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Author Topic:   Buy yourself an Army....

Lord Banard posted 05-07-99 01:28 PM ET
I'm having a problem with Santiago on a Talent level game. She's at war with me and I'm getting my but kicked.
I was thinking about changing my Psych Eng to Wealth, pumping out cheap units quickly, then spending the money on upgrades to get them souped up.
Has anyone tried this strategy before and how successful was it?
Thanks in advance...

Faust posted 05-07-99 04:27 PM ET
Not a bad idea if you have the energy reserves to do so. However, buying upgrades to units for which you haven't built a prototype is incredibly expensive, so you'll probably want to build at least one unit with the type of weapon, armor or special ability you want to upgrade your other units to. SMAC only considers a design to be "new" if it employs some kind of technology that hasn't appeared in any other design before. For instance, say you've just got your hot little hands on nonlinear mathematics, and you want to built attack units with impact guns. You design an impact infanty and an impact rover unit. As soon as the first unit of either type is completed, the other is no longer in need of a prototype.
In my games, I usually have every base build an extra scout patrol during the early exploration and expansion phase. These units explore as much as possible, improving morale by fighting mindworms investigating monoliths. When they bump into other factions, I have them dig in on good defensive squares and establish a military frontier. As new technologies come available, I build only one prototype and upgrade the old scouts. Over the course of the game, some are lost, but the force remains relatively intact (especially if you choose your attacks carefully). The survivors will have high morale and be worth upgrading. This also goes alleviates the need for a vast military infrastructure of command centers (assuming you don't have the Command Nexus) at your bases.
Since the AI isn't particularly clever at operational thinking, I can defend even a large territory of over a dozen bases with a force of about eight or so ground units, three-quarters of which are infantry.
Lord Banard posted 05-07-99 06:05 PM ET
Just came up with another idea on this.
I just got Needle Jets....founded the Planet Air Force.
What about having some of my cities that are doing very little right now build units and have one or two Needle Jets Troop Transports built to ferry the units to the war zone.
Just a thought....
Plato90s posted 05-07-99 06:23 PM ET
Needlejet transport is slow. Go for Monorail and you can move the troops around land.
Later on, orbital drop technology changes the whole concept of troop transport.
G e o r g e r i f i c posted 05-07-99 10:10 PM ET
Another good way to get good units cheaply is to buy a scout patrol, then switch to something that costs 20, buy that, and keep repeating up the line. This is because each mineral point costs more when it's earlier in the box. On the more expensive units, it can save big bucks.
ApcJK posted 05-08-99 03:29 AM ET
Lord Banard: Just remember that needjet transports can only load and unload at bases (and probably airbases, not sure)
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Author	Topic: Buy yourself an Army....
Lord Banard	posted 05-07-99 01:28 PM ET I'm having a problem with Santiago on a Talent level game. She's at war with me and I'm getting my but kicked. I was thinking about changing my Psych Eng to Wealth, pumping out cheap units quickly, then spending the money on upgrades to get them souped up. Has anyone tried this strategy before and how successful was it? Thanks in advance...
Faust	posted 05-07-99 04:27 PM ET Not a bad idea if you have the energy reserves to do so. However, buying upgrades to units for which you haven't built a prototype is incredibly expensive, so you'll probably want to build at least one unit with the type of weapon, armor or special ability you want to upgrade your other units to. SMAC only considers a design to be "new" if it employs some kind of technology that hasn't appeared in any other design before. For instance, say you've just got your hot little hands on nonlinear mathematics, and you want to built attack units with impact guns. You design an impact infanty and an impact rover unit. As soon as the first unit of either type is completed, the other is no longer in need of a prototype. In my games, I usually have every base build an extra scout patrol during the early exploration and expansion phase. These units explore as much as possible, improving morale by fighting mindworms investigating monoliths. When they bump into other factions, I have them dig in on good defensive squares and establish a military frontier. As new technologies come available, I build only one prototype and upgrade the old scouts. Over the course of the game, some are lost, but the force remains relatively intact (especially if you choose your attacks carefully). The survivors will have high morale and be worth upgrading. This also goes alleviates the need for a vast military infrastructure of command centers (assuming you don't have the Command Nexus) at your bases. Since the AI isn't particularly clever at operational thinking, I can defend even a large territory of over a dozen bases with a force of about eight or so ground units, three-quarters of which are infantry.
Lord Banard	posted 05-07-99 06:05 PM ET Just came up with another idea on this. I just got Needle Jets....founded the Planet Air Force. What about having some of my cities that are doing very little right now build units and have one or two Needle Jets Troop Transports built to ferry the units to the war zone. Just a thought....
Plato90s	posted 05-07-99 06:23 PM ET Needlejet transport is slow. Go for Monorail and you can move the troops around land. Later on, orbital drop technology changes the whole concept of troop transport.
G e o r g e r i f i c	posted 05-07-99 10:10 PM ET Another good way to get good units cheaply is to buy a scout patrol, then switch to something that costs 20, buy that, and keep repeating up the line. This is because each mineral point costs more when it's earlier in the box. On the more expensive units, it can save big bucks.
ApcJK	posted 05-08-99 03:29 AM ET Lord Banard: Just remember that needjet transports can only load and unload at bases (and probably airbases, not sure)