Newbie Game

[StCuervo]

Faction: Qa Qa Faction II
Turns: 200
Difficulty: Normal
Opponents: 5 (AROM, Humans, Linkin, Cryokon, Walden)
Type: Very Dense Center
Density: Normal
Size: 75 x 75
Research: Scaled for map size


General Strategy

The Qa Qa get a bonus to Hyperspace research which I intend to take advantage of.  Their victory points come from happiness, so I'll want to stay away from environmentally extreme planets.  I'm basically planning to turtle-up -- build enough of a military so that I am not a target and research anything that will give me a happiness boost (and Hyperspace).


Nomenclature

I name my colonies after booze.  I put the word "Port" in front of it if I intend to build a ship port and mines in that system.  I put the word "Fort" in front of it if I will only build a ship port.  Anything just named after booze will get minimal buildings.

Turns 1-47

Initial Colonies

I start  in the middle of the map towards the South East (Port Cuervo).  The Humans are about 10 squares away from my homeworld to the West-Northwest so we make contact and trade maps right off the bat.  We race toward an ideal system about equidistant between us and our arks arrive at the same time.  The game lets the Humans colonize it.  (Doh!) 

My other starting arks go to a normal habitable world about 15 spaces to the Northwest (Port Johnny Walker) and another about 10 spaces to the Southwest (Port Jack Daniels).

I redirect the first ark to a Barren Rich system with an Oort Clout and Asteroids about four spaces to the Northwest from the new human colony (Sparta) and found Fort Jim Beam.

I split my starting corvettes up and send them each to unexplorered systems and the scout goes out to explore too.


Research

After trading maps with the Humans, I see lots of systems with asteroids and oort clouds nearby.  So I decide to research advanced mining and get asteroid mining done too.  I research basic terraforming for the pop and happiness boost.  I start on Merlins but I am only half done by turn 47.  Those were the only techs I had and, needless to say, my empire was in fifth place for tech.


Expansion

Port Cuervo gets started on more arks, pops a mine down, upgrades to heavy industry and builds three more labs.  I start to upgrade the labs to Hyperspace labs and build a small terraformer.

I found a colony at Wild Turkey, a poor but habitable system south-southwest of Port Cuervo, to open up expansion to a cluster of systems just outside of my range.  In that cluster, I found Port Segram's in an ideal system to the South of Wild Turkey and I found Evan Williams in a poor habitable system in the middle of a big heavy dust cloud inbetween Wild Turkey and Port Segram's.  I didn't really want to found Evan Williams but I didn't want another empire (Cryokons are just to the West) to snag it and cut Port Segram's off from the rest of my empire.

To the east (edge of the map) I found Maker's Mark on a poor habitable system in an attempt to open up that part of the map for exploration and expansion.  Unfortunately the other planets are all extreme environments and resource poor so Maker's Mark is still my eastern boarder on turn 47.

I also founded Knob Creek on a poor habitable system three squares to the West-Northwest of Port Cuervo.  I didn't really want to found this colony either but it was very to my homeworld (the center of my empire) and I didn't want Port Johnny Walker and Fort Jim Beam to be further cut off from my empire (the human system on Sparta partially cuts those systems off).

On turn 47 I have nine systems running North to South a little East of the center of the galaxy in a somewhat jagged line: Port Johnny Walker, Fort Jim Beam, Knob Creek, Port Cuervo, Port Jack Daniels, Wild Turkey, Evan Williams and Port Seagrams with Maker's Mark about 15 spaces due East of Port Cuervo.

I am tied with the Cryokon for most colonies.  The Linkins have 8 colonies, Waldens 7 and Humans and AROM have 5 each.

I am ranked #6 in population.


Finances

I've spent 56,310 and earner 65,113 for the period from turn 1-47.  My next turn projection is 2223 income and 1539 expenditures. 

My biggest expense is building upkeep (760) followed by ship upkeep (384) and building construction (380).

My tax income is 1245 and I make 400 from mining and 255 from trade.

