Green Maritime Pod Strategy

[Maniac]

Ah yes, I really should visit that site once...

[Mongoose]

Chop 'til you're out of fuel, then SD. Nice thread about it at CGN.

[Maniac]

Oh, they're used for self-destruct! Does that kill the crawlers or just damages them for the next suicide chopper?

[Mongoose]

Missile Choppers are more lethal than impact when self destructed.

[Maniac]

Btw, I thought people used Impact Choppers for that job

[Maniac]

Indeed. There is a countermeasure for most of all these smart tricks. For example, just patrol your shores and the "transport full of marines" is redundant as well.

Btw, I'm wondering, do people use to strategy to surround their entire continent with sea bases, as is suggested in Vel's guide. I've never yet encountered it in my games (well yes one time, but I think that was just because he lacked room to expand - he was surrounded by me :-), but then again, I haven't yet played that many MPs.

[Mongoose]

It's almost impossible to defend an energy park against a human opponent. A couple of suicide missile choppers can just lay it waste.

[Maniac]

Personally I think that though many people know these tricks, they are not often put to practice. For example, I've heart some PBEM veteran say once that he had almost never seen an energy park in MP. That proves I guess.

I could be wrong of course. In that case I'm also a terrible player...

[Clear Skies]

I HAVE to try all these tactics tonight...
Ugh. When I hear all you lot talking about these really clever sorts of things to do, I sometimes feel I must be the worst SMAC player in existence. Trouble with me is I'm something of an 'old-schooler' - I tend not to overuse crawlers or energy parks or anything like that.

Dammit, you're all SO much better than I am!

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Drago,

I believe it was Scott Johnson who wrote on that same topic many moons back. Seems he hasn't posted since Feb 2001 so prolly long gone. That and use of Marines I think were among some of his better stuff. He had some really good stuff if memory serves.

Og

[Blake]

Amphib troops are good for two things... capturing sea bases adjacant to land tiles, and attacking sea/coastal bases from a transport.

The cruiser transport loaded with Best-1-1 Marines is particullary effective at cracking open coastal/sea bases. If you don't need the +25% vs base (and the enemy isn't using ECM) you can use rovers instead.

If you have lots of money load the transport with trained 1-1-1's instead, and upgrade them to best~ on the way.

A cruiser loaded with elite infantry is about the most deadly thing in the game, packing A LOT more firepower than a chopper. But it's also rather expensive.

[Grail Quest]

Originally posted by Straybow
Usually hit them with jets then capture by cruiser. Although they are usually adjacent to land and can be attacked by amphib units I just don't built amphib unless it's too inconvenient to take a base any other way.

It's too bad that amphibious troops appear to be for a very specific situation: coastal bases.

There was only one game in which I build Amphibious Rovers, but they did turn out quite handily. Basically, I used them against coastal bases which cannot be taken by sea vessels (this is pre-air power). Landing a unit takes 1 attack, so instead of landing, I sail up, hit the base hard, then sail away if I have to. The units are moved to safety so they can repair on the ship. If the base is rendered defenseless, I take it with the weakest rover in the stack so that it is instantly repaired. Otherwise, my cruiser sails in, then the transport, and I dig in at that base and use it as my beachhead.

I think amphibious troops ought to be usable against other ships. If I have a stack of marines in my transport, and I can rush up to a ship or IOD or whatever, I feel they ought to be able to launch an attack, and/or defend against an attack.

[Sikander]

Regarding captured units requiring support:

I believe this was brought up in one (or several) old threads. Basically, you can only have so many 'free' units of a particular type. After that you can still capture them, but they are homed to your nearest base. IIRC the same thing happens with unity rovers etc.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Drago Sinio
Yes, a captured life form is just as good as one you "build" your self. Better in fact, since its independent, drawing no support.

Well actually, in my experience captured lifeforms do sometimes require support. I have never looked deeper into it, but I think it's just if you capture them near one of your bases. And neither built or captured life forms require support if they stay in xenofungus. A great way to reduce the support of your mind worm army when you're at peace.

[Straybow]

AAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh! No, not another sea colony on my doorstep!

Usually hit them with jets then capture by cruiser. Although they are usually adjacent to land and can be attacked by amphib units I just don't built amphib unless it's too inconvenient to take a base any other way.