Testing out the power of the "Defensive" AI types

[Wingflier]

Recently we've been having a discussion in General about the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of AI planet reinforcements.  There seems to be a concern that reinforcements, even to the "alerted" planets, pose no real threat to the player, and that you're much more likely to lose the game to a wave, exo strike, or CPA attack.  To test this theory, I'm going to play a game against two extremely "turtly" AIs on a hard difficulty, with Advanced Hybrids enabled, and exo strikes against me as well.

The method behind this is to pit myself against two incredible defensive AIs while also attempting to keep the AI "aggressive", as not to give me too much time to just win a war by attrition.

The settings will be:
80 planet map - Simple
Teleporter Turtle and Alarmist - 8/8
Advanced Hybrids 5/5 (for both)
Golems (Hard)
Resistance Fighters
Colony Rebellions
Zenith Trader
Dyson Sphere

The point here is not to beat it on the highest difficulty, since most players won't be using the highest difficulty.  The point is to test out the mettle of the AI's defensive strength, on a moderately high difficulty, while also under constant pressure from the Hybrids and Exo waves (something that wouldn't normally happen against turtle types).  If I can do this easily, I will have personally come to the conclusion that AI reinforcements need some help.

If anyone has some other suggestions let me know.

[Faulty Logic]

If anyone has some other suggestions let me know.

Hurl a flaming, blue tortoise at your worst enemy.

Oh, gameplay suggestions.

If this seems to be working, try taking a high-mark planet with half your fleet. If that works, try one quarter, etc. Try to find the fraction of the mid-game fleet with which it is not trivial to take an enemy planet. My guess is somewhere around 1/8.

[Wingflier]

Okay this actually turned out MUCH better than expected.  So far I HAVE NOT been disappointed.

I've learned several important things since the start of my campaign!

1. Advanced Hybrids do much better when paired with turtling, defensive AIs, because they have more time to spawn and multiply (against aggressive types they never really reach "critical mass").

2. Alarm Posts are more than just AI force multipliers initially, the +5 AI Progress starts to add up over time lol.

3. Raid Starships are wholly inadequate to take out a Super Hybrid (oops lol). 

4. Don't turn off you Engineer resource drain cap when you have an injured MKV Ion Cannon.

5. If you play against Teleporter Turtle and Alarmist on Hard, with Super Hybrids and Exo-waves, prepare to get your ass handed to you lol.

So far it's been one of the most enjoyable AI War games I've ever played.  The AI force is constantly building up on those border planets, so much so that I'm having a hard time expanding or rebuilding my forces after each engagement.  This is the first game in a LONG time where I've actually had to keep my resources at "0" for a large portion of the game, and they've NEVER hit max.  I'm already at 325 AIP and I haven't even left my area! o_O



In 3 and 1/2 hours I haven't even been able to establish my chokepoints.  This is HIGHLY unusual for me, I beat my entire last game (against 5/5 hybrids) in 7 hours total.
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Don't make fun of me.  This much defense is necessary lol.
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HBCs ftw ;p
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[keith.lamothe]

3. Raid Starships are wholly inadequate to take out a Super Hybrid (oops lol).

Munch munch.  Tasty with the new Crispy Armor version!

4. Don't turn off you Engineer resource drain cap when you have an injured MKV Ion Cannon.

MUNCH MUN- hey, the economy's all gone!

Don't make fun of me.  This much defense is necessary lol.

There's not enough forcefields, I can still see the command station!

[TechSY730]

The turtle and defensive oriented AIs actually do pretty decently at their job. To me, its the "normal", "balanced" AI types that seem underwhelming on defense. (The offensive AI types being underwhelming on defense is fine, and indeed makes sense)

[Wingflier]

Lost the game.  Got hit with a CPA of about 1,200 ships within 5 minutes of an Exo-wave, and a ton of Defensive Hybrids that I hadn't cleared out yet.  All three forces combined together to make the perfect (shit)storm, and a HK made a beeline for my homeworld.  Time to start over on a different map!

[Kahuna]

Try One-Way Doormaster and Shield Ninny.