AI Homeworld Spawn Question

[RockyBst]

So, I just tried a vine map for the first time with the posh new frizz-ease detangler. It's resulted in a map as per the attachment.

Now this is only a pair of 8s, so as I've got a reasonably chokepointed map I'll probably be able to roll over this guy and mayyybe take on the second AI homeworld with 600+ AIP. But I'm surprised it spawned slap bang in the middle like that. From what I can remember the spawning is as far away form the player as possible, then as far away from each other as possible. Surely Dharkas (18 hops) and Shuaeo (21) would have been the optimal places to put the homeworlds, not the 12 hops out it currently is.

Anybody got a theory on whether is expected behaviour or something a bit weird?

[keith.lamothe]

From what I can remember the spawning is as far away form the player as possible, then as far away from each other as possible.

That's correct, but a key point is that the first AI HW is selected, and THEN the second AI HW is selected.

Specifically, the first HW selection pays absolutely no attention to leaving a good spot for the second HW

So if the first one is "greedy" by picking the absolutely-furthest-away planet, or simply randomly picking one of those that happens to make the second placement "harder", well, it doesn't care.  The second one just has to deal.

[RockyBst]

Ah, I see what you're saying. So if the first homeworld picked Tilzi for example, then the second homeworld would be placed where it is (11 from Tilzi, 10 from my homeworld). From Vinisitic it's got a choice of 3 hops to the bottom of one of the spokes, or 5 if it goes around the loop to where it currently is. So being 2 hops further from the first AI world outweighs being 8 hops further from my homeworlds?

[RockyBst]

Double-post, but I felt I just had to share.

Turns out that homeworld has a core CPA post on it. A CPA post which is sending 9000+ ships at me every time I trigger it. And has external invulnerability from core shield generators ... on the other side of the homeworld.

Now, I've already eaten about 18,000 threat off it. My current options seem to be:

1.) Surrender.
2.) Entrench. Defend, ignoring the core world currently on permanant alert with me at 500 AIP. Build the largest fleet of spire jump ships the galaxy has ever seen, and go abuse intergalactic warp gates to to hunt some core shield generators. Win.

So yeah, I'm psyching myself up for possibly the most tactical and brutal game in all my 500+ hours playing AI war. The one strategy game I've played which has the options and emotional journey to cause me to walk away for ten minutes feeling utterly defeated, only to come back with a plan...

[keith.lamothe]

On the core CPA post, if you can get a fleet (with colony ship) to the other side of that HW you can set up a base on the far side and avoid having to retrigger the CPA post every time you need to operate out that way.

But eventually the AI will simply run out of ships to send in CPAs   Though the strategic reserve will refill fairly aggressively.

[zoutzakje]

welcome to the game First rule of success: Don't put a core/homeworld on permanent alert unless you are completely ready to destroy both the AI homeworlds. Unfortunately this includes getting rid of the Core Shield Generators. I made this mistake myself once. I was only playing on difficulty 5/5 back then, but because I had put a coreworld on permanent alert for over an hour, things escalated to much for me to win. And I didn't even have a Core Cpa post there. What I usually do is take a planet adjacent to the planet that borders a coreworld. That way I can just keep it safe until I'm ready for the Core/homeworld assault and I won't get hammered with mk V ships.

My suggestion would be to go for option 1 and surrender, like I did, and start over. Kudos to you if you manage to win.

Out of curiosity, what AI types are you playing against?

[Tridus]

You can also unlock and place a Warp Jammer command station on the world, which will take worlds next to it back off alert (so long as you didn't do something else to put them on alert) and prevent waves being declared for that world (CPAs and other type of attacks can still hit it, just not waves). That lets you take one next door to a core one more safely. In games where I have the K to spare, I do this to set up a staging area for HW assaults (particularly on the Spire Archive worlds).

[RockyBst]

welcome to the game First rule of success: Don't put a core/homeworld on permanent alert unless you are completely ready to destroy both the AI homeworlds. Unfortunately this includes getting rid of the Core Shield Generators. I made this mistake myself once. I was only playing on difficulty 5/5 back then, but because I had put a coreworld on permanent alert for over an hour, things escalated to much for me to win. And I didn't even have a Core Cpa post there. What I usually do is take a planet adjacent to the planet that borders a coreworld. That way I can just keep it safe until I'm ready for the Core/homeworld assault and I won't get hammered with mk V ships.

My suggestion would be to go for option 1 and surrender, like I did, and start over. Kudos to you if you manage to win.

Out of curiosity, what AI types are you playing against?

I've been playing for the last 3 years, but thanks for the welcome . I made the silly mistake of only scouting one hop beyond the P7 I capped for the regen golem, not realising the planet next door was actually a core world. Up against an 8 spire hammer with a random harder sub-commander, and a 8 Exotic with tag-teamer sub-commander, plus all the normal astro-trains, hybrids and the cookie monster.

The jump-ship armada worked out alright, managed to shuttle of few hundred ships over the homeworld and cap a MK1 on the far side (with 2 fabs on it, handily). I've also just rather usefully found the super-terminal over there. So I'll probably run my AIP down to ~200 floor and grab the warp jammer station like Tridus  suggested. Think the last time I actually unlocked that was back when I was playing a 7/7 on a 10-planet map about 6 months back.

So at the point it's gone back to eminently winnable, especially with the bottie on defence. Just required a bit of tactical optimisation.

[zoutzakje]

yeah warp jammers saved my bum more than once now. They make endgames so much easier if you have the spare knowledge.