Tweet
GAIAN STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
By Hydro
As Vel stated in his terrific strat guide, the first step in achieving success with a faction is to know thyself. With that in mind, here is my list of Gaian strengths and weaknesses. Please add and comment so we can all develop a mutual (and complete) understanding of the granola munching, limp wristed, lisping, can’t-we-all-be-friends, tree hugging Gaians.
STRENGTHS
+2 EFFICIENCY – this is huge, and underrated by many. High efficiency is key to building a large empire with less energy waste and B-drones. With the increased efficiency the Gaians can:
* Build more bases - Having 13 vs 10 bases without bureaucracy drones (on a huge map) this means more production centers, which means more resources. This is critical, since this is a 30% base bonus and the appropriate use of resources is key to achieving victory. This partially makes up for a deficiency of not being able to get the magic +1 energy/square with FM.
Less energy waste – Having a good efficiency means you get more of your energy from each base than your competitors (except the Cyborgs, who also have +2 efficiency). This comes into its own when the Gaians have a large empire (15+ bases) that are well developed (to tree farms) and are size 6+
* More energy allocation options – with the +2 efficiency the Gaians can switch their energy allocation with less penalty. In the early game this means the Gaians can crank to ~70% research without too much of an energy penalty.
* More SE options – normally planned (with –2 efficiency) can be killer, and must be combined with demo to reduce drones and massive energy penalties. The +2 efficiency means these problems are lessened
* Paradigm +4 efficiency is easy! – The holy grail of efficiency! With this there is NO penalty for cranking your energy to anything you want! This is easy for the Gaians, and +6 is not unheard of (Dem/Green) with +8 at an given base! (with crèches). If Knowledge is selected for SE then a base can have an efficiency of +9 (which is surely overkill).
EXPLORATION – the +1 Planet gives us the chance to get worms and IoDs, meaning we can explore like no other faction (except the justifiably maligned Cult and unbalanced Caretakers). Since the Gaians will never be hobbled with FM restrictions on military units outside of their territory they have no restrictions and can explore far and wide.
* When running along fungus MWs can see the world, pop pods with impunity (and get lots of goodies), and heal in the field. This means we can also find our enemies faster, or at least as fast as the Evil Spartans with their rovers.
* Exploration of the sea is often forgotten, but it is huge. The seas of Planet comprise ~50% of Planet and they are festooned with Unity Pods, which are frequently neglected by other factions until later in the game. By pairing an IoD with a cheap soil (1-1-4 is just fine for this type of work) these juicy bon-bons can be harvested, and the sea explored.
NATIVE LIFE – MWs are often support free (independent if they were captured far from Gaian territory), or if they are in fungus they draw no support. This frees up the Gaians from having to invest as much in their military early on and keeps their existing industry unencumbered with useless ‘military’ units. MWs are not all that good as attackers or defenders, but if they are free that is good.
* Land MWs - I almost NEVER keep my MWs at home. Mine are out exploring, popping pods, and making a nuisance of themselves to other factions.
* IoDs – these are, by far, the best sea units in the game since they can attack, act as a transport, repair in the field, and play hide-and-seek in the fungus since they aren’t restricted in fungus for movement. A priority of any Gaian is to get Doct: Flex and build a cheap foil (1-1-4), plow into fungus until an IoD shows up, and then capture or kill it. Note that IoDs are NOT good attackers since they don’t get the +50% psi. They should, therefore, operate in tandem with a foil, who will do the attacking and capturing. I’d rather lose a cheap foil than a versatile IoD any day!
* Go green! – the Gaians should be Green whenever they can to maximize their +1 Planet by making it +3, and this increases MW and IoD capture and give less damage from Psi combat.
PLANETPEARLS – Gaians are starved for energy in the midearly through the rest of the game. This is offset by being the best at harvesting PlanetPearls from MWs and IoD.
