Collective Consciousness
Autarchs Guide to the Cyborg
Introduction
Greetings once more. My name is Autarch, author of (by now) two guides, concerning the
Crystals and Robots. I have an Empire one coming soon. I noticed that there was not a
whole lot of stuff out there, and decided to make my mark in the VGAP community. So I sat
down, and wrote the Guides for the Forgotten Races. And the Cyborg seem to be
an almost forgotten race as well. There isnt a whole lot of info out there on them,
and so I figured I could write just one more Guide.
I personally use VGA Planets Assistant (VPA), and this Guide is based on Host 3.22.023. I dont think that there have been significant changes, especially concerning the Cyborg. If you like the Cyborg, you are not alone. However, I do not claim to be an expert at VGAP, and your using anything I say is, of course, at your own risk.
The Cyborg
Race Description
Lets see what the docs have to say about the Cyborg (Borg from now on), and some
abilities they have.
The Cyborg are a half humanoid and half machine race. The Cyborgs have many small scout ships and probes. These come in very handy in finding their enemy's home world. The Cyborg battleship is the size of two Birdmen battleships. All damaged Cyborg ships can stop and repair themselves at a rate of 10% per turn. The Cyborg are able to assimilate natives into colonists. The assimilation rate can be configured by the host from 0% to 100%
They own one of the most feared weapons ever seen in the Echo Cluster, the Firecloud Class Warp Chunneler, a ship that can deliver a fleet of combat vessels to any point in space. The Cyborgs have some of the most powerful starships, the Cyborg Cube ships. The Cyborg ships are able to repair in space at a rate of 10% per month. A Cyborg ship that is repairing cannot move.
When a Cyborg ship destroys an enemy ship the hull debris and fuel is beam aboard in the form of minerals. Cyborg colonists that are placed on a planet that has native population will be assimilated into Cyborg colonists. The natives are converted to Cyborg at a rate of one native for every Cyborg on the planet.
Player Mindset
The Borg are a race that is perhaps one of the most difficult to play. They lack medium
warships. They assimilate natives, and you have to capitalize on the natives if you want
to build a base with good tech levels. Their economy, in the beginning, is one of the
worst. You are easily destroyable in the first 10-18 turn of the game. You must have time
to coordinate your forces, and manage your planets. If you dont have time to do your
turns, dont play the Borg.
Once you survive, though, you have some of the most powerful ships in the game. You can move anywhere in the Cluster. You can exterminate anybody you please. So the Borg have some good pros, and really bad cons.
Settings
Here are some settings you should pay attention to:
Hyper Drive Ships: YES
I wouldnt play the Borg without this. You need your HYP ship to explore and grow
like mad.
Firecloud Warp Chunnel: YES
I wouldnt play the Borg without this either. You need this ship to link your vast
empire, and to move cubes, freighters, and other things around.
Cyborg Assimilation Rate: 100%
This means that for every Borg on the planet, one native is turned into Borg.
Ships with one engine can tow: YES
This lets your probe, upon discovering a freighter in orbit, to tow it out and capture it.
Handy to have, but not life threatening.
Climate Limits Population: ???
Depends on what you want. This means that if you get a desert or Arctic planet, you
assimilate, and the your people die off from the climate. It would be nice not to have
this, and anyone could survive anywhere, but you can live with it turned on.
Ship Cloning: YES
This is helpful if you have allies who will give you decent medium warships (something you
lack.)
Advantages
Assimilation
Stated simply- you find the natives, you turn them into Borg. This is where your
assimilation rate kicks in. So you get a Siliconoid Representative planet, with 8 million
natives, you turn them into 8 million Borg. You have 200 clans, next turn, you have 400
clans, provided that there is enough natives. If the number of Borg outnumber the natives,
next turn you will have no natives. You cannot assimilate Amorphous Planets.
HYP Probes
This lets you, with your assimilation, to spread all over the Echo Cluster. More on HYP
probes in Chapter 5.
Chunneling
Chunneling lets you move massive fleets and unlimited amounts of stuff anywhere in the
Echo Cluster. Ill explain the benefits of Chunneling in Chapter 6.
