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Author Topic:   All against one?

Hodack posted 06-09-99 11:00 AM ET
I have just recently started playing the higher levels. If I happen to encounter another faction very close to me they always demand stuff and declare Vendetta when I refuse, regardless of how powerful they are compared to me. This usually doesn't worry me too much if I am more powerful than them.
The problem arises when I sometimes encounter a 3rd faction in the early game. They do the same thing. So even if my status is "Unsurpassed" I all of a sudden have two wars to fight, with factions that are very close to me. And if these factions are even "sufficient" and "wanting" it still causes much trouble. A 2-on-1 is never easy.
So I have tried 2 different approaches to solve this problem: give them what they want or kill them. The first one seems to work for a little while. But the factions near me gain such an advantage that by mid-game I have almost no hope of beating them because I am sandwiched between 2 at least equal factions that have been stifling my expansion, demanding my tech, and encroaching on my territory. Not to mention the fact that giving them my tech makes me feel like a whipped dog begging for table scraps.
The second approach is something I have slightly better success with. I have gotten to the point where I can actually take on these 2 factions and kill/conquer them both. But I have wasted so much of my resources by this time, that the other factions I encounter later in the game are far ahead of me. Even if I keep up in tech, my infrastructure has severely suffered from being forced to crank out military units instead of base facilities.
So I must be playing it wrong. If I start alone on a landmass I can quickly spread and win the game without much difficulty. My problems are when I begin very close to 2 (or more) factions on the higher levels.
Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
Natguy posted 06-09-99 11:23 AM ET
If you can, make peace with one and got to war with the other, especially if you can get them to war with each other. After you've beaten one, turn on the other and then you'll be the only one on your continent.
Plato90s posted 06-09-99 12:57 PM ET
Definitely avoid fighting wars on two fronts. It's draining and prevents you from getting a decisive solution quickly.
Give the faction with less infrastructure what they want and take on the other faction militarily. After you crush them, turn your army around and squash the guys you have been appeasing.
Mergle posted 06-09-99 01:17 PM ET
I concur with the above - make nice with the weaker power and mercilessly crush the other one. I've just triumphed as Morgan with a starting position cramped between the believers and the hive. I bribed both of them for as long as possible, then Miriam started to demand 2 techs at a time, so I lost my patience and threw her off the continent. (Using Missile launchers! I normally manage to hold off the wars at least until I have fusion lasers). Just as I was poised to strike at her remaining strongholds, Yang declared war for no aparent reason and droped a planetbuster on my capital and I actually ceded a city to Mirriam for peace. A protracted NATO-style engagement later (I just couldn't get any of my troops past his airforce in any numbers and he kept reducing my home garrisons to slag with ****ing conventional missiles, my 1-1-1 amphibious drop squads together with my own massed produced conventional missiles won the day and I was able to reduce him to snivelling subservience. Unfortunately, in the meantime Mirriam had managed to absorb everyone else (except Lal, who escaped in a colony pod and managed to found a decent-sized empire near the borehole cluster) and she turned on me as I was mopping up the last pockets of resistance. Irritatingly, she'd managed to swip the HSA and the CDF from the University, and it was quite a tough battle. Finally, the tattered remnants of my Hive Strike Force managed to round the map, taking advantage of Pact Brother Lal's bases for refueling, and took her from behind, capturing her SPs and leaving her remaining major cities vulnerable to my main assault force.
Igor posted 06-10-99 08:01 AM ET
Try build only Recicling Tanks, Rec Commons, Command Centers, pods and troops. Even if you is Morgan with s**** support, but have armada of units, no one will touch you. Demand stuff from them and crush opponents if you can. If you can not, just harras them with rovers, kill their pods and destroy any structure (except roads beween your and their bases). When you have 'unsurprised' army, and your boders are far from your capital, build facilities and enjoy in builder stile . Crush (or get submissive pact) Believers and Hive. If you wait till middle of the game, they have too many troops and it's boring to fight them even if your weapons 2 times stronger than their. They are like locuts.
If you don't like such strat, share your bases on Builde/Research centers and Explore/Conquer part. Buy Tank in E/C base, then CC and then units. I prefer when B/R centers are only 20-40% of total number of bases. Even if you play on 30% landmass huge map, build defence and (more important)
offence. Just for case . On huge map you should have at least 20 bases.
Oh, never give techs and money (you can give money to Sparta if you're Morgan with 'formidable' army, but this is not very good). Share techs with conquer faction VERY carefully: not Planetary Networks (Planned for Hive and Troops for Believers), not Nonliniar Math, not Gene Splising (if you dont want be soon attacked by Missle troops) and not SofHB (worms help you).
I guess it will help you. In 'sandwich' situation be ruthless conqueror not builder.
