What level do you play (and discuss strategy) on?

[Tiemler]

I just played an insane game in a huge galaxy on Impossible. Despite using Unitol, I wasn't able to expand quick due to a slow start, and when I encountered my neighbors, they were equal or better in tech, which made for some very rough battles. We gained ground very slowly against the Klackons, and fought a stalemated conflict against the Humans, trading worlds back and forth as many as three times. With the development of Gauss Cannons, we were able to breach planetary defenses and finally defat both of these rivals.

By this time, though, the Darloks had been stealing massive amounts of tech from us, and had conquered one race and accepted the surrender of another. So they were a superpower, and we were just starting to compete. Anticipating an apocalyptic confrontation, I eliminated all the other pesky species, built up my empire, and prepared a fleet.

Unexpectedly, the Darloks defeated the Guardian and colonized Orion. They wasted no time attacking with a large fleet against which I was relatively unprepared, putting Loknar at the spearhead of a massive squadron of battleships and titans.

My fleet fared well against the enemy battleships, but every time Loknar turned up in a battle, he shredded my ships and bases. Eventually, I was able to concentrate enough ships in one system to ambush and exterminate Loknar, and although the rest of my fleet perished along with the system it was defending, the loss of the legendary captain stopped the Darloks' relentless advance.

With the loss of several colonies, my empire was hurting, but still researching at a fast pace. Soon I was able to produce titans armed with disruptors to challenge the still powerful Darlok fleet, and these ships turned the tide. Having won the naval war, I bombed out every Darlok system but Nazin and Orion, then gathered my fleet for the traditional naval review for the ceremonial firing of the stellar converter. It was rather amusing to win a game of MOO2 by obliterating Orion.

Goes to show you. The AI can surprise you with a pretty tough game sometimes.

[vmxa1]

Sounds like you had fun. It seems that if you have not visited Orion by the time of RP 3500, the AI will soon do it.

I rarely hold Orion after killing the Guardian, so I often will come back later to bomb it out.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by GePap
Well, in MOO2, combat is very different- i am sure if Civ had an army type of combact and a tactical minimap, then the AI would invariably be better at fighting wars.

I myself am not a serious gamer- I like games, but I don;t care to spend the time to master every single little details to maximize outcomes. I generally play on average difficulty levels. I rarely lose, but most of the time I don;t play to win, but to play.

I go back and forth on that one. It really depends on the game. I do find that playing at the highest levels, where you have to master little details, can detract from the immersion, OTOH i get inspired by the competiviness here.

[Tiemler]

I just hadn't played a game before where Loknar, personally, and his ship, were so lethal. In most games, my ship technology has advanced far enough that a typical battleship or certainly a titan can compete with his tricked-out ride.

And what amused me about bombarding Orion is, we blew up the homeworld of the Ancients with a stellar converter to kill the last enemy population point.

Lotta artifacts floating around in that asteroid belt.

[Aabraxan]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Sounds like you had fun. It seems that if you have not visited Orion by the time of RP 3500, the AI will soon do it.

I rarely hold Orion after killing the Guardian, so I often will come back later to bomb it out.

It does sound like Tiemler's game was a fun one. I recently had the Gnolams sneak out and kill the Guardian before I'd even found Orion, a rare occurrence in and of itself. Once I kill the Guardian, though, I almost always go ahead and colonize it. It's almost never fully developed before the end of the game, though. By the time I can take out the Guardian, I can usually take out the other species with little or no loss of ships. I find that I almost never have very much of the "take, lose, and retake" of planets, though. I either bomb the colony rather than conquer it, or go ahead and buy at least one planetary defense before moving on, preferably either rocket bases or ground batteries, depending on what tech I've got.

[GePap]

I generally lose planets due to revolts because I had too few merines guarding the colony, not to enemy counterattacks. I prefer if I can to attack along a wide front, and invade planets after I have moved the space battles further down into their empire.
Generally, I will seek to destroy their battle fleet before I start invading planets.