*One thing to point out- you cannot chunnel if anyone (even yourself) has a tow lock on
your Firecloud.*
Cube Ships
You have two of the most powerful ships in the Game- the Biocide and Annihilation Cube
Ships. The Biocide is your fighter carrier. It has a mass of 860, but the fighter cost is
expensive, even for you. The Annihilation is your torpedo boat. It has a mass of 960, and
is more efficient than the Biocide, unless you have allies who can provide free fighters.
All in all, you have two big, tough, and heavy ships.
Debris Beam-In
When you fight, and win, you usually blow up a ship. Most races go Huzzah!,
and get a PBP or two. You get a PBP, and all the minerals that made the ship up. Even if
its fuel. Nice to have deep in enemy territory, or on the borders of your space.
Cloning
You can clone those medium warships and cloakers that you get from allies or from the
plunder of war. Handy to have, to fill the gaps in your fleet.
Repair Self mission
The Borg can regenerate their ships (not crew members though) at 10% per turn. You
dont move when you do this though, so you can be a sitting duck too.
Disadvantages
No Medium Warships
You have your Cubes, and your Firecloud. Fireclouds wont hold their own in a battle,
and Cubes are expensive in the beginning. The closest thing you have is the Quietus
Cruiser, with 1 torp tube. But thats it.
Early Game strength
For the first part of the game, you are relatively weak because of what was stated above.
Here is where diplomacy kicks in- making sure you survive the first 10-18 turns or so.
Ship Costs
Your ships are pretty balanced mineral and cash wise. Its just that this balance is
HUGE. You could easily build starbases for the costs of your cubes. Steep, eh? And with no
medium ships, well... you get the point.
Ship List
Here I am going to lay down the basics of your ships, and what to put on them in regards
to engines/weapons afterwards. These are the default ship designs, as I know that there
are more out there. Freighters I will discuss next, but onto the warships:
B200 Probe (Beams: 2 Cargo: 15)
This is your HYP ship. Useful booger. More on these guys in the next chapter.
Watcher Scout: (Beams: 2 Cargo: 50 Fuel: 270)
Not a bad ship, with a good fuel tank. Lack of beams hampers its effectiveness. I
dont build em.
Iron Slave: (Beams: 1 Bays: 2 Mass: 60)
Do NOT build this ship. It is too light, and has no offensive capabilities. Waste of a
shipslot.
B41 Explorer (Beams: 4)
No use to build this either. Eat gets eaten easily by anything with torps.
B222 Destroyer (Beams: 7)
Use this to burn fighters off the big carriers or starbases. It is light, but the beams
come in handy.
Quietus (Beams: 4 Tubes: 1)
This isnt a bad ship. A local patrol boat, interceptor, minelayer-it can be used to
fulfill many roles. Arm it well.
Firecloud Class Cruiser (Beams: 6 Tubes: 2)
The key to the Borgs success. I will get into the specific functions/uses/strategies
of the FC later on. Lets just say, this ship lets you go anywhere it is, in one
turn, with only **50** kts of fuel burned. And remember- ANYWHERE. Your enemy is going to
pick them off, and these cannot fight. Guard them.
Biocide Class Carrier (Beams:10 Bays: 10)
Nasty ship. Its your fighter carrier, can fight a Gorbie and occasionally limp away.
Very useful against the Torp races, and fighters shouldnt be a problem with the ton
of mines/colonists (read:cash) you have *later* in the game.
Annihilation Class Dreadnought: (Beams:10 Tubes: 10)
The Baddest Torp ship around. Only Fed Nova comes close. A fully stocked Annie can be
devastating, and way cheaper than a fully stocked Biocide.
Ship Armament/Engines
HYP Probes
Your HYP probes are mainly for exploration. They can be used to zap enemy freighters, so
put x-rays on them. Put crappy engines on them, so you dont waste money.
Especially if the E/S Bonus is on, you dont want non-HYP races getting a HYP ship.
Big whoop you say. Cloned, a little probe can be a nuisance. Especially in the hands of
the Fed- super refit that puppy with big weapons and you got a planet killer.
Fireclouds
The key to your survival/conquest. Put Transwarps on these guys, and send them out. Watch
them though. I usually put Disrupters and MK4s on board to zap freighters, or protect it
in a fight. But you dont want these guys in a fight. Run if you have to, chunnel
away if absolutely necessary. But dont sacrifice the front line because a Cygnus is
chasing your FC.
