Tactical Micro-management

from Sins Forums
I've just recently learned about this games and I'm thinking about buying it on release day. Before I do, I have one question that I would like answered. I've seen many posts on micro and whether it has a place in this game. These posts usually end up with many people saying "it's not a click-fest yay!", but no one has said whether there is a place for micro in this game.

I play a lot of Rise of Nations (the original) with my friends because I we really enjoy the balance between building a massive economy and deeply tactical battles. I play a very economical game and usually outproduce my main rival by a decent margin. My room-mate sometimes manages to beat me by careful micro of units including intelligent counters and flanking. I really enjoy this "click-fest" element because otherwise I would always beat him and we wouldn't play anymore.

So, I'm really glad that I can now build intelligent fleets and really get the most out of my ability to build big armies, but if I have these big fleets and they're all really smart how can my room-mate hope to win. I don't want to hear the whole "get better at booming argument" because booming should not be the only viable strategy. Can a player who focuses on micro-level control and super-elite units in small numbers hope to compete with an economic juggernaut with light defences and a large late game army?
6,802 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Can a player who focuses on micro-level control and super-elite units in small numbers hope to compete with an economic juggernaut with light defences and a large late game army?


While the AI should be decent at controlling your fleets on a larger scale, a lot of capital ship abilities really shine in situations that the fleet AI isn't that great at (and it's understandable, since it won't think like a hoomun!). So, a player who micromanages his capital ship abilities can have a pretty good chance against a superior-in-numbers opponent who lets the AI do everything ;)
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Micro pays off early game, where generally you have your cap, and about 10 frigates, if you micromanage focused fire on his frigates first, and micromanage your capital ship abilities you can win the first fight easily if the other doesnt do this.

Late game it becomes less important, but the earlier smaller battles determines who gets which territory, and are very important.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Running your cap ship around during combat in the early game can also help win fights (depending on your capship type).
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Dawn of Victory uses this model almost down to a T. All of us really like Rise of Nations and so even if the base game doesn't strike your uber-micro fancy you'll have a mod that we promise will.