Suggestions for winning w/Believers on Transcend

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Kirov


I'm also gonna play it, don't spoil the fun!

Oh I won't give anything away but as a playtester I like to be given similar information to what Darsnan intends to give when he rolls it out

Otherwise I spend a hundred turns "discovering that restrictions lifting was moved to polymorphic software which he plans to tell people at the outset.

I do enjoy discovering his suprises but to playtest you really need to start from the same basis

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Darsnan


This is necessary for the game to work "properly" (yes, "properly" - thats a good way to describe it! )



No, none of that. Just something different, as usual....



Hmmm, and I thought you couldn't teach an old dog new tricks!


D

I can't even begin to guess what you have come up with this time-- the only constant is that I find them to be fun

[smacksim]

Originally posted by spartanpez
Still getting mirams butt kicked
Over the last week
Yang victory (2x)
Old method: build bases (3x3), formers, (2 farms + forest rest)
Nice expansion, no research (lowered %)
Got probes after yang had ………

Switched to non blind research and small planet

Yang kicking my butt, almost holding my own
Base, 2 formers, pod, 3rd former, recycling facility
Built 8 bases
Got probes
Built weather paragrim
Building bore holes
Yang wipes out gaians
Yang turns army on me

4th game
3 formers per base
8 plus bases
Did not get WP
Spartans leading
Built lots of infantry
Spartans wiped out yang, university, and gaians
Formed every space
Expanded out to island
Mogan does not like planned
Currently holding my own based on volume of troops not quantity

Self critique: i still am not attaching early+ often, not achieving tech parity, looking weak in the face of the enemy

If you're going to play on a small (or even medium) planet, you'll have to adapt the general advice given here (and in the link to my post above). Early wars require either luck or significant advantages in # of units. With Miriam you should kick yourself if an offensive ever dies for lack of units! 10 2-1-2's take Yang before Synthmetal. 10 4-1-2's take him till Plasma, etc.. But just do everything overboard. Who cares if you field 40 units when you only needed 20? If you have to do early wars (smaller map or close neighbor), do them RIGHT. Kick arse and then go back to focusing on pop-booming and tech parity.

Speaking of which: Early pop-booms are great with the WP, but there is a consequence: You'll be top of the power chart and everyone's enemy. So choose your path willfully. Either road leads to Synthmetal-bible glory.

The other thing I noticed was that you may not have mastered rush-buying yet. Enough said on that topic, unless its a mystery to you still!

[Sikander]

A handy way to handle the Hive in the early game is to use native life against him. His perimeter defenses can cause headaches in the early game against your anemic attack factors, native units ignore them.

[Kataphraktoi]

Except miriam has -planet and green is a ways off. even in green, MW are costly and you cant rely on an army of them raised from fungus.

[CEO Aaron]

Yeah, I can't recommend native life for Miriam, just probe-rape his facilities until you get the perimiter defenses, then send in the fanatics.

[spartanpez]

Finally won one w Miriam
30 days later

Switched to non blind research and small planet

Ended up in the middle of an island Gaians to south
Morgan + University to north

Yang & Spartans elsewhere

Base, 2 formers, pod, 3rd former,
Built 8 bases
Got probes
Probed 3 on island
Partnered w/ Morgan + Gaians
Fought University
Deidre very happy to trade knowledge allowing me to catch up on research
Crushed university to subservient relationship
Built many more supply transports and left open areas in which I built forests
Paid much more attention to harvesting
Built bore holes
Switched to green to keep partner w/ Gaians

Chased Yang to subservient relation ship
Chased Santiago down to 4 bases
Much more able to build and use cash to build forces as required

Made a mistake, probed Morgan into war
Probed Morgan again + made mogan declare war on Gaians

Probed Morgan to climb way up the tech tree
Made another mistake took Morgan bases with special projects which put me to the top of the power chart
gaians attached
Over ten rounds they were crushing me as I built transcend
then I won

Self critique: I did attaching early + probed heavily, achieved tech parity,

Lots to work on
I definitely did not build enough bases
I was not ready for gains at end

[Flubber]

Against the AI, your research penalty will mean that the AI will underestimate you. That means they are likely to be more friendly and even might GIVE you tech.

You can therefore build up your military and economic might to blitz the poor AI. Its actually funny when you probe away a bunch of techs and then capture a bunch of bases. Inside of 5 turns you can go from 4th or 5th in the powercharts to a clear first and you can just imagine the other leaders going "WTF??"

You can play the Drones similarly . . . The AI never understands or factors in capability and really over-weights techs in the powergraphs-- If you time your proberape with a pop-boom and then cash your AAs for tech, you may leave the AI in the dust