsion is range8, Force field in ClassIV, Planet is Soil Enrich, Weapon is Scatter Pack or Antimatter Bomb, Construction is 1 useless (Improv7) 1 ok? (auto repair) and 2 nice (Zortium & Reduce Waste 40%) ... Go for Construction --> the useless but we frame the silicoids.




Primodius: 20vs20, we capture with 9 casualties
GNN headline : We have 26 stars.

TURN5 : 2445
Tech - weapons is now at 29%. Still waiting.
Send a 3 systems attack on Darrian, unfortunatly it is not scan so soldier will have to wait.
Chat with Psilion, get ScatterPackV for ImprovedIndus6

IT
Discover the Stinger missiles, choice between : Ion riffle, MassDriv, AntiMatter BB & Torp, Megabolt, Tachyon Beam ... Go for the Megabolt (some AI have some cheapest tech)
Colonise Paranar (radiated 35 in NE) and Thrax (radiated rich 25 in SE)
Land in Obaca 46vs55 and capture losing 21 soldiers
Reject peace with Silicoids.

TURN6 : 2446
Redesign our Gunship -Ion 4- and MissileBoat -Stinger 4- Scraping the (useless) Sentinell and Colony.




IT
Attack Darrian (Inferno 20), blow the 2 bases.

TURN7 : 2447
Send 50 soldiers to Darrian (in 1t)

IT
Phantos is under attack...
4 bases (Stinger+ScatterV) + 25 Merculite + 2 Stinger facing 2 Sharks, 1 Mako and 15 Moreys



--> no survivor (them) for no casualties (us).

Darrian attack --> they retreat before combat.
Cryslon attack : 12 bases against 2 ions (old) and 19 Merculites --> retreat after blowing 3 bases.
Darrian landing --> capture and get new tech : BattleSuits,

TURN8 : 2448
The Alkari SoD is moving NE from Yarrow, slowly, to Incedius or more likely to Spica, might try tp blow there base while it on mission...



IT
1 shark attacks Tyr, 9 new Stinger4 are there defending. 1st volley desintegrates the shark.
Lost contact with darlok ... THE Alkaris have captured their closest planet.

TURN9 : 2449
Send 162 Merculites + 14 Stingers to Yarrow to 'explore' and blow the hell out of that bird nest.
send 19 Merculites + 9 Stingers to Cryslon as well.
12 Makos seems to approch Phantos.

IT
The battle at Yarrow

Somehow, I missed something are we have only 12 Merculites + 14 Stingers + 2 Ions2 there facing 5 bases+ 1 warbird+1warhawk+28pelicans ---> blow the 5 bases, the 2 warXXX and retreat losing 1 Ion2 (other escapes with 5/150) and some missiles boats.
At Kryslon, barely destroy all the 7 bases thanks to some Ions2 finishing the job (against shield3 base)
Vote: Psilion (19) vs Us (2).
Psilons : 9 for Psilons
Silicoids : 5 for Psilons
Sakkras : 2 for us
Darlosks : 1 for Psilons
Alkaris : 4 for Psilons
We : 18 abstains to be nice
But Psilons say they can tolerate our acts of terrorism ?!?

TURN10 : 2450
The 150 Merculites that should have arrived at Yarrow were slowed by a scout and some bombers (I thought I had removed them)

Do nothing and pass the game.



Few comments.
1/ The SoD is moving NE
- probably to Spica will take another 10t (at least) at warp1.
- still a chance that they move to Incedius (dificult to tell), A 'small' task force is there and 1 Ion4 and 8 Stinger4 should arrived next turn, but even if that enough to crack any decent planet, they won't be able to do lots and the planet despite a few bases might be toasted.

2/ Should send troops to Cryslon, even if it say Terran20, it is a size100 planet with lots of waste to clean. Since there are more than 100 Silicoids troops, send at least as much.

3/ Should scrap all this stupid scout (or move them out of the way), it too easy sending them slowing some troops. In general having Warp2 (scout, bomb, Ion2), warp3 (merculite) and warp4 (Ion4, Stinger) on the same system is a nightmare.

4/ Alkaris have shield4 now.

5/ We are at war again with Psilons.

6/ My missile boat is without computer (and Ecm, shield...) to have the maximum damage on board, since missiles do a fixe amount of damage, computer are probably less needed (Sirian Missile had some computer but no Scanner).

7/ Not sure MoO is great for SG, I spent almost as long getting into the situation (our tech, planets, AIs tech, planet ship... some which without playing the previous turns are even not possible to know) than playing the 10t. (had to make lots of screen shots (like our techs, AI reports, ships encountered) to avoid silly mistakes).

