Planet Busters

[Mr. Harley]

Ned, how about going to global warming and flooding Yang? He's weak at terraforming. Go free market and max mineral production (boreholes/crawlers especially at one base), create lots of global damage, and keep 1t-2-2 (clean) garrisons available to kill the worm pops, money comes to you If you're really dedicated, play your game normally, and then try that strategy and tell us how it works. I've been curious how it would work, but I've always killed Yang (it's easy to get him to declare hostilities) with a Chopper-Fusion blitz

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by shawnmmcc
Ned, how about going to global warming and flooding Yang? He's weak at terraforming.

That being considered, all factions cave pretty quickly if you resort to such a tactic. I've never seen the AI factions raise/lower terrain, only build Pressure Domes to try to survive.

[Lazerus]

I've seen the AI build PB's in peace time with the charter still in place but i normally give them some tech to change their production or launch to take that base since i dont like the idea of watching my heavily packed high pop bases removed so easily.
Though recently in a game i was playing i had a treaty with deidre and since all other AI's bar 1 submissive were dead and i wanted an actual challenge i gave her all my techs, a few really good bases i held on her continent and plenty of cash then waited 10 turns for her to get some good military.
I still won fairly easily (too many elite clean chops nd drops i guess) but once id fought my way to her original main cities i noticed she was building a PB so i decided to let her finish it (she rush bought) and straight away launched it at me though my defense stations knocked it out it was the first and only time an AI has tried to PB me and i was really happy for some reason

[knowhow2]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia


That being considered, all factions cave pretty quickly if you resort to such a tactic. I've never seen the AI factions raise/lower terrain, only build Pressure Domes to try to survive.

Well the pirates probably would love this tactic......

[knowhow2]

Originally posted by Lazerus
though my defense stations knocked it out it was the first and only time an AI has tried to PB me and i was really happy for some reason

Death wish?

[Static Universe]

I've always thought the motivation for A.I. PB launches was at least partially related to secret projects. Nearly every time I have been hit, no matter if I am higher or lower in the power graph, the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm is almost always the A.I. target of choice.

I've captured the HSA and had it immediately PB'ed by the A.I. who just lost it. Nuclear exchanges between the A.I. players also seem to center around it. Personally, I think the fact that I rarely build the HSA and am rarely PB'ed are related.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Static23
I've always thought the motivation for A.I. PB launches was at least partially related to secret projects. Nearly every time I have been hit, no matter if I am higher or lower in the power graph, the Hunter-Seeker Algorithm is almost always the A.I. target of choice.

I've captured the HSA and had it immediately PB'ed by the A.I. who just lost it. Nuclear exchanges between the A.I. players also seem to center around it. Personally, I think the fact that I rarely build the HSA and am rarely PB'ed are related.

Static, Do you use the autodesign feature?

Do you build PB's yourself?

[Sprayber]

Has anyone ever seen the AI use their PBs against each other. Last month I watched as Yang PB two Spratan Bases. I was playing Pirates at the time and had treaties with both.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Yeah. My brother and I saw the Data Angels trapped in a classic "North Korea" situation - three remaining bases, and the rest all captured by the Free Drones (an AI).

One turn, shortly after PBs were prototyped by my brother's faction, the DataJacks built and simultaneously deployed three PBs, levelling three bases held by the Drones (all of which were theirs previously).

That was quite impressive. With a crippled economy, low police rating, and lousy industry, they managed to scrounge together the resources to build three nukes and use them.

[Static Universe]

Originally posted by Ned


Static, Do you use the autodesign feature?

Do you build PB's yourself?

I mostly use the autodesign feature, and vary building PBs in my games.

I'm not saying that the HSA will automatically result in a PB attack, but it seems in my games it is the likely target of oppurtunity for the A.I, if it in fact launches a PB.

[Ned]

Static, The fact that you do use the design queue and at times build PBs and do get PB seems to confirm my observations.

And yes, I see the AI use PBs against other AI factions. This is all I see though. I never get attacked.

[Guynemer]

In one of my very first games, I was playing as the Uni. Mid-game, had a vendetta against the Gaians, but they were mostly on the other side of the world from me. I had not launched any kind of offensive or anything against her, but was outpacing her in tech. Suddenly, WHAMO, down goes a size 14 with 3 SPs, including the HSA.

Needless to say, she didn't last much longer after that as everyone else started tearing her up. But I was stunned... unprovoked, and it was the Gaians!

I honestly can't remember being hit any other time. I was always on guard after that; if I saw someone building it, I'd do just about anything to take it out--probes sometimes, but my prefered method (if available) was Locusts.

Just thinking about that makes me want to fire up another game... haven't played in quite a while.

[Frankychan]

I got hit by 3, count 'em, 3 Believer Planet-Busters. They took out a coupla Secret Projects I built and had a hard time trying to recover after that barrage.

They swarmed me with low-tech troops and almost wiped me out. Lucky thing I had a coupla PB's myself.

[Static Universe]

Originally posted by Frankychan
I got hit by 3, count 'em, 3 Believer Planet-Busters.

Miriam using planet busters? I'm shocked, absolutely shocked!

[Ned]

I just finished a game that had some firsts for me. Not only did one of the alien factions PB the other, but when the other retaliated, their appears to have been a successful defense. The fact that the alien had used a PB was announced, but nothing happened.

Later, my own Pact Bros, Data, attacked one of my Orbital Defense Pods. This had never happened to me before. I retaliated with a couple of Fungal Missles, and they were shot down by her ODP. Finally, I took out the rest of her ODP using my own.

All of this was a first for me! I have been playing this game since 1999.