posted 05-23-99 09:52 PM ET     

Carrying over from the thread "New favorite Factions," this one will be a little more complicated.

Due to some thinking that just supporting your favorite faction was not enough, here is a method to do it differently.

You will have three votes, ranked from favorite to least favorite. The factions you put here should be your three favorite factions. The first one gets 6 points, the second 4, the third 2. I really don't want to continually count votes, so please post the modified numbers after you vote.

Your first can only get 6, if you can think of only one faction, it can only get 6 points. Two factions, 6 and 4. No dividing numbers either, it gets too confusing.

But, once again, you can change your votes at will, but please post your previous votes.

Here are my votes:

Hive: 6
Morgans: 4
UoP: 2
Gaians: 0
PKs: 0
Spartans: 0
Believers: 0

posted 05-24-99 12:20 AM ET            

Count now

posted 05-24-99 12:57 AM ET            

Gaians: 6
Peacekeepers: 4
Hive: 2

Count:

posted 05-24-99 02:16 AM ET            

Hive-- 6 (I have mentioned how it is hard to beat their early support, growth, and industry-- the most important early factors in the game).

PKs-- 4 (Fastest research in the game with Free Market and their additional population, due to their extra talents and thus little need to use psych other than to get golden ages).

Gaians-- 2 (Mindworms make for an excellent early attack force, and an unmatched efficiency allows nearly infinite expansion).

So the tally is:

posted 05-24-99 08:34 AM ET         

Spartans - 6
Believers - 4
Morgan - 2

So am I builder or conquerer - send your answers on a postcard to anyone but me

I probably would have put the Hive in at three but I enjoy killing Yang too much to play as him

Hive: 16
PKs: 12
Morgan: 12
Spartans: 6
Gaians: 8
Believers: 4
UoP: 2

posted 05-24-99 04:58 PM ET         

Spartans: 6
UoP: 4
Hive: 2

So that adds up to:

posted 05-25-99 01:34 AM ET            

Spartans: 4
The most flexible race in my opinion.

PK: 2
Flexible and many small advantages.

Total

posted 05-25-99 01:22 PM ET            

Hive 4 (with cloning vats they can have a great conquer faction whose only weakness is -2 economy. That efficency thing is a great bonus)

University 2 (great research but can have drone problems on higher levels.)

Tally =

posted 05-25-99 09:25 PM ET         

Great input, keep it going

posted 05-25-99 09:38 PM ET            

And all you who voted for the Hive: DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!

posted 05-26-99 07:29 AM ET            

Total:

posted 05-26-99 12:07 PM ET            

So total:

posted 05-26-99 12:08 PM ET            

that used to look better (sorry)

posted 05-26-99 12:22 PM ET         

Total...

posted 05-26-99 10:13 PM ET            

UoP - 4: Like to build a fast tech infra-structure

PK - 2: Like to build a large general infrastructure

posted 05-26-99 10:45 PM ET            

4pts-PK: Their tangibles make them the easiest Faction to work with.

2pts-UoP: Tech. Automatic Network Node. The drones do drop him below PK.

Total,
UoP: 48
Hive: 46
PK: 40
Gaia: 38
Spartans: 26
Morgan: 22
Believers: 18

posted 05-27-99 12:01 PM ET         

totals

posted 05-27-99 05:35 PM ET         

Anyway, my vote (for single-player transcend only):

UoP:6
Easiest faction in single player transcend. Get Industrial Automation early, and take off from there. Extra drones negated by VW (the only must-have SP); probes countered with defensive probes (HSA is a low priority thing).

Morgan:4
Fast early research, Industrial Automation is again key. Buy facilities and units, build SPs with crawlers only (it's cheaper to buy crawlers than to buy SPs). Max pop 4 without hab complexes not much a problem in transcend. Downside: -1 support, no pop boom until late in game.

Believers:2
Just for the challenge.

posted 06-01-99 12:28 AM ET            

Hive-4
The combination of size infrastructure and military might all in one. there nasty bunch to fight with.

Believers-2
in the immortal words of CIV II "lets go bonk some heads."

posted 06-01-99 04:46 PM ET            

so then it will be

posted 06-01-99 06:48 PM ET            

Gaians 6 (I love mindworm "farming"

Morgans 4 (nothing like outright buying SPs)

UoP 2 (great as long as you're not next to "the bitch")

So:

posted 06-02-99 07:14 AM ET            

I'm not going to be overly abusive or critical this time around. But a few points before I justify my vote. Why are people still voting UoP????? Jesus PK's and Morgans can out tech them in the early-mid stages and above. Drones are a massive problem and without the hunter seeker they are as good as dead. Also adding that they never seem to produce much with their excessive drone problem, unless of course you are producing Anti-drone facilities or wasting energy allocation on psych. Yuk!

