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SMAniac Faction Review: Bre Ata
Or, the Sea Faction that isn’t
I’ve played the SMAniaC mod quite a lot but haven’t used the SMAniaC factions very often. Mainly I used the SMAC and SMAX factions within the SMAniaC environment. I decided to play a few games with each faction and note my observations. Since I am a Gaian by heart I decided, naturally enough, to start with the Bre.
Bre Faction Abilities
The Bre are designed as a sea-based faction. They start with a very respectable +2 Planet and are balanced with -1 Growth. As special bonus they receive +2 nutrients in fungus due to their great sympathy with Planet. They start with an IoD (!!!!) and 2 sea colony pods, and their starting technology is Xenobiology. An undocumented feature is that they get +1 minerals in each non-fungus sea square, which is similar to the Pirate faction. Their SE preference is Green (naturally) and aversion is Private/Protectionist for no reason I can fathom. I would have thought their aversion would be Anthropogenic with its -3 Planet.
Overview
My first comment is that the Bre are a sea faction that isn’t a sea faction. Why? Well, to start the game the Bre faction doesn’t have Centauri Hydrology, so it can’t build any sea units: sea colonies, terraformers, foils – nothing. Therefore, the faction has to make a dash for land immediately to expand. This means that your IoD needs to be guarded jealously. Under no circumstances should you pop any pods since, if you lose it, you are likely stewed for a LONG time until you get Centauri Hydrology (for sea units) and can go to sea again. You could build an IoD, but they are expensive even in SMAniaC. For a good while your two first sea bases will be your prime production centers, but after you get two or three land bases the pressure is off. After you get Centauri Ecology you are back in business as a sea faction (as far as sea bases go, that is), but until then your options are limited. If you are doing directed research consider a B-line to Centauri Hydrology, and if using blind research set your research priority to Explore (or perhaps Explore/Build) to maximize your changes of getting all Explore techs (of which Centauri Hydrology is one).
Faction Strengths and Weaknesses
The Bre do have an enormous advantage: +2 Planet. In SMAniaC the SE works differently than in SMAC/X, and all factions have a ‘frontier’ Society setting with a default of -1 Planet. This makes sense since humanity has no idea how Planet ecology works. The -1 Planet that most factions have makes defending against native life more of a challenge, and means that factions with a negative Planet rating can get no nutrients from fungus. Note that the -1 frontier Society SE rating nullifies the Gaian +1 Planet, so Gaians can’t capture worms at the start of the game (!!). The factions with +2 Planet (Cult, Bre) end up with +1 Planet after adjusting for the Frontier -1 Planet, and they can there capture native life – and use it for nutrients from fungus in a pinch.
These two benefits of the Bre Planet rating – native life and nutrients – are huge. First, getting a few mindworms is great, and even if you lose you get Planet Pearls, which are always welcome. These can be used to explore, pop pods, and get a lay of the land. Other factions will be very limited by comparison. Second, the ability to get food from fungus and the Bre food in fungus bonus means that the Bre can colonize just about anywhere, whereas other factions will be limited by terraformed sectors. What is strange is that by the time you get Ecological Engineering you have enough fungus resource bonuses to be getting 3-2-1 food/minerals/energy in a fungus square – almost as good as a hybrid forest! In fact, forests are of limited value, and actually have less production with Tree Farms than fungus does. This presents interesting No Terraforming-All Green options for the Bre, but more on that later.
Interestingly, the food bonus and the huge productive potential of the fungus fairly early in the game (as long as you stick with Explore techs) will mean that the main disadvantage the Bre have - -1Growth – is largely irrelevant. In SMAniaC it is much more difficult to Pop Boom, so at first blush this would be a problem. But, since the Bre get so much more food with from fungus and get it long before other factions this means their bases grow like weeds. Other factions that aren’t able to pop boom will not be able to keep up, and since in SMAC people-are-power this is a big advantage.
Another huge advantage that I didn’t initially appreciate was their starting tech: Xenobiology. With this tech you can breed mindworms, isles, and spoor launchers. Did you get that? The Bre start off the game with all the tech they will ever need to crush all their opponents. Who needs conventional weaponry? Not the Bre. Moreover, mindworms only cost 2 rows of minerals, so it is fairly easy to crank them out (even if you can’t capture them) and send them on their way to explore or rip the minds out of those that displease you. Even better, when in fungus the worms have NO SUPPORT! This lifts those critical shackles from your early industry. The ability to capture, build, and less support gives you the real option of Worm Rushing your enemies very early in the game before they can get trance, roads, remove fungus, or have any meaningful defense. In the early game a squad of 5 worms of any type will likely overwhelm any enemy.