Cubes
Big and Bad. Gas Guzzlers too. I put HeavyDrive 6s at most on them. Transwarps rarely,
unless I have a ton of gas to use. Youre going to be using the FCs to transport
them. As for weapons, the Annies should get Heavy Blasters. They are going to be using
them to smash ships and such. The Biocides only need plasma bolts to shoot down other
fighters, or Heavy Blasters to kill torp ships. Take your pick, and remember to use the
right Annie/Bio for the job.
Freighters
You really can use any freighter in the game.
SDSF (Small Deep Space Freighter)
Handy to you, probably more than anyone else. Fill with half colonists, half supplies.
These guys are nice, but you should use MDSFs instead.
MDSF (Medium Deep Space Freighter)
The best in the early stages. Good for moving decent mineral truckloads around, and most
cloakers want bigger targets (LDSFs, or STSF). Put Transwarps on them, and use them for
colonizing too.
LDSF (Large Deep Space Freighter)
Dont colonize with these. Youll assimilate to quick if you dump 1200 clans on
a planet. Use them for mineral trucks, because youre going to need them. You can
save and not put Transwarps on some, since youll use the Fireclouds to move them.
Guard them ,because they are prized by cloakers.
STSF (Super Transport Space Freighter (or something like that))
Build these if you absoluely NEED to. For most cases, LDSFs should suffice.
All in all, remember to use the small/medium for colonzie, and LDSF/STSF for minerals major colonist transport. And guard them- a Swift Heart or less with X-Rays and your ship is toast.
HYP Probes
What they are
HYP probes are handy little ships that can carry a small amount of clans/colonists. They
can jump 340-360 lys (with the newer host programs). In any direction, and
only burn 50 Kts of fuel. That means if you do it right, you can HYP from planet to
planet, unseen. Without them, the Borg are doomed. But because you assimilate, if you
escape, with one clan, you can come back. (And win, its happened!) Without the HYP,
you cant expand the way you need to. But anyway, here are some basics:
Strategies for using the HYP Probes
Money Carrier
Think, 350lys away, you have a planet making oodles of cash. But normally, its 4
turns away ONE WAY. Not with the HYP probe around. Calculate, and ZIP, shes there.
And ready to carry up to 10,000mcs if necessary (10 grand being the limit in the game for
any ship). No way someone can get it, unless they are attacking you at the same time your
probe drops out of hyperspace.
Spy
Test your enemies defenses. Put blasters on your ships, and send a fleet into the heart of
his empire. You kill freighters, get planets, and start assimilating. Hell freak
out, thinking of all the natives being turned into Borg (read: less cash when he gets the
planet back). Can really screw up an economy. Shoot a couple into his space, and set
mission to mine sweep. They sweep (scan and shoot down mines) before HYPing out. And
HYPing ships cant get plastered with a mine. Also, you make the enemy
uncomfortable to see enemy ships in the heart of his space. Physchologically damaging.
Freighter Hunter
Put X-rays on the boogers and send them out. To the planets. They see a ship (pray a
freighter) and nail it. Very nice if the ship had a ton of colonists on them, because they
are all Borg now. Ground attack your enemy, or assimilate a planet faster (especially good
government one (Monarchy, Unity)) or a race (Avian, Insectoid, Bovonoid).
Escape Pod
The Borg are weak in the early game. You are Number 1 on the must destroy
early list. So everyone (if they are smart) will go for your throat. Use the HYP
probe fill it with cash a lot of supplies, and a few clans. Have it ready to go in case
all else fails. Then RUN. Bide your time, and seek revenge later on.
All in all, a multi-purpose ship. They help the Borg grow, and without them, the Borg wouldnt exist.
The Chunnel
The Firecloud
In order to use the Borgs BEST ability, you must build Firecloud Class Cruisers. They arent armed well, but that isnt their function. They initiate a warp chunnel, allowing you to send ships anywhere.