Well here are my votes. Most people know my #1 vote already.

A full 6 points to the PK's.

Pk's are the over-all development monster not weak in economy like Hive,or weak on resourse production like morgan and UoP. They match it up tech wise with UoP.
With a +2 hab bonus useful till the end of the game (by then PK's will dominate anyway) and a psych bonus to keep their cities stable, simply put PK's out produce all in Nutrient, Mineral, and energy. Being able to use 9 squares instead of 7 is better then a +1 industry bonus. As is known Production and population is the key to games such as Civ 1 & 2 and SMAC. Anyway enough about PK's.

A well deserved 4 points to the Gaians. Gaians do tend to struggle early on against aggressive neighbours (yes even with a +1 planet rating) Another note...more then +2 planet is a waste. The only real reason to use the planet rating is to keep industry flowing without making planet go crazy.

However +2 Efficiency is absolutely great in the later stages of the game and +1 nutrients allows a Fungal nation more feasable than a tree nation.

Hive gets 2 points for all the standard reason. Not being able to get +2 economy unless you are crazy is a big disadvantage.

posted 06-02-99 01:15 PM ET         

First the drone problem: Build Virtual World SP. There is no reason to ever miss it as UoP. With this SP, which knocks off two drones per base with network node, UoP has fewer drone problems than others up to size 7 bases, and no more than others up to size 11 bases.

Next, the probe problem: Build one or two probes per city; the first per city should be the less expensive infantry probe, and the second a normal probe (not necessary in every city, just needed as backup in case one of the infantry probes gets knocked out -- which may not happen too much, because UoP probe moral should usually be at least as high as for others). These guys are way cheap. Eventually, the second probe will be used offensively (UoP can probe people just fine, thank you), and if you DO get HSA, all the defensive probes become your enemy's worst nightmare.

So let's see how the accounting goes: For an empire of 20 cities, you will use about 1200 minerals to get Virtual World and enough probes to defend. Meanwhile, the free network nodes have a value of 1600 minerals. Hmm, seems like a deal to me, and I haven't even factored in the accelerating effect of all the extra research.

posted 06-02-99 01:57 PM ET         

Oh, and I don't think you've voted. I'll take your last post as 6 for UoP, but we would like to know your other choices.

New score:
1. Hive - 64
2. UoP - 64
3. Gaians - 62
4. PKs - 54
5. Morgan - 40
6. Spartans - 32
7. Believers - 26

Someone correct me if I missed a vote.

posted 06-04-99 11:47 AM ET            

New totals
1. H = 68
2. G = 66
3. U = 64
4. PK = 60
5. M = 50
6. S = 32
7. B = 26

Can I have the vote of the Luxembourg jury please....

posted 06-04-99 02:04 PM ET         

6 - UoP. The best faction. Only consistent competitor is ...

4 - Hive. Yep, Yang has the industrial might.

2 - (distantly) Gaians. Pretty well balanced. Get Xenoempathy dome and grow some worms and its fearsome.

totals are now:
1. Hive = 72
2. UoP = 70
3. Gaians = 68
4. PK = 60
5. Morgan = 50
6. Spartan = 32
7. Believer = 26

posted 06-05-99 09:33 AM ET            

totals
1. UOP 84
2 Hive 80
3. Gaians 76
4. PK 64
5. Morgan 54
6. Spartan 32
7. Believers 26

posted 06-05-99 11:12 AM ET         

At Transcend level, we are all used to dealing with massive numbers of drones anyways. I hardly notice the difference when playing UoP or Gaian or Hive. Drones are drones.

And the free Network Nodes are at least as good an incentive. Of the "free" base improvements given to factions, this is the most expensive one to build. The ability to cash the early alien artifacts immediately is a big plus.

In addition, the +2 research means I don't have to generate as much energy to get the same research, and the UoP can use free market. We're already dealing with massive numbers of drones, so that police penalty is meaningless.

posted 06-05-99 12:11 PM ET            

That is:

Gaians - 74
Hive - 80
University - 90
Morgan - 58
Spartans - 32
Believers - 26
Peacekeepers - 66

posted 06-05-99 02:04 PM ET         

totals

posted 06-05-99 03:59 PM ET         

Gaians: 6
Those Mindworms are awesome.

UoP: 4

The network nodes are a great incentive, and the VW will negate any drone problems in the early game.