The Bre are never short of energy, either. Their bases may be minimally developed, but with all the worms running around I found I was quickly rolling in energy from Planet Pearls. Initially with only a +1 Planet rating I decided to build 2 worms, and then sent them ashore with my trusty beginning of game IoD and set them to work. If they captured a worm that was fine, and combat was good, too, since I netted Planet Pearls. At first my capture rate was small, but it accumulated. Other fations will need to be cautious in the fungus due to the -1 Planet rating, which makes Psi Combat a dicey proposition.
Tech Strategy
Because of these advantages the Bre should only go for Explore techs. After all, who needs Gene Splicing since the limitations don’t seem to apply to fungus? In short order you’re getting +3 food in fungus, and all of the other factions can kiss your little pink hiney thank-you-very-much. Lifting of mineral restrictions with Industrial Base is nice, but who cares about mines and minerals? Go for Explore: Centauri Ecology, Fission Reactor (for speeders), Progenitor Psych, Centauri Empathy, Centauri Hydrology (important – so you can build foils to get more IoDs!), Ecological Engineering, and the like. These are mainly useful for the resources it unlocks from the fungus, but also for the foils. If you have a high population you’re getting a good number of minerals, and with minimal support you aren’t burdened.
What is the most valuable tech you need? That’s easy: Centauri Empathy. Why, you ask? Simple – it allows the SE Society choice of Green. When the Bre go Green (-1 Industry, +2 Planet) the Bre really take off. Since they can abandon the default Society SE of Frontier (with -1 Planet) their Planet rating goes to +4!!. This means tons of captured worms/IoDs/spoor launchers, and vastly improved psi combat. In most of my games a single worm was able to easily take out a fungal tower since each point of Planet rating gets you +15% psi attack (!!!) for each point of Planet (likewise, you get a penalty of -15% Psi for each point of negative Planet!!). Now, imagine you are a faction that has Frontier with -1 Planet (-15% psi attack) and they see hordes of Bre worms coming at them – each of which has +60% psi attack. A wise faction would poo their pants and then beg for peace while whimpering ‘Please Don’t Hurt Me.’
Eventually the Bre to go back to sea, but by the time I typically got Centauri Hydrology I had a good number of land bases and didn’t really need (or want) more sea bases, which are pretty vulnerable even to the AI. But, once you do go back to sea you can grab pods, land mindworms on distant shorts, and truly rule the waves.
Development
I found the Bre to be a tad mineral poor early in the game at their two starting sea bases. Fungus gives generous food, but mineral ratings are modest until late. Unless you’ve made an unwise detour into non-Explore techs you don’t have Industrial Auto and supply crawlers, or even mineral restrictions unlocked with Industrial Base. This is not really a problem, though, due to your large energy surplus Planet Pearls. Simply put, just buy it. In an obscene way it makes you feel like Morgan with energy pouring in.
My Bre’s technology rates were modest since the energy you get from your bases is average, but it improves as you (rush) buy network nodes and had bigger bases with your generous energy reserves. However, in the early and early-mid game my tech rate was less than the technology factions (Cyborgs, Uni) or energy (Morgan) factions. I was able to keep up since I was able to meet the other factions quickly due to my exploration. Early tech trading is a big benefit since it is relatively easy to get techs you’ve been ignoring, which for me was almost everything but Explore techs. Second, I was able to get a large number of artifacts, which I’d shepherd back to my bases with worms (making sure the worms didn’t end the turn on top of the artifact – other worms will attack you then!) or IoDs. A key project for the Bre is the Nexus Translator (aka Universal Translator), which you get in SMAniaC with Centauri Empathy (isn’t that convenient?). In SMAniaC this Project comes early enough to be useful. Being able to get 2 techs from the Project and cash any number of Artifacts is an enormous advantage for the Bre, especially since you can buy the bloody Project – and then cash your Artifacts. In fact, I am generally am able to get this Project long before all my bases have Network Nodes. If you are playing the Bre as a Momentum faction this is even more important since you may not have very many network nodes – just rely on the Translator and all your artifacts.
The Bre can have an average number of bases without severe bureaucracy drones, but this can be expanded if you get the Rejuvenation Tanks (aka HGP). Of course, once you go Green you can easily handle another wave of expansion due to your expanded efficiency. Since the Bre can happily stay in Green the whole game they can handle a large number of bases.