Chunneling
Chunneling requires two Fireclouds, some gas, and a warp factor of 0. The docs explain it:
How chunneling works (emphasis mine):
Chunneling is the process where a Firecloud Class Cruiser uses a temporal rift in the
subspace time continuum. This rift is a maelstrom of tachyon energy formed in the
shape of a tunnel. To open a Warp Chunnel a Firecloud needs to have at least 50 KT of
fuel. It then selects its friendly code to the ID number of another
Firecloud. This causes a targeting subspace signal to be generated. The Firecloud then
projects a stream of accelerated tachyon particles that cause a rift in the subspace time
continuum. The generation of this high energy beam **uses up 50 KT of fuel from the
projecting Firecloud.**
This rift is anchored to the destination Firecloud.
Once the Chunnel is generated the Chunneling Firecloud moves into the Chunnel. This causes the Chunnel to collapse. As the Chunnel collapses it pushes the Firecloud (and any other starships that were in the same point in space as the Firecloud) along in front of it as it collapses. This movement expends uses no fuel on the Chunneling starship(s), since they are being pushed along by the collapsing Chunnel (subspace temporal rift).
Needless to say, traveling through a high energy rift comprised of tachyon particles can have an adverse effect on your starship systems. **Any starship completing a Chunnel will exit subspace with its shielding systems inoperative.** The Chunnel, in effect, strips the starship(s) of their shields for that turn. By the next turn the shielding systems will be functioning again.
And now the how to:
How to Initiate a Chunnel
To start a Chunnel, as stated above, the traveling (or initiating) Firecloud needs to set
its friendly code to the ID number of the Firecloud it wishes to travel to. Both
Fireclouds need to have their warp factor set to zero (0). If the warp factors are not set
to zero or the ether of the Fireclouds are under tow the Chunnel will not occur.
For ID numbers 1 to 99 place leading zeros in front of the number. I.E. 001, 023, 099.
Chunneling happens as part of the movement phase of the host. It is the last segment of the movement phase. So it is possible for starships to move TO the Firecloud before it Chunnels and then move with it, shutting down the warp systems during the Chunnel. Cloaked starships moving through a Chunnel will remain cloaked.
A ship belonging to a race other than the race of the Firecloud opening a chunnel at the same point in space as the Firecloud must have a warp speed of 0, be cloaked, out of fuel or have a friendly code that matches the friendly code of the ship opening the chunnel to enter the chunnel (way point setting does not matter). The chunnel ship's race can enter the chunnel at any warp speed as can cloaked ships or ships with matching friendly code belonging to all races.
If fleet of enemy ships that warp onto a planet that is hiding a Firecloud with its chunnel engaged only the enemy ships with a warp speed of 0 will enter the chunnel. The only ships that can move onto a planet with a warp speed of 0 are ships that are being towed. None of the ships that moved their under their own power will enter the chunnel, but any ships that they are towing will.
A pair Fireclouds can not use a chunnel if ANYSHIP with fuel locks a tow beam on it, the warp speed and waypoint setting of the ship locking the beam does not matter.
Minimum range of chunnel: 100 LY
Maximum range of chunnel: 5000LY
(Only works with HOST Version 3.20 or Better)
So look at the benefits. You can go ANYWHERE, for 50kts of fuel. You can chunnel as many ships as you want. Your cubes ships need this, since they suck gas only a little less than a Gorbie. The bad sides are that you come out with shields down. Fireclouds cant fight, so your enemy will definitely hunt your FCs down. Any ship that puts a tow lock on your FC nullifies the chunnel. But the uses and benefits in maneuvering outweigh the cons.
Chunnel Points
The easiest way to chunnel fleets, is to have chunnel points. I usually have crappy
FCs in orbit around planets as catchers. They dont chunnel, they are just
anchors to chunnel back to. I set up a planet or waypoint in space to have all my ships
meet. If a planet, a crappy one, since I dont want to chunnel my fleet of
Merlins away by sheer accident. If in space, outside a planets warpwell, say 4
lys. This way, I am close by, and not sticking out to much. I then activate the
chunnel when everyone arrives, and go. Then when I am done, I use the bad FCs as
anchors, and go home.
Easy, simple, and that way, your key planets are linked through the possibility of a chunnel. You can move cubes around effectively to protect or advance.
Planets and Bases
Everyone likes to have huge fleets of ship cruising around beating people up. You
cant do that if your economy stinks. Planets and Bases are major parts to the
economy scheme.