Hive: 2

Same reasons everybody's given.

posted 06-05-99 04:16 PM ET            

6---Believers (Actually not as bad as many people think. Other factions are less likely to start a war against you(Hey being a bitch with horrible reputation isn�t so bad all the time) and you can use probes to steal tech. Besides in my latest game I had UoP as neighbour and threatened to crush him like a pig if he didn�t give me some tech. Later I conquered him and made him surrender with my new found tech and +25% attack bonus ..

4---Hive( for their superb industry.

2---UoP( if you play them right are quite superior.

posted 06-06-99 12:08 PM ET            

Didn't vote for:
Spartans -- too boring, all that angst!
Gaians -- Deirdre's hippy fashion is long past its use-by-date
The Believers -- just not sexy
Hive -- Yangy has no Yin, cold, cold, cold

posted 06-07-99 02:46 PM ET            

HIVE SUCKS!!! Die Yang!

Totals:

posted 06-07-99 09:51 PM ET            

Totals:

posted 06-08-99 07:40 AM ET            

Believers : 6
University: 4
Morgan: 2

Played as Miriam for the first time ever the other day - only on Librarian, mind - but won so handily and so early. By utilising diplomacy I lead in tech since very early, I won with Plasma armor and those strength 5 guns: Fundy/Green/Wealth when building and saving up cash, and Fundy/Green/Power when on the attack.

Allowing tech to be captured with a base helped but was hardly necessary - most of the time I was donating tech to the weaker CPs to keep them up with my (unusually friendly) Spartan rivals.

University second because I love tech and not having to build Network Nodes (though I do appreciate how the PKs build population quickly).

Morgan for the unusual strategies that he needs in order to thrive. Amusingly, I've played Morgan as a conqueror: quite fun!

I haven't worked out how to play an enjoyable Spartan game - although I win it seems tedious, especially with tech-capture off (I always forget that option's official name), as Santiago never seems to earn a penny, so I just had to grind the enemy down.

The Hive - yes, but where's the challenge?

posted 06-08-99 07:44 AM ET            

UoP 108
Gaians 92
Hive 86
PK 70
Morgans 66
Spartans 42
Believers 38

posted 06-08-99 09:47 AM ET         

Spartans come first and foremost. Choose the correct social engineering, build the right SP's (Cyborg Factory et al), and then start churning out those Elite troops! Colonel Santiago also uses the dark Side of the force.

(Incidently, I've just had a quick vote around the office, and 12 staff who are all SMAC players have unanimously voted that Spartans are the best). So 12 X 6 = 72 points.

Believers come second. I'm sorry everyone, but red-heads really turn me on. Also, if the rumours I have heard are true, she wears no knickers. Surely Miriam deserves 4 points for that.

Morgan comes a close-run third place. I think his back-flips and star-jumps are really cool (watch the SP videos if you don't know what I mean). 2 points for sheer athletisism.

University fourth place - that Russian geezer looks like he's watching a 3d movie with his glasses.

Peace Keepers fifth place - The UN is not really that bad. I mean, they're giving old President Milosevic a good old thrashing after all.

Hive sixth place - Cabbage-eating Commie bastards!

Gaians - Last and by every means least. According to the story, that slapper Deirdre is supposed to have a 'lilting Scottish accent'. Why the f**k then did Firaxis hire some stupid American bitch to do her voice? She probably has never even heard of Scotland let alone ever heard a Scot speak. Besides, Deidre is a kilt-wearing, haggis-eating, tree-hugging hippie slut! For all I care, she can stick her mind-worms up her immense bore-hole! So incenced have I been with the Gaians, that I had to call my mate Sid Meier (or 'Sid the Snake' to his friends). Being the god-like guru of all god-like games, he suggested that I give the Gaians a score of -92, and who's going to argue with him?

So the FINAL score....

UoP 108
Gaians 0 (ha ha)
Hive 86
PK 70
Morgans 68
Spartans 114
Believers 42

So as we can see, the Spartans have just pipped first place and the gaians are a deserved last.

