Tutorial Help

[EagleMountain]

Hi,

Old member, had A.I. War since the beginning but somehow didn't really took the time to learn the game - until now...

I'm at the last attack in the tutorial and have tried to attack the enemy home world 4 times now and it ends in utterly disaster.

So could I please get a hint how to attack and if my attack force is all right?

I have my save game right here: http://www.twins4ever.dk/files/Mark%20Tutorial%2011.zip

Should I attack all the different bases in one go or should I split up?

Please advice 

Cheers
Mark

[Histidine]

Okay, loaded your save.

One thing that jumped out at me was the fact that you don't seem to be using Ctrl + Alt to queue turrets in groups of 5/10. You should, it saves a lot of clicking. And don't put sniper turrets near a wormhole; they have infinite range so there's no point. For that matter, the Missile Turrets don't need to be so close either. (Mostly this annoyed me because the engineers on Sobuvu kept running off to repair turrets while they could have been assisting the Space Docks)

Actually, Kahuna will probably have a long list of critques about your defences, but you don't really need to worry about them just for this tutorial.

I also noticed you didn't have Riot Control Starships (they're on the second tab of the Starship Constructor). I don't know how much of a difference they're make, but there's no reason not to have them (I suspect they'll be very helpful for the Neinzul Cockroaches).

Okay, the specific problem:

• Ockakiha is pretty straightforward to deal with. Sneak Assault Transports up to guard post, unload all units, whack until destroyed. Repeat with next core guard post, or just group-move (default key G) the fleet over. In fact, at this point you don't even need to unload, you can just stay in the transports and kill them that way.
• Entry to AI homeworld (Micyi) is covered by a Fortress Mk III. Get out of range right away, then unload and kill all the guard posts not covered by the Fortresses (transport gun runs also work, but are somewhat trickier to handle). You'll take some damage, but it'll be bearable. Pull back the fleet back to replace losses if needed.
• For the fortresses themselves, you can just dive in with the loaded Assault Transports and punch out the Core Neinzul Spawner GP and AI Home Command Station from under them (as a bonus, the 'roaches can't do anything against the transports). Or if you really want them to go away, drop a Nuclear Warhead on them, that takes them out of supply.

Hope this helps!

[Shoat]

You SHOULD be completely fine if you follow the strategy the tutorial messages suggest, but there are many other ways to go about it. While it would be optimal if you followed the common strategies of the 10/10-destroyers (for example Kahuna and FaultyLogic have left many pieces of advice in these forums), you should experiment as much as possible and find whichever playstyle you're most comfortable with.


Back then I solved the final tutorial according to my own (very bad) playstyle: Basically being the Spire Empire and slowly rolling over everything.

Taking over literally all systems in the entire galaxy (one "chunk" at a time or one by one, depending on how strong I am), setting up impenetrable defenses on one chokepoint after the other until it was next to the AI Homeworld and then building ALL units up to cap and FRD-sending them into the Homeworld (only manually controlling a small group of ships which are good at taking out guardposts while the AI's mobile defenses are being decimated by the FRD'd fleet).

I'm definitely a bad example and you shouldn't follow this strategy (AI War is generally played as a guerilla war where you try to only take territory you HAVE to take) but it CAN score wins against 7.3/7.3 and even 8/8 AI opponents (I have done so on 40, 60 and 80 size galaxies and have been working on 120 size maps for a while, it's challenging but also very entertaining to play this way when AI progress nears 1000 before you even arrive at the first AI homeworld).
I can't even remember which strategy game made me get used to playing like this, but I've been that way ever since I can remember (all the way back to SC:BW, WCIII and Age of Empires). I just don't like having many frontiers and having to rely on mobile defenses or the pathing of enemy waves.


Anyway, I hope you get to enjoy the game as much as possible after getting through the tutorial.
It's very entertaining to get crushed by this amazing AI and very fulfilling to succeed against it (it's the Dark Souls of Grand Strategy games, or is Dark Souls the AI War of RPGs?).