Planets
You start off with a planet, so that means you gotta expand.
Colonization
Most races send out LDSFs in every direction to conquer planets well, and get them up and
running. Not you. All you really need is the SDSF. Why? Because of your assimilation, of
course! One clans turns into two, into four, and so on. So while most races run around
dumping tons of cash, supplies and colonists, you need very few colonists, some supplies
and some cash.
Take a SDSF, and fill it with 40 supplies, and 30 clans. Put some money if you think you need it. On no native planets, put one clan down. Just to take the planet. On native planets, dump the colonists. Next turn, you have double, and you pick up a full ship again. Of course, you are beaming down supplies. Cash if you think you need it. Not a lot of supplies or cash, but just enough to get the planet up and running. The cash youll get from assimilating natives. Re-Read how to use the kinds of frieghters you have.
Managing your planets
This is the time consuming part for any Borg player. You have to figure for max taxes. And
build supplies, mines, and watch your native population (if applicable). Watch your
defense post numbers, and make sure you dont get scanned. This usually
doesnt take long. But when you have 50-90 planets to worry about, then you have time
consuming stuff on your hands. So, figure for max taxes. Watch your mineral count.
Raise defense posts. Watch the native growth, and see what you have left and are going to
have next turn.
Planetary Strategies
Assimilate native planets first. Come back to the empty planets later. This way, you get
the key plamets (and economy) running. Build your factories, mines, and Def posts.
Theyll all be colonists soon anyway. Or: Capturing enemy planets. You get them, and
if they have natives, you start assimilating. Right away. Yank the taxes to 100%.
The natives will riot, but youll keep assimilating. So if the enemy gets the planet
back, the natives (now hopefully decimated by assimilating and killing each other) will be
of no use to either of you. Any clans you (or him) put there will be chopped up in two
seconds. Use the HYP probes to do the same. HYP in, capture planets, yank taxes, and
assimilate.
What if the enemy is invading? Do the same, but leave the amount of colonists on the planet. Its not like you dont have enough. Riot them. Have them chop up all those beautiful mines and factories to prevent their capture. If hopeless, do it to all your planets. Use your escape pod (HYP probe) to run if you even want to try.
Bases
If you think you can do with one base for the whole game, good luck to you.
Where to build them
The Borg have a dilemma when it comes to bases. They assimilate the natives, and if you
build the base after the natives are gone, you lose the race ability (if applicable). So
they gotta build bases early. But they lack the minerals early, and need to save them for
the cubes. So if you are going to build (which you have to), get those minerals
there before the natives are gone. I build bases if I can get the race ability, or the
minerals are good.
Defense
Your HomeWorld is really useless after turn 20- you have probably bigger amounts of
colonists on other planets nearby. But other planets (i.e. StarBases) are useful, and are
last-line protection. You have the cash to buy fighters, so do so if you feel it is
necessary. Keep your bases in top shape. No one can ground attack you- especially with 6
million colonists. So they have to beat you up. A Cube nearby is always handy, too. Raise
your defense posts, and increase base defense as well. You can huge ground defense posts
with your astronomical colonist figures.
Upgrading
You can upgrade as you feel free to do so. Adapt to the situation.
Some ideas:
Build HYP probes-they never out live their usefulness.
Crappy FCs are only *tech 6*.
Cubes I build on my HW. Sometimes other bases if I have enough minerals and cash handy.
Be flexible- the Borg lost in Star Trek because they just came in guns blazing, smashing everything. The crafty humans wiped their butts all over the Sol System. Learn from that.
Other Races- Allies and Enemies
Other races inhabit the Echo Cluster, and depending on their leaders, they may be friendly or hostile to you. With the Borg, they are NEVER indifferent.
The Solar Federation
Based upon the Federation in Star Trek, the Feds have a decent fleet, made up of mostly
medium warships that can do many different things. However, the key word is medium. The
biggest ship they have is the Nova, which can spank almost any ship besides yours and the
Gorbies by itself.
As allies: They are good ones. They can super-refit your cubes, which is very handy. They have the KittyHawk, a medium carrier. They also collect 200% taxes from the natives they make contact with. Very helpful to you in the game, when you are done assimilating and all you have are colonists left to tax. The Feds have good torp ships, something you lack. They have Lokis, which will decloak the Fascists, Privs and everyone else (save the Birds and Lizards). They also have terraformers, which are handy for those assimilated cold or hot planets.
