Survival Guide
Survival Guide to VGA-Planets
Introduction to the "Survival Guide to VGA-Planets"
Hi,
Well, here it is, the survival guide to VGA-Planets. At first I focused on the more experienced players, but since there is a major difference betweenexperienced Host-players and Phost-players I had to adjust my goals. This "Guide" is currently nothing more than a list of ships which a player playinga certain race, should and shouldn't build (according to me and some of my friends). Anyway, I'm planning to improve this Guide with more tactics, butsince there are a lot of pages where you find tactics about the game, I'm afraid that most of it will be published on other pages as well. Hopefully youwill find something usefull on this page. If you have any comments, any at all, just contact me.
Yours,
Jurjen Niezink
Available ships in the game
In this chapter all the ships will be reviewed. My goal is to express why you should use a ship and why you should avoid building a certain ship.
The Solar Federation
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Nocturne Class Destoyer (4/2)
The Nocturne is a weak vessel when encountered in battle but its cargo capacity (50) makes it an excellent mine-layer.
Bohemian Class Survey Ship (2/0)
This ship will heat a planet up to 50 degrees.
Eros Class Research Vessel (2/0)
This ship will cool a planet down to 50 degrees.
Nebula Class Cruiser (4/4)
This is one of the best cheap ships the Feds have for battle. It's cargo capacity is great (350), it makes it an excellent minelayer and transporter. It's mass (170) makes it a good medium warship.
Brynhild Class Escort (4/0)
This ship has a bioscanner. It helps a lot if you know which planet has those 10 million unity Bovinoids. Keep in mind that the range of the Bioscanner is limited to 200 light years and that it can't scan all planets in one turn. It will not scan planets allready owned by you either.
Arkham Class Frigate (6/3)
The Arkham is a cheap ship, and with it's cargo capacity of 90 and 3
tubes pretty good in battle. It is the same technology level as the
The
Loki Class Destroyer (2/4)
The Loki has it's Tachyon-Field. In a distance of 10 lightyears, all cloaked ships will become decloaked by the Loki. It is a must in any battlegroup that is heading towards a cloaking race. If cloaked ships can attack is on, and the cloaking races can use their intercept attack, always keep a ship intercepting your Loki, than you will take out any cloaked ship that takes out your Loki. Therefor I sugest, use at least two Loki's in a large battlegroup. Remember, your own ships are immune to the Tachyon-Field, so you will stay cloaked, as any Lizard ships will.
Thor Class Frigate (1/8)
The Thor is very limited in it's use. It can carry up to 95 torpedo's but that is only 11 full salvo's. It is no use against a ship with fighter launchers but it is handy for taking out the shields of a T- Rex or a Annihilation, as long as the opposing ship has no fighter-bays. When the Engine-Ship bonus is put on 50%, Syberian Snake told me that you can launch three full salvo's of torps against any ship, before the Thor is dead. That's the way to get the shields down of those heavy fighter carriers.
Diplomacy Class Cruiser (6/6)
The Diplomacy is about the same ship as the Arkham Class Frigate, but it has three launchers more. It can carry 95 torpedo's and can take out any medium ship (tech 4-6)
except for the Robotic Instrumentality. It's big advantage above the
Arkham or the
Kittyhawk Class Carrier 4/./6)
This carrier is rather weak compared to the other high-tech carriers. But, if your host is using the Fed crew bonus, this ship can be dangerous as well. It only has a mass of 173, even a Valiant is heavier, but the Kittyhawk can defeat a Valiant. You could use it in a battlegroup, to weaken your opponents carriers. It's major draw-back is the cargo capacity of 65 fighters.
Nova Class Super-Dreadnought (10/10)
The Nova is a ship worthy in battle. It can carry 320 torpedo's and will take out most of the other ships. Only the real heavy carriers and the Annihilation are a threat to the Nova, but two Nova's will take out any regular ship in the game. Compared to the other tech 10 ships, it's drawback is it relativily light weight, 650 vs the 860 of a Biocide.
The Lizards
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Serpent Class Escort (2/0)
How strange it may sound, this ship is usefull. It is very light, and has a fuel tank of 160 so it could be used as a scout. But I would recommend to use it as a so called "Hiss-ship", so that you can increase your earnings from taxes. For more details about Hissing, read the chapter about special missions.
Reptile Class Destroyer (4/0)
Again, this ship could be handy for scouting, it is better then the Serpent because it can cloak. If you have no other use for it later, you always can use it as a Hiss-ship.