While other factions are afraid of popping pods, or do so with great care, the Gaians can do this with impunity since infesting MWs ignore land MWs (but NOT IoDs!! Important note – have a foil escort!). If it is infested with MWs, great! More planetpearls, or news recruits! At sea this is more tricky since there is no +50% psi attack. That is what the cheap foils are for: the IoD explores the pod, generates a hostile IoD, the foil kills it and, if it fails, the IoD finishes it off. Note that the foil has a better chance of IoD capture, so it should always ‘say hello’ first. The impact of PlanetPearl harvest is that the Gaians can crank their energy allocation toward research and rely on planetpearls for their energy income. This energy is more than useful for any number of worthy infrastructure improvements, Projects, or to bribe enemy units.
+2 FUNGUS FOOD– this is another major benefit for the Gaians. At face value it doesn’t look like much, but in the early game getting a tile with +2 food can be a challenge if the terrain isn’t good, or if your formers haven’t gotten around to the area yet. Growth is key, and the +2 food in fungus can aid growth options. Moreover, a population boom can yield drone problems and doctors (reducing production), and nothing is worse than having to starve a city back down due to the lack of a +2 food source due to instability. Again, fungus saves the day. By late early game this isn’t much of a bonus anymore since Nut Restrictions are lifted, sea kelp is available, and tree farms are starting up. It does make a huge difference in the early game, and that is where it counts.
DRONE CONTROL – one side benefit of not being able to run FM is the use of non-lethal methods on our garrisons. This controls an additional drone, leading to increased stability at a trivial cost. Our evil FM-running competitors have to build facilities or allocate energy to Psych, which eats into their ability to expand (good!). Likewise, when we do allocate to Psych we do so with less penalty due to Gaian efficiency, as mentioned above.
GAIAN WEAKNESSES
-1 MORALE – my overall impression of this weakness is ‘big deal’. It is not much of a weakness, and is overcome at home with crèches and in the field by field-related morale boosts. Moreover, it doesn’t effect our cute little MWs or IoDs. Later it is made irrelevant by high attack/defense factors, an morale enhancing facilities. The only possible irritation is that it is very hard to get elite units, but that is the realm of the Evil Spartans.
-1 POLICE – again, my impression is ‘big deal’. There are very few situations when this will make a difference, and if we are in those situations we’re dead anyway.
No FM – this is huge, and can lead to a serious technology and development handicap by mid early game. There are ways to offset this (see above), but Gaians will have to work hard to stay even with factions running FM for tech and raw energy availability. By mid game the Gaians can engineer a FM-equivalent with Wealth and Golden Ages (which also are terrific for non-Planned pop booms). But, this requires a lot of Psych energy allocation and needs to be used with care (since it may slow down science, even with +1 energy/square), and certainly it should be used only after there is infrastructure that can multiply the Psych energy allocation.
NO BOREHOLES? – the Gaian ideology, if rigorously applied, can have self-imposed handicaps. Some of these are no eco damage at all, no boreholes, no mines, limited forests/farms/solar panels. Of these, no eco damage/fungus pops is the most serious since this strategy is key to bumping the eco-damage free mineral production at bases. By mid game no boreholes are huges since this bumps energy and industrial development.
SE RESTRICTIONS – Gaians are pre-disposed to Demo/Green. While this is fine, holding to this ideology too closely also limits pop booms, which are key to bumping population and taking full advantage of the Gaian efficiency advantage, which really kicks in when an empire starts to develop with large bases over a large area. The only way to do this and keep up with human-played factions is to pop boom. Other SE options that are not taken as frequently are Police/Green, which would likely generate serious Gaian debate.