As enemies: The Feds are not very powerful in the first part of the game, like you.
They know this, but they know you stink early too. If you can get your economy rolling
quick, you can run the Feds over. They will have many empty hulls, for super-refit later
on. They will throw a combo of ships at you. Their Thor is deadly- 8
torp tubes. Itll go in first, knocking your shields out, followed by a KittyHawk.
Then the Nova comes in and cleans your cube up. Try using cube pairs, or get some cloakers
(watching for Lokis) and find their key planets. Try to get the Feds before they can get
you. They will try to outbuild everyone early on so they can sacrifice the ships they have
to.
The Lizard Alliance
The Lizards are based upon the Gorn of Star Trek. Very big, powerful, and nasty.
As allies: Very good. They can mine at 200%, which they can give you the minerals you desperately need for your cubes. They can give you cloakers, Lokis, and a terraformer. Their HISSS mission is nice- they can HISS your planets, and squeeze that last bit of taxes out.
As enemies: You frighten them. They have a ground attack of 30:1, but that is useless
with 6 million colonists. They can cloak, so interlocking minefields are the key to
stopping their cloakers from attacking planets. Their ships lack many beams, so sweeping
for them is pretty much limited. Their Madonzilla and T-Rexes are their ships of choice
when fighting your cubes. Theyll use a Rex-Madon-Rex combo to get your cubes. They
can produce these ships rapidly since their economy is
incredible. Put Heavy Blasters on your HYP probes, and shoot them out. Chances are
hell have a terraformer or Serpent Scout HISSSing, and you toast it. The high tax
rate will cause rioting all over.
The Empire of the Birds
The Bird Men are based upon the Romulans of Star Trek. Quiet, invisible and sneaky.
As allies: OK. They have cloakers, and their Resolute is very nice. Theyd like your Cubes to back their fleet up, since DarkWings arent the strongest around. They have a cloaking carrier for you, very handy. They have cloaking torp ships for surprise minefields. Other than that, not much.
As enemies: They can be devastating to you. Their economy is not great, but that doesnt mean he cant eliminate you. Their Resolute and DarkWing dont use fuel to cloak, so theyll wait at your chunnel points with cloak on and warp 0. Move your chunnel points. Or setup a chunnel point, and have the real chunneler somewhere else. Then move your fleet to the real chunneler. He wont move, because he cant intercept cloaked and he wont know where you are going. Send in your cubes and attack mercilessly. Theyll use their DarkWings since thats all they have. And that isnt much.
The Fascist Empire
The Fascists are based upon the Klingons from Star Trek. Bloodthirsty, ruthless, and
suicidal.
As allies: Very little use to you. They have 3 cloakers, which you can get from the Bird Men (or similar ship designs). They have Glory Devices, ships which are like suicide runners. They can blow up when they detect a cloaker, or he can send them as missles toward ships, planets, etc. The Gds turn Amorphous worms into supplies when exploded. Very handy to clear the planets out. They can pillage your people, and split the cash with you. They get more- Cubes, FCs, and HYP probes. Fascists are immune to ATT/NUK codes.
As enemies: A hassle. They can cloak, and pillage your people. They cant be attacked by planets, so unless you have a cube there, they can play cat and mouse. Theyll throw GDs at your ships. GDs do about 10-11% damage to a Biocide. Carry supplies with you, to heal the damage, and use your repair-self mission. Theyll use Glories with their Victorious (tech 10 ship) to get you. Zig zag your ships to evade the Glories, and run him over. His ships are no match for yours. (I know, I played the Fascists vs. the Borg. I got clobbered. Though I gave him a bloody nose.)
The Privateer Bands
The Privs are based upon the Orions from Star Trek. They are the last of the cloaking
races. Sneaky bandits.
As allies: VERY useful. They have gravitronic ships, which travel at twice the speed you can do. The MBR is the best of these grav ships. Nice fuel tank, so your cubes can get towed from l62 lys away. You can clone for the Privs, and they could always use FCs. They lack heavy ships, what they get for those, they steal. Their ships cloak on top of it all, so you can have a fast surprise mine layer.