While we are at it, why not vote for the best CIV2 'factions'? Here's my vote:

Romans 6
Greeks 4
Egyptians 2
Americans -2

Yours,

posted 06-08-99 08:29 PM ET            

BTW, not all Scots have rolling r's and sound like that guy in Star Trek, you know. There are different dialects and sociolects.

posted 06-08-99 11:19 PM ET         

Spartans: 6
UoP: 4
Hive: 2

I wanna change my votes to

Hive: 6
UoP: 4
Gaians: 2

so that tallies up to:

posted 06-09-99 04:59 AM ET         

I know this has been discussed before, but I can't seem to have a decent end-game in SMAC. By mid-game I'm usually so far ahead of the other factions that it becomes boring. Most of my games are decided during the early parts of the game. And in case you're about to say it, yes I do play on Transcend level.

posted 06-09-99 04:54 PM ET            

UoP - 4

Morgan - 2

By the way... I think the peacekeepers kinda suck. What makes the factions fun to play is that you can use social engineering the way the faction was designed to be played, i.e. Hive - police state, planned Morgan - dem, free enter. etc... The peacekeepers have nothing like this to specialize in. They just get talents. Who cares! And that population bonus is way overrated.

Anyway the score is
UoP - 112
Hive - 96
Gaians - 94
PK - 70
Morgan - 68
Believers - 38
Spartans - 36

posted 06-09-99 05:07 PM ET            

Spartans: 6
Believers: 4
Gaians: 2

The funny thing is, I play with a builder style...

Adding that to the last post's tally, we get:

posted 06-09-99 05:45 PM ET         

Here's my vote:
UoP- 6
Gaians-4
Hive-2

And the total is:

posted 06-09-99 06:16 PM ET            

Morgan: 6 (Greed... need I say more???)

Hive: 4 (Police brutality... tehe)

UoP: 2 (Smart little buggers)

posted 06-09-99 06:39 PM ET            

sociolect: Social dialect. Variant of a language spoken by people of the same social stratum.
Not that you would care...

posted 06-10-99 02:54 AM ET            

UoP get 6 :
Face it guys, the game was meant for them. Most of the SP allows you to reduce the number of drones which is their primarly problem. Another SP grants you complete immunity to probe which is their 2nd worst problem. I mean how more convenience do you need ! Oh and to top it off, they get the most usefull facility which can even have 2 purpose if you complete the right SP...
And in case it's not obvious, the faster you make tech breakthrough the faster you can build SP.(hint hint)
So UoV in front and by far

Morgan = 4
Good all around faction. The trick is to be absolutely ruthless as soon as you have the slighest edge spclly if most of your bases have more than 5 peoples in (You produce energy like mad and thus you can boost up your production.

PK = 2
As you can see, I am the builder type so, PK are a logical choice with UoP and Morgan...

posted 06-10-99 05:09 AM ET         

The Spartans are extremely powerful at the beginning of the game though. I'm currently playing the Hive and I'm at war with the Spartans right from the beginning. Even though I can out-build them, their troops normally win battles due to their edge in morale (nearly completed Command Nexus though so the tide will turn...)

posted 06-10-99 07:16 AM ET            

I'd like to change my vote now:

Gaians- 6
Believers- 4
Hive- 2

Results:

posted 06-15-99 05:20 PM ET            

Results:

posted 06-16-99 06:36 PM ET         

Can you tell I prefer a builder strategy?

posted 06-17-99 11:07 PM ET            

Totals:

UOP: 146
Gaians: 108
Hive: 104
Morgan: 84
PK: 78
Believers: 46
Spartans: 46

posted 06-18-99 02:50 PM ET         

UoP is good for the same reason that Psilons are good in Master of Orion. In long games on a huge map, nothing beats the scientist. But they'll lose on smaller maps. 4 pts.

The believers rule on small maps. I recently finished a game where I was happily living side by side with Morgan, when he was suddenly wiped out by the Hive. (Somehow the Hive is always the most aggressive player and at war with everyone else.) So I wiped him out just as fast, and made him (governor at that time) my vassal. I quit when I had more than half the votes and still no fusion reactor. 2 pts.

Totals:

posted 06-18-99 08:58 PM ET            

I just completed a game 2 days ago, the Believers on large randomized map, and managed to score my fastest conquest victory (eclipsing my previous with Spartans).

I did not reach fusion power, neither the Neural grafting stage.

posted 06-19-99 02:35 PM ET         

I like the Gaians and the Hive the most. In fact, due to the richness of their characters I rarely play either anymore. I like them to be there as AI factions. The Gaians are natural allies and the Hive are so good at the villian role.

BTW, I tend to play a green builder kind of game no matter which faction I pick to play. So that makes my vote:

Gaians 6
Hive 4
UoP 2

And the total is uhhh...

