RETURN TO SWITCHBOARD |
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11A. Dreadlord Battle Manual |
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11K. The Evil Empire |
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Return to Strategy Sub-Menu |
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11B.
Colonel's Thoughts |
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11L. The
Robotic Imperium |
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1. Introduction to VGA Planets |
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7. Minefields
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11C. Early
Game Strategy |
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11M. The
Rebel Confederation |
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2. Race Information Sub-Menu |
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8. Combat
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11D. The
Solar Federation |
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11N. The
Missing Colonies of Man |
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3. Friendly Codes Sub-Menu |
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9. Ion Storm
Sub-Menu |
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11E. The
Lizard Alliance |
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4. Planet Information Sub-Menu |
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10. Misc.
Information Sub-Menu |
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11F. The
Empire of the Birds |
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5. Starbase Information Sub-Menu |
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11. Strategy and Strategy Guides |
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11G. The
Fascist Empire |
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6. Ship Information Sub-Menu |
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12. Add-on
Information |
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11H. The
Privateer Bands |
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11I. The Cyborg |
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11J. The
Crystal Confederation |
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THE CYBORG (RACE 6) STRATEGY GUIDE(S): |
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The
Borg |
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by Derek J. Kalweit |
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________________________________________ |
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Contents: |
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1.0
Introduction |
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2.0 Pros and Cons of playing
the Borg |
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3.0
Ships |
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4.0 Colonizing |
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5.0 Planet Management |
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5.1 Planets near
homeworld/starbase |
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5.2 Planets on hostile borders |
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5.3 Planets in enemy territory |
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6.0
Chunneling |
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7.0
Battles |
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7.1
Basics |
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7.2 What ships should I use? |
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7.21 How should I arm my ships? |
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7.22 What engines should I use? |
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7.23 What should I carry
in my ships? |
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7.24 How should I fly my ships? |
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7.3 How should I strike? |
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8.0 What allies should I make? |
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9.0 How should I deal with my
enemies? |
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9.1 Dealing with the Feds |
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9.2 Dealing with the Lizards |
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9.3 Dealing with the Bird Men |
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9.4 Dealing with the Fascists |
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9.5 Dealing with the Privateers |
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9.6 Dealing with the Crystal
People |
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9.7 Dealing with the Evil
Empire |
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9.8 Dealing with the Robots |
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9.9 Dealing with the Rebels |
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9.10 Dealing with the Colonies |
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10.0 Minefields |
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==================================================================== |
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1.0
Introduction |
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The Borg are one of the
most challenging races in VGA Planets to play. Many newbies make the mistake
of trying to play t |
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hem
to early, and fail horribly, and never play the race again. Boy, are they
missing out! As long as you go into playing the |
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race
with the tactical knowledge and experience required, they are one of the most
rewarding races in the game to play! The |
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only
down-side, is in most games, they can take a VERY long time to play a turn--
at turn #30 in a game I was hosting with 3 |
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other
humans(the rest computer-controlled), my turns were taking over 2 HOURS
EACH!!! And at a minimum of 1 turn |
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per
day, it was eating my time up! So first of all, if you'd like to master the
Borg-- or even just play them respectfully, be sure |
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you
have plenty of time to play your turns! Second, be sure to play another race
first-- the Borg is NOT a newbie race by |
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ANY
stretch of the imagination. And lastly, have a calculator nearby-- it greatly
decreases the time you spend with your |
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turn.
I normally use VGA Planets Assistant, so some tactics require, or work best
with this program(available on my web |
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site, listed at the
bottom). |
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With
this guide, I will expect you to have a decent understanding of VGA Planets
in general-- if you haven't read other |
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generic
guides-- or even the documentation--go find some, and then come back to this
one when you're done.. I'm writing |
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this
guide, because there is such a lack of Borg information out there. And not
because there's a lack of Borg players, either-- |
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they
simply don't want to give away their well-kept secrets. I'm a little more
willing to share my knowledge of this |
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wonderful
race, as I enjoy playing ALL races(except maybe the Colonies, but I haven't
really given them much of a chance), |
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and
not just the Borg. Not to mention VGA Planets 4.0 will be out this year, and
this information will be almost useless, |
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most
likely. <G> Most of the information in this guide is self-taught
through experience in local(against Dominate), and |
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self-hosted
games(with buddies of mine). Some tactics I have not actually done, but
there's absolutely no way they can be |
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wrong. <G> Of
course this is all just my rambling-take it or leave it. :) |
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==================================================================== |
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2.0 Pros and Cons of playing
the Borg |
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The
Borg are VERY week early on in the game. They can easily be exterminated, but
if they are, they must be FULLY |
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exterminated,
or they will grow just as large again with their assimilation-I know of a
case, where a Borg player escaped with |
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nothing
but a probe, and he ended up winning the game! Their cubes are some of the
best ships in the game, but are VERY |
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expensive--
in Moly especially. They are NOT an easy race to play, and will take much of
your time each day(or however |
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often you play your
turns). They are, however, one of the most rewarding races to play, when
played right. |
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==================================================================== |
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3.0 Ships |
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SDSF:
Actually this ship is probably more useful to the Borg than to ANY other
race! You don't need to take lots of |
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colonists
with you to colonize worlds, so just send off a few SDSFs and drop a few
clans and supplies(except on Bovinoid |
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planets)
here and there(I use 40 supplies and 30 colonists on each SDSF), and go on to
the next planet, and before you know |
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it,
those planets will have LOTS of colonists on them. And as with most Borg
colonizing freighters, they rarely must return |
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home-- just pick more
colonists/supplies up at an assimilated world. <G> |
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B200
Probe: You should build a lot of these to hyperjump to nearby planets for
scouting, and to build outposts-these |
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outposts
can grow huge in no time with your assimilation. I put 8 supplies and 7
colonists on these, and drop all on any |
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native
world, and 1 colonist only on a planet with no natives, beam up
fuel(mission-- there's usually enough), and HYP to |
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another at exactly
350LYs away(340-360LYs using recent hosts). |
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Watcher Scout: I rarely
build these ships. Pretty useful-- possibly escorts for MDSFs if a cloaker is
picking them off. |
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B41 Explorer: This is a
decent armed transport, however it has a very low mass and won't hold up
against any torp ships. |
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Iron
Slave: This is a completely useless ship-- not only useless to the Borg, but
useless to ALL races. It has only two fighter |
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bays
which can't launch enough fighters to take out most medium ships, and a small
cargo capacity which is useless for most |
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purposes. Don't build
these! |
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MDSF:
This is just the size when freighters start to become useful to other races,
and even MORE useful for the Borg. Use |
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these
for colonizing mostly(why waste a LDSF for colonizing when you can use
these?). This is at about the size that an |
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enemy(especially
a cloaker in your space) would struggle with the decision-- "should I
leave it alone, or is it worth showing |
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him
I'm here." Most of the time, at least for me, when I'm playing a
cloaking race, they'll decide to leave it alone-- however |
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with an LDSF, they'll
usually choose to go for it. |
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B222 Destroyer: These
are quite useful for base defense-- 7 beams are GREAT for burning fighters
off carriers. Not useful for much else, though. |
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Quietus
Cruiser: This is a useful ship as well. Can be used as both armored transport
and fuel carrier. Will stand up fairly |
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well against most
scouts, due to it's torpedo tube-- use mark4 or mark7. |
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LDSF:
This is the PERFECT ship for mineral trucks. Truck your minerals from nearby
planets in the early game, and then |
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later,
once you have decent planets elsewhere, build some LDSFs with low
engines(tech 4-6 or so), and chunnel them around-- |
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you
can move GREAT amounts of minerals in almost no time using only 50KTs of
fuel(each way)! Great for stripping |
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planets of
minerals AND fuel(600 KT of fuel each!). |
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Firecloud:
This is your most useful ship, PERIOD. It allows your ships to move farther,
faster, and better than ANY |
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OTHER
SHIP IN THE GAME! With this ship you can chunnel minerals and money around
for a better economy, chunnel |
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battle
fleets to any other firecloud on the map, etc. Definitely your most useful
ship don't sell this ship, or let it be captured |
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if
you can help it. Offer services only, if you need the money(you shouldn't
need money you should have plenty). |
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ONLY give/trade these to
trusted FULL allies. |
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Biocide:
One of the most feared ships in the game. This is your cube ship that
launches fighters. Not very economical to use, |
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however,
unless you have an ally where you can get free fighters, or you've met the
ship limit, and your ships have to survive |
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longer,
or you won't be able to build another. Great for stripping fuel off planets
when your enemy is advancing(retreat |
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with the fuel-- burn up
as much as you can of it, as then your enemy can't use it). |
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Refinery:
This is the fuel refinery-- load half supplies, and half minerals onto the
ship, and you have that much fuel the next |
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turn.
I find I rarely have a fuel problem when fireclouds move my huge fleets most
of the way, and my economy is in full |
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swing(early if you're
lucky to have nearby natives). |
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STSF:
Super Transport Freighter-- too big for most purposes. You could use these
instead of LDSFs for chunnel harvesting, |
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but it's not
recommended, as you must build them on tech 10 hull star bases(most of your
starbases only need to be tech 6 hull). |
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Annihilations:
These are your cubes with torpedo tubes. These are DEFINITLY your best ships,
but require massive |
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minerals
to build(especially Molybdenum). Outfit these with high-tech beams, and
decent tubes-- preferably mark 4 in the |
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early
game, and mark 7 or 8 later on. Build your torpedoes on mineral-rich planets
with the mkt friendly code-- NOT your |
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homeworld-- you need
those minerals for more ships. |
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Alchemy: I find this
ship useful in mineral-poor games, as you need a lot of Moly. Don't build one
until you absolutely NEED one. |
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==================================================================== |
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4.0 Colonizing |
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The
first rule of colonizing with the Borg, is don't bring to many colonists!
Filling your freighters up with mostly colonists |
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is
something that the other races must do, but you don't need to do. Instead,
fill it roughly evenly with supplies. This will |
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allow
your colonies to start out faster than other race's colonies. On worlds with
no natives, drop 1 clan, and head on to |
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You
should rarely, if ever, need to return to your
homeworld with a colonizer. If you run out of colonists, just back-track
a |
another. This gives you
a higher score, so it's easier to bluff that you're better off than your
neighbors. |
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little, until you come
upon one of your assimilated worlds, and grab more colonists/supplies. Then
take another route of un- |
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colonized planets,
colonizing them along the way. In this manner, you can colonize MUCH faster
than most other races. |
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Once
you colonize a planet, tax the natives to the maximum that you can for that
amount of colonists. There comes to be a |
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point,
where you must use a calculator(or spend hours doing this for each planet
with natives!). Multiply your colonists by 2, |
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and
continue doing so, until you get to the number of natives currently on the
planets(or just over)-- then subtract 1, and you |
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know
the amount of turns it will take before the world is completely colonized.
