Couple of Newbie Questions

[Warhammer]

I picked up the game a week or so ago.  I have only actually lost one game, but my other games I stopped playing after realizing that I let the AI entrench too much.  Part of this is likely due to my fear of causing the AIP to advance too rapidly.  Hence the reason for my questions, this is for a vanilla game with no expansions, AI level 7 with Easy AIs, with 80 planets.  I realize that the questions are dependent upon play style, and the game state, I'm looking for an average game:

1)  How many planets should I expect to have in the mid game?
2)  How quickly should I aim to have these?
3)  What are some good beginning special ship types to use?
4)  How long should a typical game last? 
5)  When does the mid game usually begin time wise?  Late game?

Thanks!

[Toranth]

I picked up the game a week or so ago.  I have only actually lost one game, but my other games I stopped playing after realizing that I let the AI entrench too much.  Part of this is likely due to my fear of causing the AIP to advance too rapidly.  Hence the reason for my questions, this is for a vanilla game with no expansions, AI level 7 with Easy AIs, with 80 planets.  I realize that the questions are dependent upon play style, and the game state, I'm looking for an average game:

1)  How many planets should I expect to have in the mid game?
2)  How quickly should I aim to have these?
3)  What are some good beginning special ship types to use?
4)  How long should a typical game last? 
5)  When does the mid game usually begin time wise?  Late game?

Thanks!

In the end, you'll need to capture at least 8 worlds:  4 with CSG-As, and 1 each of CSG-B, -C, -D, and -E.
In addition to that, you'll want to capture some Fabricators for the additional ship strength, but it is not required.
The exact order and timing varies, as you said, with play style and map layout.

Personally, my play style:
Early game: Scout the entire galaxy.  This usually requires capturing a world or two to stop the deepstrike threat.  Primary goals are locating the ARSs, clearing a tachyon-free path to them, and finding out what ships that might supply.  Secondary goal is finding all the other CSGs, fabs, etc, that are potentially useful.  This phase takes several hours, and ends when I've identified all the systems I intend to capture during the remainder of the game.  I also hunt down and destroy all the Data Centers during this phase.
Early game AIP is usually in the 10-20 range.

Mid game:  This is when I start expanding.  First I aim to get the ARS systems, since these provide an immediate strength increase to offset the increased AIP.  I'll also try to get a few Fabricator systems.  Once I've gotten at least one (if it is very good), or two or more fleetships or starships unlocked to Mark III, it's time to pick up an Adv Fac or ASC.
After a few systems have been captured and your AIP has gone up off the floor, it is time to destroy the Coprocessors.  I leave them until mid-midgame because the AIP Floor increase is enough to cause a significant increase in AI strength during the early game.  Once you've picked up some extra stuff, that increase becomes less important.
Towards the end of midgame, I start hacking stuff from those systems I don't want to capture.  I use the SuperTerminal to reduce AIP to the floor, pick up some extra Fabs, download or corrupt some stuff, etc.
The final step in the midgame/the first step of the endgame in my mind is when I capture the last planets to approach the AI Homeworlds.  Usually, this includes a CSG-D or CSG-E world, since those systems rarely have anything else of value in them.  At the same vein, Spire Archives are always adjacent to Core Worlds, and I leave those alone until my final approach.
Midgame AIP starts at around 20, and ends in the 150 range.  Going over 200 before the Homeworld attacks begin is something I try to avoid.

Endgame is the final fleet buildup and attacks on the AI Homeworlds.  Capturing a staging area (for forward production or warp gate placement) happens here.  So would any last-minute captures for extra Knowledge, if I suddenly feel the urge for more.  I'll usually have 15 worlds; sometimes 20 if the map layout was in favor of it.   At this point, AIP is not much of a concern - Going up an extra 20 AIP is not as high a percentage increase, and you only need to survive the increase for a little while as you kill the AI.
Each Core Guardpost adds +10 to the AIP Floor, so even if you've been keeping AIP very low, you'll still likely end the game with AIP in the 250-300 range.