UoP 152
Gaian 120
Hive 108
Morgan 84
PK 78
Believers 48
Spartans 46

posted 07-07-99 10:31 PM ET            

Running total:

posted 07-08-99 02:43 PM ET         

Running total:

posted 07-08-99 05:16 PM ET            

Morgan: "Greed is good...greed works," also "Money makes the world go 'round." 4 pts

Hive: Brutal, totalitarian. Definitely for those days when you're feeling a little authoritarian.

posted 07-08-99 05:40 PM ET         

Sorry bout that had to get it out of my system.

CEO Morgan: 6
Gaians:4
UoP:2

posted 07-09-99 12:55 PM ET            

and here's the new tally
UoP:166
Gaians:134
Hive:110
Morgan:96
PK:84
Believers:48
Spartans:46

posted 07-10-99 12:12 AM ET            

Hive- 6 pts. go to the good old chairman. His undying commie philosophy is an almost humorous twist. His industrial majesty in the early game can't be beat and his 10% growth boost doesn't hurt. Fun to play, fun to kill.

Morgans- 4 pts. Often it's just more exciting to build a super empire, and as long as you have a good diplomatic say, Morgan is the way to go.

Believers- 2 pts. Sometimes, it's just fun to be a bitch.

All Uop fans: the provost sucks

so the totals stands

posted 07-13-99 12:03 AM ET         

Hive: 4 pts.
Good for builder games as well as conquest. Like an earlier poster, I too achieved my earliest Transcendence victory as Yang.

Morgan: 2 pts.
With Free Market and Wealth, you can buy anything you want - including SPs, probed and ceded bases, and bribe Miriam so she won't attack.

So the tally is:

posted 07-13-99 12:35 AM ET            

PK-4: I recently read a posting suggesting that these folks are the best to play on Transcend, and darned if it wasn't right. While UoP wastes half of its resources on doctors, PK can actually get some work done.

Believers-2: Sure, I hate them, and I love tech advantages (which you can forget about with these people), but on a small planet (or better yet, if you can just steal everything from UoP), the 25% attack really helps once you've finally got some decent weapons.

posted 07-13-99 01:54 AM ET            

6 pts: UoP. Research gives you the biggest guns first and the means to offset your disadvantages first. Militarily, Zak is Quality over Quantity.

4 Pts: Stepdaughters of Gaia. This is for sentimental reasons as well for the early-game "Mindworm Recruitment Effect" of +2 Planet. It's easy and good to be Green

2 Pts: Lord's Believers. Don't give these fundies the tech, or they'll
ream you a new, uhm, borehole below the Bible Belt.

So the new point count is...
UoP: 184
Gaians: 140
Hive: 124
Morgan: 108
PK: 88
Believers: 54
Spartans: 46

posted 07-16-99 06:19 PM ET            

1: UoP, a carryover from the days of playing
the Psilons in MOO2

2: The Hive: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA, great for when
you feel like being a megalomaniacal Evil
Overlord

3: PKs: cheap golden ages rewl.

posted 07-18-99 03:59 AM ET            

1. Hive: With no penalties for police state and planned economies, you have a brutal military and industry at your command. And with a free perimeter defense at every base, only a moron could actually ever lose a city. Besides, having Deirdre and Morgan scold you for having a planned economy is always good for a chuckle! Hmph! Sometimes, I build thermal boreholes for the sole purpose of pissing her off! Hehehehe!

2. Believers: It is just SO hilarious to have everyone call you a religious fanatic. Yeah, sure it hard to keep up in tech but if you're facing the CPU, that should really be no problem, what with probe teams and exchanging techs. Not that they are a good faction to play as.... just a fun one.

3. Morgan: I don't play as anyone else much but buying but units and cities on a mass scale always cracks me up! Hmph, I didn't them Gaians cared that MUCH about the environment anyways.......

So then.......

posted 07-18-99 09:53 AM ET            

6: Gaians. Even if I didn't have a soft spot for the environmental movement, it's hard to find a better pure builder. Not a moneymaker, not a science shaker, but a balanced faction that especially shines on a huge map (negating its weakness, the oh-no-Santiago-AGAIN syndrome). Lots of cities without extra drones, wide empire with little corruption, less mindworm/fungus troubles than other nations -- right on! Also, unlike Morgan, they can Pop Boom.

4: Peacekeepers: I'm a builder. These puppies build WELL, if you can survive the corruption.

2: Hive: Very original, in my opinion the most natural conqueror because with the advantages of police/planned and their -2 economy disadvantage, there's no reason to waste time on making money. And Yang has all the coolest quotes.