SE Choices
When I’ve played the Bre I’ve been quite happy with the following choices:
• Politics: Unitary Democracy (default) or Federal Democracy – I saw no need to go to either of the Police States since most of my units were worms, which are generally support free. This might change as I invade and no longer have my units in fungus, though. If you are Going Green and ignoring terraforming besides roads then you don’t need many terraformers either. The only reason to go Police State (Unitary or Federal) is for drone control, which might be OK if I am going Momentum and don’t care about research (artifact cashing, stealing).
• Economics: early I stayed at Subsistence (default) or Planned. Later I considered Private/Free Trade and Private/Protectionist, but only if I could handle the talent penalties. Planned offsets the -1 industry of Green. Private/FT and P/P add along with Green can be true killers that result in a -2 or -3 Industry. Of course, if you’re rolling in energy you might not care about your industry rating.
• Ruling Elite: I liked Technocrat (default) for the efficiency and research bonus or Plutocrat (+1 eco, -2 morale, +1 industry). Note that since most of my units are native that the -2 morale penalty of Plutocrat (which is essentially Wealth in SMAX) is meaningless, so I get a +1 economy and +1 industry for free!
• Society: Green all the way, and there is almost no reason every to go off of Green. The +2 efficiency and +2 Planet rating are more than enough to compensate for the -1 industry. Due to my tech choices I usually get Green before others, but I might get Planned if I’ve tech traded or cashed an artifact.
SUMMARY
Overall the Bre work like the Gaians on steroids. They have none of the crippling penalties of the Cult (-1 Economy rating of the Cult), and their only penalty of -1 Growth is largely irrelevant due to their ability to get food from fungus. This faction is designed to be completely Green (or more accurately, Red for fungus), and you may be able to ignore all terraforming except for roads – and you may even be able to ignore them, too, if you’ve got all worms and can use Fungus Superhighways!
The Bre can be an acceptable Builder but an excellent Hybrid especially Momentum faction. You can happily get all the Explore techs and make a go of an all Planet strategy. Your strengths play against the weaknesses of other factions early in the game, and they need to be very careful or they could very well get run over. You have all the techs you need to grind the other human factions under your heel from Turn 1 if you are so inclined.
Or, the Sea Faction that isn’t
I’ve played the SMAniaC mod quite a lot but haven’t used the SMAniaC factions very often. Mainly I used the SMAC and SMAX factions within the SMAniaC environment. I decided to play a few games with each faction and note my observations. Since I am a Gaian by heart I decided, naturally enough, to start with the Bre.
Bre Faction Abilities
The Bre are designed as a sea-based faction. They start with a very respectable +2 Planet and are balanced with -1 Growth. As special bonus they receive +2 nutrients in fungus due to their great sympathy with Planet. They start with an IoD (!!!!) and 2 sea colony pods, and their starting technology is Xenobiology. An undocumented feature is that they get +1 minerals in each non-fungus sea square, which is similar to the Pirate faction. Their SE preference is Green (naturally) and aversion is Private/Protectionist for no reason I can fathom. I would have thought their aversion would be Anthropogenic with its -3 Planet.
Overview
My first comment is that the Bre are a sea faction that isn’t a sea faction. Why? Well, to start the game the Bre faction doesn’t have Centauri Hydrology, so it can’t build any sea units: sea colonies, terraformers, foils – nothing. Therefore, the faction has to make a dash for land immediately to expand. This means that your IoD needs to be guarded jealously. Under no circumstances should you pop any pods since, if you lose it, you are likely stewed for a LONG time until you get Centauri Hydrology (for sea units) and can go to sea again. You could build an IoD, but they are expensive even in SMAniaC. For a good while your two first sea bases will be your prime production centers, but after you get two or three land bases the pressure is off. After you get Centauri Ecology you are back in business as a sea faction (as far as sea bases go, that is), but until then your options are limited. If you are doing directed research consider a B-line to Centauri Hydrology, and if using blind research set your research priority to Explore (or perhaps Explore/Build) to maximize your changes of getting all Explore techs (of which Centauri Hydrology is one).
Faction Strengths and Weaknesses
The Bre do have an enormous advantage: +2 Planet. In SMAniaC the SE works differently than in SMAC/X, and all factions have a ‘frontier’ Society setting with a default of -1 Planet. This makes sense since humanity has no idea how Planet ecology works. The -1 Planet that most factions have makes defending against native life more of a challenge, and means that factions with a negative Planet rating can get no nutrients from fungus. Note that the -1 frontier Society SE rating nullifies the Gaian +1 Planet, so Gaians can’t capture worms at the start of the game (!!). The factions with +2 Planet (Cult, Bre) end up with +1 Planet after adjusting for the Frontier -1 Planet, and they can there capture native life – and use it for nutrients from fungus in a pinch.