Lizard Class Cruiser (4/3)
This ship is the main strike-force of the Lizards. Because they can fight till 150% damage, this ship practicly takes out any medium ship with it, except for ships with fighter-bays. It's main use is for ground-attacks. It has cargoroom of 290 tons, that is equal to (on a planet with zero defence posts) 8700 clans when dropped. It's cloaking device makes it vital for any Lizard player. It's drawback is it's fuel-tank.
Eros Class Research Vessel (2/0)
This ship will cool a planet down to 50 degrees.
Saurian Class Light Cruiser (4/2)
This is the little brother of the LCC. It is weaker on all fronts, but it is cheaper to build. So if you want to fill those empty ship slots...
Loki Class Destroyer (2/4)
The Loki has it's Tachyon-Field. In a distance of 10 lightyears, all cloaked ships will become decloaked by the Loki. It is a must in any battlegroup that is heading towards a cloaking race. If cloaked ships can attack is on, and the cloaking races can use their intercept attack, always keep a ship intercepting your Loki, than you will take out any cloaked ship that takes out your Loki. Therefor I sugest, use at least two Loki's in a large battlegroup. Remember, your own ships are immune to the Tachyon-Field, so you will stay cloaked, as any Fed ships will.
Madonnzila Class Carrier (4/./5)
Although some people dislike this Carrier, it's fighting ability to 150% damage makes it very dangerous. It can hold up to 150 fighters, but it's drawback, compared to other
fighter-ships are the 5 bays. A Instrumentality will kill it, but it will be severly damaged by that time, so any second ship at that location will finish it off.
T-Rex Class Battleship (10/5)
The T-Rex is a fair ship, but not as strong as the other tech 10 ships. Only a Victorious is weaker, although it has a launcher extra. Again, the 150% will make a difference in fighting. Most ships will go down with it. Only the really heavy fighter-ships will kill the T-Rex.
The Birdmen
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Swift Heart Class Scout (2/0)
The Swift Heart is the ship any bird-player shoud build if he can't build a better cloaking ship, or anything else. It is very handy for scouting (fuel tank of 170) and for superspying. More about superspying in the special missions chapter.
White Falcon Class Cruiser (4/1)
The White Falcon has it's uses as a cloaking minelayer but that's about it.
Fearless Class Wing Cruiser (6/1)
The Fearless Class Wing Cruiser is the best 'freighter' the Birdmen have. Because of it's cloaking ability and it's large cargoroom (240) it is for me a vital ship for good logistics.
Valiant Class Wing Carrier (7/./3)
The Valiant is weak among the fighter-ships and is only useful when you are fighting large fleets. It will weaken the heavy ships of your opponent, but do not sacrifice it when you have no other ship to finish the job, it is much too valuable for you. Only three fighter-bays, that's not enough, even against a Cybernaut.
Deth Specula Class Frigate (6/4)
The Deth Specula is a good ship. It has only one major drawback, that is it's fuelcapacity. It can only carry 140 tons of fuel, which certainly is not enough when you plan
to use it to attack the planets on the other side of your enemy's empire. But.. it is strong enough to take out most medium ships, and when deployed in a fleet with Resolutes, who have a 480 ton fuel tank, they can do anything you like. 35 torpedo's is not that much, but it is enough for 2 battles. So use if for local battles only.
Resolute Class Battlecruiser (8/3)
The Resolute is a very fine ship, only tech 7, a 480 fuel tank and a carco capacity of 280. It is essential in a battlefleet, for it can provide the other cloaking ships with fuel and if neccesary it can be used as a minesweeper, it can lay even with 280 Mark 4's, 10080 mineunits, that is a radius of 100 lightyears.
Red Wind Class Carrier (2/./2)
The Red Wind is a ship which can only be used to take at specified targets. You do not want to sacrifice your full Red Wind, 60 fighters is still 6000 MC, for a medium ship which could be killed by any Deth Specula or other ship. It is the only carrier in the game which can cloak, but it has a fuel tank of 85, so not much use there, unless you support it with Resolutes or other ships with a large fuel-tank. Don't overestimate it, if you need to use a fighter ship, think twice of using the Red Wind. It is usefull for transporting fighters.
Dark Wing Class Battleship (10/8)
Ok, if you encounter Dark Wings.. it is probably too late to react. This huge ship can cloak, can fly a reasonable amount of lightyears and are deadly against starbases. It is the BEST cloaking ship in the game, and if you can, build lots of them. A fleet of Darkwings if practicly unstopable.