Now look at the happiness rating. By the |
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last
turn you have natives on the planet, you should be down to 40 happiness
points(on the virge of rioting). Therefore, look |
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at
the current happiness points(say, 94), then subtract 40(54), and then divide
the number of turns into the number of |
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happiness
points you just came up with(difference from current and 40). Then set the
tax rate so that it subtracts that many |
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happiness
points from the natives each turn. By the time you get to 40, you'll have so
few natives, they will be completely |
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gone the next turn, and
therefore won't riot no matter what the tax rate is(but you won't get the $$$
either). |
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With
all these colonists, you don't have to worry about them growing on top of
that, so go ahead and tax your colonists. On |
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worlds
they will die(arctic and desert), tax them so their happiness points will go
down as well never down lower than 50 or |
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so
though, as the slightest military presence, battle, or such at the planet
will throw them into rioting. On your HW, |
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however,
you can leave your tax rate at 0%. This will allow you to build the maximum
amount of mines and factories(don't |
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worry
about defense-- your HW is quite useless past turn 20 or so, other than
building ships). Be sure to chunnel/HYP in |
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money
from assimilated worlds that won't make good candidates for starbases
themselves. You should always have TONS of |
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money on your HW-- 10-20
thousand MC's minimum. |
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On
outposts in enemy territory(or within scanning distance of such), try not to
build any factories until you can cover them |
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with
defense posts as well. Hard to do except on Bovinoid planets, but it'll make
your outpost very hard to detect, and by |
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the time they find it,
it will be able to defend itself pretty well. |
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==================================================================== |
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5.0 Planet Management |
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This
is where the loads of time comes in(as well as with happiness point
calculations mentioned in the last section). You must |
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manage
your planets well. You must have enough defense posts to keep from getting
detected, enough factories to produce |
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loads
of supplies(especially in mineral poor games, so you can use your Merlins),
and mines to mine out the planet quickly, |
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making
it absolutely useless to any other race(once it's harvested). This stuff is
pretty standard for every race, however you |
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get
to build every turn due to assimilation(doubling of colonists, and therefore
maximum structures). |
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Knowing what to build,
and when NOT to build are the key factors. |
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5.1 Planets near
homeworld/starbases |
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These
planets can be quite useful throughout the game-- you can tax the assimilated
colonists and get about 500 MC per turn |
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usually.
After these are harvested of minerals, you might be lucky and get hit by a
large meteor (the Borg are the only ones |
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ASKING
for large meteor hits! <G>). Then you can mine it really quickly(you
still usually have millions of colonists to |
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build
mines if they were destroyed), and bring it back to a starbase to use. At the
very least, these planets are useful to all but |
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the Fascists, as they'll
be stripped of minerals, and most money. The Fascists, however, can pillage
you, getting LOADS of money. |
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5.2 Planets on hostile borders |
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These
planets are the gray area. They're not safe from being attacked, but they're
not in constant danger, either, as outposts |
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in
enemy territory are. Usually, if the planet is quite useless, I lower the
happiness ratings(usually just colonists) to the virge |
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of
rioting, so if the enemy takes the planet, they'll be rioting(the battle put
them there), and be of little use to him for a |
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while. Also, build as
many defense posts as possible at the very least, it will soften up an
attacking fleet for your main defenses farther in your territory. |
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5.3 Planets in enemy territory |
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These
are the planets that you do your best to BURN TO THE GROUND! If there's
natives, you do your best to |
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assimilate
them(ESPECIALLY if they're of a good government). Try to put the happiness
ratings of both natives AND |
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colonists
WAY into the gutter-- negatives are really good. That way, unless your enemy
is the Lizards, they'll have to wait a |
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good
dozen turns or so to get them to stop rioting! <G> This is very
satisfactory, and I even do this on my home planets if |
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I'm being run over by
another race, and I stand no chance. |
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==================================================================== |
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6.0
Chunneling |
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Chunneling
is your main means of transportation over distances. It is one of the
STRONGEST race advantages in the game, |
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but
unlike many other race advantages, it is one that someone else can acquire,
as it's ship-specific. You must do your best to |
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NEVER
let a Firecloud get into enemy hands-- they're DEADLY. You must use your
Fireclouds for harvesting planets far |
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from
bases of minerals/money and bringing huge fleets into enemy territory(or even
just to the border, usually saves |
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THOUSANDS of KT's of
fuel). |
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One
trick that I've heard used, but never actually used myself(I was going to,
but the game ended first), is to bring a |
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Firecloud
outside the map about 20-40 LYs farther than the visible setting(check with
Host or note first messages of game), |
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and
then travel there, to the other side of your enemy. Then, when he least
expects it, chunnel in some cubes, and take him |
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by
beside his BACK side! <G> The only problem with this, is that he'll see
it in plenty of time to defend, usually, and you |
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can't planet hop outside
the map. |
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As
mentioned in the original docs, chunneled ships have their shields down when
they come out of a chunnel. Therefore, try |
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to
make sure that the enemy doesn't know where your receiving Firecloud is when
you chunnel to it he could more easily |
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take out your fleet if he
did. |
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==================================================================== |
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7.0 Battles |
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7.1
Basics |
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The
first rule of war, is to NEVER under-estimate your enemy. When running
simulations, unless you're SURE of |
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otherwise, figure for a
maxed-out ship. |
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Always
OVER-estimate what you'll need to take out a battle-fleet or empire, and
don't strike until all your forces are in |
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position--
striking to early with one, and not being able to follow through with the
second blow fast enough, will give your |
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enemy too much time to
prepare. |
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Secondly,
NEVER leave your bases un-guarded. A well-planned attack can easily knock out
a starbase-- even cloakers. Before |
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I
was ready to play the Borg, I did so, and had my HW taken by Lizard Cruisers
very early in the game. If I had a cube or |
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two
there, I could have saved it, or better yet, I could have counter-attacked,
as I knew where his, much more important, |
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homeworld was. |
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Thirdly,
and this might seem contradictory, don't be afraid to take risks. You'll
never win by "playing it safe." Weigh the |
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odds,
the benefits, and the consequences of what you do, and make a decision based
on that. If there's a lot to gain from |
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making
an attack, DO SO! Even if there's much to lose if you don't win, someone else
will probably attack you anyway, and |
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you'll lose anyway. |
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7.2 What ships should I use? |
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Many
Borg novices, run simulations of their ships against other ships, and find
that the Biocide fairs very well against most |
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ships
in the game. This is true, however, a Biocide with enough fighters costs MUCH
more than a few good Annihilations, |
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unless,
of course, you have a nice ally that can supply you with free fighters.
<G> An Annihilation also has 100KT more |
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mass(960
than the Biocide(860). Both are gas guzzlers, and should be mostly
transported simply with Fireclouds, unless |
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you're
purposely trying to burn up gas to keep enemies from using it. These ships
are the backbone of your fleet, and most |
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players
know it. You must have a good economy going before you can build
these(minerals mostly, but also money), so |
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make economy
your #1 priority at the start of the game. |
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HYP
probes are useless in battle-- they will only burn off 4 fighters before
being destroyed, and don't cause a lic of damage |
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against any torp ships.
Use these ships only for colonizing, money transporting, and spying. |
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Fireclouds
do pretty bad in battle. They'll burn of some fighters, and maybe be able to
throw a few torps if you have them, |
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but not much else. Also,
the chance of them getting captured isn't worth the risk of sending these
into battle. |
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7.21 How should I arm my ships? |
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Beams
on cube ships should be Heavy Blasters at the minimum. The chances that a
race will try to use minefields to defend |
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themselves
is high, so you must be able to sweep them. Mark 4 torpedoes are good early
in the game, but mark 7 or 8 is |
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required
past turn 20 or so, to do respectable damage, and last through many fights--
especially against fighter carriers. Don't |
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carry
more than 100-175 torps unless you're specifically trying to use up resources
on an outpost world-- better that the torps |
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are wasted, than for the
enemy to build them, right? Same goes for fighters-- don't put more than
100-130 or so on a Biocide- |
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- any more will simply
be wasted, and at 100MC a piece, these are quite pricey to lose!! |
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HYP
probes should be minimally armed. 2 Xrays is usually plenty-- better than
putting lasers, as lasers will do more to bring |
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down
someone's shields(kill 3 versus Xray's kill 1). Be sure to put 2 Xrays, as
you want to be able to capture freighters if you |
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can-- 2 Xrays will
nicely capture a LDSF-- 1 Xray will not. |
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I
usually have Disrupters or Heavy Disrupters on my Fireclouds. This way, I can
capture freighters and small ships for my |
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own use. I usually put
on Mark 4 tubes if I can help it, so I can lay minefields or similar if
necessary. |
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7.22 What engines should I use? |
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On
cubes, you should have a minimum of warp 6 or 7. Using Transwarps ESPECIALLY
if you're chunneling them in, is |
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wasteful
at 6 engines a ship! That's 1800 MCs per ship!!! Some people use Transwarps
on one, and then tow another one-- this |
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should
work fairly well, but don't put less than warp 6 engines on the one being
towed, because if the tower is destroyed, |
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you
don't want the other ship to be COMPLETELY abandoned. Also, if necessary,
OVERDRIVE your engines. Sometimes |
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it's
better for your enemy to think you have more than you have-- especially if
the ES bonus is on, as they'll figure for tech |
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10 ships if they see you
traveling at warp 9! <G> |
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HYP
ships should have a maximum of warp8 engines, and an average of warp 6-7,
depending on their specific purpose. If the |
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ES Bonus is on, I
recommend going lower, as you want these babies destroyed, NOT captured! |
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Fireclouds
should definitely have Transwarps, unless they are simply a receiver at a
starbase or such. Don't worry about |
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making
it easier for enemies who capture your Fireclouds(knock on wood!), as most
competent enemies would be |
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escorting/towing such a
prize anyway, even after they cloned it. |
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7.23 What should I carry in my
ships? |
|
|
You
should always have free room on your cubes, as when you destroy a ship, you
get the minerals/fuel from it. However, |
|
|
don't
take this to an extreme, as usually those minerals aren't to useful--
especially on the front lines. It's always a good idea |
|
|
to
carry supplies-- maybe 100-200 per cube, as then if you're hit by a mine or
Glory Device, you can repair yourself(1% for |
|
|
ever
5 supplies), without having to stop, and perform the repair self mission.