ECO TERRORIST? The Gaians can be eco terrorists, but their ‘passive’ pre-disposition limits this, too. Gaians are terrific at laying in wait in the fungus (particularly with IoDs with MWs on them), then pouncing on the unsuspecting. To what degree with the Gaians try to enforce their Green mentality on others? Is FM to be punished, or chastised but tolerated? Is Planned OK, or a war-instigating offence? How about Planned? These are questions of ideology and role playing and are clearly in the ‘grey’ area of the Gaians
NO POP BOOM? Gaians are supposedly hostile to over population, which led to some of the worst abuses of Earth. Does this mean they won’t pop boom? If they don’t then they are at a severe disadvantage with other factions, which will not be saddled with such a restriction. This is a question of ideology, and timing.
USELESS MWs – the spoor launcher is of very limited use since they can’t generally capture other MWs (not sure on this; it’s my recollection) and can’t kill them, except for other launchers. Due to a likely bug, hostile launchers will attack, whereas normal MWs will leave Gaian MWs alone. I will have launchers suicide-death-charge when I can to free up a MW slot, since they are limited.
By Hydro
As Vel stated in his terrific strat guide, the first step in achieving success with a faction is to know thyself. With that in mind, here is my list of Gaian strengths and weaknesses. Please add and comment so we can all develop a mutual (and complete) understanding of the granola munching, limp wristed, lisping, can’t-we-all-be-friends, tree hugging Gaians.
STRENGTHS
+2 EFFICIENCY – this is huge, and underrated by many. High efficiency is key to building a large empire with less energy waste and B-drones. With the increased efficiency the Gaians can:
* Build more bases - Having 13 vs 10 bases without bureaucracy drones (on a huge map) this means more production centers, which means more resources. This is critical, since this is a 30% base bonus and the appropriate use of resources is key to achieving victory. This partially makes up for a deficiency of not being able to get the magic +1 energy/square with FM.
Less energy waste – Having a good efficiency means you get more of your energy from each base than your competitors (except the Cyborgs, who also have +2 efficiency). This comes into its own when the Gaians have a large empire (15+ bases) that are well developed (to tree farms) and are size 6+
* More energy allocation options – with the +2 efficiency the Gaians can switch their energy allocation with less penalty. In the early game this means the Gaians can crank to ~70% research without too much of an energy penalty.
* More SE options – normally planned (with –2 efficiency) can be killer, and must be combined with demo to reduce drones and massive energy penalties. The +2 efficiency means these problems are lessened
* Paradigm +4 efficiency is easy! – The holy grail of efficiency! With this there is NO penalty for cranking your energy to anything you want! This is easy for the Gaians, and +6 is not unheard of (Dem/Green) with +8 at an given base! (with crèches). If Knowledge is selected for SE then a base can have an efficiency of +9 (which is surely overkill).
EXPLORATION – the +1 Planet gives us the chance to get worms and IoDs, meaning we can explore like no other faction (except the justifiably maligned Cult and unbalanced Caretakers). Since the Gaians will never be hobbled with FM restrictions on military units outside of their territory they have no restrictions and can explore far and wide.
* When running along fungus MWs can see the world, pop pods with impunity (and get lots of goodies), and heal in the field. This means we can also find our enemies faster, or at least as fast as the Evil Spartans with their rovers.
* Exploration of the sea is often forgotten, but it is huge. The seas of Planet comprise ~50% of Planet and they are festooned with Unity Pods, which are frequently neglected by other factions until later in the game. By pairing an IoD with a cheap soil (1-1-4 is just fine for this type of work) these juicy bon-bons can be harvested, and the sea explored.
NATIVE LIFE – MWs are often support free (independent if they were captured far from Gaian territory), or if they are in fungus they draw no support. This frees up the Gaians from having to invest as much in their military early on and keeps their existing industry unencumbered with useless ‘military’ units. MWs are not all that good as attackers or defenders, but if they are free that is good.
* Land MWs - I almost NEVER keep my MWs at home. Mine are out exploring, popping pods, and making a nuisance of themselves to other factions.
