Recently, I've seen a lot of the good Chairman and had some fairly diverse experiences in the early part of the game. In PBEM games in particular, you get to dwell on the early part of the game quite a bit, especially if the game turns get to going slowly.
Since so little seems to be happening, there is a tendency to look at the details a little closer, like counting down the number of turns til the next breakthrough (and noticing if the tech cost changes), trying out different energy allocations, figuring out whether to build a CP or a Scout, watching your meager cash balance.
With Yang, the matter of that -1 energy in each base seems like a really big deal; if you don't have a river nearby, you might not be producing any energy at all! No energy = No Labs AND No Econ! That means No Money and No Research either. It makes it really hard to get the tech to build formers, recycling tanks, energy banks, crawlers or anything else to help with the energy shortage; it also makes rush building a luxury too. No wonder the Chairman is Seething all the time! Once you get going, 1 energy per base isn't that big a deal, but at the beginning it sure is.
There are also other considerations, not necessarily unique, to being Yang, like only being able to have one worker at each base at transcend (2 with a police unit) without drone troubles until you can get some of those techs and facilities that you can't afford. Of course, there are good things too, like the perimeter defenses and being able to run Police/Planned without the efficiency penalties (once you can save up 40 or 80 ECs) and being generally considered dangerous by the other players, but it seems that it is harder to get going at the beginning with the Chairman than with most, if not all, of the others. I'm sure I have left out some of his plusses and minuses as well, like the Industry bonus and the Demo prohibition.
So I was wondering what if any special strategies you all might have when it comes to getting started when you are Chairman Yang? Do you spend a lot of time looking around for the perfect base sites so you can get the most energy even at the cost of wasting time? Do you short out other production just to get energy - like putting a worker on a energy special even if it causes a base to have pop stagnation? Do you just keep on making CP's and Scouts til you run into someone else? Do you find the nearest neighbor and shake them down? Do you go to pods and keep reloading the game until you get a big cash prize?
What is it that works for you and the Chairman, . . . in the beginning?
Since so little seems to be happening, there is a tendency to look at the details a little closer, like counting down the number of turns til the next breakthrough (and noticing if the tech cost changes), trying out different energy allocations, figuring out whether to build a CP or a Scout, watching your meager cash balance.
With Yang, the matter of that -1 energy in each base seems like a really big deal; if you don't have a river nearby, you might not be producing any energy at all! No energy = No Labs AND No Econ! That means No Money and No Research either. It makes it really hard to get the tech to build formers, recycling tanks, energy banks, crawlers or anything else to help with the energy shortage; it also makes rush building a luxury too. No wonder the Chairman is Seething all the time! Once you get going, 1 energy per base isn't that big a deal, but at the beginning it sure is.
There are also other considerations, not necessarily unique, to being Yang, like only being able to have one worker at each base at transcend (2 with a police unit) without drone troubles until you can get some of those techs and facilities that you can't afford. Of course, there are good things too, like the perimeter defenses and being able to run Police/Planned without the efficiency penalties (once you can save up 40 or 80 ECs) and being generally considered dangerous by the other players, but it seems that it is harder to get going at the beginning with the Chairman than with most, if not all, of the others. I'm sure I have left out some of his plusses and minuses as well, like the Industry bonus and the Demo prohibition.
So I was wondering what if any special strategies you all might have when it comes to getting started when you are Chairman Yang? Do you spend a lot of time looking around for the perfect base sites so you can get the most energy even at the cost of wasting time? Do you short out other production just to get energy - like putting a worker on a energy special even if it causes a base to have pop stagnation? Do you just keep on making CP's and Scouts til you run into someone else? Do you find the nearest neighbor and shake them down? Do you go to pods and keep reloading the game until you get a big cash prize?
What is it that works for you and the Chairman, . . . in the beginning?
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