The Fascist
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Little
The little pest is a good minesweeper, very cheap and even capable of towing other ships. There is not much use otherwise, since it is very light and easily killed.
D7 Coldpain Class Cruiser (4/2)
The D7 Coldpain is a very good ship. It can carry up to 100 colonist and it can cloak, so watch that groundattack equal to 1500 clans. It has a huge fueltank, so you can send it out in all directions. It is a pretty light ship, so be careful when using it in battle.
Ill Wind Class Battlecruiser (10/2)
The Ill Wind is a good minesweeper, it's drawback is it's weight. It consumes fuel as if it is for free, but it will take out a ship when used in battle. It can be used for transporting too, but remember the fuel consumption.
D3 Thorn Class Destroyer (2/4)
The D3 Thorn has weaknesses, it's cargo capacity of 40 and it's fuel capacity of 120 but when properly used it can be a real pain in the ass. Just imagine what 40 mark 8's can do, but remember that the D7 could have 100 mark 8. It's advantage compared to the D7 is that it has 4 torpedo-launchers, just at much as the Deth Specula. Therefor it can take out the shields of most other ships. But, if you have the choice, build a D7.
Valiant Class Wing Carrier (7/./3)
The Valiant is weak among the fighter-ships and is only useful when you are fighting large fleets. It will weaken the heavy ships of your opponent, but do not sacrifice it when you have no other ship to finish the job, it is much too valuable for you. Only three fighter-bays, that's not enough, even against a Cybernaut.
Deth Specula Class Frigate (6/4)
The Deth Specula is a good ship. It has only one major drawback, that is it's fuel capacity. It can only carry 140 tons of fuel, which certainly is not enough when you plan
to use it to attack the planets on the other side of your enemy's empire. But.. it is strong enough to take out most medium ships, and when deployed in a fleet with Resolutes, who have a 480 ton fuel tank, they can do anything you like. 35 torpedo's is not that much, but it is enough for 2 battles. So use if for local battles only.
D19b Nefarious Class Destroyer (7/0)
This is one of the ships the Fascist should build lots of. It's special mission, explode after movement (pop) or explode when a cloaked ship of your primary enemy is detected (trg) is very good. You can blow away most of the medium ships and you damage the heavier ones. Don't underestimate their value when trading them, they are cheap, and easily cloned.
Saber Class Frigate (10/0)
The Saber is pretty much the same as the D19b, except that it is a two tech level higher ship, costs more and has one benefit, it only gives your ships 10% damage, instead of the 20% from the D19b.
Victorious Class Battleship (10/6)
The Vic is a ship the Fascist should build lots of, most with x-rays and mark 7, because than you have a chance fighting the heavier ships of your opponents. In groups they can have a chance, otherwise they will be toast for the fighter-ships.
The Privateers
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
BR4 Class Gunship (5/0)
The BR4 has gravatonic accelerators, so it can travel very quick and is very usefull for scouting and towing LDSF's to establish outposts.
Little
The little pest is a good minesweeper, very cheap and even capable of towing other ships. There is not much use otherwise, since it is very light and easily killed.
Dwarfstar Class Transport (6/0)
I'm not sure what to say about this ship. It is the only ship named transport but capable of cloaking, so I think it should be used as a transporter. It has a cargo capacity of 220, but no gravatonic accelerators, so I would prefer the Meteor Class Blockade Runner, dispite it's lesser cargo capacity.
BR5 Kaye Class Torpedo Boat (4/1)
The BR5 has gravatonic accelerators too, and has a torpedolauncher, but it can only carry up to 20 torpedo's. Even with Mark 8 that would be only 2000 mineunits. Use it as a tower of freighters or as a scout, but build lots of them. They are pretty handy when you try to make a wolfpack and you need a sacrificial lamb (see special missions).
Lady Royal Class Cruiser (4/1)
The Lady Royal is the pleasure ship in the game. Every colonist on board will give you 1 MC. Very handy when you are playing in a game where money is the bottleneck. Use them as minelayers around your worlds and get all the MC out of them that you need.
Meteor Class Blockade Runner (4/4)
The MBR is THE ship the Privateers should build. When looking at your fleet it should consist for about 85% of MBR's. Rob, rob and rob some more.. that's the point, and with their gravatonic accelerators they can go practicly everywere.
D3 Thorn Class Destroyer (2/4)
The D3 Thorn has drawbacks, it's cargo capicity of 40 and the fuel capacity of 120, but when properly used it can be a real pain in the ass. If you need to fight, which you should avoid at all cost with your original ships, that are the ships you didn't capture with robbing, use these ships to get through the shields of the enemy ships and use the MBR or the Bloodfang to finish the job.