This is ESPECIALLY important when playing |
|
|
against
the Fascists, as they will do their best to throw as many GDs as possible at
you, to soften up your fleet before they |
|
|
confront
you with their warships. You should also carry torps/fighters of course,
mention in 6.21, and maybe some |
|
|
colonists, and even
money for making more torpedoes. |
|
|
HYP
ships shouldn't carry anything, except when colonizing or transferring money.
If you have multiple probes, try |
|
|
splitting
the money among numerous ships, going different routes back home, so that if
one gets destroyed/captured, all of |
|
|
your
money won't be gone. Of course this is only very useful when you're
transferring large sums(20,000+). It's not worth |
|
|
the effort for a measly
5,000 or less. |
|
|
Fireclouds
should carry colonists and supplies, so they can colonize on their way to
where they are going. The supplies will |
|
|
also
help against GD hits, mine hits, etc. You might want to carry a small amount
of torps as well, so you can defend better |
|
|
against some of the
larger medium warships. |
|
|
7.24 How should I fly my ships? |
|
|
Planet
hop whenever possible-- give your position and identity away only when it
benefits you. NEVER show your heading-- |
|
|
make
it seem like you're heading to one planet when you are indeed heading to
another, etc. Fly in erratic zig-zag patterns |
|
|
when
flying out in the open. Once in a while, travel just short of your
destination in a straight line to simply frustrate a |
|
|
cloaker
trying to intercept you! And always set your primary enemy to privateer! They
are the only enemy that can do you |
|
|
great
harm without attacking-- you DO want to pick a fight with them you do NOT
want to find your ships and their |
|
|
ship(s)
in the same place in space. Do your best to travel in ion storms to
discourage cloakers from trying to intercept |
|
|
you(especially
Privateers)-- so many cloakers forget to figure for ion storms uncloaking
their ships! <G> |
|
|
7.3 How should I strike? |
|
|
Striking
is all dependent on your style of play. I prefer to attack from multiple
directions, splitting my enemies defending |
|
|
forces.
The best way, is to send in 3 forces visibly, and then when he sends his
ships to intercept, send in a 4th and possibly |
|
|
5th
strike from behind to attack his planets with weaker defenses. This way you
win either way if he leaves his ships on his |
|
|
planets,
you can have 5 strike forces to take care of them, and then the planet, and
if he leaves with his ships, you can take the |
|
|
planets with your
sneaking strike force(s). |
|
|
Gorilla
striking is very effective-- especially along the borders. Send a few ships
in, capture a planet, riot it to death-- maybe |
|
|
assimilate some natives,
and pop back out. Strike in random patterns, at random times. |
|
|
Whatever
you do, do not split your forces, and attack two people at once-- it will
severely hinder your chances of winning |
|
|
each. Try to exterminate
ONE enemy at a time. Fighting on two fronts is just to confusing, and risky. |
|
|
When
striking, be sure to set the battle order properly, so that your ships fight
in the correct order. Set the friendly codes to |
|
|
??1
for the first ship, ??2 for the second, etc. ?? can be any letter-- numbers
will act as numbers. The lower the number, the |
|
|
earlier they will
fight-- ships with friendly codes of complete letters will strike last. |
|
|
==================================================================== |
|
|
8.0 What allies should I make? |
|
|
The
Feds are a fairly good ally, as they can give you LOKIs to protect you from
cloaking races-- the Privateers most |
|
|
specifically.
They can also super-refit your ships with all their money-- they'll probably
want you to provide the minerals |
|
|
though.
If you give them a Biocide, they will have effectively 13 bays instead of the
default 10-- making the Biocide even more |
|
|
deadly.
Terraformers are very useful to you, as many of your colonists die from the
climate being too hot or too cold. The |
|
|
Fed's bioscanner can
also help you find more natives to assimilate. |
|
|
The
Lizards are another fairly good ally, as they can also give you LOKIs, give
you tons of minerals(200% mining rate!), hiss |
|
|
your
planets if necessary to get more money, give you cloakers for spying and
colonizing far into enemy territory. They can |
|
|
also
give you a terraformer to cool down your desert planets. A good tactic to use
with the Lizards, is to have an assimilated |
|
|
world
with a LDSF in orbit. Fill the LDSF with colonists, and a Lizard can send
ships there, and you can load colonists on |
|
|
them for them to use in
Ground Attacks-- VERY useful for a supply of colonists deep in enemy
territory. |
|
|
The
Bird Men are good to ally with for cloakers, but other than that, and
information, they're not that useful to you-- but |
|
|
they'll
want to ally for your cubes, HYP ship, and Fireclouds. Beware of sneaky Bird
Men players it's very easy for them to |
|
|
stab you in the back
HARD!!! |
|
|
The
Fascist can do you good with their cloakers, Glory Devices, Pillaging (what
else are you going to do with 200,000,000 |
|
|
colonists?!?!?!?--
isn't turning that into 200,000 supplies better?!? <G>), and of course
the ground attack like the Lizards, |
|
|
but to a smaller extent.
They also can't be attacked using ATT/NUK friendly codes, so they're
dangerous enemies! |
|
|
The
Privateers are your worst enemy, so they'd be a GREAT ally. They grab the
ships from other races, and you clone them |
|
|
for
him, and keep some for yourself. He gives you Gravitronic Accelerated ships
to tow your fleet around with, and you |
|
|
help
him with your Fireclouds and HYP ships. They'll also give you cloakers.
Basically, you don't want them on your bad |
|
|
side, so it's
better to ally with them! <G> |
|
|
The
Crystal People those web mines are sure comforting to have around your
empire. That's for sure. Plus he can grab ships, |
|
|
and
you can clone them for him like with the Privateers keeping a copy for
yourself, of course. They can't offer you much |
|
|
else, except a
terraformer that heats to 100. |
|
|
The
Empire would be a nice ally, but not a great one. They get 5 free fighters
per base, which barely covers their ships, so |
|
|
they
can't really give you many. They have the Imperial Super Star Destroyer,
however, which is VERY useful! Get a planet |
|
|
deep
in enemy territory, assimilate it, and then get some SSDs there-- you can use
that planet as a loading base for colonists, |
|
|
and
capture plenty of enemy planets/bases! Also, why would you want to fight a
Gorbie!?!? <G> They can also give you |
|
|
nearly
COMPLETE information on enemy worlds, with their dark sense. |
|
|
The
Robots are a free fighter race, so they're a good ally. They can give you
free fighters for your Biocide, and even give you |
|
|
Instrumentalities
for a lighter carrier to guard your planets with. They can also give you 4x
minefields to protect your space |
|
|
with! They can also give
you a FULL bioscanner to find more natives with. |
|
|
The
Rebels are also a free fighter race, so they're also a good ally. They can
give you the Patriot Carrier which is REALLY |
|
|
cheap
to build/clone, and is really effective when it has a decent amount of
fighters. They can also RGA your worlds to |
|
|
make natives happier,
and also can't be attacked by ATT/NUK. |
|
|
The
Colonies are a nice ally due to the free fighters of course, and can also
sweep mines with fighters-- even from 100 LYs |
|
|
away,
making them VERY good allies if you have the Robots as an enemy! They can
also give you a bioscanner/RAM scoop |
|
|
ship(Cobol)
for finding natives. Their Aries transport makes fuel more efficiently than
your normal refinery, and their Lady |
|
|
Royalle allows you to
get 160MC per turn from it if you have colonists aboard-- which you'll have
PLENTY of! |
|
|
==================================================================== |
|
|
9.0 How do I deal with my
enemies? |
|
|
9.1 Dealing with the Feds |
|
|
The
Feds are fairly straightforward to deal with. They don't have much anti-Borg
equipment. Just exterminate them with |
|
|
your cubes, and watch
out for possible allies. |
|
|
9.2 Dealing with the Lizards |
|
|
The
Lizards fear you very much. They can't use their ground attack ratio very
effectively, due to your assimilation. Their |
|
|
cloakers
are VERY useful against you, as they can scout out your worlds, but they
can't do too much about it, unless they |
|
|
have
enough cloakers, or bring in their T-Rex's and Madonzilla carriers. They also
are immune to LOKI's, so getting a LOKI |
|
|
won't
help you. With their excellent and fast-starting economy they will make quick
work of you if they find you early in |
|
|
the
game-- try to stay hidden, and don't pick any fights with them early-- you
don't stand a chance if they're played |
|
|
competently. Later in
the game, however, they aren't too much of a threat. Just attack them like
you would other races. |
|
|
9.3 Dealing with the Bird Men |
|
|
The
Bird Men are the sneaky, cowardly snakes of the echo cluster. <G> These
guys will probe your territory finding |
|
|
LOTS
of info, and selling it to your enemies. Lay minefields if you can to try to
capture some of these pests, and exterminate |
|
|
their
HW if you can. They will also try to change your friendly codes on your
planets to bum this will beam your money |
|
|
up
to all enemy ships in orbit(cloaked or not). They will then try to run. This
can be helped, if you change your friendly |
|
|
codes every turn use a
random generator such as is built into VPA. |
|
|
9.4 Dealing with the Fascists |
|
|
These
guys, to tell you the truth, are scary-- those Glory Devices can hurt you,
but carry those supplies to protect yourself. |
|
|
Their
ships don't stand a chance against a fully-functional cube of any type. They
can also pillage your planets, however, |
|
|
which
can be VERY scary-- getting a good 1000-2000 MC from each pillage! One good
reason not to keep colonists on your |
|
|
planets
needlessly-- kill them off if the Fascists might come and pillage you!
