Turn Log [Warning - Includes Large Images]

[Archaic]

Tests completed.

Assuming we take an indirect route to SotHB (Stopping for Ind. Econ. and/or Plan. Nets....)

If given enough of a leg-up by the CMN, the Angels could potentially get SotHB first, however it's unlikely given that their tech choices will actually be constrained by what the game will allow.

The Cyborgs could potentially also beat us to it dispite our Nodes if they get a good starting location.

Basically.....it's pot luck. I played all those factions as I would play in an SP game, and that's not how the others would play them IMO. The AI certainly wouldn't.

If we take a direct route from the beginning, going for it, we're assured. If we take Ind. Base first, we can then take Biogenics and Social Psych (The game's going to force us to do it in that order) and get SotHB before anyone else. If we go for one of Plan. Nets or Ind. Econ, we take the risk of the game not giving us the proper tech on our next selections.

[GeneralTacticus]

Well... if we can't go for Ind. Eco before SoftHB, then we should go straight for it. Ind. Base won't bring us any particular short-term advantages, and if we have to risk losing the Secrets if we go for it first (especially when we can get it instantly once we have the Secrets), then we should bypass it for now.

[Archaic]

2102 EOT [Warning - Includes Large Image]

Turn played.



Report:

• First Base established on landing site. Production set to formers.
• Scouts moved north and south. South square revealed as unsuitable for base site.
• Scout moved east, uncovered Monolith tile to our north east. Pod popped produced a 2nd Monolith. University Base worker moved to Monolith.
• Colony Pods moved North and East towards the viable base sites.

[GeneralTacticus]

I think we ought to now build a base on the square 2 E from University Base, and another one on the river north of the second monolith. This will give us an nice energy boost from the rivers as well as the monlith, which will speed up our research (and increase our income) substantially.

[moomin]

Two monolites? My. We should consider the impact of pods never popping tech/artys - we can expect a fair amount of monolites, unit cloning, dimensional rifts, energy - and base production completion. Perhaps we should gamble on setting up our bases for rec.tanks and go pop-hunting?

Also, the base grid is óff for now. We need to exploit these monolites - they can give us comfortable growth rates in three bases. I'd go with GTs suggestion above.

Did we get to choose tech, btw?

[GeneralTacticus]

Did we get to choose tech, btw?

Nope. We wanted to get the turn posted ASAP (actually we were two hours late, but hopefully no-one will notice ), and since we don't need to pick until next turn, we decided not to so as to allow more time for discussion.

[moomin]

A wise decision.

From all I've read I'd be inclined to go for SotHB now. We should possibly discuss what wonders we shoot for though. The VW is a give for us and with human competiotion out there I'm afraid it'll be the only early game wonder we can pull off - although it'd be swell if we could get the weather paradigm as well. HGP is nice, but secondary, I think. I love the ME myself, but it's not essential either.

Long term, we have to plan for getting the HSA. Or else. We should try for the Supercollider and the Planetary datalinks too.

[GeneralTacticus]

The VW is going to be absolutely essential for us if we want to keep our Drones udner control - and combined with FM and some Psych, it will do that job admirably. As for other SPs - you're right, we can probably write off most of the rest as being impossible to get, but I think we should try to grab the PTS, if we can. It would speed up our 'borg' strategy greatly.

As for the longer term - absolutely. We cannot afford to go without the HSA, and the science wonders would be a nice bonus too.

[Archaic]

For the base placements, I was hoping to put the CP's 2E and 2N of University Base. That doesn't put the one at 2N on a river, but if we give it and Uni Base the monoliths, and 2E (Which itself in on a river anyway) the rainy/rolling/river.....

[GeneralTacticus]

Frankly, I don't see any reason to put the second base 2N other than trying to be neat with base placement (which we'll be constrained from doing any by other factors). We'll get more energy (and a boost to income would allow us to eithe rbuild stuff faster or switch SE more easily), and I don't see what great advantages we'd get from not putting it on a river.

[Archaic]

Well, I don't think we'll be that constrained by other factors if we're smart with formers. It might give us some bonuses in the short run, but I wouldn't have thought that'd be all that significant in the scheme of things.

[GeneralTacticus]

Well, it'll give us quite a qsubstantial boost in the short term, and I can't see any long term drawbacks which would mean we shouldn't build it there.

[Archaic]

I suppose it wouldn't too screw up the base placement plan......it's not as if it displaces a Borehole, which would be a significant problem.

[Googlie]

Archaic et al:

Your screenshot was centered on the monolith (scout and colony pod) and not the base, so this is just a "stab in the dark"

Are you keeping your SE settings at 50:0:50?

The inefficiency penalty in the first ten turns or so is miniscule (few bases), and often a change to, say, 30:10:60 can drop the tech research time significantly - as much as from 5 years to 3 - (there is a "law of diminishing returns" where, say, a 20:0:80 split produces a worse result)

G.

[Archaic]

You certainly seem to be favouring us Googlie....^^;;;

I hadn't heard about that early game switch of the sliders before, which rather embarasses me since I considered myself reasonably well informed on th strategy for this game. Obviously I'm nowhere near as good as I think. I suppose we can guarentee ourselves that the Drones will do this with the people running it, but the others.....well, if you've told them too, it's a certainty.