Red Wind Class Carrier (2/./2)
The Red Wind is a ship which can only be used to take out specified targets. You do not want to sacrifice your full Red Wind, 60 fighters is still 6000 MC, for a medium ship which could be killed by any D3 or other ship. It is the only carrier in the game which can cloak, but it has a fuel tank of 85, so not much use there, unless you support it with with a large fuel-tank. Don't overestimate it, if you need to use a fighter ship, think twice of using the Red Wind.
Bloodfang Class Carrier (7/./4)
The Bloodfang is about the heaviest ship the Privateer has, and should be build only when you need to defend your planets and/or starbases. It can carry up to 80 fighters and will take out some ships, but it is still pretty vulnarable.
The Cyborg
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
B200 Class Prober (2/0)
This is the Cyborg hyperjumper, the weakest jumper in the game, since it can only jump once (fueltank of 80) and it can only carry up to 15 colonists or supplies. Nevertheless, you can use it as a spyship and you can harrass your opponents freighters.
B222 Destroyer (7/0)
This ship sounds rather useless, but it handy when you haven't build any of your heaviest ships, and you need to take out a carrier, heading in your direction. Build three of them, and destroy about 51 fighters (about 17 per ship, depending on how much fighterbays your enemy has). It is also usefull as a mine-sweeper when equiped with high-tech weapons.
Quietus Class Cruiser (4/1)
The Quietus isn't that great either but at least it has a decent cargoroom, 250 and it can lay mines, which should be it's primary task since you will use your fireclouds for chunneling.
Firecloud Class Cruiser (6/2)
The Firecloud is a ship which will make your opponent shiver with fear, simply because he/she can never know if and what a chunnel will bring into his/her territory. Please be carefull in trading them away, because this is a ship-device, not a race-ability.
Biocide Class Carrier (10/./10)
The Biocide.. need I say anything more? Stuffed with fighters, it will take out any ship or
starbase. Build them as soon as you can, and everyone will offer you a alliance.
Annihilation Class Battleship (10/10)
The Annihilation will take out all other ships, accept for the heavy fighter carriers. Simple as that. Two of them will destroy any carrier, if loaded with Mark 7 or 8.
The Crystallines
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Opal Class Torpedo Boat (1/1)
The Opal is usefull as a scout, but also can be a real pain in the ass when used to deploy webmines when it has a high tech torpedolauncher. Many players underestimate this ship, but just imagine it being chased by some high tech ship and when it is about to be catched it drops is webmines, almost always a hit!
Ruby Class Carrier (4/2)
The Ruby is the cheapest minelayer for the crystals. It can be used for scouting, for colonizing and for war, since it has a cargoroom of 370. That is, when loaded with Mark 8, a 192 lightyears radius webfield. Ouch! If you are low on money or minerals, build a Ruby.
Sky Garnet Class Destroyer (7/1)
This ship is used for minesweeping, but the Emerald is better. This ship could be used for battle, but the Emerald is much better. This ship can tow, so use it to tow away your victims from your webfields and capture their ships. It is cheap.
Emerald Class Battlecruiser (8/3)
A good ship, but if you have the money, the Diamond Flame is better for battle. For deploying webfields, use the Emerald, it has a cargoroom of 510, therefor it is called "the
fighting-transporter".
Onyx Class Frigate (8/1)
Heat up your planets, that is it's use. You can use it as a sweeper as well and it can take out some fighters, but it's main activity is heating up your planets or transporting money.
Diamond Flame Class Battleship (10/6)
Ok.. this ship is cheaper than the Victorious of the Fascists, except that it costs 390 molybdeneum to build. It is only tech 9, and very handy in battle and for deploying more
webfields. It has one drawback, and that is it's cargoroom of 90.
Crystal Thunder Class Carrier (6/./8)
This ship can be compared to the Robot's Instrumentality, but it is better. It should be, because it is 4 tech levels higher in costs so be carefull in sending this one out, when you lose it, you'll lose about 8480 MC and 393 molybdeneum (80 fighers + the hull cost). A Diamond Flame and a Thunder Class Carrier take out a Biocide!
The Empire
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Pl21 Probe (1/0)
A good hyperjumper, but it has only a cargoroom of 20. It should be used for scouting or for transporting money. It can make three hyperjumps, and still have some fuel left to move to the nearest planet if you are not jumping from planet to planet.