They'll also be cloaking throughout your empire, |
|
|
spying on you, taking
your freighters, pillaging where you least expect it, etc. I'd prefer to ally
with them! <G> |
|
|
9.5 Dealing with the Privateers |
|
|
Run
like hell! <G> These guys are even worse than the Fascists. They will
steal your ships, and use them against you! The |
|
|
tactics
for robbing ships are very easily figured out, and used VERY easily. Try
using the beam-up-fuel method, and never |
|
|
move
your ships in a straight line they will cloak-intercept you, and steal your
fuel, and then your ship! Also, when |
|
|
launching
attacks against these filthy barbarians, be sure to send your ships
separately, as they will easily intercept your ships, |
|
|
and
drag them away-- REMEMBER-- NEVER EVER EVER send them in a straight line! The
good part about these guys, is |
|
|
their planets are very
easily defeated-- they're power is in stolen ships. |
|
|
9.6 Dealing with the Crystal
People |
|
|
These
are a HARD race to attack. Those web mines-- once you get stuck in them, it's
VERY hard to get out. Especially if |
|
|
you
didn't listen to my advice above, and put high-tech beams on your ships! This
race's ships aren't particularly powerful, |
|
|
so
they're fairly easy to destroy, but getting there is the hardest part. many
Crystalline players will even use web mines as an |
|
|
offensive
measure, making movement VERY hard. However, with chunneling and HYP probes,
it effects you less than most |
|
|
other
races, so be happy! <G> Try towing a Firecloud into the web field-put
just the fuel you need on your towing ship, |
|
|
so
that it can't lose much. Then next turn, transfer that much more onto it from
the ship being towed(which can't be hit by |
|
|
the
mines), so that it can go another turn. If you're towing a warship, set it to
mine sweep, so you at least can destroy SOME |
|
|
of
the mines. |
|
|
9.7 Dealing with the Evil
Empire |
|
|
The
Evil Empire is a formidable opponent. Unlike you(when you have a good
economy), they suffer greatly from lack of |
|
|
fuel.
As well as lack of colonists for use in their SSDs. Take advantage of this.
If they are advancing, strip all planet of fuel, |
|
|
and
retreat. Then, when they come forward, and are, hopefully, stranded on a
planet without fuel, move in for the kill! An |
|
|
Annihilation
with merely Mark4 tubes, and Heavy Disrupters can take out 3 loaded SSDs with
only 75-90 torps, and |
|
|
without taking ANY
damage. Better torps, means fewer torps, and even less damage to the shields.
Their Gorbies, however, are terrifying! |
|
|
9.8 Dealing with the Robots |
|
|
The
Robots suffer from a sever lack of Duranium-- they require an EXCESSIVE
amount of it in all of their ships. Therefore, |
|
|
when
fighting with the Robots, be sure to deprive them of as much Duranium as
possible. Not to mention Moly and |
|
|
Tritanium,
as they need that for their fighters. The Robots have many decent carriers,
however, and stand a good chance of |
|
|
wiping you out. I still
can't understand why this is Tim Wisseman's favorite race, though. <G> |
|
|
9.9 Dealing with the Rebels |
|
|
Like
the Fascists, the Rebels can not have their ships attacked by planets with
the NUK/ATT friendly codes. They have the |
|
|
Rebel
Ground Assault which is even more dangerous than pillaging, but at least it
doesn't help the Rebels any(except the |
|
|
destruction
of us, of course). They also have HYP ships to HYP into your space, and RGA a
planet or two, and HYP back |
|
|
out. They excel at
gorilla warfare, so beware. Their carriers are formidable opponents as well. |
|
|
9.10 Dealing with the Colonies |
|
|
The
Colonies have good carriers like the Robots and the Rebels, as well as Lady
Royale ships to make money with. They can |
|
|
be
VERY dangerous when played right sweeping your minefields from 100 LYs away,
attacking with Virgos, etc. Not a fun |
|
|
race to deal with, but
definitely not your worst enemy. |
|
|
==================================================================== |
|
|
10.0 Minefields |
|
|
Many
expert Borg players use minefields extensively. The use of minefields depends
greatly on your neighbors, however. A |
|
|
Robot
neighbor will easily exterminate your minefields by placing his own to
destroy them, at 1/4 the price or your's. A |
|
|
Fascist
has many beams on their ships, and will easily clear the minefields. The
trick with minefields is knowing where to |
|
|
place
them, when to place them, and when to scoop them back up! In a recent game, I
had an Annihilation come out of a |
|
|
wormhole,
and by chance, it was in Empire territory, right next to a SSD heading for
one of my outpost planets. I laid a |
|
|
minefield
right there, and ended up hitting the SSD twice! It was crippled to over 80%
damage! I then struck a couple planets, |
|
|
and
scooped up the minefield. I meant to lay it again, but instead was destroyed
when I attempted to strike a planet that was |
|
|
to
heavily defended(quite probably, the former Fed HW). You MUST scoop up your
mines using the msc friendly code |
|
|
once
your enemy knows about them-- otherwise, he'll simply sweep them unless he's
a newbie, he won't fall for getting hit |
|
|
by a mine in the same
minefield twice. |
|
|
And remember this: |
|
|
He who knows the enemy and
himself |
|
|
Will never in a hundred
battles be at risk; |
|
|
He who does not
know the enemy but knows himself |
|
|
Will sometimes win and
sometimes lose; |
|
|
He who knows neither the
enemy nor himself |
|
|
Will be at risk in every
battle. |
|
|
Sun Tzu, the Art of Warfare |
|
|
Note:
Sorry for the "lack of humor" that my friend who test-read this
mentioned, but I just can't come up with jokes for a |
|
|
lot
of these things! <G> I hope you at least learned something-after all,
that's what all this fun is about, right? Learning? <G> |
|
|
Derek
J. Kalweit |
|
|
dkalweit@eznet.net
(Email me anytime--especially if you want to play a plain-vanilla VGAP game!) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Collective
Consciousness: Autarch?s Guide to the Cyborg |
|
|
Contents: |
|
|
Chapter 0: Intro. |
|
|
Chapter 1: The Cyborg |
|
|
1a.) Race description |
|
|
1b.) Player mindset |
|
|
1c.) Settings |
|
|
Chapter 2: Advantages |
|
|
2a.) Assimilation |
|
|
2b.) HYP Probes |
|
|
2c.) Chunneling |
|
|
2d.) Cube ships |
|
|
2e.) Debris Beam-in |
|
|
2f.) Cloning |
|
|
2g.) Repair Self |
|
|
Chapter 3: Disadvantages |
|
|
3a.) No Medium Warships |
|
|
3b.) Early Game Strength |
|
|
3c.) Ship Costs |
|
|
Chapter 4: Ship List |
|
|
4a.) Ship Armament/Engines for: |
|
|
4a1.) HYP Probes |
|
|
4a2.) Fireclouds |
|
|
4a3.) Cubes |
|
|
4b.) Freighters |
|
|
4b1.) Small Deep Space
Freighter |
|
|
4b2.) Medium Deep Space
Freighter |
|
|
4b3.) Large Deep Space
Freighter |
|
|
4b4.) Super Transport |
|
|
Chapter 5: HYP Probes |
|
|
5a.) What they are |
|
|
5b.) Strategies for HYP
Probes |
|
|
5b1.) Money carrier |
|
|
5b2.) Spy |
|
|
5b3.) Freighter Hunter |
|
|
5b4.) Escape Pod |
|
|
Chapter 6: Chunneling |
|
|
6a.) The Firecloud |
|
|
6b.) What Chunneling is |
|
|
6b1.) How it works |
|
|
6c.) Chunnel Points |
|
|
Chapter 7: Your
planets/Bases |
|
|
7a.) Planets |
|
|
7a1.) How to colonize
them |
|
|
7a2.) How to manage them |
|
|
7a3.) Planetary
Strategies |
|
|
7b.) Bases |
|
|
7b1.) Where to build them |
|
|
7b2.) Defenses |
|
|
7b3.) Upgrading your tech
levels |
|
|
Chapter 8: Other Races
as Allies and Enemies |
|
|
8a.) The Feds |
|
|
8b.) Lizards |
|
|
8c.) Bird Men |
|
|
8d.) Fascists |
|
|
8e.) Privateers |
|
|
8f.) Crystals |
|
|
8g.) Empire |
|
|
8h.) Robots |
|
|
8I.) Rebels |
|
|
8j.) Colonies |
|
|
Chapter 9: Summary and
Information |
|
|
|
Chapter 0: Introduction |
|
|
Greetings once more. My
name is Autarch, author of (by now) two |
|
|
guides, concerning the
Crystals and Robots. I have an Empire one coming |
|
|
soon. |
|
|
I noticed that there was
not a whole lot of stuff out there, and |
|
|
decided to make my mark
in the VGAP community. So I sat down, and wrote |
|
|
the Guides for the
?Forgotten Races.? And the Cyborg seem to be an almost |
|
|
forgotten race as well.
There isn?t a whole lot of info out there on |
|
|
them,
and so I figured I could write ?just one more? Guide. |
|
|
I personally use VGA
Planets Assistant (VPA), and this Guide is |
|
|
based on Host 3.22.023.
