Buzz Buzz, or "Why I play the Hive."

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Author Topic:   Buzz Buzz, or "Why I play the Hive."

Schoop posted 04-20-99 12:48 AM ET
This is #4 in a series of posts containing my analyses of the factions. Please comment, but kindly stay on topic with the faction.
The Human Hive. What a name, eh? The only faction to have recieved a major power boost in any patch, the Hive can play and win in several ways.
First, the Hive has a growth bonus. I don't really think I need to expound on this factor at all. Same with the Industry bonus.
The power boost I referred to earlier is the Hive's immunity to negative Efficiency. With this bonus, there's no reason NOT to use Police State/Planned, as it yields tons of bonuses with no penalties.
The Starting Tech, Doc:Loyalty, allows the Police State right off the bat, and the free Perimeter Defense can't be laughed at.
The Hive has absolutely no reason to shrink from war, since Police State has the Support bonus, but they can play the empire-building game as well. Chances are you may need to eradicate the Peacekeepers if you want to win a diplomatic victory, however.
The -2 Economy is hell in the early game. I've often found myself using Wealth values for a while until I can get the solar collectors out. This can cause a slow start, but in the long run, you can keep up with everyone else.
When using the Hive, I generally attack and capture bases of everyone who mouths off to me. Being a little imposing never hurts. Generally, I have no problem keeping my people happy or keeping my research going. If done correctly, the Hive can go for a diplomatic or conquest victory, but may have trouble in the Economic sphere.
Schoop posted 04-20-99 04:08 PM ET
DEFINITELY BUILD
THE SELF-AWARE COLONY
Police are good for the Hive. More Police is better.
THE ASCETIC VIRTUES
Same reason.
mrdeath posted 04-24-99 01:20 PM ET
Aaahhh the Hive. My second most favorite faction. I play the hive because
A. Early Military Conquest
Pretty easy for The Hive to start out by churning out scout Patrols. Who then proceed to POP as many pods as possible in the first ten years.. This can net you enough Unity Rovers and free tech to make an early conquest of any neighbors
B. Mid Game Expansion.
Once the continent is secure, I am able to pump out colony pods at an excellent rate. For the hive a little overlap in base territory is a good idea. Keeps the size of your population down, which is important for the Hive. Controlling Large cities without nerve stapling seems to be impossible for me, so i put my bases as close together as possible. This also gives me a very High Production capability. As in i can create mass numbers of troop in a very short time.
c. Late Game Devastation.
Well, i like to end my games with a genocidal rampage. And the other factions don't seem to get too mad at my Atrocity Units.. I guess they expect that from the Hive!
So, HIVE FOREVER!
P.S. The Virtual World and The Aesthic Values.. Gotta Get Em!
Lo_11 posted 07-29-99 11:23 AM ET
Back to the top...
Lo_11 posted 07-29-99 12:13 PM ET
I am currently playing the Hive with alot of bases. After about 35 land bases, the names of the bases became:
Alpha Sector, Beta Sector, Gamma Sector, etc.
What are your favorite HIVE STYLE basenames (especially ones you thought of yourself)?
Lo
RM posted 08-10-99 05:16 AM ET
While the +1 growth ensures that the Hive will always have a relatively good growth, the Hive can not choose Democracy and get that +4 growth that the Democracy-Planned Economics combination gets.

The Hive is well suited for fast colonization. They are immune to inefficiency which means they do not suffer much from having many bases. The +1 growth and +1 industry makes it great for producing colony pods. The free perimeter defences also makes it a good option to keep rather cheap troops holding them. They also makes it possible to place new bases on strategic locations (usually landbridges), only to get the defence bonus of the perimeter defence on that square.
Lord Beselwick posted 08-19-99 07:58 PM ET
Masses Retreat
Labyrinth of Chiron
mencius posted 08-20-99 04:04 PM ET
hi, i'm a beginner. what's the best strategy for the Hive?
Social Speaker posted 08-20-99 06:36 PM ET
I would just like to say that the Hive are my favorite faction.
They flourish in any conditions, whether surrounded by other factions, or alone on a large island. There ability to get high support and police rates at the very beginning of the game means they can run off some fast military expansion, and their +1 Industry bonus is great for Secret Project (every turn counts)
The only disadvantage is their -2 Economy, which means absolutely nothing, a few mesly credits.
To sum up, the Hive are amazing (I said that, didnt I?)
Oh yeah, they're brilliant for beginners, as they dont get pushed around
Social Speaker Voltenn - Back From The Grave (or somewhere very cold)
Rakeesh posted 08-22-99 04:22 PM ET
Hive sucks -- End of story..... nawww just kidding.
The hive does suck... a lot. I don't know why, but I've never been able to get past 2150 without losing interest in the game, with the hive. Its probably got something to do with my morals and beliefs and all that stuff. (Darn my scruples!!!!)
Seriously though, I can't pick any of my favorite social engineering choices while staying in the "hive mindset". They're usually one of those factions I want to kill by midgame, to boot.