I've been the #1 empire in income since about turn 30 with the Waldens and Humans close behind in second and third place.  I am also the #1 empire in trade income.

I am currently the #3 empire in expenditures but it looks like, though this chart is more erratic, I've been fairly consistently in the middle of the pack for the whole game so far.


Infrastructure

Ports Seagram's, Johnny Walker and Jack Daniels all have mines and starports.  I have one terraformer up and one surface shipyard up on those three planets.

Fort Jim Beam has a surface shipyard.

Evan Williams, Knob Creek, Wild Turkey and Maker's Mark all have no buildings.

My ten transports have been busy shuttling people from Port Cuervo to the other Ports.  Port Cuervo has 47 pop, Port Jack Daniels 24, Fort Jim Beam 22, Port Johnny Walker 17 and the rest less than 5 pop.


Defenses

First the good news: I am the #1 empire in ships with a 26 ship navy.

Now the bad news: 10 of them are the aforementioned transports and 15 are corvettes.  I also have one scout.

The Humans are #2 with about 22 ships, AROM and Linkin are tied with 20 and the Cryokrons are bringing up the rear with 11 ships.

I have 5 light missels on Port Cuervo and militia scattered here and there.


Cartography

As I said, I am located a little east of the center of the galaxy with a line of systems running from North to South and one system off to the east.  The Linkin are located in the Northwest Quadrant, the Cryokon are in the Southwest quadrant, AROM and Humans are clustered around the center -- AROM a little to the West and the Humans a little to the East.  I haven't made contact with the Waldens yet but I'm guessing they are near the Linkins in the Northwest.


Diplomacy

Waldens are allied with Linkin and I am allied with AROM.  I have NAPs with every race for the next 12 turns.


Turn 47

The Humans declared war on AROM and I have been asked to honor our alliance.

[Neutron]

Let us know how it goes

[StCuervo]

Turns 48-100

Background

I accidentally clicked "cancel" on turn 47 and did not declare war on the Humans.  (Oops!)  In hindsight it may have been for the best because my military wasn't quite up to snuff (although it has only gotten worse since then).

The war between AROM and the Humans seems to have stalemated.  According to the charts, the humans have gotten a lot of kills, but I haven't noticed any systems change hands.  (Although, I have only been scouting the area somewhat halfheartedly).

So I am not at war but I am concerned about Human aggressiveness -- they declared war on the Cryokon Empire too and have (somehow) expanded to my Southeast (!?) so I am surrounded by Humans and our systems are intertwined.

I also slipped from #1 to a tie for #2 in victory points with the Humans surpassing me (points from killings in their wars no doubt).  My alliance with AROM is over but I am now allied with the Linkins who have have expanded from the Northwest quadrant of the galaxy to my North.  As I said, I am concerned about Human aggressiveness and I hope the Linkins will be good allies.  I'm leaving AROM to fend for themselves for now but I will try to sell them some of my navy as my newer ships come online.

I've climbed to #3 in population but have slipped to #4 (tie with the Humans) in number of colonies.  I have also fallen to #6 in fleet ranking but I have cued up a lot of missile cruisers and they are in production.


Expansion

I discovered that the Humans had colonized 6 worlds to the Southeast of my Empire.  I was disturbed because I didn't think they had the range to reach those worlds.  (I don't have the range to reach those worlds!)  But somehow they managed to go through me and colonize them.  So now the human empire is to my West and Southeast -- quite unfortunate.

In the face of the Human colony rush, I colonized one more habitable but resource poor world (Old Crow) to ensure that my colony of Maker's Mark wasn't cut off from the rest of my empire.  I have 10 systems which gets me #4 but my population has increased to #3 (probably all the terraforming and weather control I've been doing).


Research

As more labs came online, my research really kicked into gear.  My empire is now ranked #2 behind the Waldens and a little above the Humans.

I have Battlecruisers and Missel Cruisers and can use all wormholes.  Comet mining is mine and advanced weather control too.  The big project I am working on is teleportation with about 20 turns to go.


Finances

I'm making more money than the other races.  I'm bringing in about 6,500 per turn and spending about 3,300 -- still ranked #1 for income and #3 for expenditures.