[Aabraxan]

I have to agree w/ GePap. When I read the above posts the first time, I was thinking about losing planets to counterattacks, not revolt. So let me rephrase: I've rarely had planets go back and forth due to counterattacks. I've lost quite a few to revolts (usually due to the Sakkra horde).

With regard to method of attacking, for me, it's situational. If I'm in a position of strength, I'll attack along a wide front. If I'm getting pounded and need to refit, I'll send a "harassment fleet" of almost-obsolete ships and outposts deeper into enemy territory to bombard unguarded colonies, destroy starbases/battlestations, and take out what ships they can. Sometimes I can buy myself enough time to refit my main attack fleet.

[Tiemler]

My defensive strategy at the time I was fighting the humans and klackons was based on missle frigates, this being relatively early in the game. And protecting recently captured/re-captured planets would occupy too much of my fleet strength to go on busting starbases and missle bases, so I kept moving for the most part.

When my original attack fleet reached Sol, I was witness to the greatest slaughter of destroyers, cruisers, and battleships by MIRV nuke frigates in all of galactic history. It really was insane. We lost most of the frigates, but the human fleet could no longer oppose us in a pitched battle after that.

Don't worry, I didn't end human civilization. When I play the Elerians or with their race picture, I have a little rule that says human planets can't be bombarded, as they are regarded as a sort of splinter colony.

[Aabraxan]

Well, in order for me to use the "harassment fleet," obviously, I have to have enough resources and ships to spare some for that fleet. When I take a planet, if I have the $$, I'll buy either barracks &/or a ground defense (ground batteries or rocket bases). That helps against revolt and recapture. It may not save the planet, but it makes retaking it more expensive, at any rate. Even if I lose the planet to a reconquering fleet, it probably will have been worth it if they lose a few good ships in the process.

[vmxa1]

If you do not have cash enough to rush a marine barracks and AMC, do not take the planet, dust it.

If you cannot hold the planet with your fleet, do not take it, dust it.

I would not put up any defensive structures until most others were done. I use a fleet to protect a new system. This is required as a Uni will have a long time to assimilate.

To prevent a revolt, unload marines after you capture. Get the barracks on the first turn regardless. Then rush AMC. If you have the tech, then an Armored Barracks.

After those you can do improvements. I tend to want a warp interdicter next in most cases. This can be delayed a bit while you get production structures up.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by vmxa1
If you do not have cash enough to rush a marine barracks and AMC, do not take the planet, dust it.

If you cannot hold the planet with your fleet, do not take it, dust it.

I would not put up any defensive structures until most others were done. I use a fleet to protect a new system. This is required as a Uni will have a long time to assimilate.

To prevent a revolt, unload marines after you capture. Get the barracks on the first turn regardless. Then rush AMC. If you have the tech, then an Armored Barracks.

After those you can do improvements. I tend to want a warp interdicter next in most cases. This can be delayed a bit while you get production structures up.

In my current game (silicoids, huge galaxy, hard) I just took Trilar, largely intact. I rushbuilt an AMC first. I havent brought in lots of extra marines, but figure i should do that as soon as possible, as well as build a barracks.

[vmxa1]

A large pop can revolt on a Uni on the very next turn. This is why I will rush the barracks first and unload troops on a really large planet.

If you see you have only have a few marines on the planet and they have 20 or more citizens, unload troops. AMC can wait for the next turn.

[lord of the mark]

oddest thing happened - i tried to unload marines on a planet id taken a couple of turns earlier, and got a message to the effect that this is not allowed in Multiplayer games

[vmxa1]

Are you playing a hot seat game? I have never seen that msg in any SP game. The game will not let you unload any marines, if you already have as many as the pop supports.

This is usually only an issue with a small pop and then you do not need to unload.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Are you playing a hot seat game? I have never seen that msg in any SP game. The game will not let you unload any marines, if you already have as many as the pop supports.

This is usually only an issue with a small pop and then you do not need to unload.

No, not hotseat. I may have tried to unload too many marines, but it was still an odd message.