* IoDs – these are, by far, the best sea units in the game since they can attack, act as a transport, repair in the field, and play hide-and-seek in the fungus since they aren’t restricted in fungus for movement. A priority of any Gaian is to get Doct: Flex and build a cheap foil (1-1-4), plow into fungus until an IoD shows up, and then capture or kill it. Note that IoDs are NOT good attackers since they don’t get the +50% psi. They should, therefore, operate in tandem with a foil, who will do the attacking and capturing. I’d rather lose a cheap foil than a versatile IoD any day!
* Go green! – the Gaians should be Green whenever they can to maximize their +1 Planet by making it +3, and this increases MW and IoD capture and give less damage from Psi combat.
PLANETPEARLS – Gaians are starved for energy in the midearly through the rest of the game. This is offset by being the best at harvesting PlanetPearls from MWs and IoD.
While other factions are afraid of popping pods, or do so with great care, the Gaians can do this with impunity since infesting MWs ignore land MWs (but NOT IoDs!! Important note – have a foil escort!). If it is infested with MWs, great! More planetpearls, or news recruits! At sea this is more tricky since there is no +50% psi attack. That is what the cheap foils are for: the IoD explores the pod, generates a hostile IoD, the foil kills it and, if it fails, the IoD finishes it off. Note that the foil has a better chance of IoD capture, so it should always ‘say hello’ first. The impact of PlanetPearl harvest is that the Gaians can crank their energy allocation toward research and rely on planetpearls for their energy income. This energy is more than useful for any number of worthy infrastructure improvements, Projects, or to bribe enemy units.
+2 FUNGUS FOOD– this is another major benefit for the Gaians. At face value it doesn’t look like much, but in the early game getting a tile with +2 food can be a challenge if the terrain isn’t good, or if your formers haven’t gotten around to the area yet. Growth is key, and the +2 food in fungus can aid growth options. Moreover, a population boom can yield drone problems and doctors (reducing production), and nothing is worse than having to starve a city back down due to the lack of a +2 food source due to instability. Again, fungus saves the day. By late early game this isn’t much of a bonus anymore since Nut Restrictions are lifted, sea kelp is available, and tree farms are starting up. It does make a huge difference in the early game, and that is where it counts.
DRONE CONTROL – one side benefit of not being able to run FM is the use of non-lethal methods on our garrisons. This controls an additional drone, leading to increased stability at a trivial cost. Our evil FM-running competitors have to build facilities or allocate energy to Psych, which eats into their ability to expand (good!). Likewise, when we do allocate to Psych we do so with less penalty due to Gaian efficiency, as mentioned above.
GAIAN WEAKNESSES
-1 MORALE – my overall impression of this weakness is ‘big deal’. It is not much of a weakness, and is overcome at home with crèches and in the field by field-related morale boosts. Moreover, it doesn’t effect our cute little MWs or IoDs. Later it is made irrelevant by high attack/defense factors, an morale enhancing facilities. The only possible irritation is that it is very hard to get elite units, but that is the realm of the Evil Spartans.
-1 POLICE – again, my impression is ‘big deal’. There are very few situations when this will make a difference, and if we are in those situations we’re dead anyway.
No FM – this is huge, and can lead to a serious technology and development handicap by mid early game. There are ways to offset this (see above), but Gaians will have to work hard to stay even with factions running FM for tech and raw energy availability. By mid game the Gaians can engineer a FM-equivalent with Wealth and Golden Ages (which also are terrific for non-Planned pop booms). But, this requires a lot of Psych energy allocation and needs to be used with care (since it may slow down science, even with +1 energy/square), and certainly it should be used only after there is infrastructure that can multiply the Psych energy allocation.
NO BOREHOLES? – the Gaian ideology, if rigorously applied, can have self-imposed handicaps. Some of these are no eco damage at all, no boreholes, no mines, limited forests/farms/solar panels. Of these, no eco damage/fungus pops is the most serious since this strategy is key to bumping the eco-damage free mineral production at bases. By mid game no boreholes are huges since this bumps energy and industrial development.