Syrinx posted 08-22-99 07:24 PM ET
The Hive.. my favorite faction. =)
Police State/Planned definatly. Then either Power (if I need even more support) or Knowledge (if I have the HS Algorithm). The -2 Economy never seems to hurt me much. I always go for the Weather Paradigm so I can get those boreholes. On medium-harder levels (hardest I've played is Librarian) I have a bit of a problem with drones. But I always build a Trance Scout (1/1/1 trance) in every base (to keep those pesky mind worms out). Once I've got the Neural whatsits, I upgrade all of them to 1/1/1 trance/police, which calms down the drones. If I need it, I build more. Virtual World helps too. I can almost always get a diplomatic victory (due to my voting bloc of surrendered factions) unless I go overboard on the Nerve Gas (like I did in a recent game I played). My main enemies usually end up being Lal and Miriam (although Miriam is always everyone's enemy). Sometimes Deidre and Morgan get pissed at me because they don't like communism, but I can usually conquer them easily enough and bring them into my voting bloc. Zarkoff is a problem sometimes too, and I've had trouble in many games because I stay allied with him much of the game, then he just breaks off the pact and becomes way too powerful.
If it gets into the late game, I'll pick any of the future society choices. Thought Control fits the personality more, but Cybernetic is good as well.
And I usually use the name "Temple of Syrinx" as a base, from the Rush song 2112. Captured bases I rename once they convert fully to Hive bases, usually by inserting "Syrinx" into whatever their name was before.
So that's my Hive stuff.
Smeagol posted 08-22-99 08:22 PM ET
mencius-- The Hive happens to be an excellent choice for a beginner. They have 2 negatives, really-- the -2 economy and the inability to population boom with Demo/Planned/creches (since they can't use Demo). Fortunately, the latter is made up for with high growth from the start, and even faster growth by getting planned early. So obviously switch to police state and planned as soon as you are able. Also, expand as quickly as you can by colonizing. You can solve early drones with the high police, and having a high support means you can support a large military early, but more importantly that you can easily support many formers.
These formers effectively offset your -2 economy, because you can terraform those solar collectors quickly and research just as fast. So early research to get Planned, Formers, and Impact Rovers is essential. The Rovers will guarantee you success over the other AI factions (either simply to conquer a few and steal their research, or to actually achieve a conquest victory). If you're up for it, plant nerve gas pods on those rovers and you are guaranteed victory.
Other than that what Syrinx says is good advice as well. BTW, Syrinx, greetings from a fellow Rush fan.
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Author	Topic: Buzz Buzz, or "Why I play the Hive."
Schoop	posted 04-20-99 12:48 AM ET This is #4 in a series of posts containing my analyses of the factions. Please comment, but kindly stay on topic with the faction. The Human Hive. What a name, eh? The only faction to have recieved a major power boost in any patch, the Hive can play and win in several ways. First, the Hive has a growth bonus. I don't really think I need to expound on this factor at all. Same with the Industry bonus. The power boost I referred to earlier is the Hive's immunity to negative Efficiency. With this bonus, there's no reason NOT to use Police State/Planned, as it yields tons of bonuses with no penalties. The Starting Tech, Doc:Loyalty, allows the Police State right off the bat, and the free Perimeter Defense can't be laughed at. The Hive has absolutely no reason to shrink from war, since Police State has the Support bonus, but they can play the empire-building game as well. Chances are you may need to eradicate the Peacekeepers if you want to win a diplomatic victory, however. The -2 Economy is hell in the early game. I've often found myself using Wealth values for a while until I can get the solar collectors out. This can cause a slow start, but in the long run, you can keep up with everyone else. When using the Hive, I generally attack and capture bases of everyone who mouths off to me. Being a little imposing never hurts. Generally, I have no problem keeping my people happy or keeping my research going. If done correctly, the Hive can go for a diplomatic or conquest victory, but may have trouble in the Economic sphere.
Schoop	posted 04-20-99 04:08 PM ET DEFINITELY BUILD THE SELF-AWARE COLONY Police are good for the Hive. More Police is better. THE ASCETIC VIRTUES Same reason.
mrdeath	posted 04-24-99 01:20 PM ET Aaahhh the Hive. My second most favorite faction. I play the hive because A. Early Military Conquest Pretty easy for The Hive to start out by churning out scout Patrols. Who then proceed to POP as many pods as possible in the first ten years.. This can net you enough Unity Rovers and free tech to make an early conquest of any neighbors B. Mid Game Expansion. Once the continent is secure, I am able to pump out colony pods at an excellent rate. For the hive a little overlap in base territory is a good idea. Keeps the size of your population down, which is important for the Hive. Controlling Large cities without nerve stapling seems to be impossible for me, so i put my bases as close together as possible. This also gives me a very High Production capability. As in i can create mass numbers of troop in a very short time. c. Late Game Devastation. Well, i like to end my games with a genocidal rampage. And the other factions don't seem to get too mad at my Atrocity Units.. I guess they expect that from the Hive! So, HIVE FOREVER! P.S. The Virtual World and The Aesthic Values.. Gotta Get Em!