Most of my games take about 20-25 hours, since I am not a speedy player.  I'd say early game takes me 6-ish hours, sometimes 10 or more when scouting and raiding is difficult.  Midgame is 10-15 hours.  Endgame, 5-ish.  A bad endgame, where it takes several complete fleetwipes to clear a single homeworld, can stretch that out to double or more.



As for good bonus ships:  Try the Protector Starship, Spire Blade Spawners, or Youngling Fireflies as powerful and simple to use ship types.

[ZaneWolfe]

While Toranth's response is actually very good, and I certain he is at least in the 9/9 league, part of the joy in AI War is that it can vary so very much, so that no one playstyle is considered best. This fact becomes more and more true as you buy/enable each expansion, to the point that the differences between any two players can be so intense that it is like they are playing two entirely different games. Trust me on this, the game I play is VASTLY different from almost anyone else in the forums, because of both how I play and the settings I use. So, that being said, I will focus on the time based questions you have, with one exception.

2)  How quickly should I aim to have these?
5)  When does the mid game usually begin time wise?  Late game?

Time is something you have complete and total control over. The pace of the game is set entirely by the player. While CPAs, AKA Cross Planet Attacks, grow stronger as time goes on, their strength is primarily baed on AIP. If I recall correctly, you generally need to be in the 20+ hour range for time to become a greater factor in their strength than AIP, unless you are working very hard to keep AIP minimized at all times. AI reinforcements are entirely AIP based. While they do get set reinforcements every so often, the amount of strength they can use for this is based on AIP alone. Each planet also has a cap of how many units can be on that world, which is partly based on AIP. (Number of remaining Guardposts is the other part if I recall) Strategic Reserves are completely set, which means neither AIP nor time factor into that at all. In short, when the game goes from early to mid, or even from mid to end, is not a factor of time so much as a factor of your actions. Take all the time you need at each stage of the game, because it wont move to the next stage until you take actions making it do so. (At least, for a vanilla game. Remember what I said about expansions and settings...)

4)  How long should a typical game last?

This is a matter of playstyle entirely. I'll assume you are taking about a game in which you win. As I said before, you can take as long, or as little, time as you wish at each stage of the game, so how long the entire game takes you is going to depend entirely on how long you take at each stage of the game. I know my shortest game was 9 hours long, and that was on a 40 planet map. My longest completed game, on a 120 planet map, has a total time, not counting time paused, of nearly 34 hours. I actually wish I hadn't won quite so soon, as there is an achievement for a game going over 36 hours. Take a moment to think about that. There is no other RTS that I know where it is EXPECTED that you will take nearly 2 days of actual gametime to win, if not more. There are numerous things in AI War that you have no control over, but time is one that you can control in almost every single case. You almost never have to rush in AI War, baring either a setting you choose in the game lobby or something pretty drastic happening, and with the later you have the option to pause and examine the situation at any time you wish.

3)  What are some good beginning special ship types to use?

This one is very hard to answer, and thus originally I wasn't going to touch it at all. Bonus ship types being useful tends to depend a LOT on your playstyle. Since the game your playing and what I am playing differ so much, I can't say what will work best for you. I can tell you that while every single one of Toranth's suggestions are great, none of them are available in a vanilla game with no expansions. Typically units are exclusive to the expansion of their name sake, Zenith units are mostly exclusive to 'The Zenith Remnant', Nienzul for 'Children of Neinzul', Spire for 'Light of the Spire'. (There are exceptions, units that were either backported into 'Fleet Command' or came with expansions that came out after their namesake.) This leaves Toranth's 2nd out. The 3rd is exclusive to 'Ancient Shadows' and the first to 'Vengeance of the Machine'.

I am sure you can look over the list on the AI War Wiki of bonus ships, it should be able to tell which are included in 'Fleet Command' only, but I can't help for which would work best for you. I've got all 5 expansions, and I've never turned them off since I got them. And I 99% sure all of my favorites are expansion exclusives. That being said, I would also recommend getting and activating the other expansions, even if you want a fairly vanilla game. You can turn off all of the extra options that were included in each expansion individually, so all it would do is allow you to play with more ship options. If you play using the latest beta, which pretty much everyone will agree is the right thing to do, there is even the option to choose your starting location and then choose what bonus ship(s) you get there. The list may seem overwhelming in number at first, but the Wiki can give you a rundown on each and every single unit, as well as stats for every mark of them. In case you are unfamiliar with the Wiki, its here. http://www.arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War:Fleet_Command Though do keep in mind that a few pages have some obsolete data. Updates are being worked on, but the majority of it is up to date with the most recent beta patches.

