GalCiv2 Forums
I only play DA, so no TS for me ....
Alternatively, change the settings for galaxy size/content and opponent number. For example, try a medium galaxy with almost max AIs on highest setting and no minor AIs. If that is no challenge, try it again with DA.
GalCiv2 Forums
Two words: spore ships. On lower difficulties, there are several other amusing ways to win. For example, blockade all the AI planets with unarmed ships then develop the galaxy at your leisure.
Starbases do go up in costs as their numbers increase. That is, the 25th one costs more than the 10th. I hope you will post on how well this strategy works as you increase the difficulty level.
Constructors are hardly cheap in the early game, especially when one must include engines to get them to a distant location. But, yes, time to move up the difficulty level. I find anything less than Suicidal to be boringly predictable.
Ah, I did not properly explain the military starbase offense strategy. Bring a fleet of constructors along with the cheap tiny ship fleet. When a big enemy fleet approaches and battle is inevitable, build the military starbases right there and then. Alternatively, head for a juicy enemy planet cluster (the homeworld is one choice) and build the bases right as you begin battle.
Time to move up the difficulty setting!
One cannot win an influence victory while at war. All that would be necessary is for one AI to refuse peace and slowly grind through your planets by invasions. This strategy might well work, though. I do not deny that. At higher difficulty levels (I play only on Suicidal) the AI gets large bonuses (such as economic and research rates) so they might be able to avoid going broke this way.
I did not read all of your "wall" but I think military starbases maxed out with support modules change the math to favor small ship fleets.
Remember that you need only one colony ship to a system, especially within about halfway to your borders. That is, if you get a colony on one world, you can build a spaceport on that word and build cheap engineless colony ships on small or tiny hulls to finish colonizing the rest of the habitable worlds in that system. Obviously, you should pick the best world to colonize first and to build the spaceport on. As you get closer to your borders, though, AI colony ships are
One other minor factor is on logistics. For example, suppose your logistics value is 38. If you have only huge hulls, then you would be limited to three 10-size ships. If you have some 7-size ships, then you could have a 37-size fleet. Having some 5-size and 7-size ships around in addition to your 10s lets you optimize fleet size.
Buy techs and planetary improvements and then buy ships. Bribe AIs into mutual wars. Stay under 20,000. Go forth and conquer!
The typical AI invasions I have experienced are by 3000 size transports. I generally keep worlds at 13,000 unless they are very small (then 11,000) or very high PQ (then 18,000). My planets can generally survive one 3,000 transport, but not a second because the planet's population gets reduced to about 5,000 - 6,000 even if my invasion/defense tech is equal or slightly superior to the AIs. At higher difficulty levels, the AI will have a second transport enrout
I don't know why I never thought of this before! There I was stuck in one corner in the largest galaxy map (scattered, tight clusters). At first, it wasn't too bad, as I had no competitors for the few planets there with me. After that, though, there was a wide swath of empty space and I knew the colony rush was going on w/o me in the rest of the galaxy and I was basically screwed. Well, I had previously spotted two wormholes right close to the homeworld and
For a different colony rush experience, you could choose the race that has the highest number of planet types that it can colonize at the start. In DA, that would be the Iconians.
The colony rush seems to me to have three pulses. First, all try to colonize those planets that they begin the game able to colonize. Second, as extreme colonization gets researched, races begin to colonize those planets that they newly develop the ability to colonize. Third, races go after the PQ1 planets that remain. One very effective way to buy time to develop your empire and then shift to building a fleet is to get the other AIs into wars with each other. &nbs
A good warning! Still, it's an easy enough one to avoid, if that's your preference. Should I repeat it, I will make sure the battle won't be a protracted one unless that is the intent.
I started a war by attacking an AI warship deep in my space. Usually, I declare war first, but decided the vessel near my homeworld was a sufficient provocation. I had forgotten that the Resolution had passed that moved all ships to Neutral Space upon outbreak of war. So, to my surprise, the enemy ship was moved about 40 squares away to the border, and then both ships fought the battle at that range! I kid you not! I had a missile ship and I got to watch
That event did happen in several of my recent games, sometimes more than once. That may well have been in that game that it happened twice. Nonetheless, I have had that event at least once in over half the hundreds of games I have played and this was the only time that a minor has declared war on any other player, let alone a major AI. And that happened twice! What I should have done (heck, I may go back and resurrect it in a saved game) was gifted the feist
Playing an unmodded DA game at Suicidal, largest galaxy, most planets, 7 AIs and 7 Minor AIs. The Paulos (a minor AI), have declared war on the Jessuins (another minor AI) and even the Altarians! Even the Scott-whatever AI is at war with another minor AI. The Snathi (another minor AI) declared war on one major AI but eventually surrendered to it. The minor AIs did not just declare war, they have fair warships prowling the space lanes! Several of them! E
Once you have mustered an invasion fleet, you might use a spy to examine all your potential targets during your approach. The you can prioritize which to invade first, etc. For example, if you spot that one planet has a civ-wide soldier bonus facility (TirQuan Training, or something), then take that one first! Also, any planets with things like Eco Capital or logistics or miniaturization buildings should be among the top targets. Capturing them not only boosts your emp
I keep auto-save on for every turn, so I preserved the one and re-loaded the one prior to see if it repeated. It did not. Weird! Thinking back, I may have had that happen once before, but that was years ago. Wonder what triggered it? Late in the colony rush, like when the scramble is on for the last 1PQs, I beef up my colony ships with one or more troop modules. This helps against quick influence flipping due to low planet population when my ship beat
I'm playing DA, and the Thalians just invaded one of my planets. The problem is that they never declared war. The screen still shows us not at peace with even the existing treaties between them and my Torians still in place. ?!?! Anyone ever see that before?
That must be in TA. Those additional items are not present in DA, which I play.
One can have 50% Luck by choosing the Universalist political party as well as the 1 point racial Luck ability.
