What are the most useful strategies you have picked up here?

[tonic]

Not being privy to the earlier discussions here, may I canvass some retrospective thoughts.

For me the most useful are

1. The article by Ned (and co.) on tackling eco-damage

2. The power of non-lethal methods and the humble 1p-1-1 police scout.

[Frankychan]

The creation of 1-1-1 clean police. Usually I make my police units garrison-and-base attackers as well...but that got expensive. I forget who recommended this interesting tidbit.

[Cybergod]

I never use police - I cannot afford to waste my precious minerals...

But I really appreciated the eco-damage formula and Vel's guide for builder and hybrid styles of play.

[Method]

eco damage for sure. and the entire vel guide

[vitamin j]

My game changed a lot for the better after reading here about the power of nutrients and use of specialists. In the absence (sp?) of commerce, specialists are a great way to generate gobs of energy. 2 nuts = 1 librarian/technician/engineer/etc. There've been some pretty good threads on the subject, but I can't remember the names of any of them... Maybe "all-specialist bases" was one.

[MariOne]

Hey, a very interesting thread, for once!

Actually, Apolyton contributed in improving my game in some ways, allthough long discussions had been already long underway on the OWO forums.
But since after OWO death, Poly had definitely become *the* SMAC technical reference site (apart from a big party of apolytoners who lobby to ban perfectly acceptable game mechanisms just because they develped their own play before figuring them out, and didn't learn to tackle them... ).

First, I'd like to have my take on the eco-damage issue...
Ned, Fitz & Blake did an impressive testing job on the ED formula and mechanism, and they found out one undocumented feature.
This is to say that I don't intend to belittle their achievement, I indeed commend them.
For the sake of precision tho, there had already been a long debate prior that they took on the matter, and consensus was already reached that the dtalinks formula is practically correct, barring minor quirks.
It's just expressed in obscure ways, so that the main issue was *understanding* it, not devising something new.
Then came N,F&B great ED finding, namely the cumulative and faction overall effect of building TreeFarms (et al.) after the pops, which was undocumented.
That was their *significant* contribution to the ED issue.
I have to say tho that it had little impact on my gameplay strategywise. As it might be viable against a dumb AI, do you rreally expect me to SCRAP a TF and rebuild it wasting all those minerals only to avoid some ED, when I'm faced with bloodthirsty human opponents?

___
Now to the outstanding useful strategies/tactics I actually learned here at Poly (i.e. that I could not devise on my own or learned from other sites).

Pods Factory
(credit: OgieOglethorpe)
It requires the PTS, which will make your newly founded bases begin at size 3.
Best used in combination with some boreholes (or rocky mines) and crawlers, and without Demo SE.
You devote one (or more) poor-nutrient sites to churn out Colony Pods.
You found a base, and produce Colony Pods out of it as fast as possible. With the 3rd Pod, the base will be disbanded and founded anew on the same turn, restarting the cycle from size 3 again.
In optimal conditions, you'll have 2 new colony pods every 3 turns (every 4 with Demo SE).
Once you run out of places for new bases, you use the extra pods to speed the growth of already established and infrastructured bases.
This turn out to be impressive for the Industry intensive Hive, and indeed it represents a practical alternate way for him to boom (regardless of Growth SE value...), but it's viable for any faction.

___
SSC, All-Specialists, use of Condensors, etc.
Actually, it's not that I didn't know the elements of this (or "these") strategy...
I just didn't focus enough of the practical aspects and details, and did not put it effectively to use, until I saw the matter debated here (and I hope to have contributed to it a little too...).
This issue goes hand in hand with ICS and optimal base-packing/spacing.
Many are the contributors here, and credits can't be awarded.
Should I name one poster whose word must be heeded on the subject, and whose posts helped me refine my technique, I'd say Sikander.