I don?t think that there have been significant |
|
|
changes, especially
concerning the Cyborg. If you like the Cyborg, you |
|
|
are not alone. However,
I do not claim to be an expert at VGAP, and your |
|
|
using anything
I say is, of course, at your own risk. |
|
|
Chapter 1: The Cyborg |
|
|
1a.) Race Description |
|
|
================================== |
|
|
Let?s see what the docs
have to say about the Cyborg (Borg from |
|
|
now on), and some abilities
they have. |
|
|
The Cyborg are a half humanoid and half machine
race. The |
|
|
Cyborgs have many small
scout ships and probes. These come in very handy |
|
|
in finding their enemy's
home world. The Cyborg battleship is the size of |
|
|
two Birdmen battleships. |
|
|
All damaged Cyborg ships
can stop and repair themselves at a rate |
|
|
of 10% per turn. The
Cyborg are able to assimilate natives into |
|
|
colonists. The
assimilation rate can be configured by the host from 0% to |
|
|
a 100% |
|
|
The own one of the most
feared weapons ever seen in the echo |
|
|
cluster, the Firecloud
Class Warp Chunneler, a ship that can deliver a |
|
|
fleet of combat vessels
to any point in space. |
|
|
The Cyborgs have some of
the most powerful starships, the Cyborg |
|
|
Cube ships. |
|
|
The Cyborg ships are
able to repair in space at a rate of 10% per |
|
|
month. A Cyborg ship that
is repairing |
|
|
cannot move. |
|
|
When a Cyborg ship
destroys an enemy ship the hull debris and |
|
|
fuel is beam aboard in
the form of minerals. |
|
|
Cyborg colonists that
are placed on a planet that has native |
|
|
population will be
assimilated into Cyborg |
|
|
colonists. The natives
are converted to Cyborg at a rate of one native |
|
|
for every Cyborg on the
planet. |
|
|
================================== |
|
|
1b.) Player Mindset |
|
|
The Borg are a race that
is perhaps one of the most difficult to |
|
|
play. They lack medium
warships. They assimilate natives, and you have to |
|
|
capitalize on the
natives if you want to build a base with good tech |
|
|
levels. Their economy,
in the beginning, is one of the worst. You are |
|
|
easily destroyable in
the first 10-18 turn of the game. You must have |
|
|
time to coordinate your
forces, and manage your planets. If you don?t |
|
|
have time to do
your turns, don?t play the Borg. |
|
|
Once you survive,
though, you have some of the most powerful |
|
|
ships in the game. You
can move anywhere in the Cluster. You can |
|
|
exterminate anybody you
please. So the Borg have some good pros, and |
|
|
really
bad cons. |
|
|
1c.) Settings |
|
|
Here are some settings
you should pay attention to: |
|
|
Hyper Drive Ships: YES |
|
|
I wouldn?t play the Borg
without this. you need your HYP ship |
|
|
to explore and grow like mad. |
|
|
Firecloud Warp Chunnel:
YES |
|
|
I wouldn?t play the Borg
without this either. you need this ship |
|
|
to link your vast
empire, and to move cubes, |
|
|
freighters, and other things
around. |
|
|
Cyborg Assimilation Rate:
100% |
|
|
this means that for
every Borg on the planet, one native is |
|
|
turned into Borg. |
|
|
Ships with one engine can
tow: YES |
|
|
this lets your probe,
upon discovering a freighter in orbit, to |
|
|
tow it out and capture
it. Handy to have, but not |
|
|
life
threatening. |
|
|
Climate Limits
Population: ??? |
|
|
Depends on what you
want. this means that if you get a desert or |
|
|
Arctic planet, you
assimilate, and the your people die off from |
|
|
the climate. It would be
nice not to have this, and anyone could survive |
|
|
anywhere, but you can
live with it turned on. |
|
|
Ship Cloning: YES |
|
|
this is helpful if you
have allies who will give you decent |
|
|
medium warships (something you
lack.) |
|
|
Chapter 2: Advantages |
|
|
2a.) Assimilation |
|
|
Stated simply- you find
the natives, you turn them into Borg. |
|
|
This is where your
assimilation rate kicks in. So you get a Siliconoid |
|
|
Representative planet,
with 8 million natives, you turn them into 8 |
|
|
million Borg. You have
200 clans, next turn, you have 400 clans, provided |
|
|
that there is enough
natives. If the number of Borg outnumber the |
|
|
natives, next turn you
will have no natives. You cannot assimilate |
|
|
Amorphous Planets. |
|
|
2b.) HYP Probes |
|
|
This lets you, with your
assimilation, to spread all over the |
|
|
Echo Cluster. More on
HYP probes in Chapter 5. |
|
|
2c.) Chunneling |
|
|
Chunneling lets you move
massive fleets and unlimited amounts of |
|
|
stuff anywhere in the
Echo Cluster. I?ll explain the benefits of |
|
|
Chunneling in Chapter 6. |
|
|
*One thing to point out-
you cannot chunnel if anyone (even |
|
|
yourself) has a tow
lock on your Firecloud.* |
|
|
2d.) Cube Ships |
|
|
You have two of the most
powerful ships in the Game- the Biocide |
|
|
and Annihilation Cube Ships. |
|
|
The Biocide is your
fighter carrier. It has a mass of 860, but |
|
|
the fighter cost is
expensive, even for you. |
|
|
The Annihilation is your
torpedo boat. It has a mass of 960, and |
|
|
is more efficient than
the Biocide, unless you have allies who can |
|
|
provide free fighters. |
|
|
All in all,
you have two big, tough, and heavy ships. |
|
|
2e.) Debris Beam-In |
|
|
When you fight, and win,
you usually blow up a ship. Most races |
|
|
go ?Huzzah!?, and get a
PBP or two. You get a PBP, and all the minerals |
|
|
that made the ship up.
Even if it?s fuel. Nice to have deep in enemy |
|
|
territory, or on the
borders of your space. |
|
|
2f.) Cloning |
|
|
You can clone those
medium warships and cloakers that you get |
|
|
from allies or from the
plunder of war. Handy to have, to fill the gaps |
|
|
in
your fleet. |
|
|
2g.) Repair Self mission |
|
|
The Borg can regenerate
their ships (not crew members though) at |
|
|
10% per turn. You don?t
move when you do this though, so you can be a |
|
|
sitting
duck too. |
|
|
Chapter 3: Disadvantages |
|
|
3a.) No Medium Warships |
|
|
You have your Cubes, and
your Firecloud. Fireclouds won?t hold |
|
|
their own in a battle,
and Cubes are expensive in the beginning. The |
|
|
closest thing you have
is the Quietus Cruiser, with 1 torp tube. But |
|
|
that?s
it. |
|
|
3b.) Early Game strength |
|
|
For the first part of
the game, you are relatively weak because |
|
|
of what was stated
above. Here is where diplomacy kicks in- making sure |
|
|
you survive the first 10-18
turns or so. |
|
|
3c.) Ship Costs |
|
|
Your ships are pretty
balanced mineral and cash wise. It?s just |
|
|
that this balance is
HUGE. You could easily build starbases for the costs |
|
|
of your cubes. Steep,
eh? And with no medium ships, well... you get the |
|
|
point. |
|
|
Chapter 4: Ship List |
|
|
Here I am going to lay
down the basics of your ships, and what to |
|
|
put on them in regards
to engines/weapons afterwards. These are the |
|
|
default ship designs, as
I know that there are more out there. Freighters |
|
|
I will discuss next, but
onto the warships: |
|
|
B200 Probe (Beams: 2
Cargo: 15) |
|
|
This is your HYP ship.
Useful booger. More on these guys in the |
|
|
next
chapter. |
|
|
Watcher Scout: (Beams: 2
Cargo: 50 Fuel: 270) |
|
|
Not a bad ship, with a
good fuel tank. Lack of beams hampers it?s |
|
|
effectiveness. I don?t build
?em. |
|
|
Iron Slave: (Beams: 1 Bays:
2 Mass: 60) |
|
|
Do NOT build this ship.
It is too light, and has no offensive |
|
|
capabilities. Waste of a
shipslot. |
|
|
B41 Explorer (Beams: 4) |
|
|
No use to build this
either. Eat gets eaten easily by anything |
|
|
with
torps. |
|
|
B222 Destroyer (Beams: 7) |
|
|
Use this to burn
fighters off the big carriers or starbases. It |
|
|
is light, but the beams come
in handy. |
|
|
Quietus (Beams: 4 Tubes:
1) |
|
|
This isn?t a bad ship. A
local patrol boat, interceptor, |
|
|
minelayer-it
can be used to fulfill many roles. Arm it well. |
|
|
Firecloud Class Cruiser
(Beams: 6 Tubes: 2) |
|
|
The key to the Borg?s
success. I will get into the specific |
|
|
functions/uses/strategies
of the FC later on. Let?s just say, |
|
|
this ship lets you go
anywhere it is, in one turn, with only **50** kts |
|
|
of fuel burned. And
remember- ANYWHERE. Your enemy is going to |
|
|
pick them off,
and these cannot fight. Guard them. |
|
|
Biocide Class Carrier
(Beams:10 Bays: 10) |
|
|
Nasty ship. It?s your
fighter carrier, can fight a Gorbie and |
|
|
occasionally limp away.
Very useful against the Torp races, and |
|
|
fighters shouldn?t be a
problem with the ton of mines/colonists |
|
|
(read:cash) you have
*later* in the game. |
|
|
Annihilation Class
Dreadnought: (Beams:10 Tubes: 10) |
|
|
The Baddest Torp ship
around. Only Fed Nova comes close. A fully |
|
|
stocked Annie can be
devastating, and way cheaper than a fully |
|
|
stocked
Biocide. |
|
|
4a.) Ship
Armament/Engines |
|
|
4a1.) HYP Probes |
|
|
Your HYP probes are
mainly for exploration. They can be used to |
|
|
zap enemy freighters, so
put x-rays on them. Put crappy engines on them, |
|
|
so you don?t waste money. |
|
|
Especially if the E/S
Bonus is on, you don?t want non-HYP races |
|
|
getting a HYP ship. Big
whoop you say. Cloned, a little probe can be a |
|
|
nuisance. Especially in
the hands of the Fed- super refit that puppy with |
|
|
big weapons and you got a
planet killer. |
|
|
4a2.) Fireclouds |
|
|
The key to your
survival/conquest. Put Transwarps on these guys, |
|
|
and send them out. Watch
them though. I usually put Disrupters and MK4s |
|
|
on board to zap
freighters, or protect it in a fight. But you don?t want |
|
|
these guys in a fight.
Run if you have to, chunnel away if absolutely |
|
|
necessary. But don?t
sacrifice the front line because a Cygnus is chasing |
|
|
your
FC. |
|
|
4a3.) Cubes |
|
|
Big and Bad. Gas
Guzzlers too. I put HeavyDrive 6s at most on |
|
|
them. Transwarps rarely,
unless I have a ton of gas to use. You?re going |
|
|
to be using the FCs to
transports them. |
|
|
As for weapons, the
Annies should get Heavy Blasters. They are |
|
|
going to be using them to
smash ships and |
|
|
such. The Biocides only
need plasma bolts to shoot down other fighters, |
|
|
or Heavy Blasters to
kill torp ships. Take your pick, and
remember to |
|
|
use the right Annie/Bio for the
job. |
|
|
4b.) Freighters |
|
|
You really can use any
freighter in the game. |
|
|
4b1.) SDSF (Small Deep
Space Freighter) |
|
|
Handy to you, probably
more than anyone else. Fill with half |
|
|
colonists, half
supplies. These guys are nice, but you should use MDSFs |
|
|
instead. |
|
|
4b2.) MDSF (Medium Deep
Space Freighter) |
|
|
The best in the early
stages. Good for moving decent mineral |
|
|
truckloads around, and
most cloakers want bigger targets (LDSFs, or |
|
|
STSF).
Put Transwarps on them, and use them for colonizing too. |
|
|
4b3.) LDSF (Large Deep
Space Freighter) |
|
|
Don?t colonize with
these. You?ll assimilate to quick if you dump |
|
|
1200 clans on a planet.
