posted 04-15-99 06:29 PM ET         

First of all, Psi units don't cut it on defense. You WILL get pounded on defense, and sometimes you can't avoid being there. Try to have some reasonable garrison units defending your bases... probably include anti psi abilities for them, just in case.

Secondly, the secret projects that enhance native unit psi are much farther away than the unit technologies which allow for effective psi combat. The computer tends to be a little slow and sporadic about implementing these countermeasures, but an enemy with only one of these takes away the psi attack advantage, making it 1-1 morale defensive comparisons, and on offense takes it up to 2-1... with both the attack situation just becomes unreal. Therefore, you have problems if the computer (or MP) decides your psi units are enough of a threat.

Hand in hand with that is the necessity to carefully guard your psi SPs. Not so much a concern against computer, although they will occaisonally PB your most annoying base, but against another player Probe teams can be lethal in a Psi contest. They inflitrate, find out what you've got, and then they take over the base with Amplifier or Twister in it... and all of a sudden, you lose your bonus and your opponent grabs it, thus turning the tables on your psi units. Can sometimes be a big problem against a together opponent.

Usually, if someone starts building one of the Psi projects and I a) am not playing Psi and b) have nothing better to do I try to make the other Psi project. That way, I'll at least come out even against them. Or I'll find out where it is and either take the base with probes (if I feel like being fair) or offer in trade a crappy expansion base of my own.

Don't get me wrong... Psi units are great. They allow you to sidestep most of the conquer techs and worry about lines of advancement which tend to have better rewards in the base building / resource gathering arenas. Just don't rely on them for everything... use them enough that your opponent will produce a lot of anti - psi units, and then use conventional weaponry to knock those units out. Their units will cost more and/or be less effective than yours because they will have wasted their special ability slots on trance and song, while you have ECMs and deep radar (or whatever).