___
UPGRADING CRAWLERS!
Yes, I admit I never thought of the cost effectiveness of this tactic, until Mongoose pointed me out a thread at Apolyton inventing it (I think he learned it from here too, I can't recall who was the dicoverer).
Although there are many opposers toit. the trick was invented here.
I am one of its most fervent advocates (and without immodesty I think I built a solid expertise on it).
I know, it *does* alter somehow the balance of certain game aspects.
But the technique is deeply intertwined with the whole issue of cashing/disbanding, and upgrading ANY kind of unit, not only crawlers (so that there is NO logical and smooth way to ban it, as I have demonstrated to all those who discussed it with me when setting up a pbem). It's just that with crawlers it becomes damn cost-effective, and changes the approach to Projects planning and building, that many players are "scared" of it...

_
Forced Growth (or POD-booming)
This one too, is nowadays mainly opposed by apolytoners, but it was invented here!
In short, the game allows you to join a Colony Pod to an existing base (I hope you don't oppose to THIS!). The controversial issue arises when by doing so you bypass the Hab-facilities limitations.
When I first came to knew about it, I strongly opposed to it as I thought it went against an intentional game-design limitation.
But two posters with a more open mind than mine, swiftly and easily demonstrated me as it CANNOT be considered a cheat or a loophole, at most some player may agree not to use it in their own pbems if they're too scared of using legal, extreme tactics.
Thos two posters were Misotu and JAMiAM, and the thrad in which thse two illuminated players enlightened me on this tactic must still be here somewhere to be found...

___
Strategywise, Vel's guide is a true mine.
But I rarely found the occasion to actually apply his theoretical methods to actual gameplay...

I think that's it.
Of course then I refined the quality of my whole style by looking at other players, and by discussing here, but I dont' think there's any other strategy or tactic that I truly "picked up" here.

[MariOne]

Oh, and then there's Ogie Oglethorpe's Infantry Tansports tactics, which is very original and deserves consideration.
But I never applied it in my games, so I can't say I "picked it up"

[MariOne]

Another thing I was frgetting:

Trained Shells and Units Upgrading.
I was only using it to a limited extent, and I do NOT believe in its overall effectiveness, so I don't espouse the strategy as exposed here.
For sure, you can find here extensive insights, helping you to grab the deatils, and to understand when it's actually effective/useful to deploy it.

And of course, the latest, ongoing, self-destruct tactic debate.
I didn't pick it up from here tho, I just mention it for it's breaking news.
I saw it used in a pbem by Mongoose & Pagan against JAMiAM, where I had been reduced to the role of a dying spectator, alas... and I recently saw it mentioned at CGN before here. But old posters here claim that it was know and debated here in the past, up to you to check it...
For sure, I knew about it but never applied or examined it in detail, thus you can say that I'm picking up actual detailed knowledge on this issue right now from here

[MattyBoy]

For me:

I would not have been willing to take on sub-ordinates if I hadn't of read here about how it can help.

I would not have come across probe foils or probe defensive units.

There must be many more things

[tonic]

Originally posted by MariOne
Oh, and then there's Ogie Oglethorpe's Infantry Tansports tactics, which is very original and deserves consideration.

Can you give a url for this or give a brief summary of it?

BTW I'm still digesting your major post

[spartak]

I learned lots and now I learned more from MariOne's post in this thread.

Am I right that MariOne= Mose?

[Main_Brain]

All I ever learned I learned in the Cloning Vats

[Lemmy]

hmm, i'm still learning, i recently discovered the usefullnes of crawlers on rocky/mined tiles, and i think i'll try an all specialist base soon, once i get those +1 nut satellites up.

[vitamin j]

I could be wrong, but I think the infantry transports thing refers to the fact that an infantry or rover based transport can carry a combat unit one square (or three road squares, etc.) while leaving the unit able to move or attack on the same turn. So you essentially get an extra "free move" from your combat unit. If the unit is elite already, it's even better... It's more commonly done with naval transports, but it's the same idea. I'm pretty sure that a rover transport is no better than an infantry transport for this use. Hovertanks on the other hand do add one more move point. Support costs are a major consideration, but transports are pretty cheap to build and the increase in combat effectiveness could be well worth it depending on the circumstances.

[aaglo]

I learned various techniques in using the crawlers. Before I used them only for speeding up the Secret Project production. But in quite early game the supply convoy can be very handy.