Use them for mineral trucks, because you?re going |
|
|
to need them. You can
save and not put Transwarps on some, since you?ll |
|
|
use the Fireclouds to
move them. Guard them ,because they are prized by |
|
|
cloakers. |
|
|
4b4.) STSF (Super
Transport Space Freighter (or something like |
|
|
that)) |
|
|
Build these if you
absoluely NEED to. For most cases, LDSFs |
|
|
should
suffice. |
|
|
All in all, remember to
use the small/medium for colonzie, and |
|
|
LDSF/STSF for minerals
major colonist transport. And guard them- a Swift |
|
|
Heart or less with
X-Rays and your ship is toast. |
|
|
5.) HYP Probes |
|
|
5a.) What they are |
|
|
HYP probes are handy
little ships that can carry a small amount |
|
|
of clans/colonists. They
can ?jump? 340-360 lys (with the newer host |
|
|
programs). In any
direction, and only burn 50 Kts of fuel. That means if |
|
|
you do it right, you can
HYP from planet to planet, unseen. Without them, |
|
|
the Borg are doomed. But
because you assimilate, if you escape, with one |
|
|
clan, you can come back.
(And win, it?s happened!) Without the HYP, you |
|
|
can?t
expand the way you need to. But anyway, here are some basics: |
|
|
5b.) Strategies for using
the HYP Probes |
|
|
5b1.) Money Carrier |
|
|
Think, 350lys away, you
have a planet making oodles of cash. But |
|
|
normally, it?s 4 turns
away ONE WAY. Not with the HYP probe around. |
|
|
Calculate, and ZIP,
she?s there. And ready to carry up to 10,000mcs if |
|
|
necessary (10 grand
being the limit in the game for any ship). No way |
|
|
someone can get it,
unless they are attacking you at the same time your |
|
|
probe drops out of hyperspace. |
|
|
5b2.) Spy |
|
|
Test your enemies
defenses. Put blasters on your ships, and send |
|
|
a fleet into the heart
of his empire. You kill freighters, get planets, |
|
|
and start assimilating.
He?ll freak out, thinking of all the natives |
|
|
being turned into Borg
(read: less cash when he gets the planet back). |
|
|
Can really screw up an economy. |
|
|
Shoot a couple into his
space, and set mission to mine sweep. |
|
|
They sweep (scan and
shoot down mines) before HYPing out. And HYPing |
|
|
ships can?t get
plastered with a mine. Also, you make
the enemy |
|
|
uncomfortable to see
enemy ships in the heart of his space. |
|
|
Physchologically damaging. |
|
|
5b3.) Freighter Hunter |
|
|
Put X-rays on the
boogers and send them out. To the planets. They |
|
|
see a ship (pray a
freighter) and nail it. Very nice if the ship had a |
|
|
ton of colonists on
them, because they are all Borg now. Ground attack |
|
|
your enemy, or
assimilate a planet faster (especially good government one |
|
|
(Monarchy,
Unity)) or a race (Avian, Insectoid, Bovonoid). |
|
|
5b4.) Escape Pod |
|
|
The Borg are weak in the
early game. You are Number 1 on the |
|
|
?must destroy early?
list. So everyone (if they are smart) will go for |
|
|
your
throat. |
|
|
Use the HYP probe fill
it with cash a lot of supplies, and a few |
|
|
clans. Have it ready to
go in case all else fails. Then RUN. Bide your |
|
|
time, and seek revenge
later on. |
|
|
All in all, a
multi-purpose ship. They help the Borg grow, and |
|
|
without them, the Borg
wouldn?t exist. |
|
|
6.)
The Chunnel |
|
|
6a.) The Firecloud |
|
|
In order to use the
Borg?s BEST ability, you must build Firecloud |
|
|
Class Cruisers. They
aren?t armed well, but that isn?t their function. |
|
|
They
initiate a warp chunnel, allowing you to send ships anywhere. |
|
|
6b.) Chunneling |
|
|
Chunneling requires two
Fireclouds, some gas, and a warp factor |
|
|
of 0. The docs explain it: |
|
|
6b1.) How chunneling
works (emphasis mine): |
|
|
Chunneling is the
process where a Firecloud Class Cruiser uses a |
|
|
temporal rift in the
subspace time continuum. This rift is
a maelstrom |
|
|
of tachyon energy formed
in the shape of a tunnel. |
|
|
To open a Warp Chunnel a
Firecloud needs to have at least 50 KT |
|
|
of fuel. It then selects
its friendly code to the ID number of another |
|
|
Firecloud. This causes a
targeting subspace signal to be generated. The |
|
|
Firecloud then projects
a stream of accelerated tachyon particles that |
|
|
cause a rift in the
subspace time continuum. The
generation of this high |
|
|
energy
beam **uses up 50 KT of fuel from the projecting Firecloud.** |
|
|
This rift is anchored to
the destination Firecloud. |
|
|
Once the Chunnel is
generated the Chunneling Firecloud moves into |
|
|
the Chunnel. This causes
the Chunnel to collapse. As the Chunnel |
|
|
collapses it pushes the
Firecloud (and any other starships that were in |
|
|
the same point in space
as the Firecloud) along in front of it as it |
|
|
collapses. This movement
expends uses no fuel on the Chunneling |
|
|
starship(s), since they
are being pushed along by the collapsing Chunnel |
|
|
(subspace temporal rift). |
|
|
Needless to say,
traveling through a high energy rift comprised |
|
|
of tachyon particles can
have an adverse effect on your starship systems. |
|
|
**Any starship
completing a Chunnel will exit subspace with its shielding |
|
|
systems inoperative.**
The Chunnel, in effect, strips the starship(s) of |
|
|
their shields for that
turn. By the next turn the shielding
systems will |
|
|
be functioning again. |
|
|
And now
the how to: |
|
|
How to Initiate a Chunnel |
|
|
To start a Chunnel, as
stated above, the traveling (or |
|
|
initiating) Firecloud
needs to set its friendly code to the ID number of |
|
|
the Firecloud it wishes
to travel to. Both Fireclouds need to
have their |
|
|
warp factor set to zero
(0). |
|
|
If the warp factors are
not set to zero or the ether of the Fireclouds |
|
|
are under tow the Chunnel
will not occur. |
|
|
For ID numbers 1 to 99
place leading zeros in front of the |
|
|
number. I.E. 001, 023, 099. |
|
|
Chunneling happens as
part of the movement phase of the host.
It |
|
|
is the last segment of
the movement phase. So it is possible
for |
|
|
starships to move TO the
Firecloud before it Chunnels and then move with |
|
|
it, shutting
down the warp systems during the Chunnel. |
|
|
Cloaked starships moving
through a Chunnel will remain cloaked. |
|
|
A ship belonging to a
race other than the race of the Firecloud |
|
|
opening a chunnel at the
same point in space as the Firecloud must have a |
|
|
warp speed of 0, be
cloaked, out of fuel or have a friendly code that |
|
|
matches the friendly |
|
|
code of the ship opening
the chunnel to enter the chunnel (way point |
|
|
setting does not
matter). The chunnel ship's race can enter the chunnel |
|
|
at any warp speed as can
cloaked ships or ships with matching friendly |
|
|
code belonging to all
races. |
|
|
If fleet of enemy ships
that warp onto a planet that is hiding a |
|
|
Firecloud with its
chunnel engaged only the enemy ships with a warp speed |
|
|
of 0 will enter the
chunnel. The only ships that can move onto a planet |
|
|
with a warp speed of 0
are ships that are being towed. None of the ships |
|
|
that moved their under
their own power will enter the chunnel, but any |
|
|
ships that they are
towing will. |
|
|
A pair Fireclouds can
not use a chunnel if ANYSHIP with fuel locks a |
|
|
tow beam on it, the warp
speed and waypoint setting of the ship locking |
|
|
the beam does not matter. |
|
|
Minimum range of
chunnel: 100 LY |
|
|
Maximum range of
chunnel: 5000LY |
|
|
(Only works with HOST
Version 3.20 or Better) |
|
|
So look at the benefits.
You can go ANYWHERE, for 50kts of fuel. |
|
|
You can chunnel as many
ships as you want. Your cubes ships need this, |
|
|
since they
suck gas only a little less than a Gorbie. |
|
|
The bad sides are that
you come out with shields down. Fireclouds |
|
|
can?t fight, so your
enemy will definitely hunt your FCs down. Any ship |
|
|
that puts a tow lock on
your FC nullifies the chunnel. But the
uses and |
|
|
benefits in maneuvering outweigh the cons. |
|
|
6c.) Chunnel Points |
|
|
The
easiest way to chunnel fleets, is to have chunnel points. |
|
|
I usually have crappy
FCs in orbit around planets as
catchers. |
|
|
They don?t chunnel, they
are just anchors to chunnel back to. I set up a |
|
|
planet or
waypoint in space to have all my ships meet. |
|
|
If a planet, a crappy
one, since I don?t want to chunnel my fleet |
|
|
of Merlins away by sheer
accident. |
|
|
If in space, outside a
planet?s warpwell, say 4 lys. This way, I |
|
|
am close by, and not
sticking out to much. |
|
|
I then activate the
chunnel when everyone arrives, and go. Then |
|
|
when I
am done, I use the bad FCs as anchors,
and go home. |
|
|
Easy, simple, and that
way, your key planets are linked through |
|
|
the possibility of a
chunnel. You can move cubes around effectively to |
|
|
protect or advance. |
|
|
7.) Planets and Bases |
|
|
Everyone likes to have
huge fleets of ship cruising around |
|
|
beating people up. You
can?t do that if your economy stinks. Planets and |
|
|
Bases are major parts to
the economy scheme. |
|
|
7a.) Planets |
|
|
You
start off with a planet, so that means you gotta expand. |
|
|
7a1.) Colonization |
|
|
Most races send out
LDSFs in every direction to conquer planets |
|
|
well, and get them up
and running. Not you. All you really need is the |
|
|
SDSF. Why? Because of
your assimilation, of course! One clans turns into |
|
|
two, into four, and so
on. So while most races run around dumping tons of |
|
|
cash, supplies and
colonists, you need very few colonists, some supplies |
|
|
and
some cash. |
|
|
Take a SDSF, and fill it
with 40 supplies, and 30 clans. Put some |
|
|
money if you think you need it. |
|
|
On no native planets,
put one clan down. Just to take the planet. |
|
|
On native planets, dump
the colonists. Next turn, you have |
|
|
double, and you pick up a
full ship again. |
|
|
Of course, you are
beaming down supplies. Cash if you think you |
|
|
need it. Not a lot of
supplies or cash, but just enough to get the planet |
|
|
up and running. The cash
you?ll get from assimilating natives. Re-Read |
|
|
how to use the kinds of
frieghters you have. |
|
|
7a2.) Managing your
planets |
|
|
This is the time
consuming part for any Borg player. You have to |
|
|
figure for max taxes.