SE RESTRICTIONS – Gaians are pre-disposed to Demo/Green. While this is fine, holding to this ideology too closely also limits pop booms, which are key to bumping population and taking full advantage of the Gaian efficiency advantage, which really kicks in when an empire starts to develop with large bases over a large area. The only way to do this and keep up with human-played factions is to pop boom. Other SE options that are not taken as frequently are Police/Green, which would likely generate serious Gaian debate.
ECO TERRORIST? The Gaians can be eco terrorists, but their ‘passive’ pre-disposition limits this, too. Gaians are terrific at laying in wait in the fungus (particularly with IoDs with MWs on them), then pouncing on the unsuspecting. To what degree with the Gaians try to enforce their Green mentality on others? Is FM to be punished, or chastised but tolerated? Is Planned OK, or a war-instigating offence? How about Planned? These are questions of ideology and role playing and are clearly in the ‘grey’ area of the Gaians
NO POP BOOM? Gaians are supposedly hostile to over population, which led to some of the worst abuses of Earth. Does this mean they won’t pop boom? If they don’t then they are at a severe disadvantage with other factions, which will not be saddled with such a restriction. This is a question of ideology, and timing.
USELESS MWs – the spoor launcher is of very limited use since they can’t generally capture other MWs (not sure on this; it’s my recollection) and can’t kill them, except for other launchers. Due to a likely bug, hostile launchers will attack, whereas normal MWs will leave Gaian MWs alone. I will have launchers suicide-death-charge when I can to free up a MW slot, since they are limited.
obstructor:
Great post Hydro, but a few remarks.
We definitely shouldn`t go too hard with RP influence on gameplay, or we won`t live long. Pop booming is one of keys for Gaians, and planned is Gaian`s first SE! I dont have PBEM experience, but I tend to switch Demo/Planned and Demo/Green according to my needs and opportunities.
And spore launchers can capture other MWs (done a hundred times). Even sealurks can be captured with foils.
Great post Hydro, but a few remarks.
We definitely shouldn`t go too hard with RP influence on gameplay, or we won`t live long. Pop booming is one of keys for Gaians, and planned is Gaian`s first SE! I dont have PBEM experience, but I tend to switch Demo/Planned and Demo/Green according to my needs and opportunities.
And spore launchers can capture other MWs (done a hundred times). Even sealurks can be captured with foils.
Hydro:
I also think we should be careful how far we let ideology go. I tend to use planned only for periods of pop booms, but not too extensively. Otherwise I like Green due to capture and empire.
Spoor launchers can't KILL other MWs except for spoor launchers; that's why I dislike them. Sealurks can't travel through fungus without penalty like IoDs can, and that is a real bummer. Sealurk's only advantage is attacking cities, and that isn't that big of an issue since they generally lose.
I also think we should be careful how far we let ideology go. I tend to use planned only for periods of pop booms, but not too extensively. Otherwise I like Green due to capture and empire.
Spoor launchers can't KILL other MWs except for spoor launchers; that's why I dislike them. Sealurks can't travel through fungus without penalty like IoDs can, and that is a real bummer. Sealurk's only advantage is attacking cities, and that isn't that big of an issue since they generally lose.
Darsnan:
I really don't think simply following Gaian ideology is in our best interests, if we are playing to win. First off, it is too easy for our competitors to follow this well played train of thought and know exactly how to counter it. Second, it has been my observation that laws aren't effective unless they have teeth (i.e. backing). The Gaians would be the same in that we could demand other Factions do things, but without any military to back up any threats we make, then they really won't be taken seriously.