As enemies: The Worst for you. You lack heavy anti-cloaking equipment. So they will steal your cubes blind. There are so MANY Priv tactics, I recommend going on the Web and looking at some VGAP sites and reading up. I wont list any here- there is just too many. So how do you combat them? Top off your fuel tanks. Use minefields like crazy. Have mission to beam up fuel (he robs, you beam, you have fuel, hes uncloaked, he gets slaughtered). Again, read up on Priv tactics. Use more mines, and see if you can get some anti cloaking equipment (Lokis, GDs, web mines, etc). Ride in Ion storms- that goes for any cloaking race (except the Birds- Resolutes and Dwings dont decloak in them (ion storms)). Watch your back.
The Crystal Confederation
The Crystals are based upon the Tholians from Star Trek. Known for their webs, small
ships, and rudeness.
As allies: OK. They can cover your butt from cloakers with their web fields. Their
Thunders is an okay carrier, and theyd like your cubes. Youd like their
Emerald or Rubies, which are very good torp ships. They have a terraformer, but it heats
to 100 degrees. They cannot clone, so they need you for that. Web mines are the best
selling point. They make 10% damage as a normal mine, but suck gas. When they (a ship)
hits a web mine, they lose 50kts of gas or 1/6 of their fuel (which ever is more). Sitting
in a field, a ship loses 25kts of fuel. The effect is cumulative, 2 fields, 50kts of fuel.
3- 75kts of fuel. Colonies cant sweep them (webs), so you
are protected- its like having a wall.
As enemies: A nuisance. Get them while they are small. The Crystal economy is bad, and
they need the money planets. Find them, and knock them out. Put heavy beams on your ships,
and sweep as you go. Dont go far into a field and risk the chance of hitting a mine.
Once you are in a web, hell increase the size or make an overlapping web field,
sucking more gas. Ouch. Be patient. Sweep thoroughly, and hit his money planets.
Hell use Flame/Thunder combos to take out your cubes. I use a Flame/Flame/Thunder
combo to toast a Gorbie. Wasnt easy, since Crystal ships are not strong. If you need
Crystal knowledge, I can send you my
guide: Glistening Gems; Autarchs Guide to the Crystals.
The Evil Empire
The EE is based upon the Empire from Star Wars. All knowing, all seeing, all bloated.
As allies: Not the greatest. They get 5 free fighters per base, per turn. Hardly enough to sustain a fighter fleet. Their economy is, bar none, the worst in the game. They have the Super Star Destroyer (SSD). It has an Imperial Assault mission, which lets you beam 10 clans to any planet, and its yours. Even Homeworlds. The ship cannot be attacked by ATT/NUK codes. They have the Gorbie, the ultimate weapon in the game, but you have your cubes. 5 free fighters doesnt cut it for your Biocides. They can Dark Sense everyone (save the Rebels) and find out where your enemies key planets are.
As enemies: A nuisance. As stated, their economy stinks. Their ships arent the best combat wise. But the Gorbie is a pain. However, you both wont be able to produce your heavy hitters until later, and you can deal with a Gorbie by sending 2 Biocides at it. The first might win, but have the second around just in case. Their SSD is a pain, but lay surprise minefields and damage the ship. Some damage, no Imp Assault. The SSD wont have a full fighter compliment of fighters, because they need the clans to perform the Assault. They will use their HYP probes to find your planets by Dark Sensing, and will go for your throat. Lay some fun traps for the Imps, since you can guess where hell be going. Once his Gorbies are neutralized, walk on him.
The Robotic Imperium
The Robots (or Cylons) are based upon the race from BattleStar Galactica. Nasty and
efficient.
As allies: Their are pretty good. They have carriers, and one torp ship. They can make 4x the number of mines as anyone else. They can make fighters in space, which you can use to fill your Biocides. Their Golem is nice, and their Automa is one of the wickedest ships around. Theyd like your FCs, and any torp ship you have. Their Pawn Baseship has a full bioscanner and will scan ALL planets within 200lys (host default).
