What kind of command center to build?

[syndicatedragon]

I've just started my first "real" game of AI War (on very easy settings). I've taken my first planet but I'm not sure what kind of command center to build. Is there some kind of "rule of thumb" to follow? Should I research the advanced centers right away, or are there more important things to research?

[x4000]

It depends on your personal preferences and goals, but if you are feeling resource-poor I'd say that mark II or even III command stations are a good unlock.  That's just me, though, as I am always economically-focused.

[BobTheJanitor]

I find that I am often starving for resources in the beginning, but full of more than I could use at the end. This may partly be my play style of holding everything back until I am ready for a big push, though. If you like to constantly send ships to their doom to accomplish goals piecemeal then building econ stations might be good, giving you the resources to keep a constant stream of new ships flowing. If you want to build a sprawling empire and constantly shuttle ships back and forth from one end to the other, the logistic station is your friend. And if you're always jumping planets and have a very fractured empire, military might be your best bet since they are better at keeping themselves alive against smaller threats without needing a big fleet there all the time.

[Ozymandiaz]

It depends on your personal preferences and goals, but if you are feeling resource-poor I'd say that mark II or even III command stations are a good unlock.  That's just me, though, as I am always economically-focused.

I agree. I like using resources and I loose ships a lot, so MK II command station is almost always nice for my playstyle. Sometimes if knowledge permits, the MK III rocks as well. But that 5k knowledge can also almost get me a MK III fleet ship, or a zenith starship, so its a tricky choise .


Other then that I have used MK I logi or military station in key defence systems. The logi in particular is handy for defence if you got slower melee units, or the AI is in general faster then your ships. The military one is great for turret defended systems were you will likly have few mobile ships, if any at all other the special circumstances.

[chemical_art]

Going to echo the love of MK II stations. MK II military stations give you the resources of a MK I economy. BUT they shoot twice as many dispersal shots at the enemy. Even better, they give you a 50% attack boost which helps A LOT with defense. They can be left alone as well if you need to.

[Sunshine!]

I research mk2 military as soon as I've got my first planet, and then within the next couple of planets I'll unlock mk3 military and upgrade all my command stations to mk3.  I'll unlock mk2 econ a little further down the line, and mk3 econ much later.  Once my empire gets substantial I'll start tossing down some mark 1 logistics on some of my main transit paths, leaving military command stations on my borders and econs scattered around.

Depending on how hard you're finding the game, try to have at least 1 mk3 military on every entry path leading back to your command station so that you have some nice defensible locations if you have nasty waves coming in.  Leave one mk3 military command station unbuilt if possible so that you can build it on any planet that's getting hit with a counterwave, the 2x muniboost for all your ships is super helpful against waves that are usually one, if not two, marks above what you've been dealing with for the game is extremely helpful.

If you're playing against an enemy with cloakers (especially stealth master/shadow master), the mk3 military stations on your borders are probably doubly necessary.

[Red Spot]

+ it depends on the map.

On an X-style map, starting on a hub-planet with 7 other planets adjacent I can take 3-4 planets in the first 10 minutes. I could get my Econ going with just lvl1 Econ-CCs, or even log/mil-CCs if that would provide any tactical advantage.
On my current game I am starting on a dead-end planet, closing me off was a very nasty/painfull lvl4 planet, followed by an about as painfull lvl3 planet, followed by a lvl3 planet that I allowed some build-up time. Took me almost an hour to clear the first 3 planets, on those I make sure to put mk2 Econ-CCs. Even if my 'frontline' planet would be better served with a log/mil-CC I will still place that Econ2-CC as I pretty much need it to prevent the AI to build up.

[syndicatedragon]

Thanks for all the responses! They have been helpful.

edit- If I want to use a military command center as "protection" on a border world, does its placement on that border planet matter much? Should I place it near the wormhole to my home world? Do I need to also use a FF, turrets etc?