The following is a general summary of how I play my Gaians:
Three things I'd like to state regarding the Gaians: first we're never going to win a war of attrition, as we just aren't geared for it (especially if we're running Wealth, which I really like to do). Therefore we should seek out someone else more accustomed to and capable of warfare in this game, and in this case hopefully it would be the Spartans. Second, since we cannot run FM, we should "convince" as many other Factions as possible that FM is not a good option for them. The word "convince" I use in broad, general terms, but in most cases subterfuge is the most applicable avenue. I am a huge fan of "shadow formations" that exist only in the minds of those individuals I've convinced they exist in. I am also extremely good at moving naval units from theatre to theatre, just showing enough of a presence in each theatre that those exposed to this knowledge will then continually hunt for these units, and grow more frustrated and psychotic with each passing turn that they cannot find said units! The current PBEM "Team Game -1" over at Civgaming is probably my best effort to date in this sense, as I E-Mailed pictures of my IOD's intercepting another Factions Probe Foils just off visibly recognizable landmarks of my intended victim's coastline. I then withdrew my IOD's to another theatre, but my victim has spent considerable turnage of units hunting for these now moved on units (units which my victim could have been gainfully employing elsewhere). Third: guerrilla warfare: have IOD's drop worms off on islands/ landmasses. These worms are then used to depod the areas (thus denying resources to other Factions), releasing wild worms (which don't suffer from the Gaian Morale issue) which then seek out populated areas (or can also be captured by us). We can also build a "Merrill's Mauraders" army of worms and scout rovers (upgraded to Impact Rovers) to rush bases built too close to fungus. Worms are great shock troops in the early game, and rovers with their 2 movement points can easily come out of the blue and take bases.
So, to summarize:
1. That which we are not, we should seek out.
2. That which we cannot become, we should nullify by "convincing" others to not choose this advantage.
3. Hit and Run tactics of Guerilla warfare: one of my ancestors was Ethan Allen, an American Revolutionary War Hero who was an expert at guerrilla tactics long before they became popular, and I try to exemplify this aspect of my game. If coupled with an effective PR Department which amplifies the Guerrillas accomplishments exponentially, this can be a much more dangerous force than they are in reality.
4. Mindgames. It is a very real aspect of my game, and is very enjoyable to those exposed to the "real" truth......
I really don't think simply following Gaian ideology is in our best interests, if we are playing to win. First off, it is too easy for our competitors to follow this well played train of thought and know exactly how to counter it. Second, it has been my observation that laws aren't effective unless they have teeth (i.e. backing). The Gaians would be the same in that we could demand other Factions do things, but without any military to back up any threats we make, then they really won't be taken seriously.
The following is a general summary of how I play my Gaians:
Three things I'd like to state regarding the Gaians: first we're never going to win a war of attrition, as we just aren't geared for it (especially if we're running Wealth, which I really like to do). Therefore we should seek out someone else more accustomed to and capable of warfare in this game, and in this case hopefully it would be the Spartans. Second, since we cannot run FM, we should "convince" as many other Factions as possible that FM is not a good option for them. The word "convince" I use in broad, general terms, but in most cases subterfuge is the most applicable avenue. I am a huge fan of "shadow formations" that exist only in the minds of those individuals I've convinced they exist in. I am also extremely good at moving naval units from theatre to theatre, just showing enough of a presence in each theatre that those exposed to this knowledge will then continually hunt for these units, and grow more frustrated and psychotic with each passing turn that they cannot find said units! The current PBEM "Team Game -1" over at Civgaming is probably my best effort to date in this sense, as I E-Mailed pictures of my IOD's intercepting another Factions Probe Foils just off visibly recognizable landmarks of my intended victim's coastline. I then withdrew my IOD's to another theatre, but my victim has spent considerable turnage of units hunting for these now moved on units (units which my victim could have been gainfully employing elsewhere). Third: guerrilla warfare: have IOD's drop worms off on islands/ landmasses. These worms are then used to depod the areas (thus denying resources to other Factions), releasing wild worms (which don't suffer from the Gaian Morale issue) which then seek out populated areas (or can also be captured by us). We can also build a "Merrill's Mauraders" army of worms and scout rovers (upgraded to Impact Rovers) to rush bases built too close to fungus. Worms are great shock troops in the early game, and rovers with their 2 movement points can easily come out of the blue and take bases.