So:

posted 07-18-99 10:24 AM ET            

so lets add 6 o the spartans

UoP:198
Gaians:152
Hive:138
Morgan:112
PKs:102
Believers:58
Spartans:54

posted 07-18-99 02:31 PM ET            

UoP: 6
Gaians:4
Spartans:2

posted 07-18-99 09:46 PM ET            

To me, well, there are:

UoP - 6
Hive - 4
Believers - 2

UoP - 212
Gaians - 156
Hive - 142
Morgan - 112
Peacekeepers - 100
Believers - 60

***modifications to my previous post have been made

posted 07-21-99 09:02 PM ET         

Spartans- 6 As stated above, just a great
faction if you like to play on
the move.

Believers- 4 Poor Miriam, too often maligned.
One need not endorse her view
of the world to enjoy playing
her. Best played when cranky.

Peacekeepers-2 Another underestimated
faction. Lal is the one sane
guy in a cast of otherwise
deeply disturbed faction
leaders.

So,

UoP = 212
Gians = 156
Hive = 142
Morgan = 112
Peacekeeps = 102
Believers = 64
Spartans = 62

posted 07-22-99 10:38 AM ET         

Sorry, had to get that out of my system But seriously, how many more posts are there going to be here? Oh, well, I do believe that my vote needs changing.

UoP-6 Transcending when everyone else is still trying to get Advanced Spaceflight is really fun.

PKs-4 Ho-hum, another golden age. Oh, well.

Gaians-2 One word: MINDWORMS!!!!!

posted 07-23-99 05:33 AM ET            

4-Gaians The mighty mworm militia makes massacering multitudes of defilers refreshingly easy. The native life forms seem like one of the ultimate units in the game: they can heal up to 100% while fielded, u need not reaserch any other weapons tech and once u get dreamtwister the game is yours. Even before the twister if they turtle in thier cities u can chew up all thier terrain enhancements and sit on the most vital food squares and starve thier sorry ass out of house and home. Slower conquerers than the spartans, but u can get mworns easy and early wich may alow u to grab a few quick cities.

posted 07-23-99 05:52 AM ET            

The count now goes:

posted 07-23-99 07:47 AM ET         

So, these are my votes:
1. Hive
2. UoP (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, hehe)
3. Spartans

Someone please do the numbers for me. I can't figure out who is who from the last poster. =P

posted 08-05-99 08:54 PM ET            

Spartans - 6. On Free Market well-trained troops can beat down the hypersensitive planet & police problems are mitigated. Fast-moving formers & crawlers are also kind of cool. Oh yeah, and it's also kind of fun to crush your enemies ...

PK's - 4. Build condensers. Grow pop. Talent bonus mitigates Free Market police problem & helps w/ high populations. PK's slow down later on.

UoP - 2. Tech velocity. Drone problem is a mid-game speed bump.

posted 08-06-99 09:41 AM ET            

Morgan Industries: 6 (I can't help it, he brings out the Capitalist Running Dog in me. Not that THAT's difficult.)

Gaia's Stepdaughters: 4 (Mindworms attack!)

Human Hive: 2 (equally suited to build or conquer)

I hate the Spartans, like the Believers but don't play them often, and the U and the PKs don't really interest me that much.

posted 08-07-99 06:34 PM ET            

Hive: 6
Peacekeepers: 4
UoP: 2

total:

posted 08-07-99 06:58 PM ET            

6 - Hive
Free Perimeter Defence,
Support, 3 formers pr city,
+10% industry,
Immune vs negative efficiency,
Hate to play against them
Only faction I've managed to complete Transcend with using the Conquest Victory Method (Got 749% ... )

4 - Gaians
+2 Efficiency,
+1 Planet, great with abundant life forms.
Can have large empires due to their efficiency bonus...
Researches fast because of that too.
Not too good in warfare though...
Rally up them mindworms and go on a warfarce

2 - Morgan
If you can't build it, buy it...
On Transcend, the Max 4 population pr city is a blessing...
(Get out of my land you peacekeeping son-of-a-b***h)

posted 08-08-99 12:11 AM ET            

Why the Believers whip the Spartans.
1. Probe teams--Believers are supreme in this area. Appropriate research at will.

2. +2 support--this means each base can support 4 units. Bum rush 'em

3. +25% to attack. Chaaaaarge!

4. Spartans have -1 industry. Their attack generally stalls in the midgame because they cannot switch fast enough.

5. The Spartans abhor wealth. The Believers can actually do quite well economically, but the Spartans will be hurtin for energy.

