I think scouts really sux

LOL. Uh... don't fill up on scouts before you get to the real meal?

~SDC~

Scouts are good for early-game scouting, but once that's over, find something to do with them (I usually give them away or sell them).

~SDC~

hmmm no but the problem is i am obsessed with maintenance costs...

It's easy to get a military that's strong enough for the AI to leave you alone and still not cost more than about a fourth of your income (maybe nearly a third).

~SDC~

what? theres a scout ship in galciv?

never used them

bah what is the most effective power/maintenance weapon in the game???

3rd game: bah lost again because my stoopid colony ship couldnt cross the border of my territory so like always i rejected their stoopid treats and died again

Most effective? Depends on your tech level - corvettes are good early game ships, battleships are good mid-game ships, and the best you can build (dreadnoughts, overlords, avatars, Excaliburs) are the best late-game ships.

I'm not sure I understand what the problem was in your third game, however. Your colony ship was going where?

~SDC~

you know each ship have different reach, i had problem with it because my ships couldnt go any far.

depending on the empire.

Research propulsion techs for extra range, plant starbases to extend your range.

But I know how annoying that can be. When you're playing on a 5x5 map and that choice PQ 26 is in the one sector your colony ship can't enter...

~SDC~

hmm but i made like 10 cultural colony and it didint expand my reach. hmmm anyway thanx for the info

The ownership of a sector through influence has nothing to do with ship range. Select a ship and look at your mini map. The sectors outlined in bright blue are those that can be reached with that ship you have selected. You have to build your starbases towards the far end of your ship ranges to further extend it. Placing two hundred cultural starbases in your home sector isn't going to improve your ship range by one iota.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU:

ZaH said:
"Select a ship and look at your mini map. The sectors outlined in bright blue are those that can be reached with that ship you have selected."

Thanks. I was wonder why that Bright blue outline kept changing.

LOL

Scouts have an attack of 0, don't they? That means that they're not really military ships. You wouldn't expect to hold off an attack with colony ships, would you? Scouts are meant to be used in the early part of the game to explore the galaxy so you know where to send your colony ships and constructors.

If you're having difficulty with range, start your next game with abundant colonisable planets and the scattered pattern. You'll almost never have a problem where you'll need a starbase to get to that next world.

Well I used to love building scouts and sending them all over to find the best planets and resources, but now that constructors cost 200 points, scouts are a lot less useful. The only things scouts are good for now is creating frustration while you're waiting 3 years to build a constructor to go after that nice resource the scout found, only to watch the computer take it away before your constructor can crawl there.

I have been using obsolete ships such as starfighters & corvettes (i guess u could use scouts if you like)to ring-fence newly discovered resources. It is to me a message to AIs that I have laid claim to this resource.

What makes this and other ringfencing tactics cheesy at this moment is the AIs inability to respond appropriately to this.

scouts are uhhh scouts if your trying to use them as military ships in any way you are to put it mildly Insane.

Since they are dirt cheap, build one or two early on to find the best planets a little faster and to remove the Fog so your survery ships can see a bunch of anomalys. When those jobs are finished you can park them in other race's sectors to keep an eye on ship movement just like sensor drones.

They work fine -and are worthwhile in their own small way- if you use them as what they are: Cheap non-combat ships for quickly gathering information.

I like to keep a scout in the middle of every sector they can reach. Don't they zero ,maintenance scost? Later - sensors instead. In a war they distract the enemy for a while too, as they get chewed up.

~SDC~

The most cost effective early ship for deterring AI attacks is the starfighter: 50 cost, 1 maintenance, 3 attack. You can hold the computer off indefinitely with these, just make sure you continue to produce them so that your military power is higher than any comp's.

Later, the most cost effective is the anti-matter missile: 300 cost, 1 maintenance, 100 attack. If the AI is putting too much pressure on you for starfighters to continue to work then these puppies will take you to the end game, they cause your military score to skyrocket.

Caveat: you musn't let yourself get attacked using these for defenders, as they don't actually defend for crap. The a-missiles are good for offense if you are attacked, but each one you shoot lowers your military power (because they are one-shot items) and you risk getting locked into an eternal war that way.

Scouts absolutely rock early on, I have my first colony ship's planet build 4 in a row, those combined with my Hero can uncover those precious resources so that I can grab the majority before the AI does (they are also good for quickly getting to nearby clusters to discover whether they are empty or occupied). But they have no military significance, they are...scouts.

I use my scouts to crisscross from one side of their limit to the other, like slicing a pizza. I find lots of resources that way.

Bill

~SDC~

I like to take the +2 sensors pick (2 points), it's not a 'power pick' but with that pick a scout will uncover a full sector by travelling down the middle. I generally have my four scouts work the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest sectors from the inside out, whereas my Hero ship normally heads for the next cluster of stars to see if they are empty or occupied. I'll try to push into neighboring clusters ASAP since doing so can make the difference between a game when you control 25% of the galaxy to one where you control 10%-15%. One thing is sure: if you don't settle the yellows, someone will.

Scouts help make sure you expand your empire efficiently. I hate sending a colony ship out blind, seems like some screwy thing always ends up happening. Like an abundant planet game and you get to a cluster of 8 stars and none of them have anything greater than a 14. :/

Here's a scouting tip. Always move your scouts diagonally. They uncover a lot more territory per turn moving diagonally across the map. It's more difficult to keep track of than moving them straight across and up/down, but it's the most efficient use of your units.

I've noticed that scouts now have a maintenance cost of 1bc. Not much, I'd admit, but I have enough issues with money that I won't build more than a couple now.


~SDC~