As enemies: A nuisance. Their ships are big and bad, but your cubes can nail them. Sweep the huge fields that they have. Be patient, just like you would fighting the Crystals. Hell use his Golems and Automas to attack, but having a few cubes nearby will take care of that. They need Duranium like mad, so pull it from planets. Pull either Tritanium or Moly (or both) to prevent their fighter building too. Deprive them of their basic economic needs and assimilate the Bots. Read my guide (Dittering Diodes: Autarchs Guide to the Robots) to get a basic grasp of the Bots. Ill send it to you if you can find it in a web site.
The Rebels
The Rebels are based upon the Rebels of Star Wars. Small, light, fast , and deadly.
As allies: They can give you free fighters to. They have the Falcon, a better HYP ship. They have decent torp ships (Cygnus, Tranquillity), and theyd like your cubes. They have a Rush, which is pretty good in itself. They are immune to the Dark Sense, and can use their Rebel Ground attack (RGA) to destroy enemy planets. They are immune to ATT/NUK codes.
As enemies: A pain. Their RGA is effective (-50% HP), and youll soon find 6 million Borg rioting all over. Theyll use their Falcons to do that. Have a Quietus or something sitting in orbit and get them. Send in the Cubes, and hit them. Locate their fighter factories (Bovonoid planets with a Gemini in orbit) and get them. Pull the minerals needed (Tri and Moly) from the planets to stop fighter building. Itll be bloody, a knock down-drag out fight. But you should come out on top if you hit him quick and sweep him away, before massive RGA can occur. Otherwise, he is a great economy killer, and can do you in fast.
The Lost Colonies of Man
The LCOM is from BattleStar Galctica. Self-sufficient, betrayed, and deadly when provoked.
As allies: They are good. They have the Cobol, which makes fuel as it goes along. The Aires converts minerals into fuel on a 1:1 ratio. They can build fighters in space. They can sweep minefields from very far away. The Cobol has a bioscanner too. They, with the Rebels, have the Patriot carrier, a torp nightmare. The little ship is nasty, with 6 bays. Nice little carrier for you. They have their Virgo, and basically, dont need you, except for your FCs. And maybe HYP probes.
As enemies: And since they dont need you, expect war. Dont waste time with
mines, youll lose them when they sweep with their fighters. Theyll be towing
their Virgos into battle with their Cobols. If you disable the Cobol, the Virgo becomes a
forlorn gun platform. Theyll send Patriots too, so beef up your defenses on your
planets. Get some decent torp ships and fight the Pats. Attack them with Cubes, in a big
push in. Hell throw Virgos at you. Keep sending Cubes, because you
need him gone. Go right for the throat, his HW. If hes smart, hell have
several huge planets with tons of colonists. Get them second. The Colonies are
everyones worst nightmare. Help the Cluster - get rid of them.
I cannot stress enough to read up on your enemy. Look at and read his tactics. Play his race. Know thy enemy. Read some basic books on warfare strategy. They will help you immensely. They have for me.
Use your minefields.
Know the Order of Operations and Actions.
Make friends and TRADE. You need decent ships, and you could wipe someone out with a few
cubes. Dont beg, but dont be a idiot either.
Get a cloaker and clone it. Very helpful. Never use them until they are DEEP in enemy
lines. So when you attack, you use them too, to screw up his home economy.
Get yourself down into a pattern with Chunnel Points. Streamline your whole operation. The
Borg are efficient, and you need to be to manage the number of planets youll get.
Run Simulations constantly. Experiment.
And some info:
As for this Guide, feel free to read it, and pass it on. Dont change anything, and
dont let anyone make you pay for it. Its free. I have written two other
guides, one on the Crystal, and one (the only Guide for the race, that I know of) for the
Bots. Ill send them to you if you cant find them. I am working with a friend
on an Imperial one, but college calls, so itll have to wait.
I started the Federation League Of Admirals, a little group of Fed players, who talk about many interesting things. You might learn a thing or two. The Head Admiral is Donovan, and hell explain it to you.
I trust you enjoyed the Guide, and please let me know what you thought. I welcome any questions, comments or complaints. I am more than willing to assist new players. My e-mail address is on the bottom. If you cannot reach me, my friend Derek will know where I am. Hell tell you.
Good luck in playing, and may we meet on the field of battle. And may I lose to the tactics I have taught you.
Autarch, League Of Admirals
"For the enlightenment of the young, and the wisdom of the old."