Okay, here we go.
I had not intended to post this unless I made it to mid-game but as this came up in other threads on the boards I'm posting this so there are more details available.
It's also quite a weird game so hopefully it will be interesting.
Game start settings:
Diff 10/10, Random All Non-Technologist (I drew Camouflager and Turtle)
All AI Modifiers and Options off, except Reveal Random AI Types on. (Note this means shizio waves are off.)
All Minor Factions and Plots off.
AIP set to 0 per 30 mins. (This was more a test then a serious game.)
I end up with Armor Ship as my bonus ship but I choose my homeworld for the starting location, not the bonus ship.
And here we go. I started this game to test both the new Starships and to see what the new economy can do without unlocking either Harversters or Econ stations. I was not sure I could take it anywhere with those conditions but I'm doing quite well.
My Galaxy.
Usroloc in the middle centerish is my homeworld. I turtle up to build up my defences, my initial unlocks are Harvester Exo-Shields, Spire SS Mk I, Zenith SS Mk I, Flagship Mk II, Gravitational Turret and Warp Jammer Command Station.
My only attack force the entire game is going to be my starship fleet. (With the exception of forts, I bring in Bombers for those).
It's actually interesting running starships only, they can take a beating. I can warp them into a Mk III system with 300 to 350 ships, have them kill the Tachyon Guardian and warp out and not lose any ships at all.
To get my starships around I start taking down tachyon guardians left and right. Stick both Cloaker Mk Is in with my fleet and they can run around under cloak with impunity.
So of course the second unlock for one of the AIs is Microfighters, which have Tachyon Beams. Ugh. That just means I have to clear the warp points every so often.
Anyways, this is a 10/10 game and data centers now only give -10 AIP on diff 10 after the recent changes, that means I need to pop two data centers to keep AIP at 10 when I take my first system and 4 data centers to take my second.
You can see the extent of my scouting on the galaxy map above.
The camouflager is not a big deal. I can't see exactly what units he has but I can get a cloaked unit count that works well enough to guesstimate a system's strength.
The Turtle howeve is a mixed blessing. First, no waves makes defense much simpler. However, Eyes galore. See all those P8s on my galaxy map? Those are Eye systems. Also, the amount of guards I'm running to is scary, at this point in the game a system I have never visited or put on alert has 300-350 ships on the planet, the homeworld is going to be interesting.
Not that I've scouted a Homeworld yet. I've also found 3 Co-Processors, 2 ARS and 5 Data Centers.
I've managed to destroy 3 Data Centers so far, two in Waydoor and Binguyle in the top left-center and Deulie in the bottom right-center.
The two ARS's were Zenith Bombards or Acid Sprayer, Ship-Hacking is not an option, I'm saving that for the Super-Terminal.
I took the Zenith Bombard and that is my only captured system so far, Killyaq in the center top-right. Unlock Zenith SS Mk II and Tachyon Turrets.
I used a warp jammer so a smattering of turrets and Killyaq has never been in danger, any ships loose on threat go to my homeworld.
That is the downside to running around with Starships, you free all the ships in a system on threat a lot, including the EMP guardians. So far EMPs have almost lost me the game twice, the second time a Teleport Battle Station followed the EMP guardian into my home system, got my Home Command down to 17,000 of 2,000,000 health. (Close....)
However, fleet ships inside transports do not get emped. The transport itself does but you can still unload the units from inside and they come out not-emped. And Starships are EMP immune aswell, they massacered the first EMP guardian after a multi-system chase one hop away from my homeworld.
So, for the record:
First hour, turtle up and build Starships. There was some waiting here, the initial starship build is expensive in resources.
Start scouting for Data centers, the closest one is 3 hops out, the rest 4 hops. Because it's Diff 10, scouts only go one hop past the first system with a tachyon, makes scouting hard. That is why I started nuking Tachyon Guardians left and right, there is probably 15 AI systems with no tachyon coverage left (unless they spawned a Microfighter).
Destroy the 3 data centers by 5 hour 30 minutes.
I then transport rushes a couple Science ships to the two ARS systems and decide to take the Zenith Bombards.
I then setup to build the Warp Jammer ASAP once the AI Command Station is destroyed, I want those systems on alert for the shortish time possible. System captured about the 6 hour 30 minutes mark.
I now have a base to launch starship raids from and switch back to scouting. I want to fully scout the right side of the map at this point.
My two worries are both tied into the turtle.
First, that even without the Core Worlds being on alert they are going to have so many ships I simply can't crack them.
My other worry is the fact that my homeworld only has 2 adjacent systems and the reinforcements are fast and heavy. I need to go back every couple hours and clean those systems out, which gives the core systems even more time to fortify up.
I'll be reaching for warheads often in the late game I expect which is a losing formula at Diff 10/10.
Having said that, I set AIP progress to 0 per 30 mins also which gives me the room to take forever like I am.
All in all I'm doing a lot better then I expected for what was supposed to be a test game of starships with no economic unlocks. at 7 hours 50 minutes I'm feeling like I'm in a pretty good position.
D.
