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Post by tenbsmith on Jul 17, 2015 14:18:17 GMT -5
The best answer to this probably varies with the map you are playing, the level of difficulty, and style of play. Still this could be an interesting conversation.
I prefer to play maps I haven't played before. So, I generally try to find the Xeno early on to avoid having them sneak up on me. Having found them, some level of engagement usually ensues. I try to keep that minimal until my economy is well enough established to expand my fleet by a few fighters. After that, I begin running reconnaissance ships just past their closest planets to keep an eye out for Xeno ships--especially Colony Ships and World Killers--and to bait them into attacking before they've massed a huge armada.
I'm less clear on when to invade.
In my current game, at AE 6.35, the Sidtax are not very aggressive, but have infested systems within couple of tiles of my primes. The Nyktos are much more aggressive, but their nearest infestation is 15 tiles away. I'm trying to decide when to start invading Xeno systems and, if so, whether to attack Sidtax or Nyktos first.
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Post by En1gma on Jul 17, 2015 15:19:34 GMT -5
I'm the exact opposite. I barely expand father than I feel is necessary, and never soiree into Xeno territory unless I have an invasion fleet, or am planning to station warships around their systems in an attempt to bide time. Even then, I very rarely do this.
Most of my game is spent on defense: I capture as many systems as I can really on, them assemble defensive fleets to protect the colonies.
Once I have enough defense to cover the line, I just bide my time until much later in the game. During this time, I focus on building my economy, and pushing to get Battlecruisers and Heavy Transports. Once I have enough of each, then the fun begins.
The way I see it, is you can spend countless time, money, and resources building cheap Invasion vessels which die off quickly, OR you can bide your time and build an invasion fleet that will completely steamroll over some Xeno filth. My fleet of Invaders took out a well established Xeno system and took less than 20 damage BETWEEN the 6 of them.
My call is to bide your time until you have ships that won't die after 3-4 invasions.
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Post by eternalheathen on Jul 17, 2015 15:31:12 GMT -5
I always base my invasion timetable on income and treasury. It doesn't matter to me how many planets the xeno have or how many xenos are on the map. If I can; field two invasion ship fleets of 8, plus 2 alternates, one 8 ship fleet of refuelers, two 1/4/1/1 boarder/fighter/refuel/repair squads, and at least one heavy battlecruiser; and still make at least 2k profit with at least 50k in the treasury, it's on. Roll the xeno into a tasty burrito and prepare to devour.
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Post by tenbsmith on Jul 17, 2015 17:23:50 GMT -5
En1gma and eternalheathen like to wait. It seems many of the more experienced players posting here use that approach. But, would you wait with Xeno on the doorstep of your primes?
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Post by En1gma on Jul 17, 2015 18:37:52 GMT -5
Sure, why not? As long as you can kill all the incoming ships, the primes are just like any other system. I might build a few invasion ships just to harass them and hopefully purge the system, but I wouldn't make it my primary focus.
Other people may feel differently about this, but I typically don't have many issues fending them off when they're right next to me. Just make sure you keep the system's FDF, PDF, etc up to snuff.
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Post by eternalheathen on Jul 17, 2015 18:45:02 GMT -5
En1gma and eternalheathen like to wait. It seems many of the more experienced players posting here use that approach. But, would you wait with Xeno on the doorstep of your primes? I practice aggressive expansion and exploration in the early game, with an eye to creating buffer planets around my primes and on likely xeno attack vectors. If the xeno are on my doorstep, then something went horribly wrong. Or I'm drunk gaming. Is there a certain map that makes your scenario likely? I'm mopping up on the garden, that'd be a nice challenge. |
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Post by eternalheathen on Jul 17, 2015 18:49:43 GMT -5
Sure, why not? As long as you can kill all the incoming ships, the primes are just like any other system. I might build a few invasion ships just to harass them and hopefully purge the system, but I wouldn't make it my primary focus. Other people may feel differently about this, but I typically don't have many issues fending them off when they're right next to me. Just make sure you keep the system's FDF, PDF, etc up to snuff. FDF, Pdf, etc. Are actually an afterthought for me. Completely surrounded on garden, I kept defensive squads at main assault points and pickets between them. The very few times WK'S hit my planets it was because I didn't check the field before rushing to hit end turn. |
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Post by En1gma on Jul 17, 2015 18:58:55 GMT -5
I use the PDF as a backup, should I forget to check the field... Rare is the chance that Xeno actually make it to my systems.
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Post by eternalheathen on Jul 17, 2015 22:45:41 GMT -5
So I've been thinking about this post in the back of my head all day...
Scenario maps: one of your colony ships starts off on the opposite side of the map, with xenos between, do you settle your ships where they stand and link the empire later, try to bring them together then colonize?
Your starting fleet is in complete dead space with nothing around it, and xeno planets/forces blocking your way to settleable areas, except for the planets right there with the xeno planets. Do you blast your way through or settle right next to them and fight it out?
I'm sure there are way more scenarios than this that could change my whole strategy. I had more thoughts but they are currently lost in the void.
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Post by tenbsmith on Jul 19, 2015 18:38:00 GMT -5
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Post by hlo on Jul 20, 2015 13:16:31 GMT -5
The recent changes to invasion make it more difficult to attack the xeno worlds effectively now. After finally done with Garden Hard that took months, I am taking a vacation in Age of Pirates before coming back to ST4x for a new Hard game.
Expand just enough but recon out further early in the game. You don't necessary have to make contacts with the xeno but you should stake out the area of initial expansion. Only build defenses for the outlying systems. My aim was creating neutral zones / DMZ of Dead Worlds to keep my distances from the xeno colonies. Th worked in the past but the new invasion rules make things a lot hard to reach quality of 0.
You need a lot of spare money. 8 transports, couple of tankers, and many escorts before you can take the fight to them.
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Post by odomi on Jul 20, 2015 17:04:55 GMT -5
The last game I had was VS 2 xenos, 150x50map
I scout early, colonize near, inside or beyond their network of colonies.
Send a bunch of fighters, repair carrier and maybe 1 or 2 torp cruisers.
This will attract any new xeno ships they build, keeping them away from my main system as I expand. Keep a tight defensive formation in the green for auto repair and refuel. When they retreat, it means either you out-number them or out-tech them. I will wait a few turns for them to bunch up somewhere and then I hunt them down.
On higher diffculty, I wait till I got angelic drop ship as minimum requirement.
As for the original topic, I wait till I get 3k income and 100k in the bank. So my finances dictates when I invade.
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AA
Templar
Torps away!
Posts: 1,382 
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Post by AA on Jul 20, 2015 18:31:00 GMT -5
The last game I had was VS 2 xenos, 150x50map I scout early, colonize near, inside or beyond their network of colonies. Send a bunch of fighters, repair carrier and maybe 1 or 2 torp cruisers. This will attract any new xeno ships they build, keeping them away from my main system as I expand. Keep a tight defensive formation in the green for auto repair and refuel. When they retreat, it means either you out-number them or out-tech them. I will wait a few turns for them to bunch up somewhere and then I hunt them down. On higher diffculty, I wait till I got angelic drop ship as minimum requirement. As for the original topic, I wait till I get 3k income and 100k in the bank. So my finances dictates when I invade. actually only one or two ships is enough to distract the xeno. |
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Post by odomi on Jul 20, 2015 20:06:29 GMT -5
I know that, but that would be a waste of time. This way, I can keep an eye on them and not have any infestation. My strategy is more for end game.
I don't know how it would fair in the garden at impossible.
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