Don't get me wrong--the Spartans aren't bad, it's just the Believers can do everything the Spartans do better, plus things the Spartans can't do.

posted 08-09-99 08:50 PM ET            

Spartans +6 (see below)
Morgan +4 (an ideology preference; I don't think he's that good in the game)
UOP +2 (great tech, and their weaknesses are easily covered)

Now, about the Spartans. Probably the main reason I like them is that they fit perfectly with my preferred strategy. I like to expand aggressively at the start, pushing out all my neighbors (I usually try to have sole control of one or more continents). Then I switch to build mode (Demo/FM/Know) and use my huge population base to run the others into the ground.

Why does this work best with Spartans?

Doctrine Mobility / starting rover: Find your victims before they have adequate defenses.
High police: If you run a police state, you can fight aggressive wars with free market, with no pacifist drones.
Free prototypes: UoP may discover the new weapons first, but you can build them first.
High morale: Counters the extra mindworms that free market (unrealistically) creates.

The -1 Industry disadvantage is vastly exaggerated. 10% more minerals. So a 10-turn facility will now take 11 turns. Whoopeee.

So the totals are:

UoP 224
Gaian 170
Hive 166
Morgan 128
PK 110
Spartan 88
Believe 70

posted 08-10-99 04:30 PM ET            

By now I'm raking in so much cash that I start buying out opponents cities, keeping all of their improvements and all but 1 pop.

In my current game, I'm raking in about 120 energy/turn and researching new tech about every 6 turns. I play with Tech Stagnation and currently have Reserves/Psych/Research set to 40/20/40. UoP is close in tech, but I'm researching faster than he and I'm about to take 2 of the techs he has & I don't. Once he's done paying off his loan from me, he'll be fair game.

My only real concern is that PK loser who keeps wanting to go to war with me just because I'm doing better than he. He's currently building a PB, but I'm going to see if I can get some defenses up before then. Have already taken out the B's and am going to start buying the Spartan cities until I piss her off enough to come after me.

Other than that I like the UoP just on the general principle that the more tech the better. Quality first, then quantity.

Those are the only 2 that I've enjoyed playing so: Gaian's = 6, University = 4.

UoP 228
Gaian 176
Hive 166
Morgan 128
PK 110
Spartan 88
Believe 70

posted 08-10-99 05:07 PM ET            

Not with my superior morale, they won't. (Does your morale rating affect your alien units?)

posted 08-11-99 04:18 PM ET            

Gaian: 6
Hive: 4
UoP: 2

So totally that is:

posted 08-12-99 10:22 PM ET            

Morgan : 6 ; hmmmmm money
Spartan : 4 ; Dunno why.
UOP : 2 ; They've got enough point already.

The tally :

posted 08-13-99 01:56 PM ET            

.. making the totals
UOP : 234
Gaian : 188
Hive : 170 (Die you Pricks)
Morgan : 140
PK : 110
Spartan : 92
Believers : 70

posted 08-16-99 01:01 AM ET            

Played as the Believers on a small map at Thinker. It was (as intended) tough taking bases, but won by conquest in 2244.

posted 08-17-99 12:30 AM ET            

Spartans (4)- I like their morale bonus. I am playing a game where I forced the UoP to submit early on and I let them build up. We share techs and I have the strongest military on planet.

Morgan (2) - Rescources exist to be consumed, and consumed they will be ....

Totals:

posted 08-17-99 11:27 PM ET            

4 - Santiago. Kind of an odd choice for someone who plays an extremely development-based strategy, but being able to produce units with Elite moral right off the assembly line later in the game is very nice. You can sit back building SPs to your heart's content, and when Yang and Miriam give you an attitude, proceed to kick their ass.

2 - Morgan. Once you get your economy rolling, this guy is a blast. Hurry everything in sight and have massive infrastructure. Bribe cities. Buy tech. Buy SPs straight up just for fun...

UoP-246
Gaian-198
Hive-170
Morgan-144
PK-113
Spartans-100
Believers-70

posted 08-18-99 10:22 AM ET         

6 - PK's. They can build recycling tanks right off the bat, the extra talent and higher base population are really helpful, and their efficiency penalty is easily remedied with the right SE choices.

4 - Morgan. If you can stay on good terms with all the other factions (yes, it can be done. Sometimes you need to beat them to a pulp first tho ), the income you can get from commerce is simply insane. The high support costs and lower base pop limits can hurt early on, however.

2 - UoP. Amazing research, but those damned Drones...