Jabah
Sorry for the small pictures, but it is getting too late for playing with the editor for 17 pictures.

The SAVE

 

[Sirian]

Quick Comments. More details remarks later.

* Re-ordering a fleet to stay at the system it is retreating from is not cheating. The game allows it, and in fact was changed to allow it. (The original version, unpatched, handled retreat automatically and you couldn't do anything). Now, whether or not allowing fleets to stay at a system is "too strong" and needs regulating is another question. This is one of those "keeping my eye on it" issues to see how things go. We will probably eventually have rules covering this, but on a graded scale where different games and scenarios operate at different levels of permissiveness.

* Battle Computers indirectly affect missile damage. They affect the hit ratio. Missiles that do not hit do no damage. Having more of your missiles hit means more damage. Also, initiative is affected by attack rating, too. Moving first and firing first are important to a missile boat. If an enemy ship has high initiative and moves TWICE before the missile boat moves once, it can be rendered completely inept both in carrying out its mission and in mere survival. Neglecting computers on a missile boat becomes increasingly unwise as the tech tree progresses. Missile boats usually don't need state of the art computers, though. If current best is, say, Mark VII, then a Mark V or Mark IV might be the best value. "None" is usually not the best choice, though, unless we're talking about Nuke Boats in the earliest parts of a game.

* Well done on capturing three Silicoid systems and nabbing what I think is our first techs acquired from looting during an invasion. Battle Suits! Yes.

More later. I, erm, need to finish up the final touches on my Imperium One report.


- Sirian

 

[Justus II]

Got it, but it's late, so I will play tomorrow night, which will give me time for

getting into the situation (our tech, planets, AIs tech, planet ship... some which without playing the previous turns are even not possible to know) than playing the 10t. (had to make lots of screen shots (like our techs, AI reports, ships encountered) to avoid silly mistakes).

AND

finish up the final touches on my Imperium One report.

 

[Jabah]

I realized too that reducing the computer level might have been a bad idea. The initiative, we can do without, as I usually was waiting for the ennemy to come closer, the decrease in hit% is more a problem, even if now we were using them to strike on planet which have a very little defence (or not?).

With our new techs and the AIs higher level of shield & missile, it might be good (or not?) to build a 'planet burster' : large ship, state of the art ECM, Shield, Anti-missile, with the latest Bomb (the 50dmg or 40dmg).

Jabah

 

[Sirian]

Having computers on a missile boat is more important if targetting planets (enemy missile bases) for hit and run. Missile bases have ECM Jammers built in. Normally the bonus targetting for advanced missile types counters this, more or less, but that is assuming you keep up in Battle Computers.

This particular game is as much a training/exploration exercise as any other purpose, though, so the more of these finer points that come to light, the better, in my view. In SG format, they stretch out more, too, making it easier to absorb them and remember.


- Sirian

 

[Justus II]

OK, we open with a three-front war, but we are also solidly in the lead. Doing well in tech, although (of course) the Psilons are up by an advance or two in each field. Espionage has been paying off nicely, definitely want to continue that. In fact, we just got a round of tech in, so it’s time for a new ship design. Actually, Jabah just created a new Ion 4, but looking at our current fleet, it’s time to scrap the Scout 2Xs, and probably replace the bombers as well. I think we can make some headway on both the Silicoid and Alkari fronts, while trying to steal whatever tech I can from the Psilons. I also see that our only non-enemy, the Sakkra, is also at war with the other three. Perfect candidate for an alliance, but he doesn’t agree. He will accept a Non-Aggression Pact, though, which I sign.

On the home front, we have a few planets that still need shields, and quite a few still growing and building up factories, but we do have a handful of strong, maxed planets for research or shipbuilding. I keep most of the planets building Ion 4’s, and hold off on any more Stinger 4’s until I see how they do in combat without a computer. We have plenty of missile boats for now, and I want to boost our tech spending. I also beef up defense spending at Darrian, which is on the border, and Primodius, also a border and possible target. I send some of our reserve cash over. I go ahead and scrap the Scouts, although I don’t replace the design yet, I’m thinking about a new bomber with the Omega V.