H-Ross Class Light Carrier (2/./2)
Not a ship for combat, but it comes in handy when you need to load fighters from your bases on ships and you don't have any carrier in the area. Build them early in the game, so you'll continue receiving your 'free' fighters. They cost practicly nothing.
This ship is better than the H-Ross, but costs more. I would recomment not to use it.
Super Star Frigate (5/3)
This is the only torpship the Empire has. Build enough of them to defend your empire with minefields. Have at least two of them in any battlegroup.
Super Star Carrier (6/./4)
In battle this ship is better than the SSD, it will take out most ships, except for the heavy ones. If you can't affort a Gorbie and you need a ship for battle, build this one.
Super Star Destroyer (8/./3)
The empire ground attack is deadly. This ship is immune to planet codes ATT and NUK, as long as it is not damaged. It has one drawback, a cargo capacity of 80, so you'll need to support this ship with a Frigate or a other ship which is able to defend itself and carry the colonists needed for the ground attack.
Super Star Cruiser (8/./4)
The Super Star Cruiser is a fair ship. Not as powerfull as the Gorbie, but nevertheless a good ship. It has a cargo capacity of 110. Most commonly is it used to weaken the shields of attacking ships, or to catch torpedos from incoming battlefleets who were dedicated to your Gorbie :-).
Gorbie Class Battlecruiser (10/./10)
The Gorbie is great. It is heavy, it can sweep and it will take out any other ship in the game. Fighting a Biocide, Virgo, Rush or Golem will end up in it's favour, although that is highly dependend on the random numbers for combat.
The Robots
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Cat's Paw Class Destroyer (4/2)
The Cat's Paw is one of the best cheap ships there are in the game. It is an excellent minelayer, and the only minelayer for the Robots, so build lots of them and use them as
transporters when you are not using them to load your empire with minefields.
Q Tanker (0/./1)
This ship is rather essential for the Robots. There should be one or more around every Robotic starbase, since these ships can build 12 fighters a turn, fighters on which the
Robots depend in battle. Use them with care, they have no use in combat, but they are excellent tow-ers too.
Pawn Class Baseship (2/./2)
The Pawn is not very usefull in building fighters, since it only has a cargo capacity of 40, which means 40 fighters. It has however a Bioscanner, so build only on of them early in the game and find out what planets you should colonize first.
Cybernaut Class Baseship (3/./5)
Avoid building a Cybernaut. You have much better ships than the Cybernaut. The Instrumentality for instance.
Instrumentality Class Baseship (4/./7)
The Instrumentality. A feared ship, heavy and very dangerous. Very strong in battle, rather cheap. Build lots of them and simply defeat your opponents by force.
Automa Class Baseship (4/./8)
The Automa is usefull but it's drawback is that it is tech lvl 9. If you can build a Automa, you almost always can build a Golem too. They will take out lots of ships, but, the Golem is better.
Golem Class Baseship (6/./10)
The Robotic Force; heavy and solid. It's expensive, but you get something in return. It can carry up to 300 fighters, and can take out some ships and a starbase all by itself. They really like to consume fuel, so make sure that you'll escort them with other ships in case you get robbed or hit a web mine. It's drawback is that is has only 6 beams.
The Rebels
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Taurus Class Scout (2/0)
As it's name sugests, this is a scout, but, with two engines. so it is also usefull for towing. It has a large fuel-tank, which makes it excellent for that job.
Cygnus Class Destroyer (4/4)
The Cygnus is a light ship, but capable of inflicting a lot of damage, when you least expect it. It's four torp-launchers make it very dangerous, and two of these will take out a SSD.
Falcon Class Escort (2/0)
The best hyperjumper in the game. Remember that when trading it away. It can jump three times, but with no fuel after the thirth jump and can carry up to 120 cargo.
Gaurdian Class Destroyer (3/6)
The Guardian is one of the ships you can use when weakening your opponenents large ships. The six torp-launchers usely get their shields down. It's drawback is the
cargo-capacity, only 20.
Sagittarius Class Transport (2/./1)
The Sagittarius is for fighter building and fighter transporting, nothing more, nothing less. It could be used as a freighter too.
Tranquility Class Cruiser (4/2)
The Tranquility is the ship to lay mines with, since it can carry up to 380 torpedo's. It is not very usefull in battle, since it has the same statistics as a cat's paw, but essential in your fleet.
Patriot Class Light Carrier (2/./6)
The Patriot is usefull when it has 30 fighters and a single, or perhaps two, targets. It will take out most ships in these case, but if it has less than 30 fighters it is nearly useless, since the Patriot is very light and easily destroyed. But in hordes... these ships are deadly killers.