[tadrinth]

Some good starter ships from the base game:

Space Tanks are slower, longer-ranged bombers, and bombers are an extremely useful ship type.  If you need to kill forcefields or fortresses, you want bombers and lots of them.  Ergo, space tanks are a great bonus ship type, and very straightforward to use.  They're really slow, though, so you'll want to group-move your fleet ball a lot (maybe make group move the default for that control group via CTRLS). 

Anti-armor ships have similar bonuses to bombers, but have light armor instead of polycrystal. Nice long range and reasonable speed.  Bad against fortresses, but good against guard posts hiding under force fields; I don't think any guard posts have bonuses against both light and polycrystal armor, so you can always send in either the anti-armors or the bombers. Great in a fleet ball due to long range and decent speed. 

Shield bearers and MLRS ships are both fun, easy to use, and a well-rounded addition to any fleet-ball. 

Parasites are also a good starter option, since a pile of parasites will let you steal enemy ships to supplement your forces.  They're a little more complicated to use, but not tremendously so. 

[Kahuna]

I picked up the game a week or so ago.  I have only actually lost one game, but my other games I stopped playing after realizing that I let the AI entrench too much.  Part of this is likely due to my fear of causing the AIP to advance too rapidly.  Hence the reason for my questions, this is for a vanilla game with no expansions, AI level 7 with Easy AIs, with 80 planets.  I realize that the questions are dependent upon play style, and the game state, I'm looking for an average game:

1)  How many planets should I expect to have in the mid game?
2)  How quickly should I aim to have these?
3)  What are some good beginning special ship types to use?
4)  How long should a typical game last? 
5)  When does the mid game usually begin time wise?  Late game?

Thanks!

1. I'd say about 10. I usually have about 4-7 permanent planets which I keep and the rest are "beachhead planets" deep in AIs' territory. I don't care if I lose those "beachhead planets" and I don't usually even try to defend them until I have a lot of Core Turrets and at least Mark II Military Command Station. I just leave an Assault Transports in stand down mode with Engineers, Rebuilders and a Colony ship on those planets.

2. About 2-5 hours. During the first 2 hours I only capture the most important planets and set up whipping boys (heavily defended planets that take all the waves and CPAs etc.). On 10/10 difficulty the first CPA is announced at ~2 hours. So first I always set up my defenses so I don't have to worry about anything. Then I start expanding and capturing more planets and capturables. Strong defenses will "auto stop" all AI attacks so you can use your whole fleet for offense. Basically just let the AI come at you and die while you do surgical strikes.

3. Space Planes, Snipers, Zenith Chameleons, Infiltrators, Bulletproof Fighters, Space Tanks, Munitions Boosters, Acid Sprayers, Saboteurs, EtherJets, Neinzul Youngling Tigers, Neinzul Youngling Fireflies, Neinzul Youngling Nanoswarm.

4. Games which I win usually last about 12 hours. +- a couple of hours. Note that I only play on 10/10 difficulty level.

5. My early game is the time before the first CPA. During that time I setup my defenses so I don't have to worry about any attacks so I can focus on expanding and capturing stuff. Mid game starts when I start expanding and capturing stuff. End game starts when I feel like I'm powerful enough to start preparing the AI homeworld attacks. By preparing I mean stuff like scouting the AI homeworlds themselves and creating "highways" to the AI Core planets. By "highway" I mean a line of neutered AI planets which are relatively safe to fly trough. If you have Assault Transports you only need to destroy the Tachyon Guardians and you can easily fly trough the planet. Just keep the Assault Transports in stand down mode.

So..
Early game: ~0-2 hours
-Setting up defenses
Mid game: ~2-8 hours
-Expanding and capturing
End game: ~8-12 hours
-Preparing for the AI homeworld attacks and actually attacking

[Draco18s]

Some good starter ships from the base game

All of those are fantastic options.