Start the invasion of Crysalon, by sending 26 from Antarres and 36 from Xudax, due in 3. I will add some from Darrian next turn. I also send a group of Ion 2’s and bombers against Omicron, and redirect our retreating fleet back to Yarrow, to meet up with the 150 Merculites. Send a few of our

IBT: The Alkari SoD does indeed attack Incedius! Good thing Jabah had some newer Ion 4’s and Stinger 4’s there, and more on the way. Here’s the breakdown:



Laser’s can’t do anything to the Ion 4’s, and not much to the Ion 2’s. The WarBirds have the Ion cannons, they’re the bigger threat, along with his armed Colony ships. After waiting one round for him to move in closer, the missile ships and bases concentrate on the Warbirds, then the Colonies with the second round. Meanwhile, my Ion 4’s maneuver along the top edge, to see who will separate from the pack. I move in to finish the Warbirds after the first salvo hits, while the missiles are enough to kill the Colony ships outright. Warhawks take a couple rounds from the planet and Ion 2s, while our missile ships are now spectators. Once all the large ships are gone, it is a steady game of attrition, as I start to whittle down the fighter stack, with scatter-Vs from the planet and my Ion ships, I am killing 60 or so per turn, while he does 10-20 damage to my Ion cruisers. Eventually, he retreats with 128 survivors, all at the cost of one Ion 2.

Yarrow is explored, as his fleet is gone. It is a size-80 Artifact world, currently at 53 pop and 125 factories. I definitely want to take this one intact. A Silicoid Colony ship bombs our colony at Paranar (I thought we had a base there, sorry I missed it) killing 4 pop and 12 factories, but then his ship is gone the next turn (Out of range?).

2451: Launch the invasion of Yarrow, with 24 from Incedius, and 30 from Jinga. I also add another 23 from Darrion to the Crysalon invasion, in 2 more turns. Shift some new ships around.
IBT: At Darrian, the Silicoids arrive with 12 Mako, basically a large missile boat with 5 Hyper-X launchers (2x5, 3x2) and a scanner. We have an Ion 4, 25 Merculite, and 9 Stinger-4’s, and after our first 2 salvos knock him down to 8, our Cruiser goes toe to toe, and he obligingly sticks around as I kill one every other round, until the last survivor finally retreats. More scouting reports, Omicron is a Rich Inferno, I’m not in a position to take it, so I do bomb here, killing 35 pop and 32 factories. We get a message from the Sakkra, as they also notice the growing threat of the Silicoid empire.

2452: I follow up with our Sakkra friends, and this time they do sign an alliance. Obaca chips in 20 to the assault on Cryslon, Nitzer sends 20 to join the assault on Yarrow. Psilon fleets on the move, could be Phantos or Darrian, which doesn’t have any bases yet.
IBT: Chase a Warbird from Yarrow. The ground pounders arrive at Yarrow, and mix it up. Our 74 troops overwhelm his 34, in fact we only lose 7. (I see later he sent 28 transports out the turn before we arrived ). Our assault at Crysalon also arrives, more evenly matched (105 to 110), but the result is a blowout. Silicoids are destroyed, and we lose 23, 82 pop left to stand up the planet! Not to mention all the factories intact. From our two assaults, we get two techs: Class IV Shields from Yarrow, Mass Drivers from Crysalon.

2453: The Psilons are moving in 2 groups, at different speeds, but I’m not sure if they have 2 different targets, or are both headed for Darrian. I shift more ships to Phantos, I should be able to double back to Darrian if the 2nd group passes Phantos for Darrian.
IBT: Yep, he’s hitting both targets, good thing I shifted forces. Main battle is at Phantos. He brings 5 large and 27 Medium Star Wings, vs. my 1 Ion 4, 6 Stinger 4s, and 22 Merculites, as well as 8 bases.

Main threat to the planet are the Sunfires, with the spores, so I target them first. In fact, the missile volleys take out all the large ships, and my Ion kills 3 of the Star Wings before they retreat. Our second battle is at Darrian, where 8 Ion 2’s and 5 Stinger-4’s chase off a Star Wing and a colony ship.

2454: The Alkari are broken, time to go for the kill. I converge my fleet on Altair, from Yarrow and Nitzer.
IBT: Altair has 15 bases, and 3 Warbirds and a Colony. I have 4 Ion 4’s, 31 Stinger-4’s, and our 160+ Merculites. They make short work of the bases, even from a distance, although the first couple volleys reach us, costing me 11 Stingers, but his bases are destroyed (the ships retreated). I chase his remaining small Pelicans from Yarrow. The Alkari ask us to break our alliance with the Sakkra?

2455: Now that we have scanned Altair, time to put some Boots on the Ground! 25 from Nitzer and 35 from Yarrow ought to do it.
IBT: The 60 troops land on Altair, to face his 110. We are again victorious, losing only 15 troops, and capturing 363 factories and Terraforming +40. We also get the GNN message that we control a majority of the galaxy. Meanwhile, some of our older bombers have reached the Psilon colony at Morrig, which he has conveniently left undefended. The planet has 72 pop, but my bombardment kills 8, and 32 factories.