Gemini Class Transport (4/./1)
The Gemini is excellent for building and transporting fighters, but since it can carry 400 cargo, you could even use it as a freighter.
Iron Lady Class Frigate (8/2)
The Iron Lady is the Rebel minesweeper. When opposed to other large ships, the Iron Lady can be used to shoot some of the fighters and to lower their shields, but with it's 8 beams it can easily attack planets with no starbase in orbit.
Rush Class Heavy Carrier (5/./10)
The Rush, heavy and strong. A major warship, hard to beat by a non-fighter race. As with the Golem, it's drawback is it's few beams.
The Colonies
Able to build: (Beam Weapons/ Torpedo Launchers/Fighter Bays)
Taurus Class Scout (2/0)
As it's name sugests, this is a scout, but, with two engines. so it is also usefull for towing. It has a large fuel-tank, which makes it excellent for that job.
Cygnus Class Destroyer (4/4)
The Cygnus is a light ship, but capable of inflicting a lot of damage, when you least expect it. It's four torp-launchers make it very dangerous, and two of these will take out a SSD.
Little Joe Class Escort (6/0)
The Little Joe is a good minesweeper, very cheap and even capable of towing other ships. There is not much use otherwise, since it is very light and easily killed.
Cobol Class Research Cruiser (4/2)
The Cobol has an abiltity which is really awesome. It scoops fuel from out of nowhere. This ship comes in very handy, since it can function as a transporter, a minelayer and as THE perfect scout. It depends on your host settings hwo much fuel will be scooped per lightyear travelled. This ship also has a Bioscanner.
Aries Class Transport (2/0)
The Aries changes minerals in fuel when supplies are added. It is mostly used for trading or when you are in a desperate need of fuel (which you shouldn't be, you have the Cobol).
Sagittarius Class Transport (2/./1)
The Sagittarius is for fighter building and fighter transporting, nothing more, nothing less. It could be used as a freighter too. They are good minesweepers when fighters sweep mines is on.
Lady Royal Class Cruiser (4/1)
The Lady Royal is the pleasure ship in the game. Every colonist on board will give you 1 MC. Very handy when you are playing in a game where money is the bottleneck. Use them as minelayers around your worlds and get all the MC out of them that you need.
Tranquility Class Cruiser (4/2)
The Tranquility is the ship to lay mines with, since it can carry up to 380 torpedo's. It is not very usefull in battle, since it has the same statistics as a cat's paw, but essential in your fleet.
Patriot Class Light Carrier (2/./6)
The Patriot is usefull when it has 30 fighters and a single, or perhaps two, targets. It will take out most ships in these case, but if it has less than 30 fighters it is nearly useless, since the Patriot is very light and easily destroyed. But in hordes... these ships are deadly killers.
Gemini Class Transport (4/./1)
The Gemini is excellent for building and transporting fighters, but since it can carry 400 ton, you could even use it as a freighter. They are excellent minesweepers for the Colonies when fighters sweep mines is on.
Iron Lady Class Frigate (8/2)
When opposed to other large ships, the Iron Lady can be used to shoot off some fighters and lower shields of her opponent. With it's 8 beams it can easily attack planets with no starbase in orbit.
Virgo Class Battlestar (10/./8)
The Virgo is a deadly weapon. It has 10 beams, and will take out a lot of fighters. It can carry up to 290 fighters, and will sweep any minefield in no time when stuffed with fighters. I have seen strange things happen in combat with the Virgo. It is able to take out a Golem or a Biocide, but that is highly depended on the random factor in combat *sigh*.
Early-game Strategy
Hail,
When you take a look at VGA-Planets, one of the most exciting things in a game is the starting position. Where am I located? Are there any clusters of planetsnearby, what is the range to other empires? Of course, a lot of things are dependent on the host-settings, but it is a player's choice whether or not heor she joins a game.
In this article, I would like to focus on the early game strategy, which will enclose the first 15-20 turns in a game. It is my opinion, that there are threecrucial things in the beginning of a game: economy, strategy and diplomacy. All of these interesting fields overlap, so I'll try to include all of them.But let's start with the beginning, the host-configuration. Imagine you are joining a game with the following, standard, settings:
Mining settings: Default
Tax settings: Default
Ships visible range (Starcharts): 300 LY
Sensor mission range: 200 LY
Overpopulation eats supplies: No
Isotope rate: 5
Mine detect range: 200 LY
Climate Death rate: 10 %
Planets have gravity wells: Yes
Climate limits population: Yes
Ion-Storms: No
Cloaked ships can attack: Yes
Bioscanners: Yes
Range to other players: Medium
Homeworlds: Classic, in a circle, starting
point random.
