New campaign - recommended minor factions

[Ramsar]

I'm planning to start a new campaign and I'd like to play with some minor factions enabled (I've got all expansions). Which ones are recommended for a beginner? This would be my second campaign and I plan to play on difficulty 7 with the random moderate/easier AI type.

[Solarity]

Broken Golums Hard, they arent really that hard, just big and cuddly

[x4000]

I'd say Dyson, maybe Trader, definitely Resistance Fighters, maybe some of the others if you want more of a challenge.  Rebel Colonies can be pretty good for beginners, too.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Mining Golem, Spire - Hard, Marauders, Neinzul wardens and.....what?, oh right your starting out

What X4000 said then

King

[zoutzakje]

hmm I've always played with zenith miner on, even when I just started out. It's the devourer that can makes things more challenging really.
And I'd defenitely start out with the dyson sphere yeah. It's still so easy to abuse it and have hundreds of dyson gatlings just patrolling your planets and killing off any incoming AI wave

[Ozymandiaz]

For a beginner? I guess :

Zenith Trader
Dyson Golem
Human Resistance Fighters
Golem/Spire - Easy (tho Medium or Hard is much more fun)

And if you want a bit more action:

Devourer Golem (can be used to your advantage, but be careful so it does not wipe your fleet).

[lanstro]

Devourer is excellent value.  Keeps you on your toes and opens up dynamic strategic possibilities.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Devourer is excellent value.  Keeps you on your toes and opens up dynamic strategic possibilities.

It also makes those waves interesting when there is a golem between you and your home planet (which has a fairly large wave aimed right at it) and no other way to get around it.  Talk about nail-biting action there.  *shudders*

King

[Panopticon]

I really enjoy Roaming Neinzul Enclaves. They add some fun unpredictability to the game. I especially love it when the AI decides to piggy back on an Enclave incursion. It makes the game feel more alive for me, they are a really chaotic element.

[BobTheJanitor]

Starting out, stay away from hybrids. I tried turning on hybrids for a game to see what they're all about. I lasted an hour and ten minutes until they rode in along with a wave and plowed straight through my meager early defenses and right into my homeworld. We'll just leave those off for now...

[Ramsar]

I started my campaign with the following:
- Dyson sphere
- Zenith trader
- Human resistance fighters (rather funny these guys, they are efficiently patrolling my home planet and sometimes even supporting my attacks)

One question though, do the Dyson sphere gatlings attack guard posts?

[BobTheJanitor]

One question though, do the Dyson sphere gatlings attack guard posts?

I don't think they do. Once you've befriended the dyson, the gatlings will only stay on friendly worlds, so they rarely have a chance to attack a guard post regardless. On the initial world that they're on, once you show up and wake up the sphere, I think the gatlings will just attack mobile ships and leave guard posts alone. Although if you get unfriendly gatlings on your own planets they are quite happy to shoot your command station. 

[Ramsar]

Now that they've done some cleaning work in the vicinity of the Dyson Sphere, the gatlings have joined the human resistance fighters in their patrol loop on my home and core planets. Hurrah for free security!

[lanstro]

It also makes those waves interesting when there is a golem between you and your home planet (which has a fairly large wave aimed right at it) and no other way to get around it.  Talk about nail-biting action there.  *shudders*

That's what transports are for!