And build supplies, mines, and watch your native |
|
|
population (if
applicable). Watch your defense post numbers, and make |
|
|
sure you don?t get scanned. |
|
|
This usually doesn?t
take long. But when you have 50-90 planets |
|
|
to
worry about, then you have time consuming stuff on your hands. |
|
|
So, figure for max
taxes. Watch your mineral count. Raise defense |
|
|
posts. Watch the native
growth, and see what you have left and are going |
|
|
to have next turn. |
|
|
7a3.) Planetary
Strategies |
|
|
Assimilate native
planets first. Come back to the empty planets |
|
|
later. This way, you get
the key plamets (and economy) running. Build |
|
|
your factories, mines,
and Def posts. They?ll all be colonists soon |
|
|
anyway. |
|
|
Or: |
|
|
Capturing enemy planets.
You get them, and if they have natives, |
|
|
you start assimilating. Right
away. |
|
|
Yank the taxes to 100%.
The natives will riot, but you?ll keep |
|
|
assimilating. So if the
enemy gets the planet back, the natives (now |
|
|
hopefully decimated by
assimilating and killing each other) will be of no |
|
|
use to either of you.
Any clans you (or him) put there will be chopped up |
|
|
in
two seconds. |
|
|
Use the HYP probes to do
the same. HYP in, capture planets, yank |
|
|
taxes, and assimilate. |
|
|
What if the enemy is
invading? Do the same, but leave the amount |
|
|
of colonists on the
planet. It?s not like you don?t have enough. Riot |
|
|
them. Have them chop up
all those beautiful mines and factories to |
|
|
prevent their capture.
If hopeless, do it to all your planets. Use your |
|
|
escape pod
(HYP probe) to run if you even want to try. |
|
|
7b.) Bases |
|
|
If you think you can do
with one base for the whole game, good |
|
|
luck
to you. |
|
|
7b1.) Where to build them |
|
|
The Borg have a dilemma
when it comes to bases. They assimilate |
|
|
the natives, and if you
build the base after the natives are gone, you |
|
|
lose the race ability
(if applicable). So they gotta build bases early. |
|
|
But
they lack the minerals early, and need to save them for the cubes. |
|
|
So if you are going to
build (which you have to), get those |
|
|
minerals there before
the natives are gone. I build bases if I can get |
|
|
the race ability, or the
minerals are good. |
|
|
7b2.) Defense |
|
|
Your HomeWorld is really
useless after turn 20- you have probably |
|
|
bigger amounts of colonists on other planets nearby. But
other planets |
|
|
(i.e.
StarBases) are useful, and are last-line protection. |
|
|
You have the cash to buy
fighters, so do so if you feel it is |
|
|
necessary. Keep your
bases in top shape. No one can ground attack you- |
|
|
especially with 6
million colonists. So they have to beat you up. A Cube |
|
|
nearby is always handy,
too. Raise your defense posts, and increase base |
|
|
defense as well. You can
huge ground defense posts with your astronomical |
|
|
colonist
figures. |
|
|
7b3.) Upgrading |
|
|
You can upgrade as you
feel free to do so. Adapt to the |
|
|
situation. |
|
|
Some ideas: |
|
|
Build HYP
probes-they never out live their usefulness. |
|
|
Crappy FCs are only *tech 6*. |
|
|
Cubes I build on my HW.
Sometimes other bases if I have enough |
|
|
minerals and cash handy. |
|
|
Be flexible- the Borg
lost in Star Trek because they just came in |
|
|
guns blazing, smashing
everything. The crafty humans wiped their butts |
|
|
all over the Sol System.
Learn from that. |
|
|
8.) Other Races- Allies
and Enemies |
|
|
Other races inhabit the
Echo Cluster, and depending on their |
|
|
leaders, they may be
friendly or hostile to you. With the Borg, they are |
|
|
NEVER indifferent. |
|
|
8a.) The Solar Federation |
|
|
Based upon the
Federation in Star Trek, the Feds have a decent |
|
|
fleet, made up of mostly
medium warships that can do many different |
|
|
things. However, the key
word is medium. The biggest ship they have is |
|
|
the Nova, which can
spank almost any ship besides yours and the Gorbies |
|
|
by
itself. |
|
|
As allies: They are good
ones. They can super-refit your cubes, |
|
|
which is very handy.
They have the KittyHawk, a medium carrier. They also |
|
|
collect 200% taxes from
the natives they make contact with. Very helpful |
|
|
to you in the game, when
you are done assimilating and all you have are |
|
|
colonists left to tax.
The Feds have good torp ships, something you lack. |
|
|
They have Lokis, which
will decloak the Fascists, Privs and everyone else |
|
|
(save the Birds and
Lizards). They also have terraformers, which are |
|
|
handy for those
assimilated cold or hot planets. |
|
|
As enemies: The Feds are
not very powerful in the first part of |
|
|
the game, like you. They
know this, but they know you stink early too. If |
|
|
you can get your economy
rolling quick, you can run the Feds over. They |
|
|
will have many
empty hulls, for super-refit later on. |
|
|
They will throw a combo
of ships at you. Their Thor is deadly- 8 |
|
|
torp tubes. It?ll go in
first, knocking your shields out, followed by a |
|
|
KittyHawk. Then the Nova
comes in and cleans your cube up. Try using cube |
|
|
pairs, or get some
cloakers (watching for Lokis) and find their key |
|
|
planets. Try to get the
Feds before they can get you. They will try to |
|
|
outbuild
everyone early on so they can sacrifice the ships they have to. |
|
|
8b.) The Lizard Alliance |
|
|
The Lizards are based
upon the Gorn of Star Trek. Very big, |
|
|
powerful, and nasty. |
|
|
As allies: Very good.
They can mine at 200%, which they can give |
|
|
you the minerals you
desperately need for your cubes. They can give you |
|
|
cloakers, Lokis, and a
terraformer. Their HISSS mission is nice- they can |
|
|
HISS your
planets, and squeeze that last bit of taxes out. |
|
|
As enemies: You frighten
them. They have a ground attack of 30:1, |
|
|
but that is useless with
6 million colonists. They can cloak, so |
|
|
interlocking minefields
are the key to stopping their cloakers from |
|
|
attacking planets. Their
ships lack many beams, so sweeping for them is |
|
|
pretty much limited.
Their Madonzilla and T-Rexes are their ships of |
|
|
choice when fighting
your cubes. They?ll use a Rex-Madon-Rex combo to get |
|
|
your cubes. They can
produce these ships rapidly since their economy is |
|
|
incredible. Put Heavy
Blasters on your HYP probes, and shoot them out. |
|
|
Chances are he?ll have a
terraformer or Serpent Scout HISSSing, and you |
|
|
toast it.
The high tax rate will cause rioting all over. |
|
|
8c.) The Empire of the
Birds |
|
|
The Bird Men are based
upon the Romulans of Star Trek. Quiet, |
|
|
invisible and sneaky. |
|
|
As allies: OK. They have
cloakers, and their Resolute is very |
|
|
nice. They?d like your
Cubes to back their fleet up, since DarkWings |
|
|
aren?t the strongest
around. They have a cloaking carrier for you, very |
|
|
handy. They have
cloaking torp ships for surprise minefields. Other than |
|
|
that,
not much. |
|
|
As enemies: They can be
devastating to you. Their economy is not |
|
|
great, but that doesn?t
mean he can?t eliminate you. Their Resolute and |
|
|
DarkWing don?t use fuel
to cloak, so they?ll wait at your chunnel points |
|
|
with cloak on and warp
0. Move your chunnel points. Or setup a chunnel |
|
|
point, and have the real
chunneler somewhere else. Then move your fleet |
|
|
to the real chunneler.
He won?t move, because he can?t intercept cloaked |
|
|
and he won?t know where
you are going. Send in your cubes and attack |
|
|
mercilessly. They?ll use
their DarkWings since that?s all they have. And |
|
|
that
isn?t much. |
|
|
8d.) The Fascist Empire |
|
|
The Fascists are based
upon the Klingons from Star Trek. |
|
|
Bloodthirsty, ruthless, and
suicidal. |
|
|
As allies: Very little
use to you. They have 3 cloakers, which |
|
|
you can get from the
Bird Men (or similar ship designs). They have Glory |
|
|
Devices, ships which are
like suicide runners. They can blow up when they |
|
|
detect a cloaker, or he
can send them as missles toward ships, planets, |
|
|
etc. The Gds turn
Amorphous worms into supplies when exploded. Very handy |
|
|
to clear the planets
out. They can pillage your people, and split the |
|
|
cash
with you. |
|
|
They get more- Cubes,
FCs, and HYP probes. Fascists are immune to ATT/NUK |
|
|
codes. |
|
|
As enemies: A hassle.
They can cloak, and pillage your people. |
|
|
They can?t be attacked
by planets, so unless you have a cube there, they |
|
|
can play cat and mouse.
They?ll throw GDs at your ships. GD?s do about |
|
|
10-11% damage to a
Biocide. Carry supplies with you, to heal the damage, |
|
|
and use your repair-self
mission. They?ll use Glories with their |
|
|
Victorious (tech 10
ship) to get you. Zig zag your ships to evade the |
|
|
Glories, and run him
over. His ships are no match for yours. (I know, I |
|
|
played the Fascists vs.
the Borg. I got clobbered. Though I gave him a |
|
|
bloody nose. ) |
|
|
8e.) The Privateer Bands |
|
|
The Privs are based upon
the Orions from Star Trek. They are the |
|
|
last of the cloaking
races. Sneaky bandits. |
|
|
As allies: VERY useful.
They have gravitronic ships, which travel |
|
|
at twice the speed you
can do. The MBR is the best of these grav ships. |
|
|
Nice fuel tank, so your
cubes can get towed from l62 lys away. You can |
|
|
clone for the Privs, and
they could always use FCs. They lack heavy |
|
|
ships, what they get for
those, they steal. Their ships cloak on top of |
|
|
it all, so you
can have a fast surprise mine layer. |
|
|
As enemies: The Worst
for you. You lack heavy anti-cloaking |
|
|
equipment. So they will
steal your cubes blind. There are so MANY Priv |
|
|
tactics, I recommend
going on the Web and looking at some VGAP sites and |
|
|
reading
up. I won?t list any here- there is just too many. |
|
|
So how do you combat
them? Top off your fuel tanks. Use |
|
|
minefields like crazy.