So, to summarize:
1. That which we are not, we should seek out.
2. That which we cannot become, we should nullify by "convincing" others to not choose this advantage.
3. Hit and Run tactics of Guerilla warfare: one of my ancestors was Ethan Allen, an American Revolutionary War Hero who was an expert at guerrilla tactics long before they became popular, and I try to exemplify this aspect of my game. If coupled with an effective PR Department which amplifies the Guerrillas accomplishments exponentially, this can be a much more dangerous force than they are in reality.
4. Mindgames. It is a very real aspect of my game, and is very enjoyable to those exposed to the "real" truth......
Net Warrior:
I understand that we may be encountering another faction in 20-25 years. Perhaps an alternate beeline would be in order here. Go for SoHB for the free tech and get Centauri Empathy so we can:
1. go green
a) more native captures
b) greater efficiency
1. better allocate energy
2. for ICS purposes
2. get the Empathic Guild SP.
I understand that we may be encountering another faction in 20-25 years. Perhaps an alternate beeline would be in order here. Go for SoHB for the free tech and get Centauri Empathy so we can:
1. go green
a) more native captures
b) greater efficiency
1. better allocate energy
2. for ICS purposes
2. get the Empathic Guild SP.
Ouro:
Hmm... More than likely, we won't be playing with the Empath Guild, or it will be toned down, or moved tech wise.... I see in cleaning, Obstructor deleted by preliminary tech plan... I'll see if I can find and repost.... Anyways, in my capacity as Head of Academic and Research Activities, that is mostly what I had mentioned as one possible beeline, except taking Ethical, and researching Empathy...
Hmm... More than likely, we won't be playing with the Empath Guild, or it will be toned down, or moved tech wise.... I see in cleaning, Obstructor deleted by preliminary tech plan... I'll see if I can find and repost.... Anyways, in my capacity as Head of Academic and Research Activities, that is mostly what I had mentioned as one possible beeline, except taking Ethical, and researching Empathy...
Net Warrior:
Well it seems Darsnan has some very different ideas. I see he is interested in getting the MCC and playing psychological games via the sea lanes. I wonder if this will be as effective as he thinks on a 50 land 50 sea map. I also wonder how effective it will be since I've seen posts where our opponents are aware of his using this tactic.
If the Empathic Guild SP is eliminated or moved then the beeline I (we) suggest may not be best. I'll have to give it some more thought though.
Well it seems Darsnan has some very different ideas. I see he is interested in getting the MCC and playing psychological games via the sea lanes. I wonder if this will be as effective as he thinks on a 50 land 50 sea map. I also wonder how effective it will be since I've seen posts where our opponents are aware of his using this tactic.
If the Empathic Guild SP is eliminated or moved then the beeline I (we) suggest may not be best. I'll have to give it some more thought though.
Darsnan:
Actually it still might be very viable, or perhaps we should pursue something in between. Also, Ouro_827's comments about other people knowing my playing style and anticipating it might really work to our advatange if we actually play someone else's style instead. A lot of players in the other camps are already anticipating that the Gaians will automatically be playing my style. It could literally drive people insane looking for Gaian IoD's and worm armies that are the staples of my harrassment policies, when in fact we are doing something completely different with them.
Regardless, I think we are in good shape strategy wise, regardless of which avenue we choose. One aditional point I'd like to make about my strategy is that sending out worms and IoD's is that we garner more pods for ourselves (and their resultant benefits), and denying the pods to our enemies.
Honghu has replied she would like to see some of my saves from my Gaian PBEM games, which I am going to send to her to show how effective my tactics are. If anyone else is interested ni seeing these, let me know, or if they have PBEM saves they are willing to share showing how their Gaian straetgies work, then I would definately be intrested in seeing them, as well.
