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Author Topic:   Going for sympathy??

Nell_Smith posted 04-05-99 12:40 AM ET
Hmm is this just me?? I always feel so sorry for pathetic little factions that send me warnings about their "practically invincible" 1-2-1 Synthmetal Sentinels (when I've got a army of stupidly powerful troops standing on their doorstep) that I end up giving them techs or money just coz they're so tragic. Maybe I need to work on my aggression!!!!!
PS: Lal seems to be the prime candidate for this "Behave yourself or I'll wipe out your gravships with my peashooter" tactic - must be going for the sympathy vote!
LadyVanessa posted 04-05-99 01:36 AM ET
Nope, you're not weird... but you can't feel sorry for them, you have to think "Great, they're weak! I can easily annihilate the entire faction!" Go for it... A little pep talk for you from
Lady Vanessa Nicole
Gaia's Stepdaughters
sandworm posted 04-05-99 12:39 PM ET
I enjoy giving the weaker factions a tech or some energy and THEN destroying them if they continue to make demands from a position of obvious weakness. Open hand, then closed fist. I style myself as a "Mr. Rodgers with big, pointy fangs" kind of faction.

I'd like to think they surrender and declare pact more easily when you've tried being nice before beating them senseless, but I doubt that's really true.
Hunterseeker posted 04-05-99 02:15 PM ET
I usually make them surrender, so I can be sure they won't do anything funny(if they are useful), but if I can't use them or it is late in the game, I just annihilate them.
Nell_Smith posted 04-05-99 04:17 PM ET
Another time when I give away techs, even when they're not being asked for, is when I'm not currently at war and would like some time to build up infrastructure: if there are two other factions, both as powerful or more powerful than me, which are at war with each other, then I give one or both of them a half-decent tech so that they can weaken each other nicely in readiness for my future onslaught. A good one for this is Doctrine: Air Power... give this to two warring factions and they'll damage each other extensively, while becoming more friendly towards me and so buying me even more time to plan my offensive against them. And by the time I choose to attack, they'd have researched Air Power in any case, so I reckon it's a worthwhile manoeuvre.
Equally, giving away a base you really don't want, such as one captured right in the middle of enemy territory which you know you can't defend, will buy you an ally who will probably stick with you for quite some time, and will probably also give you some useful troop units in reciprocation. Better to give away a useless city to the Spartans than let the Hive re-conquer it and grab one of your valuable techs! (I play with the "Allow Tech By Conquest" rule).
Giving the odd military unit to allies, treaty partners or even truce enemies also improves their mood no end... never mind if it's a crummy 1-1-2 Scout Rover, they still seem mighty pleased with it! Then they leave me alone and everyone's happy... well, until I jump all over them with Drop Troops (surely one of the best units in the game!)
Zoetrope posted 04-05-99 10:06 PM ET
For a change, has anyone here tried being the weak, pitiful faction?
In Civ2 I accidentally left research on zero for a few thousand years, and my Roman allies took such pity on me that they donated me tech so constantly that I became number two. Does that happen in SMAC?
In SMAC it's a nice touch that an ally, whether weaker or stronger than you, will send units to your threatened frontiers then donate them to you. As UoP playing Mr Nice Guy (honoring agreements, and no atrocities) I often have cause to say thankyou to Mr Morgan or Ms Santiago. But I've always been in a strong position, so I don't know whether they'd give reams of tech like the Romans did.
Radegast2 posted 04-06-99 07:11 AM ET
They will sometimes give tech, but will more often sell it to you.
Remember CIVII would sometimes help you more if you were somewhat behind, seems to be the same concept
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Author	Topic: Going for sympathy??
Nell_Smith	posted 04-05-99 12:40 AM ET Hmm is this just me?? I always feel so sorry for pathetic little factions that send me warnings about their "practically invincible" 1-2-1 Synthmetal Sentinels (when I've got a army of stupidly powerful troops standing on their doorstep) that I end up giving them techs or money just coz they're so tragic. Maybe I need to work on my aggression!!!!! PS: Lal seems to be the prime candidate for this "Behave yourself or I'll wipe out your gravships with my peashooter" tactic - must be going for the sympathy vote!
LadyVanessa	posted 04-05-99 01:36 AM ET Nope, you're not weird... but you can't feel sorry for them, you have to think "Great, they're weak! I can easily annihilate the entire faction!" Go for it... A little pep talk for you from Lady Vanessa Nicole Gaia's Stepdaughters
sandworm	posted 04-05-99 12:39 PM ET I enjoy giving the weaker factions a tech or some energy and THEN destroying them if they continue to make demands from a position of obvious weakness. Open hand, then closed fist. I style myself as a "Mr. Rodgers with big, pointy fangs" kind of faction. I'd like to think they surrender and declare pact more easily when you've tried being nice before beating them senseless, but I doubt that's really true.
Hunterseeker	posted 04-05-99 02:15 PM ET I usually make them surrender, so I can be sure they won't do anything funny(if they are useful), but if I can't use them or it is late in the game, I just annihilate them.
Nell_Smith	posted 04-05-99 04:17 PM ET Another time when I give away techs, even when they're not being asked for, is when I'm not currently at war and would like some time to build up infrastructure: if there are two other factions, both as powerful or more powerful than me, which are at war with each other, then I give one or both of them a half-decent tech so that they can weaken each other nicely in readiness for my future onslaught. A good one for this is Doctrine: Air Power... give this to two warring factions and they'll damage each other extensively, while becoming more friendly towards me and so buying me even more time to plan my offensive against them. And by the time I choose to attack, they'd have researched Air Power in any case, so I reckon it's a worthwhile manoeuvre. Equally, giving away a base you really don't want, such as one captured right in the middle of enemy territory which you know you can't defend, will buy you an ally who will probably stick with you for quite some time, and will probably also give you some useful troop units in reciprocation. Better to give away a useless city to the Spartans than let the Hive re-conquer it and grab one of your valuable techs! (I play with the "Allow Tech By Conquest" rule). Giving the odd military unit to allies, treaty partners or even truce enemies also improves their mood no end... never mind if it's a crummy 1-1-2 Scout Rover, they still seem mighty pleased with it! Then they leave me alone and everyone's happy... well, until I jump all over them with Drop Troops (surely one of the best units in the game!)
Zoetrope	posted 04-05-99 10:06 PM ET For a change, has anyone here tried being the weak, pitiful faction? In Civ2 I accidentally left research on zero for a few thousand years, and my Roman allies took such pity on me that they donated me tech so constantly that I became number two. Does that happen in SMAC? In SMAC it's a nice touch that an ally, whether weaker or stronger than you, will send units to your threatened frontiers then donate them to you. As UoP playing Mr Nice Guy (honoring agreements, and no atrocities) I often have cause to say thankyou to Mr Morgan or Ms Santiago. But I've always been in a strong position, so I don't know whether they'd give reams of tech like the Romans did.
Radegast2	posted 04-06-99 07:11 AM ET They will sometimes give tech, but will more often sell it to you. Remember CIVII would sometimes help you more if you were somewhat behind, seems to be the same concept