Add-ons: Pwrap
Explorer
As you can see, these are the default settings of hconfig.exe. So, all other settings not listed here are by default as well, for those of you who want to know that. The Add-ons Pwrap and Explorer make the game more interesting, since you can fly around the map and end up on the other side. Explorer limits your vision to what you have scanned with your ships, so you start at a position where you will only be able to see about 14 planets.
First of all I would like to say that the early-game strategy I'm going to describe here, is one of the many possibilities. It is written from the experience I have in playing VGA-Planets and hosting the game as well. A second thing to mention is the choice of which host program to use. There are differences between Phost and Host, both have their pro's, but also some contra's. This article is based on a Host game, but the strategy given here is also implementable in a Phost game.
In the beginning.... there was void. You start with two ships, engine tech 7, and 15000 MC. You see east and south-east from your homeworld two planets, range about 60 LY. There is a cluster of four planets north-west, range 180 LY to the nearest planet, a cluster of four north-east of you, range 150 LY and several planets west and south of you, with a range > 80 LY. What should you do? A lot of people who will be asked this question will say: "That's race dependent", and they are right about it. Nevertheless it is possible to generalize. Max your factories and don't max your mines. Build a Bioscanner or a Large Deep Space Freighter (LDSF) and send out your two ships.
And here I would like to make the first remark about strategy. Stay invisible as long as possible. What if your opponents, not necessary enemies but still opponents, are located in that beautiful looking cluster north-west of your homeworld. Should you be heading in it's way? I don't think so. Stay out of sight, if you need to fly at a higher warp than your engines are suitable for, so be it. Just remember the gravity wells, which enable you to fly 84 LY with warp 9. As long as you stay out of sight, you'll stay out of trouble. Don't be too greedy and rush for the cluster(s).
Then there is the point of filling your ships. Thomas Voigt once said that if you want to colonize a planet, you'll need at least 100 clans. This would give you 100 factories and 100 mines. Unfortunatly, you don't have enough cargo-room in your SDSF for 100 clans and additional supplies. Therefor keep in mind that on a temperate-warm world 15 clans will reproduce, while on a tropical or cool world 20 clans are needed. So I'll say fill your SDSF with 60 clans and 10 supplies, which will be enough for four warm-worlds or for three tropical-cool worlds. But what if you encounter a desert or arctic world? Here I would like to refer to the article written by Timo Kreike, which was published in Echoes of the Cluster issue #5, September 1996, called 'Push your Economy to the max'. Economy is one of the most critical parts of VGA-Planets and in this article almost everything is explained. I will give two formula's from this article, which are common knowledge for the experienced players.
1.Max clans on a arctic world = (20100 - CDR% - 200 * (99 - temp)) / CDR% example:
You encounter a world with a temp of 6, but it has a lot of minerals so you want as many mines as possible on that world. You would be able to drop, with the settings given at the beginning of this article: (20100 - 10 - (200 * 93)) / 10 = 149 clans who will stay alive, so 149 mines.
2.Max clans on a desert world = (20100 - CDR% - 200 * temp) / CDR % example:
A world with a temp of 98 could have: (20090 - 19600) / 10 = 49 clans
Now the game continues, it is turn two, you have found the two planets mentioned above and your LDSF is ready for takeoff. Where should it be heading too? There was this cluster northwest and one northeast, but to fly there would make you visible to other players. As mentioned before, avoid that as long as possible, so send it out planet hopping to the onces west and south. I usually fill my LDSF's with 1080 clans and 120 supplies and 100 MC. This enables me to drop 90 clans and 10 supplies on every planet I find, assuming that the climate is good enough to support 90 clans. The 100 MC is for the planet which has a lot of natives, so I'll be able to build up an economy fast. However, if this is such a great planet, I would like to defend it against enemy sensor-sweeps or Bioscans. 15 defense posts will block a sensor-sweep while 20 block a Bioscan. A side effect of this is that my opponents might think that there is no habitation if they scan the planet. If they'll visit the planet, I'll be able to destroy the freighter, of even a light ship when I build more defense posts. In general: stay out of sight as long as possible, build 14 factories on your new planets, then build 15 or 20 defense posts and then max your factories and build as many mines as you like.