I loved Shield Bearers back-in-the-day (same cap health, but more units, none of that "stuff under a FF that takes damage, takes 1 damage" effect).  I'd roam around with five engineers as part of my fleet and have zero losses.

Lightning Torpedo Frigates I think are base, and amazing.  The AI will try and shoot down the missiles, often at close range, which not only interrupt the AI trying to attack your fleetball, but the missiles still explode on death.

Teleporting Battle Stations are also amazing.  They can freaking teleport.  You can use them to get in close, very quickly, and retreat even faster.  Just make sure they end up under a force field (because shots were fired at them and will peruse infinitely; wormholes won't help, the damage just hits them in that case*).

*It was the counter to an exploit of dropping ships through a wormhole to make the AI fire all its shots, then retreat to ignore the damage.

[Vinraith]

Lightning Torpedo Frigates I think are base, and amazing.  The AI will try and shoot down the missiles, often at close range, which not only interrupt the AI trying to attack your fleetball, but the missiles still explode on death.

LTF's are almost too good for a first game starter ship, they're the kind of thing that could easily become a crutch. I have to fight down the urge to take them every game as it is!

[Draco18s]

LTF's are almost too good for a first game starter ship, they're the kind of thing that could easily become a crutch. I have to fight down the urge to take them every game as it is!

For a while for me, "that one unit" was shield bearers.  Then it was parasites.

In the current state of the game, I don't have a priority unit. LTFs are amazing, but for me, not #OMGMustHave

[Vinraith]

LTF's are almost too good for a first game starter ship, they're the kind of thing that could easily become a crutch. I have to fight down the urge to take them every game as it is!

For a while for me, "that one unit" was shield bearers.  Then it was parasites.

In the current state of the game, I don't have a priority unit. LTFs are amazing, but for me, not #OMGMustHave

Fair point, I've been through my phases too. I guess everyone does. My co-op partner won't play without teleport raiders these days.

[Draco18s]

Oh geeze.  Get him using telestations.  So much better.

(The reason my two units fell out of preference was actually due to direct nerfs hitting them...)

[Vinraith]

Oh geeze.  Get him using telestations.  So much better.

(The reason my two units fell out of preference was actually due to direct nerfs hitting them...)

Not for what he's using them for. They're an extremely expedient means by which to remove tachyon sentinels and neuter planets. In fact, they're so good at that job they verge on OP, but for the fact that they're completely useless for just about anything else. Basically they're an anti-drudgery measure, and a pretty great one.

[Warhammer]

Thanks for the replies.  These all helped quite a bit as I wanted to make sure I wasn't  going down a wrong path.  I've learned that space planes and bulletproof fighters are nice starting ships, just wanted to confirm.  Also I figured my game trajectory was going to go to the 15-20 hour mark and see how unusual that is.

Regarding number of planets, I understand that more is not better, but was and still am trying to figure out how many to neuter vs capture. 

[Winge]

15-20 hours sounds normal.  I've heard of much longer games, though.

Bulletproof fighters and Planes are good.  They aren't the best, so they won't be a crutch, but they are still solid picks.

As far as planets, a good habit to get into is to look at each planet and ask yourself:  do I need this?  Is it worth the additional forces the AI will send my way?  You'd be surprised how many times the answer to those two questions is "no."  However, there are a lot of variables (including Fallen Spire, where you pretty much ignore everything I just said).  It's just one of those things that you learn as you go.  I've clocked just under 500 hours, and I'm still learning.  This game is relatively easy to play, but hard to master.

Enjoy!

[tadrinth]

I almost suggested space planes, but didn't because they're a little more complicated to use.  They're really, really fun though, as it sounds like you've discovered.  As a dedicated strike force, they can sneak around, clear entire systems by kiting enemy ships around, and massacre forts.  AI Eyes and force fields counter them pretty hard, though. Mass sniper fire (which ignores their radar dampening) could also be a problem, if the AI has good tachyon detection as well.

[Kahuna]

Mass sniper fire (which ignores their radar dampening)

Only Sniper Turrets ignore radar dampening. Snipers don't.