Current standings:

UoP-248
Gaian-198
Hive-170
Morgan-148
PK-119
Spartans-100
Believers-70

posted 08-19-99 01:52 AM ET         

Hive-6
UoP-4
Spartans-2

So that makes it

posted 08-20-99 03:44 AM ET            

UoP 6
Gaian 4
Morgan 2

Total Votes:

posted 08-20-99 08:56 AM ET            

My vote is Gaian 6 University 4 Sparta 2

posted 08-21-99 12:36 AM ET         

Uop: 6
Morgan: 4
Gaians: 2

The score now is:

posted 08-21-99 03:31 AM ET            

4) Gaians
Free armies are a great help early on. Big pod lotto advantage too. Where anyone else finds mindworms (aka 10 energy) in a pod, I find Psi-Psi clean scout infantry. Later on, the +planet & +eff give a huge infrastructure advantage.
Hug a tree (even if it is a fungus). Planet is your friend.

2) Morgan
Buy everything & everyone!
No problem is so big that it cannot be solved with sufficient ECs.

0) Spartans
I have been using the Spartans a bit more lately. I am a builder by nature, so I keep having to supress that urge to build a network node instead of more rovers. Let Morgan build network nodes for you.
What do you call a PK city? Splinter colony.

The score now is:

posted 08-23-99 12:28 AM ET         

My God!
This thread is HUGE!!!
anyway, I think 3, 2, 1 scoring system would be better.
Therefor
score 3 for favorite, 2 for second, and 1 for third.
New(but same) scores are:

UoP-137
Gaians-106
Hive-89
Morgan-78
PKs-62
Spartans-52
Believers-35

Thanx a lot for posting, due to the decaying nature of this forum

posted 09-13-99 09:27 PM ET            

Noticed that this had fallen from the "spy" at ACOL....thus, *bump*.....test....

Uop-274
Gaians-212
Hive-178
Morgan-156
PeaceKeepers-124
Spartans-104
Believers-70

posted 09-20-99 10:02 PM ET            

First off, there are A LOT of factors that work into who's better. Depends on if single or multiplay, map settings, rules, etc.

But let's assume basic rules and a decent sized map to give people to get some infrastructure before you can start doing serious offensives.

First off, here's who SUCKS:
- Believers (what is good about her? No faction likes her anyway)
- Santiago (poor growth)
- Morgan (would be good except the disadvantages really cripple them [esp the stupid pop limit])

Ok. That leaves 4 left. Well, I honestly haven't played enough with Dietra to know if shes viable, so I will leave her out of the top 3. She may be good, but I haven't seen overwhelming evidence to suggest she is as no one has really been advocating Mind Worms as the thing to get (those who pick her for her looks...that's really lame IMHO).

Ok, that leaves Yang, UoP, and PK.

For #3, I would choose PK. It is true, they are the generalist. They are the most flexible given the circumstances. They have no real crippling weakness. Growth, economy, and research is decent, plus they get influence over the UN. However, they also have no real strengths to draw upon later in the game. Being a generalist means you tend to be somewhat difficient in one or all 3 categories and later on you are hurting in one of them, which happens to be the one which you really need badly because the others who are strong are kicking your ass. From experience, I would get a great start with them, but then everyone starts hating me and unlike Yang or UoP, I don't have the defenses or tech to cope. Plus I start losing craploads of money.

At #2, Yang. As stated, they are grow/expand/kill. Highly offensive with little fear of retaliation early on, and in most strat games, both turn based, and real time, historically that is the way to victory (can anyone say tank rush?) Simply put, any faction that is near you to start is hurting and put on the defensive. Once they take them over, it's free cities/terraformed land/tech for them (and if they ally, even better). They really don't start feeling the pinch in the economy, research, or tech until much later which by that time, most of their immediate competitors are gone.

Now the champ, which most have chosen. UoP. Yes, we all know their weaknesses. Probing and Morale. However, as long as they are left relatively unmolested at the start (like no Yang people on them), they tend to come out on top. Why? Simply because their perks (a.k.a research and research related goodies like the network node) are global in nature. As someone posted, having a network node is great, but who else other than UoP is gonna take time out early to seriously make them (which they get for free)? All deficiencies that exist in UoP can be rectified through some wonder (Citizens Defense force for Permimeter defense, Virutal world for drones, etc) and odds are they will get them first, esp with the occasional Alien Artifact found. Once the Hunter Seeker is gotten, it's all over. Probing that early to stop them is both time/resource consuming and not entirely reliable. And a horde of weak guys will crumble to just a few decent hi-tech units (*cough* bombardment *cough*).

So, as a summary:

UoP - 6
Hive - 4
PK - 2

What I don't get is why you did the 6/4/2 thing when 3/2/1 essentially would've meant the same thing?