Actually it still might be very viable, or perhaps we should pursue something in between. Also, Ouro_827's comments about other people knowing my playing style and anticipating it might really work to our advatange if we actually play someone else's style instead. A lot of players in the other camps are already anticipating that the Gaians will automatically be playing my style. It could literally drive people insane looking for Gaian IoD's and worm armies that are the staples of my harrassment policies, when in fact we are doing something completely different with them.
Regardless, I think we are in good shape strategy wise, regardless of which avenue we choose. One aditional point I'd like to make about my strategy is that sending out worms and IoD's is that we garner more pods for ourselves (and their resultant benefits), and denying the pods to our enemies.
Honghu has replied she would like to see some of my saves from my Gaian PBEM games, which I am going to send to her to show how effective my tactics are. If anyone else is interested ni seeing these, let me know, or if they have PBEM saves they are willing to share showing how their Gaian straetgies work, then I would definately be intrested in seeing them, as well.
Ouro:
I'd wouldn't mind seeing a save.. I've never got to do a good SMAC or SMAX PBEM, but come late August... And it wasn't my comments, that was Obs
I'd wouldn't mind seeing a save.. I've never got to do a good SMAC or SMAX PBEM, but come late August... And it wasn't my comments, that was Obs
Darsnan:
OK, PM me your E-Mail address via Apolyton, and I'll send the package out to you
OK, PM me your E-Mail address via Apolyton, and I'll send the package out to you
obstructor:
I am interested too.
What comment? We should play so that as little as possible is known about our gameplay style, this wasn`t directed against anyone in particular.
I am interested too.
What comment? We should play so that as little as possible is known about our gameplay style, this wasn`t directed against anyone in particular.
Darsnan:
This was the comment I was referring to. It was posted by Net Warrior, not Ouro_827 as I had originally posted. Still not a bad idea, or an alternate strategy, if we were to throw a mental curveball at the other teams by playing a different style.
Well it seems Darsnan has some very different ideas.
I see he is interested in getting the MCC and playing
psychological games via the sea lanes. I wonder if
this will be as effective as he thinks on a 50 land 50
sea map. I also wonder how effective it will be since
I've seen posts where our opponents are aware of his
using this tactic.
I see he is interested in getting the MCC and playing
psychological games via the sea lanes. I wonder if
this will be as effective as he thinks on a 50 land 50
sea map. I also wonder how effective it will be since
I've seen posts where our opponents are aware of his
using this tactic.
This was the comment I was referring to. It was posted by Net Warrior, not Ouro_827 as I had originally posted. Still not a bad idea, or an alternate strategy, if we were to throw a mental curveball at the other teams by playing a different style.
HongHu:
Actually it is an interesting idea. We put emphasis on another style but send out a couple IoDs just to imply Darsnan's style so people won't be able to rest.
Actually it is an interesting idea. We put emphasis on another style but send out a couple IoDs just to imply Darsnan's style so people won't be able to rest.
Ouro:
And follow it up with 6-res rovers....
And follow it up with 6-res rovers....
obstructor:
Since SMAX revorked artillery, spore lauchers can only annoy opponent with artillery bombardment (them on IoD). Problem is, that I tend to capture more of Spore Launchers than MWs
.
Sealurks are great because they are submerged and very hard to detect.
Since SMAX revorked artillery, spore lauchers can only annoy opponent with artillery bombardment (them on IoD). Problem is, that I tend to capture more of Spore Launchers than MWs
.Sealurks are great because they are submerged and very hard to detect.
HongHu:
It is a good summary, especially the one about positives. As for the disadvantages, I agree with obstructor and others that we should not let RP dictate the game playing. Instead, we should use RP to justify our game playing. I have posted some thought about Gaian ideology in an earlier thread. I'll try to find that and bump that thread.
It is a good summary, especially the one about positives. As for the disadvantages, I agree with obstructor and others that we should not let RP dictate the game playing. Instead, we should use RP to justify our game playing. I have posted some thought about Gaian ideology in an earlier thread. I'll try to find that and bump that thread.
Comment