These two benefits of the Bre Planet rating – native life and nutrients – are huge. First, getting a few mindworms is great, and even if you lose you get Planet Pearls, which are always welcome. These can be used to explore, pop pods, and get a lay of the land. Other factions will be very limited by comparison. Second, the ability to get food from fungus and the Bre food in fungus bonus means that the Bre can colonize just about anywhere, whereas other factions will be limited by terraformed sectors. What is strange is that by the time you get Ecological Engineering you have enough fungus resource bonuses to be getting 3-2-1 food/minerals/energy in a fungus square – almost as good as a hybrid forest! In fact, forests are of limited value, and actually have less production with Tree Farms than fungus does. This presents interesting No Terraforming-All Green options for the Bre, but more on that later.
Interestingly, the food bonus and the huge productive potential of the fungus fairly early in the game (as long as you stick with Explore techs) will mean that the main disadvantage the Bre have - -1Growth – is largely irrelevant. In SMAniaC it is much more difficult to Pop Boom, so at first blush this would be a problem. But, since the Bre get so much more food with from fungus and get it long before other factions this means their bases grow like weeds. Other factions that aren’t able to pop boom will not be able to keep up, and since in SMAC people-are-power this is a big advantage.
Another huge advantage that I didn’t initially appreciate was their starting tech: Xenobiology. With this tech you can breed mindworms, isles, and spoor launchers. Did you get that? The Bre start off the game with all the tech they will ever need to crush all their opponents. Who needs conventional weaponry? Not the Bre. Moreover, mindworms only cost 2 rows of minerals, so it is fairly easy to crank them out (even if you can’t capture them) and send them on their way to explore or rip the minds out of those that displease you. Even better, when in fungus the worms have NO SUPPORT! This lifts those critical shackles from your early industry. The ability to capture, build, and less support gives you the real option of Worm Rushing your enemies very early in the game before they can get trance, roads, remove fungus, or have any meaningful defense. In the early game a squad of 5 worms of any type will likely overwhelm any enemy.
The Bre are never short of energy, either. Their bases may be minimally developed, but with all the worms running around I found I was quickly rolling in energy from Planet Pearls. Initially with only a +1 Planet rating I decided to build 2 worms, and then sent them ashore with my trusty beginning of game IoD and set them to work. If they captured a worm that was fine, and combat was good, too, since I netted Planet Pearls. At first my capture rate was small, but it accumulated. Other fations will need to be cautious in the fungus due to the -1 Planet rating, which makes Psi Combat a dicey proposition.
Tech Strategy
Because of these advantages the Bre should only go for Explore techs. After all, who needs Gene Splicing since the limitations don’t seem to apply to fungus? In short order you’re getting +3 food in fungus, and all of the other factions can kiss your little pink hiney thank-you-very-much. Lifting of mineral restrictions with Industrial Base is nice, but who cares about mines and minerals? Go for Explore: Centauri Ecology, Fission Reactor (for speeders), Progenitor Psych, Centauri Empathy, Centauri Hydrology (important – so you can build foils to get more IoDs!), Ecological Engineering, and the like. These are mainly useful for the resources it unlocks from the fungus, but also for the foils. If you have a high population you’re getting a good number of minerals, and with minimal support you aren’t burdened.
What is the most valuable tech you need? That’s easy: Centauri Empathy. Why, you ask? Simple – it allows the SE Society choice of Green. When the Bre go Green (-1 Industry, +2 Planet) the Bre really take off. Since they can abandon the default Society SE of Frontier (with -1 Planet) their Planet rating goes to +4!!. This means tons of captured worms/IoDs/spoor launchers, and vastly improved psi combat. In most of my games a single worm was able to easily take out a fungal tower since each point of Planet rating gets you +15% psi attack (!!!) for each point of Planet (likewise, you get a penalty of -15% Psi for each point of negative Planet!!). Now, imagine you are a faction that has Frontier with -1 Planet (-15% psi attack) and they see hordes of Bre worms coming at them – each of which has +60% psi attack. A wise faction would poo their pants and then beg for peace while whimpering ‘Please Don’t Hurt Me.’
