Hi,
Oberlus wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 10:49 am
ovarwa wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 6:31 am*chuckle* I think I'm defining mid-game as the point where RH with bombers and flak no longer cut it for planetary assault, and I want to build SG with something better than flak.
Woa, you mean you are attacking planets with flaks and not even a single MD/laser per hull? If that's what you mean, you are bold.
It actually works, though it takes more ships. 1flak+bomber+2regular armor. These can be built with little rp investment, are cheap to build and work well in groups of 2 or 3 (but not 1!) for staking out territory, especially once laser fighters are reached, which immediately upgrades existing ships. At some point, with good production, it's easy enough to peel off 8 or 9 and start picking off outlying enemy systems. For some enemy systems, 3-4 are quite sufficient. Each ship damages a planet for 9/turn. No rp is wasted on Laser2-4 (or MD2-4). The research can better go toward Zortrium or toward Reinforced Hulls (or both).
I'm still experimenting with which one is better. If you're Gysache, you don't want to use Flak. But if you're George or otherwise light on research...
Also, if at your mid game you only have laser and not plasma, that's a different strategy than mine. Except in some special starting situations, I will get first Nascent AI, then Laser and Robotic Hull with the rest invested on the Adaptive Automation path, and some growth techs if required for non-invading expansion. By turn 50-70 I must have AA, laser weapons, laser fighters and the second tier armour (never remember its name), which is more than enough to take down planetary defenses of systems with several planets. By turn 120 I generally will have Quantum Computation, plasma (weapon and fighter) and self.-grav, and maybe also death ray techs if I wasn't unlucky with the species. I think I also call mid game when my robos with laser or plasma can't stand the big shots of planetary defenses, but by then I must have better hulls.
It depends on what I play. It may be wrong to keep high-production species focused on production and research, but I do that. Either way, a typical research queue, leaving combat tech aside for the moment, looks like:
Physical Brain (only if focused on pp for fast +5rp building); ignore for a long time if focused on rp and not psionic)
Ecology (the +1 cannot hurt, it's cheap, even if there are sufficient nearby Good planets)
Algo
Nascent AI
Subterranean (only if I am mostly setting Adequate planets, otherwise I try to postpone)
Robotic Production
Fusion Production (only if focused on pp)
...AA
And in a perfect galaxy, such as 30 systems per player or High planets, I might not need combat tech yet, especially if I'm high research.
Otherwise, and I've changed galaxy settings so that it *is* otherwise, right after Nascent AI I toss in:
RH
Fighters
Laser1 (either last or first)
Laser Fighters can wait; Laser2-4 and Zortrium might never happen. If I don't go for an early fighter I go for an early shield, which a research focus needs anyway for more research tech.
I try never to build plasma guns. If my research curve is fast, by the time I'm willing to build plasma, I'll have Death Rays not long after. If my research curve is slow, I probably have huge production, and can last a very long time with SG+fighters+laser4s and maybe armor. I'll research plasma, but only to reach death rays. laser4 is better and cheaper than non-upgraded plasma.
For a research focus species (and I include Gysache here since for them I switch starting focus), I can achieve the basic techs plus all the combat techs around Turn40 or so.
If I don't pursue fighters, my early game ship is RH+2Zortrium+2Lasers+DefenseGrid, and a group of these easily withstand big planetary weapons (47-52 structure); I won't lose any unless there's an enemy fleet present, there are multiple older enemy planets or I have bad luck.
I notice that I *can* research SG around 120 in most games, but if I can avoid it I prefer to wait longer, prioritizing industrial and research tech to make my pp and rp ludicrous. Around the time I start building SG in such games, I notice that I have by far the highest pp, rp and strength... and I stop.
It's partially my fault too: I don't really feel the notion of "easy" races and "hard" races, but that choosing a race is every bit as much a part of the game as choosing whether to settle a Good or Hostile planet. (Hey, use your initial Colony Ship to settle a Hostile planet for a more challenging experience!) So if a race is broken, I might not play it, but I think they should be balanced, with different play styles. Including Human, which I simply won't play because they are utterly bland.
Anyway,
Ken