2456: Adjust sliders for Terraforming (manually). Launch task forces to Ukko and Ajax (3 turns) to finish off the Alkari.
IBT: Our first fleet arrives at Ukko, which has 10 bases, but with 72 Merculites, they don’t last long. Bomb Morrig again, killin 11 and 31 factories.

2457: Continue the westward invasion march by sending 24 troops from Altair to Ukko. Ursa is already maxed in pop, now for building the new factories.
IBT: I see another 3 Warbirds and a Colony at Ukko, which I destroy. Our landing force arrives, 24 mil vs. his 90. We’ve been averaging a 5-1 or better kill ratio, but this time I cut it very close, we win with only one to spare, but we do get Iridium Cells (Range 8):

This also puts us in contact with the Darloks, who are also worried about the Psilons!

2458: After checking diplomacy, I decide to cut back on spying, as most races have nothing we would want. I keep a small trickle going in, but less than before. I am able to get a 75BC Trade Deal with the Darloks, but don’t push for an alliance, next leader can decide that.
IBT: Our fleet is now at Ajax, which also has 10 bases, and a couple Warbirds. Once they are out of the way, however, our bombers struggle to get close, losing 9 of 12 trying due to his missiles, and they also aren’t that devastating to the planet bases. Ajax will have to wait for a bigger ship or more bombers. Another battle breaks out with the Psilons at Esper. His 25 Star Wings come in against our Ion cruisers and Merculites, but they don’t make it out alive! Morrig loses another 10mil, I’m amazed that he hasn’t sent some ships to chase my bombers off yet!

2459: I send some more Merculites to Ajax.
IBT: Not a lot, although many planets are now re-maxing at the +40 size. Silicoids ask that I break my deal with the Sakkra, but forget that.

2460: Shuffle some population forward from rear systems. I have left most ships unmoved, for the next leader. Be very alert in the south, near Phantos and Darrian, as the Psilons have ships going back and forth, and some I’m sure are targeted on them. It’s hard to tell the destination with them so close, but at least you can usually react a fleet from one to the other. This turn, you will probably need to move some ships from Phantos to Darrian.

Other Notes:
- I haven’t made an alliance with the Darloks yet, but I’m sure we can.
- I also haven’t scrapped our old bomber, or started our new one, although the design is there. It’s just an Omega V with our best engines, and decent computers and speed. The next leader can scrap the bombers and come up with a new design.
- Also, the first turn some fleets should be arriving at Ajax, and should be able to finish off the Alkari’s last colony, but do we want the rep hit for genocide? Again, I leave that call up to the next leader.
- Most planets have completed terraforming, and are steadily building the factories to use the new land. A few still are putting a sliver into ship construction.
- Although we’ve been making progress in the west, we need to be careful of all those Psilon ships in the south, so I haven’t made any push yet, it’s been all reaction.

OK, lead us to victory in finally grounding the Alkari!

Here's the Save

 

[Sirian]

Down with the Alkari. Vengeance for Klystron! [plasma]

Pound some dirt. Boots on the ground. Knock some heads. Mix it up.


- Sirian

 

[Jabah]

Originally posted by Justus II


- I also haven’t scrapped our old bomber, or started our new one, although the design is there. It’s just an Omega V with our best engines, and decent computers and speed. The next leader can scrap the bombers and come up with a new design.

Do bombers need computer?
Is bombing an automatic hit, or you have to roll attack against defence ?
I guess, bomber might need a tactical speed of 4 only to be able to strike the planet before facing the second volley. (You might need a computer to have initiative - I am answering my own question )

Jabah

 

[Charis]

Some outstanding turns there guys, good job!

I also really appreciate the questions that are going around on the need for computers, and would ask you continue, even if you think you know the answer, please!

I will echo Jabah's comment though, also I'm too new to know if it's a Moo-SG thing or my own insecurity, but getting into context is a *bear*. The diplo and attitudes aren't reflected by a status of war or lack of war, knowing where ships are headed is tough, and I don't have a good sense of 'what should I be doing know'. I think it will come, and things will get at least somewhat better. One thing I found helpful as a reader in other SG's, and which I did myself a lot, was to take an extra few minutes after that significant getting-into-context period - to jot down what seems to be our weaknesses and opportunities, and what you plan to set about doing on your reign. What seems to be the case here more than in Civ though, is that it's a lot more dynamic and fluid. There, I can make a plan and expect 80-90% of the time to stick with it - only an unexpected war declaration or catastrophe would see a big shift in plans. Here it's more like always war in that every front you have is hot or potentially hot, and your exact moves in 5 turns are unknown and will depend more on what your opponents do. This makes for a richer game, but it also makes for a rougher succession.