Imagine that this colonizing continues for a few more turns and it is now turn 6. You have build two transwarp LDSF's and some destroyers. Should you be heading towards the clusters by now and probably show yourself to other players? If you have planets within hopping range, no, but if you can't expand further without traveling in open space you'll have to, since it is necessary to enlarge your empire as soon as possible. A good tactic is to fly to one of the planets next to your homeworld and depart from there to the cluster. If you are spotted, most players will assume that that's your homeworld.
A whole different thing is diplomacy at this moment. Mostly, in this stage of the game, diplomacy is just writing universal messages that you will assimilate others, or wish them good luck (in that order :-). I enjoy this part of the early-game as much as the other parts in the game. It gives you an impression of what your opponents are alike. But when you have set course towards that cluster, 2 months away, diplomacy gains potential. What if you sensor-sweep other worlds and find colonist on them? Or even better, what if you see a Romulan LDSF pass by? Should you build an attack-force and head towards his empire? Should you drop minefields and waste precious money and minerals? Or should you try to negotiate a border and perhaps cooperate? The latter would be my choice, since you can both benifit from cooperation. In the long run you
could exchange ships, minerals, money, colonist or whatever. I would try to get a non-aggresion agreement between myself and the spotted opponent. Later in the game this could evolve to a alliance, but I think it's too early to form one now.
In the meantime, your colonists grow and you are starting to get real low on minerals on your homeworld. I would set up transporter-routes, to supply my starbase. A transporter-route is nothing more then a fixed schedule of waypoints for one or more of your freighters. It is also wise to determine where the best suitable place is for a second starbase. Often the best choice is the planet which will give you the most money and which has a reasonable amount of minerals, but the choice could also be a strategic point in your empire. Just make sure that you can support it with enough minerals and money. A bovinoid world is also a good choice, since this world will be able to supply itself if a Merlin is stationed above it. The problem is that a Merlin costs a lot of minerals, and one shouldn't build a Merlin this early in the game.
The game continues and you are transporting more and more clans to your rich worlds and bringing back the minerals to your starbase and now the time has come to build up your forces. You have probably build some medium-ships, but now, about turn 12-15, your first heavy baseship should be rolling out of your base. Depending on the situation with your neighbours, its task should be defensive or, if you are being attacked, even offensive. It will have major influence in the balance of power in your region of the starmap. If you are forced in a defensive frame of mind, try to build up battlegroups and start attacking yourself, since it is true that the best defense is offense. For a gooddescription of a battlegroup for a certain race, read the 'Dreadlord Battle Manual'.
Then there is the issue of minefields. Mostly players cannot afford minefields early in the games, but if you are being harrased by a cloaking race, you will need to drop them. A good tactic for dropping minefields is to create lots of overlapping, medium, minefields. A medium minefield has a range of about 50 lightyears, which is about 70 mark 4's (910 mc). Remember that the mark 4 is the best torp for the buck (read the h-files or the infolist for more info). If you drop three of these fields around your crucial worlds, you'll have a decent defense. Andrew Sterian wrote an excellent article about mine-hit probabilities in Echoes of the Cluster issue 2 and 3.
I would like to end with the remark that there is no one right way to play VGA-Planets, and that is what makes it such an exciting game. All of the above is written from my experience as a player and as a host. Mostly it worked out well, at least I never got beaten in the first 20 turns of a game :-)
Yours,
Jurjen Niezink
Special Missions
Note: This part is not finished yet. (
Federation:
Superrefit: Superrefit is very handy, you can upgrade any ship to whaever you like it to be. The only thing you can't change is the hull. So build a ship every turn when you are playing the Feds, you can upgrade it later if you need to. Make sure you have the extra parts on the starbase where you are performing the mission.
Lizards:
Hissing: Hissing is great, you can overtax your colonists and natives without getting them angry. It is dependent on the host settings how much effect each hissing ship will have, standard is 5 percent.
Birdmen:
Superspy: With superspy you can control your enemies friendly codes. One ship as a 20% chance of changing the friendly code, but this is cumulative, so 5 ships can control a planet. There are various tactics to use this mission. Imagine the change to ATT or to dmp or to bum. It will get your victims crazy, believe me. Your ships will remain cloaked when they are performing the superspy, as long as you have fuel. You can get the friendly code of a minefield by superspying, but remember that in a phost game, special friendly codes never match. So, if you change the fc to bum don't assume that you can fly savely through the minefield :-(
Fascist:
Pillage: Pillaging is an awesome ability. It will give the Fascist, or Klingon if you prefer a good change of earning fair money.
Continued elsewhere....
If you have any comments, mail me:J.W.Niezink@rcondw.rug.nl