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Author	Topic: All against one?
Hodack	posted 06-09-99 11:00 AM ET I have just recently started playing the higher levels. If I happen to encounter another faction very close to me they always demand stuff and declare Vendetta when I refuse, regardless of how powerful they are compared to me. This usually doesn't worry me too much if I am more powerful than them. The problem arises when I sometimes encounter a 3rd faction in the early game. They do the same thing. So even if my status is "Unsurpassed" I all of a sudden have two wars to fight, with factions that are very close to me. And if these factions are even "sufficient" and "wanting" it still causes much trouble. A 2-on-1 is never easy. So I have tried 2 different approaches to solve this problem: give them what they want or kill them. The first one seems to work for a little while. But the factions near me gain such an advantage that by mid-game I have almost no hope of beating them because I am sandwiched between 2 at least equal factions that have been stifling my expansion, demanding my tech, and encroaching on my territory. Not to mention the fact that giving them my tech makes me feel like a whipped dog begging for table scraps. The second approach is something I have slightly better success with. I have gotten to the point where I can actually take on these 2 factions and kill/conquer them both. But I have wasted so much of my resources by this time, that the other factions I encounter later in the game are far ahead of me. Even if I keep up in tech, my infrastructure has severely suffered from being forced to crank out military units instead of base facilities. So I must be playing it wrong. If I start alone on a landmass I can quickly spread and win the game without much difficulty. My problems are when I begin very close to 2 (or more) factions on the higher levels. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
Natguy	posted 06-09-99 11:23 AM ET If you can, make peace with one and got to war with the other, especially if you can get them to war with each other. After you've beaten one, turn on the other and then you'll be the only one on your continent.
Plato90s	posted 06-09-99 12:57 PM ET Definitely avoid fighting wars on two fronts. It's draining and prevents you from getting a decisive solution quickly. Give the faction with less infrastructure what they want and take on the other faction militarily. After you crush them, turn your army around and squash the guys you have been appeasing.
Mergle	posted 06-09-99 01:17 PM ET I concur with the above - make nice with the weaker power and mercilessly crush the other one. I've just triumphed as Morgan with a starting position cramped between the believers and the hive. I bribed both of them for as long as possible, then Miriam started to demand 2 techs at a time, so I lost my patience and threw her off the continent. (Using Missile launchers! I normally manage to hold off the wars at least until I have fusion lasers). Just as I was poised to strike at her remaining strongholds, Yang declared war for no aparent reason and droped a planetbuster on my capital and I actually ceded a city to Mirriam for peace. A protracted NATO-style engagement later (I just couldn't get any of my troops past his airforce in any numbers and he kept reducing my home garrisons to slag with ****ing conventional missiles, my 1-1-1 amphibious drop squads together with my own massed produced conventional missiles won the day and I was able to reduce him to snivelling subservience. Unfortunately, in the meantime Mirriam had managed to absorb everyone else (except Lal, who escaped in a colony pod and managed to found a decent-sized empire near the borehole cluster) and she turned on me as I was mopping up the last pockets of resistance. Irritatingly, she'd managed to swip the HSA and the CDF from the University, and it was quite a tough battle. Finally, the tattered remnants of my Hive Strike Force managed to round the map, taking advantage of Pact Brother Lal's bases for refueling, and took her from behind, capturing her SPs and leaving her remaining major cities vulnerable to my main assault force.
Igor	posted 06-10-99 08:01 AM ET Try build only Recicling Tanks, Rec Commons, Command Centers, pods and troops. Even if you is Morgan with s**** support, but have armada of units, no one will touch you. Demand stuff from them and crush opponents if you can. If you can not, just harras them with rovers, kill their pods and destroy any structure (except roads beween your and their bases). When you have 'unsurprised' army, and your boders are far from your capital, build facilities and enjoy in builder stile . Crush (or get submissive pact) Believers and Hive. If you wait till middle of the game, they have too many troops and it's boring to fight them even if your weapons 2 times stronger than their. They are like locuts. If you don't like such strat, share your bases on Builde/Research centers and Explore/Conquer part. Buy Tank in E/C base, then CC and then units. I prefer when B/R centers are only 20-40% of total number of bases. Even if you play on 30% landmass huge map, build defence and (more important) offence. Just for case . On huge map you should have at least 20 bases. Oh, never give techs and money (you can give money to Sparta if you're Morgan with 'formidable' army, but this is not very good). Share techs with conquer faction VERY carefully: not Planetary Networks (Planned for Hive and Troops for Believers), not Nonliniar Math, not Gene Splising (if you dont want be soon attacked by Missle troops) and not SofHB (worms help you). I guess it will help you. In 'sandwich' situation be ruthless conqueror not builder.