Have mission to beam up fuel (he robs, you beam, |
|
|
you have fuel, he?s
uncloaked, he gets slaughtered). Again, read up on |
|
|
Priv tactics. Use more
mines, and see if you can get some anti cloaking |
|
|
equipment (Lokis, GDs,
web mines, etc). Ride in Ion storms- that goes for |
|
|
any cloaking race
(except the Birds- Resolutes and Dwings don?t decloak |
|
|
in them (ion storms)). Watch
your back. |
|
|
8f.) The Crystal
Confederation |
|
|
The Crystals are based
upon the Tholians from Star Trek. Known |
|
|
for their webs, small
ships, and rudeness. |
|
|
As allies: OK. They can
cover your butt from cloakers with their |
|
|
web fields. Their
Thunders is an okay carrier, and they?d like your |
|
|
cubes. You?d like their
Emerald or Rubies, which are very good torp |
|
|
ships. They have a
terraformer, but it heats to 100 degrees. They cannot |
|
|
clone, so they need you for
that. |
|
|
Web mines are the best
selling point. They make 10% damage as a |
|
|
normal mine, but suck
gas. When they (a ship) hits a web mine, they lose |
|
|
50kts of gas or 1/6 of
their fuel (which ever is more). Sitting in a |
|
|
field, a ship loses
25kts of fuel. The effect is cumulative, 2 fields, |
|
|
50kts of fuel. 3- 75kts
of fuel. Colonies can?t sweep them (webs), so you |
|
|
are protected- it?s like
having a wall. |
|
|
As enemies: A nuisance.
Get them while they are small. The |
|
|
Crystal economy is bad,
and they need the money planets. Find them, and |
|
|
knock them out. Put
heavy beams on your ships, and sweep as you go. Don?t |
|
|
go far into a field and
risk the chance of hitting a mine. Once you are |
|
|
in a web, he?ll increase
the size or make an overlapping web field, |
|
|
sucking more gas. Ouch. |
|
|
Be patient. Sweep
thoroughly, and hit his money planets. He?ll |
|
|
use Flame/Thunder combos
to take out your cubes. I use a |
|
|
Flame/Flame/Thunder
combo to toast a Gorbie. Wasn?t easy, since Crystal |
|
|
ships are not strong. If
you need Crystal knowledge, I can send you my |
|
|
guide: ?Glistening Gems;
Autarch?s Guide to the Crystals.? |
|
|
8g.) The Evil Empire |
|
|
The EE is based upon the
Empire from Star Wars. All knowing, all |
|
|
seeing, all bloated. |
|
|
As allies: Not the
greatest. They get 5 free fighters per base, |
|
|
per turn. Hardly enough
to sustain a fighter fleet. Their economy is, bar |
|
|
none, the worst in the
game. They have the Super Star Destroyer (SSD). It |
|
|
has an Imperial Assault
mission, which lets you beam 10 clans to any |
|
|
planet, and it?s yours.
Even Homeworlds. The ship cannot be attacked by |
|
|
ATT/NUK codes. They have
the Gorbie, the ultimate weapon in the game, but |
|
|
you have your cubes. 5
free fighters doesn?t cut it for your Biocides. |
|
|
They can Dark Sense
everyone (save the Rebels) and find out where your |
|
|
enemies key planets are. |
|
|
As enemies: A nuisance.
As stated, their economy stinks. Their |
|
|
ships aren?t the best
combat wise. But the Gorbie is a pain. However, you |
|
|
both won?t be able to
produce your heavy hitters until later, and you can |
|
|
deal with a Gorbie by
sending 2 Biocides at it. The first might win, but |
|
|
have the second around just in
case. |
|
|
Their SSD is a pain, but
lay surprise minefields and damage the |
|
|
ship. Some damage, no
Imp Assault. The SSD won?t have a full fighter |
|
|
compliment of fighters,
because they need the clans to perform the |
|
|
Assault. |
|
|
They will use their HYP
probes to find your planets by Dark |
|
|
Sensing, and will go for
your throat. Lay some fun traps for the Imps, |
|
|
since you can guess
where he?ll be going. Once his Gorbies are |
|
|
neutralized, walk on him. |
|
|
8h.) The Robotic Imperium |
|
|
The Robots (or Cylons)
are based upon the race from BattleStar |
|
|
Galctica. Nasty and efficient. |
|
|
As allies: Their are
pretty good. They have carriers, and one |
|
|
torp ship. They can make
4x the number of mines as anyone else. They can |
|
|
make fighters in space,
which you can use to fill your Biocides. Their |
|
|
Golem is nice, and their
Automa is one of the wickedest ships around. |
|
|
They?d like your FCs,
and any torp ship you have. Their Pawn Baseship has |
|
|
a full bioscanner and
will scan ALL planets within 200lys (host default). |
|
|
As enemies: A nuisance.
Their ships are big and bad, but your |
|
|
cubes can nail them.
Sweep the huge fields that they have. Be patient, |
|
|
just like you would
fighting the Crystals. He?ll use his Golems and |
|
|
Automas to attack, but
having a few cubes nearby will take care of that. |
|
|
They need Duranium like
mad, so pull it from planets. Pull either |
|
|
Tritanium or Moly (or
both) to prevent their fighter building too. |
|
|
Deprive them of their
basic economic needs and assimilate the Bots. Read |
|
|
my guide (?Dittering
Diodes: Autarch?s Guide to the Robots?) to get a |
|
|
basic grasp of the Bots.
I?ll send it to you if you can find it in a web |
|
|
site. |
|
|
8I.) The Rebels |
|
|
The Rebels are based
upon the Rebels of Star Wars. Small, light, |
|
|
fast , and deadly. |
|
|
As allies: They can give
you free fighters to. They have the |
|
|
Falcon, a better HYP
ship. They have decent torp ships (Cygnus, |
|
|
Tranquillity), and
they?d like your cubes. They have a Rush, which is |
|
|
pretty good in itself.
They are immune to the Dark Sense, and can use |
|
|
their Rebel Ground
attack (RGA) to destroy enemy planets. They are immune |
|
|
to
ATT/NUK codes. |
|
|
As enemies: A pain.
Their RGA is effective (-50% HP), and you?ll |
|
|
soon find 6 million Borg
rioting all over. They?ll use their Falcons to |
|
|
do that. Have a Quietus
or something sitting in orbit and get them. Send |
|
|
in the Cubes, and hit
them. Locate their fighter factories (Bovonoid |
|
|
planets with a Gemini in
orbit) and get them. Pull the minerals needed |
|
|
(Tri and Moly) from the
planets to stop fighter building. It?ll be |
|
|
bloody, a knock
down-drag out fight. But you should come out on top if |
|
|
you hit him quick and
sweep him away, before massive RGA can occur. |
|
|
Otherwise,
he is a great economy killer, and can do you in fast. |
|
|
8j.) The Lost Colonies of
Man |
|
|
The LCOM is from
BattleStar Galctica. Self-sufficient, betrayed, |
|
|
and deadly when provoked. |
|
|
As allies: They are
good. They have the Cobol, which makes fuel |
|
|
as it goes along. The
Aires converts minerals into fuel on a 1:1 ratio. |
|
|
They can build fighters
in space. They can sweep minefields from very far |
|
|
away. The Cobol has a
bioscanner too. They, with the Rebels, have the |
|
|
Patriot carrier, a torp
nightmare. The little ship is nasty, with 6 bays. |
|
|
Nice little carrier for
you. They have their Virgo, and basically, don?t |
|
|
need you,
except for your FCs. And maybe HYP probes. |
|
|
As enemies: And since
they don?t need you, expect war. Don?t |
|
|
waste time with mines,
you?ll lose them when they sweep with their |
|
|
fighters. They?ll be
towing their Virgos into battle with their Cobols. |
|
|
If you disable the
Cobol, the Virgo becomes a forlorn gun platform. |
|
|
They?ll send Patriots
too, so beef up your defenses on your planets. Get |
|
|
some decent torp ships
and fight the Pats. Attack them with Cubes, in a |
|
|
big push in. He?ll throw
Virgos at you. Keep sending Cubes, because you |
|
|
need him gone. Go right
for the throat, his HW. If he?s smart, he?ll have |
|
|
several
huge planets with tons of colonists. Get them second. |
|
|
The Colonies are
everyone?s worst nightmare. Help the Cluster- |
|
|
get
rid of them. |
|
|
9.) Summary and
Information |
|
|
I cannot stress enough
to read up on your enemy. Look at and read |
|
|
his tactics. Play his
race. Know thy enemy. |
|
|
Read some basic books on
warfare strategy. They will help you |
|
|
immensely. They have for me. |
|
|
Use your minefields. |
|
|
Know the Order of
Operations and Actions. |
|
|
Make friends and TRADE.
You need decent ships, and you could wipe |
|
|
someone
out with a few cubes. Don?t beg, but don?t be a idiot either. |
|
|
Get a cloaker and clone
it. Very helpful. Never use them until |
|
|
they are DEEP in enemy
lines. So when you attack, you use them too, to |
|
|
screw up his home economy. |
|
|
Get yourself down into a
pattern with Chunnel Points. Streamline |
|
|
your whole operation.
The Borg are efficient, and you need to be to |
|
|
manage the number of
planets you?ll get. |
|
|
Run Simulations constantly.
Experiment. |
|
|
And
some info: |
|
|
As for this Guide, feel
free to read it, and pass it on. Don?t |
|
|
change
anything, and don?t let anyone make you pay for it. It?s free. |
|
|
I have written two other
guides, one on the Crystal, and one (the |
|
|
only Guide for the race,
that I know of) for the Bots. I?ll send them to |
|
|
you if you can?t find
them. I am working with a friend on an Imperial |
|
|
one, but college
calls, so it?ll have to wait. |
|
|
I started the Federation
League Of Admirals, a little group of |
|
|
Fed players, who talk
about many interesting things. You might learn a |
|
|
thing or two. The Head
Admiral is Donovan , and he?ll |
|
|
explain it to you. |
|
|
I trust you enjoyed the
Guide, and please let me know what you |
|
|
thought. I welcome any
questions, comments or complaints. I am more than |
|
|
willing to assist new players. |
|
|
My e-mail address is on
the bottom. If you cannot reach me, my |
|
|
friend
Derek will know where I am. He?ll tell
you. |
|
|
Good luck in playing,
and may we meet on the field of battle. And |
|
|
may I lose to the
tactics I have taught you. |
|
|
Autarch, League Of
Admirals |
|
|
ewesta@juno.com |
|
|
For the enlightenment of
the young, and the wisdom of the old. |
|
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