One slightly off-topic question:

The logi in particular is handy for defence if you got slower melee units, or the AI is in general faster then your ships.

What is a "melee" ship?

[TechSY730]

One slightly off-topic question:

The logi in particular is handy for defence if you got slower melee units, or the AI is in general faster then your ships.

What is a "melee" ship?

A melée ship is a ship with no range (they literally have to get up against and hit a target to deliver damage), but typically have increased attack and speed to make up for it. Almost all of them can also hit stuff under forcefields.

[chemical_art]

edit- If I want to use a military command center as "protection" on a border world, does its placement on that border planet matter much? Should I place it near the wormhole to my home world? Do I need to also use a FF, turrets etc?

Personally if I must prevent the enemy from going over a worm hole I put a shield over it. Generally, I try to keep my station under a shield so my station ends up right next to the wormhole. This forces the AI to destroy the shield before it can go to the vulnerable other planet (in this case, the homeworld). The fact that a military station can help teleport enemies away from both the wormhole and shield helps.

[syndicatedragon]

A melée ship is a ship with no range (they literally have to get up against and hit a target to deliver damage), but typically have increased attack and speed to make up for it. Almost all of them can also hit stuff under forcefields.

Interesting. I guess I haven't built or encountered those yet...

Personally if I must prevent the enemy from going over a worm hole I put a shield over it. Generally, I try to keep my station under a shield so my station ends up right next to the wormhole. This forces the AI to destroy the shield before it can go to the vulnerable other planet (in this case, the homeworld). The fact that a military station can help teleport enemies away from both the wormhole and shield helps.

I had heard of the ff over the wormhole before, and combined with the military station it sounds pretty useful.

[hullu]

I've been using FF+military station to cover homeworld (or other important) wormholes.

The only gripe I have with taht is the too long range of the higher mark military command stations. Their translocation is less useful since they translocate enemy ships even when they are far from shooting range, and often it translocates them closer=) Mark1 military command station seems to work better for keeping enemies at bay, which is ... weird=)

[BobTheJanitor]

Mark1 military command station seems to work better for keeping enemies at bay, which is ... weird=)

Sounds like a good suggestion to toss up on mantis. I've never actually tried anything beyond the mark I so I hadn't seen this. It seems like the more useful upgrade path would be for the higher mark stations to have a higher rate of fire or reload speed or more projectiles per volley, instead of a longer range.

[chemical_art]

Mark1 military command station seems to work better for keeping enemies at bay, which is ... weird=)

I enjoy the increased range. With the MK 2 your station is able to warp all ships but snipers before they enter firing range of the station, ensuring they can counter almost any single unit. With the MK III, your station *should* be able to hit ANY unit before it hits you (because of immunity to sniper shots and that colossal 43k range). I love that. In addition, for me, I would rather have the increased range to start hitting ships sooner, because even with the MK III over 80% of my shots take the enemy further away when things get REALLY hectic.

[hullu]

Mark1 military command station seems to work better for keeping enemies at bay, which is ... weird=)

I enjoy the increased range. With the MK 2 your station is able to warp all ships but snipers before they enter firing range of the station, ensuring they can counter almost any single unit. With the MK III, your station *should* be able to hit ANY unit before it hits you (because of immunity to sniper shots and that colossal 43k range). I love that. In addition, for me, I would rather have the increased range to start hitting ships sooner, because even with the MK III over 80% of my shots take the enemy further away when things get REALLY hectic.

My gripe was only that once your range exceeds some threshold the translocation is more likely to teleport ships _closer_ to the station than _away_ from it. I'm not sure if the 43k gets quite there, but I'd bet it's at least close unless your station is situated on the border.

Mark1 however is almost guaranteed to translocate ships beyond it's own firing range... that's the discrepancy. I'm not sure if command stations actually aim intelligently to begin with - meaning they should aim for the closest enemy, and never more than one shot per target (unless too few targets) <- do they work like that?