What should've been an easy comp stomp...

TEC: Economy
Advent: Military
Vasari: Mobility

1. The Akkan is not an offensive ship though it is a nice fleet booster and is a huge help to colonization.

2. Assuming you have 5 planets at the time which you should if you are doing it right...

3. Sometimes..  It depends.  If you are being fed, then why not go for them and a dual Halcyon rush simultaneously.  The combination crushes opponents and people are only beginning to understand how to counter intelligent users.

4. Yeah, probably...  You don't need that many labs that early.. Illuminators are a much better bet..

5. Yes, it can.  Marza for instance has MB.  The Sova can also be used to rush an opponent thanks to Embargo and Deploy Missile Batteries.

6. Both influence it, but if you have an enemy  next door, don't try to boom.  You will be rushed and you will die.

 

Unfairs are not like humans.  Humans will create counters, not just a predetermined amount.

My buddies and I do comp stomps all the time, it's not too bad once you get the hang of it (so long as someone doesn't mess up to bad).  Here's a couple tips for comp stomping:

 

1) You're humans, and you're a team, so communicate!  Coordinate your attacks and defenses.

 

2) Try to establish just a couple choke points where at least two of you have built a starbase.  That way if something gets messed up and you get pushed back you have a bottleneck to rally at.  Even the best AI fleets struggle with two decent starbases, and if you focus on cap ships the rest of their fleet will usually break and run.  (Starbases in general work like gang busters against the AI, max out the HP as quick as you can and let it soak up the damage while your fleets take out Cap ships and otehr high priority targets).

 

3) Make sure that you divide up the planets and such during the initial expansion, don't shaft your teammates by gobbling up all the good places, and then share the ones you conquer.

TEC has cheap units and great repairs.  Their end-game economy is superior, but early and mid-game they're about the same as everyone else.

Advent is sheer power, that much you have correct.  They also tend to favour a high degree of synergies, stacking multiple bonuses to create powerful fleets.  As a result, splitting up their fleet into two smaller groups usually disadvantages Advent.

Vasari is about mobility and versatility.  They've got the best starbase and are well equipped for geurilla war.  Small specialized groups are how they work best.  They're a little weak early game, and are by far the best at killing capital ships.

 

As economizer, you should normally have trade ports by 50 minutes regardless of your faction.  If you're in a front-line position (that is, you're actively fighting an enemy) then when you go for trade is up to you.  Often times I don't touch trade at all for the entire game when I'm on the front lines; it's simply too expensive to set up in these cases.

 

Nope; this is a solid strategy.  Like any strategy it has its upsides and downsides, but it's definitely a solid opener.

 

Depends on the distance to your nearest opponent.  If you're on the front lines, most likely this is the case.  The TEC are probably the best faction for fast heavies anyways.

 

Whether you play offensive or defensive has much more to do with your strategic position than your faction.  TEC definitely can be played offensively, as can Advent and Vasari.

 

Your faction has little to no bearing on whether you go economizer or aggressor.  It's all about your strategic position. 

 

I'm surprised the AI was able to cream you guys.  Where you using repair bays?  The AI seldom uses them, but they are by far the best defenses in the game.

 

 

 

 

We didn't get creamed, but to say you were even beaten by a hard comp with even players it might as well be the same thing.

Also the map was Razors Edge, so it's close quarters. Does this change the approach? I assumed you'd still have two on offense and one economizer even on a small map.

So most of the points are correct (althought I didn't go into the detail yall did), but a lot of people disagree on 3. You can rush to illum, but you'd better start making a fleet when you get there?
Ya? or No?

If you each had an enemy, then a simultaneous rush ought to work.

Don't feel bad, I won a 3v3 PvP match that turned into a 1v2 PvP against decent players with two AI allies on my side and one AI ally on their side. My teammates dropped in the first 10 minutes. I think the first one dropped after watching our teammate in a good position to rush camp until he had three Halcyon's built (I was curious to watch and see what he would do actually). The Halcyon builder dropped after the first dropped leaving me 1v3. The third guy dropped on their team after I wiped out his dual egg and twenty assailants. He was able to take out one of my low level halcyon's though.

I would have doubts that a pure economizer is needed on a smaller map like this. It would probably be just as efficient to purchase health upgrades on planets and do the civil researches that increase planet population after fleeting up. I might have one of the rear line players put a culture center up too.

I prefer to fill my fleet spots against the AI early. That means ten or so disciples,cobalts,etc early then adding LRM's with the next fleet upgrade, then adding carrier support. I would probably mix in a second capital ship too, maybe a carrier or a siege cap later depending. The AI sometimes gets creative with it's fleet composition so be prepared to counter it.

This map is going to see a lot of early AI activity. You will need repair bays (overlapping), turrents with the repair bays to keep them engaged. If you can control the two choke point asteroids on this map you should have a distinct advantage. I would have the aggressor attack those two roids and skip the ice/volcano (no civic labs). I would have the middle player take the two adjacent ice/volcano and the asteroid adding fleet as he is able to the front lines. The third rear player should probably expand forward through the roid then the ice/volcanic and engage with the aggressor on the front. Be aggressive with the AI, it will most likely come with a larger fleet than yours so you will need fleet and defensive structures to counter that.

Try not to use the black market too, work together see if you can share resources you need. Also, try not to sell/buy resources to queue up multiple ships/research etc. Monitor when it completes you may have the needed funds by then without selling/buying. Early game this can provide a huge benefit to your economy.

Yes, Razors Edge is a small map.  Only 3 planets per player.  (So tradeports and Econ are less effective).  It has a few great chokepoints.  This map is more about rushing, and taking one or more of the AI's planets before thier superior econ leads to an insurmountable advantage (hard gets 1.5 times the income/resources).  Limited logistic slots means less civil orientation, and maybe lower military tech, or only military.  But get it out fast.  Maybe only 1 guy goes eco, and feeds the other 2.  Maybe put a starbase on their volcano before they can colonize it.  The AI will build too many LFs, so build LRFs to counter.  Teching straight to Advent Illums is a great strategy.  One lab for Vasari Assailants, and 2 labs for their starbase can also be a great advantage against the AI.  I wouldn't go for HCs here (Heavy Cruisers).

You know, a team comp stomp in Diplomacy on hard I would actually be interested in, just so I could get acquainted with team play.  Is there a particular place where I find like-minded people?

If that's the map I'm thinking of, then all it really means is that Vasari are at a disadvantage.  Yeah, two on offense one on economy is normal for this map, but as zombiesRus says it's a little tight even for one dedicated eco.  The pocket is so tightly cramped that you'd have trouble really booming there, and trade not even be viable.  That said, lab space is so precious that you'd probaly want one (and only one) player to get civic labs in order to access the ice and volcanics so the others can focus military.


Definitely.  If you rush to illums, the reason you're doing this is because you're going to build them in large numbers.

TEC is just as offensive as any other race.  All races are offensive.  Don't fall into the thinking that TEC isn't offensive.