Lo_11	posted 07-29-99 11:23 AM ET Back to the top...
Lo_11	posted 07-29-99 12:13 PM ET I am currently playing the Hive with alot of bases. After about 35 land bases, the names of the bases became: Alpha Sector, Beta Sector, Gamma Sector, etc. What are your favorite HIVE STYLE basenames (especially ones you thought of yourself)? Lo
RM	posted 08-10-99 05:16 AM ET While the +1 growth ensures that the Hive will always have a relatively good growth, the Hive can not choose Democracy and get that +4 growth that the Democracy-Planned Economics combination gets. The Hive is well suited for fast colonization. They are immune to inefficiency which means they do not suffer much from having many bases. The +1 growth and +1 industry makes it great for producing colony pods. The free perimeter defences also makes it a good option to keep rather cheap troops holding them. They also makes it possible to place new bases on strategic locations (usually landbridges), only to get the defence bonus of the perimeter defence on that square.
Lord Beselwick	posted 08-19-99 07:58 PM ET Masses Retreat Labyrinth of Chiron
mencius	posted 08-20-99 04:04 PM ET hi, i'm a beginner. what's the best strategy for the Hive?
Social Speaker	posted 08-20-99 06:36 PM ET I would just like to say that the Hive are my favorite faction. They flourish in any conditions, whether surrounded by other factions, or alone on a large island. There ability to get high support and police rates at the very beginning of the game means they can run off some fast military expansion, and their +1 Industry bonus is great for Secret Project (every turn counts) The only disadvantage is their -2 Economy, which means absolutely nothing, a few mesly credits. To sum up, the Hive are amazing (I said that, didnt I?) Oh yeah, they're brilliant for beginners, as they dont get pushed around Social Speaker Voltenn - Back From The Grave (or somewhere very cold)
Rakeesh	posted 08-22-99 04:22 PM ET Hive sucks -- End of story..... nawww just kidding. The hive does suck... a lot. I don't know why, but I've never been able to get past 2150 without losing interest in the game, with the hive. Its probably got something to do with my morals and beliefs and all that stuff. (Darn my scruples!!!!) Seriously though, I can't pick any of my favorite social engineering choices while staying in the "hive mindset". They're usually one of those factions I want to kill by midgame, to boot.
Syrinx	posted 08-22-99 07:24 PM ET The Hive.. my favorite faction. =) Police State/Planned definatly. Then either Power (if I need even more support) or Knowledge (if I have the HS Algorithm). The -2 Economy never seems to hurt me much. I always go for the Weather Paradigm so I can get those boreholes. On medium-harder levels (hardest I've played is Librarian) I have a bit of a problem with drones. But I always build a Trance Scout (1/1/1 trance) in every base (to keep those pesky mind worms out). Once I've got the Neural whatsits, I upgrade all of them to 1/1/1 trance/police, which calms down the drones. If I need it, I build more. Virtual World helps too. I can almost always get a diplomatic victory (due to my voting bloc of surrendered factions) unless I go overboard on the Nerve Gas (like I did in a recent game I played). My main enemies usually end up being Lal and Miriam (although Miriam is always everyone's enemy). Sometimes Deidre and Morgan get pissed at me because they don't like communism, but I can usually conquer them easily enough and bring them into my voting bloc. Zarkoff is a problem sometimes too, and I've had trouble in many games because I stay allied with him much of the game, then he just breaks off the pact and becomes way too powerful. If it gets into the late game, I'll pick any of the future society choices. Thought Control fits the personality more, but Cybernetic is good as well. And I usually use the name "Temple of Syrinx" as a base, from the Rush song 2112. Captured bases I rename once they convert fully to Hive bases, usually by inserting "Syrinx" into whatever their name was before. So that's my Hive stuff.
Smeagol	posted 08-22-99 08:22 PM ET mencius-- The Hive happens to be an excellent choice for a beginner. They have 2 negatives, really-- the -2 economy and the inability to population boom with Demo/Planned/creches (since they can't use Demo). Fortunately, the latter is made up for with high growth from the start, and even faster growth by getting planned early. So obviously switch to police state and planned as soon as you are able. Also, expand as quickly as you can by colonizing. You can solve early drones with the high police, and having a high support means you can support a large military early, but more importantly that you can easily support many formers. These formers effectively offset your -2 economy, because you can terraform those solar collectors quickly and research just as fast. So early research to get Planned, Formers, and Impact Rovers is essential. The Rovers will guarantee you success over the other AI factions (either simply to conquer a few and steal their research, or to actually achieve a conquest victory). If you're up for it, plant nerve gas pods on those rovers and you are guaranteed victory. Other than that what Syrinx says is good advice as well. BTW, Syrinx, greetings from a fellow Rush fan.