Eventually the Bre to go back to sea, but by the time I typically got Centauri Hydrology I had a good number of land bases and didn’t really need (or want) more sea bases, which are pretty vulnerable even to the AI. But, once you do go back to sea you can grab pods, land mindworms on distant shorts, and truly rule the waves.
Development
I found the Bre to be a tad mineral poor early in the game at their two starting sea bases. Fungus gives generous food, but mineral ratings are modest until late. Unless you’ve made an unwise detour into non-Explore techs you don’t have Industrial Auto and supply crawlers, or even mineral restrictions unlocked with Industrial Base. This is not really a problem, though, due to your large energy surplus Planet Pearls. Simply put, just buy it. In an obscene way it makes you feel like Morgan with energy pouring in.
My Bre’s technology rates were modest since the energy you get from your bases is average, but it improves as you (rush) buy network nodes and had bigger bases with your generous energy reserves. However, in the early and early-mid game my tech rate was less than the technology factions (Cyborgs, Uni) or energy (Morgan) factions. I was able to keep up since I was able to meet the other factions quickly due to my exploration. Early tech trading is a big benefit since it is relatively easy to get techs you’ve been ignoring, which for me was almost everything but Explore techs. Second, I was able to get a large number of artifacts, which I’d shepherd back to my bases with worms (making sure the worms didn’t end the turn on top of the artifact – other worms will attack you then!) or IoDs. A key project for the Bre is the Nexus Translator (aka Universal Translator), which you get in SMAniaC with Centauri Empathy (isn’t that convenient?). In SMAniaC this Project comes early enough to be useful. Being able to get 2 techs from the Project and cash any number of Artifacts is an enormous advantage for the Bre, especially since you can buy the bloody Project – and then cash your Artifacts. In fact, I am generally am able to get this Project long before all my bases have Network Nodes. If you are playing the Bre as a Momentum faction this is even more important since you may not have very many network nodes – just rely on the Translator and all your artifacts.
The Bre can have an average number of bases without severe bureaucracy drones, but this can be expanded if you get the Rejuvenation Tanks (aka HGP). Of course, once you go Green you can easily handle another wave of expansion due to your expanded efficiency. Since the Bre can happily stay in Green the whole game they can handle a large number of bases.
SE Choices
When I’ve played the Bre I’ve been quite happy with the following choices:
• Politics: Unitary Democracy (default) or Federal Democracy – I saw no need to go to either of the Police States since most of my units were worms, which are generally support free. This might change as I invade and no longer have my units in fungus, though. If you are Going Green and ignoring terraforming besides roads then you don’t need many terraformers either. The only reason to go Police State (Unitary or Federal) is for drone control, which might be OK if I am going Momentum and don’t care about research (artifact cashing, stealing).
• Economics: early I stayed at Subsistence (default) or Planned. Later I considered Private/Free Trade and Private/Protectionist, but only if I could handle the talent penalties. Planned offsets the -1 industry of Green. Private/FT and P/P add along with Green can be true killers that result in a -2 or -3 Industry. Of course, if you’re rolling in energy you might not care about your industry rating.
• Ruling Elite: I liked Technocrat (default) for the efficiency and research bonus or Plutocrat (+1 eco, -2 morale, +1 industry). Note that since most of my units are native that the -2 morale penalty of Plutocrat (which is essentially Wealth in SMAX) is meaningless, so I get a +1 economy and +1 industry for free!
• Society: Green all the way, and there is almost no reason every to go off of Green. The +2 efficiency and +2 Planet rating are more than enough to compensate for the -1 industry. Due to my tech choices I usually get Green before others, but I might get Planned if I’ve tech traded or cashed an artifact.
SUMMARY
Overall the Bre work like the Gaians on steroids. They have none of the crippling penalties of the Cult (-1 Economy rating of the Cult), and their only penalty of -1 Growth is largely irrelevant due to their ability to get food from fungus. This faction is designed to be completely Green (or more accurately, Red for fungus), and you may be able to ignore all terraforming except for roads – and you may even be able to ignore them, too, if you’ve got all worms and can use Fungus Superhighways!
The Bre can be an acceptable Builder but an excellent Hybrid especially Momentum faction. You can happily get all the Explore techs and make a go of an all Planet strategy. Your strengths play against the weaknesses of other factions early in the game, and they need to be very careful or they could very well get run over. You have all the techs you need to grind the other human factions under your heel from Turn 1 if you are so inclined.
I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say on the others as well.
) many IoDs. I think they're worth it despite their high cost.
Aren't those SE choices useless if you follow a fungal terraforming strategy?
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