Charis

EDIT - I have to remind myself... we're only in OSG *1*! The team here is *so* much more on board with the whole concept of a SG, and the skill level higher than for something like (cough) RBD1. It's also clear though... our expectations of ourselves and of the SG experience are higher this time

 

[Justus II]

Good points, Charis. I also think one thing that makes long-term planning more complicated is the tech model. Whereas in Civ, you have one research topic, and generally know to the turn when it is coming in, here you could have multiple techs coming due, and their arrival is unpredictable, so it's harder to come up with specific plans like 'pre-builds' as you would in Civ, you just have to be flexible, and have some general objectives. It's particularily important in planning when to design/redesign a ship, and when to stop production of older, but still useful ships, that you may be scrapping soon.

 

[Isit]

I have it. I should have my turns up sometime tomarrow.

 

[Sirian]

Computers do matter on a bomber. ECM doesn't affect bombs, though, so I think Mark V (or maybe Mark VI) nets you "autohit". Bombs do a range of damage, and like with beams, I think (don't quote me) that additional computer levels continue to improve minimum damage. Meaning, yes, they matter.


Charis: yeah, there is some "always war" feel to this game. It's not quite that bad, though. If an AI has multiple directions in which to push, good relations with them matter. The only times good relations do not matter are:

1) Erratics will declare out of the blue, governed by the dice.
2) If the only targets in range of a given AI are your worlds.
3) If a civ allies with another civ with whom you are at hot war, they may "honor" their alliance regardless of relations with you.

These AI's are coded with high pressure to expand territory. Any of them will attack, with certainty, if their pressure meters rise to critical levels. As soon as all the habitable stars have been grabbed, pressures will start to rise to obtain territory by any means necessary.

There are pretty much four states of relations:

* Hot war (declared war)
* Cold war (undeclared war - same as above, except not declared)
* Brush war (also known as "normal operations")
* Alliance. (Only your allies are true friends, and even they can decide an alliance no longer serves their interests, and break it!)

Hope that helps.


- Sirian

 

[Isit]

Sorry I am running a bit late this time around. I will have my turns up tomarrow morning.

 

[Isit]

I am very sorry but I think I am going to have to skip my turn this time around. I just got back from class this morning with another paper to write which makes a grand total of 5 due next week. This means I just dont have time to take 2-3 hours to do my turn right. Sorry about the late notice, hopfully if things get around to me again school will be over for the summer.

 

[Sirian]

Isit: OK. Pound some books. Boots in the classroom. Fill your head. Learn it up.

Garath, you're UP NOW. Lead us to glory.

- Sirian

 

[Garath]

Got it.

However, I probably won't be playing immediately, since I've got family visiting in RL. I'll get to it within the next day or so, though.

Garath

 

[Ozymandous]

Originally posted by Justus II
Good points, Charis. I also think one thing that makes long-term planning more complicated is the tech model. Whereas in Civ, you have one research topic, and generally know to the turn when it is coming in, here you could have multiple techs coming due, and their arrival is unpredictable, so it's harder to come up with specific plans like 'pre-builds' as you would in Civ, you just have to be flexible, and have some general objectives. It's particularily important in planning when to design/redesign a ship, and when to stop production of older, but still useful ships, that you may be scrapping soon.

I hope I am not intruding (pardon if so) but what you're describing is what makes MOO so much better than almost any other Strategy game before or since it's time.

You cannot plan out every single move and 'optimize' to exploit the games weaknesses time after time. The saying about the best plans never survive first contact with the enemy is especially valid here, IMHO. Not saying you can't plan ahead some, but this game definitely isn't Civ3 where you can sit down almost from turn one and map out 95% of the game and how it will play out. The fact that on it's hardest level it can almost consistently hold it's own and beat some of the best players around is proof of it's success in forcing 'out of the box' adaptable thinking, which is almost never a bad thing in a game.

This is what makes MOO such a great game because as a player you have to always adapt, and use what advantage you get when you can. Yet I don't think I have ever seen something like the Cavalry rush issue in Civ3 with MOO becase there isn't usually one specific unit that can break the game so quickly.

Anywho, glad that everyone is having fun here, and looks like you all are doing well. Good luck.

 

[Zed-F]

Well not until the end-game anyway. High speed bombers pretty much trump all. There are ways to deal with them, but the AI doesn't know them. This does, of course, assume you have some reasonable bombs available to you, however.