Fungus tower

[Albin]

As a green SMAC player I was interested in the new native units in SMAX. But after playing some games (only single player) I don't see any use for fungus towers. Is it really the best to destroy them and take the energy? The AI likes to do this. I never seen this towers producing more worms and launchers than tower-less fungus. Any ideas?

[Sarxis]

I usually tackle them when I am able. I can't imagine they are anything else than just a nuissance, unless you like to do the 'bio-hunter' thing, reaping pearls. But triggering fungal blooms is a more controlled method of doing that.

[Major Guz]

Almost all of the time I get rid of fungal Towers. They are a nuisance. First of all they have a ZoC, so my units cant get past them (not even my mind worms) and secondly, they tend to spawn fungus around them making fungus patches larger (i don't like that). And thirdly they spawn worms as indicated.
In getting Rid of them one has to take into account the following:
Fungal towers have a built-in Defense bonus of +50%(like hypnotic trance). So taking them out must be planned carefully. Best is to take an elite empath unit to do the job (or employ resonance weapons in SMAX). Or use formers to clear the fungus around a fungal tower (reduces morale of that tower, because a tower has +1 morale for every fungus patch next to it) and then kill it (you will not receive a big credit boost by that, because of the lower morale).

[fluffy]

In hundreds of SMAX games, I can't remember ever seeing a tower either spawn new units or increase fungus around it.

Can anyone confirm that towers really can do either of these?

[Albin]

They increase fungus direct around them. But yes, they don't spawn more worms, and that's I am looking for. That would be useful and a reason to keep them alive.

[Pandemoniak]

I think they do spawn and increase fungus, for what I've seen. But they actually spawn worms only if
- you (and maybe AI units) try to get into its ZoC
- all the eight squares around it are fungus

To check it, just surround the eight tiles with units -- 16 units required -- and try to enter its ZoC. You will always find at least on emindworm, usually two, or three.

[Main_Brain]

Also the Tower gets stronger with each Tile of Fungus 'attached'
to easen the Attack I frequently remove some Fungus Tiles ;=)

[Flubber]

For dealing with the threat of worms I generally like to have at least one artillery rover in my empire. When I decide to rod myself of the fungal towers. I will

1. bombard them a bit (even 20% damage is a big help)
2. use an empath unit
3. use resonance weapons if possible
4 Do it while going "green" if possible but certainly not while in FM

I sometimes weaken them by terraforming the fungus away but as someone noted, this reduces the cash recovery from killing them

[Static Universe]

Once as an experiment I left a tower next to one of my bases for almost the whole transcend game and I don't think I was attacked once by anything that was generated by that tower. I popped a pod next to one of my bases in the first twenty years and just sort of sprawled around it, so there was only one space between the base and the tower. It had all eight spaces around it full of fungus too.

It wasn't spewing out native life as the manual suggests. Be a lot cooler if it did , but on the other hand, units could hang out there and capture more worms, so I think that would be an unfair advantage, especially for factions which run green very early (Cult, Gaians).

I seem to notice that outside my territory, there seems to be more native life around a tower than for one inside my territory, but it's impossible to tell it they were just out the are tower-generated.

[Hendrik]

He he, I really hate having fungus anywhere in my empire because I like making a tightly packed, dense empire. When I play as CEO Morgan and am running FM from the mid teens I usually deal with mind worms during my expansion phase by cranking out 3-4 scout patrols and sending them on kamikaze missions. It may take several scouts, but the fungal towers don't gain morale from successful attacks on them, so it isn't quite as bad as attacking a normal unit.

[Asmodean]

I remember on game when only a small piece of land connected my empire with the lands of a more powerful AI player. A fungal tower blocked that connection, so travel was only possible if you destryed that tower. In that instance it made tactical sense to leave it in place. But otherwise: Yeah, I tend to destroy them, and reap the rewards.

Asmodean

[Flubber]

I will also leave them in place if they protect an area that might be vulnerable. On a long border, they can serve as a bottleneck.

I might sac scouts early but if a fungal tower is not too much of a nuisance, I will wait until I have my arty and empath to usually kill the tower without loss to myself