Perfecting Colony Spam

Hi!

IMO this may work with Super Breeder. But with Super Adapter and your bonuses you'll go broke at about 20th colony, and you'll not recover for many many turns.

BR, Iztok

I did used to go broke with the strategy. The key is to not use your money inefficiently. Starports all have maintenance. Buildings all have construction costs.

Planets are only research outposts that generate 2 to 4 RP
that you're hoping generate there's gold in them hills event and give your survey ships more range.

Once you research xeno ethics(neutral), research soil enhancement and build harmony crystals you're in the green.

Example of inefficiency, starport on more than one planet. Exceptions: When near a morale or econ resource for constructors, or to have a place to build survey ships as having the homeworld build survey ships means you're not getting people off of there as fast as possible.

If you operate efficiently, you're only in the hole a little bit and if you're lucky you'll never be in it at all.

Hi!

That event gives only a small amount of money (few 100BC). 20 colonies will generate 240 BC maintenace costs plus ~60 BC for research. Your HW will run about zero, but very likely 30-50 BC negative, because it will be producing ships and do research. Alltogether your 20 planets will require each turn ~350 BC. The pop on planets will generate 100BC. The 5000 BC will last 20 turns. Then you'll be broke for many many turns... You better don't try this in any game above normal difficulty.


IF near.


Why don't you do it, and then report the results?

BR, Iztok

I just played it.

3 random opponents tough

Rather than +30 social I used +20 morale.

At the beginning I set taxes to 100% morale on homeworld and then adjusted to 76% morale and 41% morale based on what the other colonies morale was.

I researched military boost until my homeworld could churn out size-24 colony ships in two turns.

Contrary to my plan I also never built econ buildings which saved a buttload of money. The other building I built was a starport on another planet for six or so survey ships.

I researched xeno entertainment and built a basic factory on a bonus tile and built Ultra Spices. Thanks also to Xeno Economics and Star Democracy.

After I did this, I was in the green.

I never went down below 2000bc the whole game. I didn't get lucky with the 1000bc festival, the tourism X10, or anything like that.

After I was in the green what I did doesn't really matter because winning was inevitable.

Now all I need to figure out is what to do with that 2000bc to accelerate in a more efficient manner.

The most efficient things in the game are:

Wonders
Technology
Planets

So I need a second starport to churn out some colony ships to get more planets.

Hi!
Can you be more specific? The most important thing I'd like to know is the number of planetes you had at turn 20 , 40 and 60. The next is how much money you collected from anomalies. From your report I'd say it had to be immense, to allow you to research Star Democracy, Xeno Economics, to build 6 survey ships and unknown number of colonizers, before you've run out money.

BR, Iztok

I just tried it on 3 races, gigantic abundant everything zero minors, suicidal. No tech trade.

I'm not sure how many planets I have but I was churning out a size 24 colony ship every second turn from my homeworld. I had about half the worlds that the three races had individually. I still managed to build Ultra Spices on suicidal(AI mostly goes for Xanthium Hull Plating and Micro Repair Bots).

I never went into negative BCs. Not building anything but starports and wonders and factories to accelerate those has the benefit of making you immune to spies as well.

I never went into negative BCs. If you need more money, research the entertainment chain, xeno economics, xeno ethics, and population growth. If you need to spend more, build more starports, research the biology chain, and produce spies.

Hi!
I tested the race and approach from the OP in a testbed in a large all abundant galaxy with just one fool AI. The techs the race had at the start were Xeno Engineering, Planetary Improvements, Xeno Research, and Galactic Warfare. I ran the testbed only to the end of the first year, with the main aim to get as much colonies as possible from just one planet, and stay at least close to solvent.

Results of the test were quite different of what I had expected: to settle about 25 planets and ran out of money at about turn 40. During the whole time of the test was the biggest negative I've been running -180BC at about turn 40 (130 BC on average), but those 6 survey ships had brought in more than 5000 BCs and allowed me to run the empire for the whole time of the test at 100% approval. At the end I had 33 planets, morale ability 98%, econ ability 32%, military production bonus at 100%, 2 unaugmented morale resource and one econ resouce at 14%, collecting 201 BC surplus at 59% taxes and 100% approval. However my production and research were almost non-existend, and when I had put in all planetary queues buildings, my surplus turned to -51 BC. Seems that this approach, with a bit of luck with anomalies, can bring you through the 1st game year, but the lack of production will probably not allow you through the second one, at least on maso+ difficulty levels.

Some statistics. In 52 turns I've built:

• all tiles on my HW with factories - I simply was not able to get HW to produce a small colonizer and do focused research at the same time. So after about turn 10 the HW was able to build each turn a ship (90 MPs) and also provide 17 resarch points through focus.
  
• 40 small-hull based colonizers, settled 33 planets. In a large uni I took about the share I'd get with 6 other mayor intelligent AIs.
  
• very early (after the 2nd colony ship) 6 survey ships (tiny hull, survey module, 5 basic supports), which were lucky and get ~5200 BCs from anomalies to about turn 40. Then I stoped counting what they got, because in a real game anomalies are usually gone at about that time.
  
• 5 small-hull constructors. 3 of them hit the closest econ resource, the remaining 2 hit a bit further morale ones. In real game I could maybe get one of those two.
  
• nothing else on any planet, but the Starport on the secondary planet, where I produced those constructors. I also bought Harmony Crystals there.

Additione problem is the tech I researched. It was the most basic one: Xeno Economisc, Xeno Entertainment, Xeno Industrial Theory, Xeno Ethics (I've chosen Neutral for 15% morale bonus and instaforming), Xeno Medicine, Republic (Democracy too expensive: 7 turns) , Soil Enrichment, Space Weapons, Impulse drive and Sensors. Since I've seen the suicidal AIs having in medium galaxy significantly earlier than at the end or the first year two or three Extreme techs, attack 2/3 weapons, Troop Transports and 5-10 colonizers at speed 4-5 heading in my space, I'd say this approach will have really hard time to get through the econd year of the game on anything harder than "tough".

At the end I had to say thanks to Tyler Davis, who showed the colony rusn can be successfully pulled out even with those hard restrictions the DA introduced to the game.

BR, Iztok

You could try to get cheap constructors to get those nice resources....or try to mine out asteroids.

For research you just have to be extremely efficient.

Even with research up to enhanced minituarazation, I wasn't able to get tiny colony ships built in one turn.

I didn't think to add basic support to the survey ships, that's a really good idea.

For research you just have to operate efficiently.

Once you have sensors you can go Xeno Biology Xeno Medicine The colonization techs.

As deterrants you can research up to space weapons to build military ships.

You can also use spies. By not building any non-starports and non-wonders and having +20% morale from race points is like having a free counter-espionage center on every world.

The better the opponents buildings are the better spies are and in higher difficulties the opponents buildings are really good.

why build SMALL survey ships? the best survey ships are ones with hauler hulls + survey module + tons of engines and range...

Yes they have 1 HP... but they are unarmed anyways, you pay less for the hull... and they get more engines and range...

Hi!

If you've noticed I've built TINY survey ships. The cargo one you described costs ~160 BC, and is only one. Tinies costed 80 BC, had only 1 speed less than my usuall cargo design (+2 speed makes quite a difference ), and significantly better range. I was able to produce each turn one, and be over in 6 turns with them, to keep pumping out colonizers. In a "real" game that's what counts - if you don't have a colonizer there to take that class-15 planet, and AI has it there, you can have that planet only with war. But only after one or two game-years, and lots of costs...

BR, Iztok