Infrastructure

I have 10 worlds but am only building on 5 of them: Port Jack Daniels, Port Segram's, Port Cuervo, Port Johnny Walker and Fort Jim Beam.

I have terraforming and weather control up on all of those planets.  I am unsure if I should try to upgrade the workshop to get terraforming and weather control on the other five planets -- not sure if the happiness and growth is worth the cost.  Since I have slipped to #2 in the Victory rankings, however, I will be upgrading two of these resource poor worlds just to see what kind of finance hit I take.  If it isn't so bad, I'll upgrade the other three.

Shipyards are now up and running in all five of my main planets.  Cuervo is specializing in hyperspace research and has a Research Nexus.  Jack Daniels is specializing in construction and has a research center.  Seagram's is going to be specializing in defense.  Johnny Walker is specialized into weapons research and Jim Beam is doing information research -- both with research centers.


Defenses

As I am wont to do in 4X games, I have neglected my military.  I have a small fleet, #6 in navy size, with 2 Dreadnoughts, 12 Merlins, 15 Corvettes.  Missile cruisers are cued up in all my ports however.  I have five large missiles in all my Port colonies and five small missiles in every colony.

I'm not sure where to position my ships since the Humans are everywhere.  I have 3 Merlins or Corvettes at each planet (Merlins around the important planets, corvettes around the rest) but I realize this is pathetic.  The Dreadnoughts are in orbit around Port Cuervo in the center of my empire.  Really not sure how to position the navy.


Plan for the next 50 turns

Build military!!!  Get a tech lead and maintain it.  Work on happiness to get back into #1 on victory points.  Consider war against Humans if they continue to be a problem.

[StCuervo]

Let us know how it goes

I will.

Anyone feel free to give me advice.  This is only my 3rd game of Armada and I am determined to play it to the end even if I loose.  I'm still trying to learn so I am sure I have made a bunch of mistakes in the above.

[Iceman]

I am unsure if I should try to upgrade the workshop to get terraforming and weather control on the other five planets -- not sure if the happiness and growth is worth the cost.  Since I have slipped to #2 in the Victory rankings, however, I will be upgrading two of these resource poor worlds just to see what kind of finance hit I take.  If it isn't so bad, I'll upgrade the other three.

Well, it's not easy to figure if this is worth it or not. It depends a lot on the Habitability of the system.
In order to get Basic Terraformer and Basic Weather Controller on a system, you need Heavy Industry, which adds *2* Pollution, effectively cancelling out the +2 Happiness you'll get from the 2 structures - and actually worsening your situation during the turns it takes to build them.
The other bonus, +2% growth, well, with low pop it's hardly noticeable.
Factor in the increased upkeep for industry and the structures, and the 2 slots - which you still may be able to make more of them if you can upgrade the structures (according to system type) at the expense of having to upgrade to Tech Complex (higher upkeep). And notice that in resource Poor systems structures cost almost double to build, and taxes are lower - even offworld mining is at 75% income.
Also notice that the Happiness increase is local, so if the system has low pop the VP increase (though cumulative) might not be relevant for the trouble - meaning it might not even make a difference in an empire wide level (average).

[StCuervo]

Hi Iceman,

I noticed that the +2 pollution canceled out the +2 happiness.  So I think it probably wasn't worth the added expense to get the (small) population growth rate boost.

I've finished the game and I ended up in financial trouble at the end.  I went from $100,000 in the bank on turn 100 to <$200 by turn 190.

I ended up upgrading my mines to get more money and I expected to take a VP hit from the extra pollution but it didn't happen even though the charts showed my net happiness fell.  (I ended up winning the game.)  So I'm not sure how the VP for happiness is calculated....

... it seems to be weighted by population but my bigest planets

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have built on barren worlds at all.  Once the population gets up, I guess I am making money on each system.  But what do I loose from the added bureaucracy?  Although some of those planets opened up parts of the map for more exploration so it is a balancing act I guess.

I'll have to try the Qa Qa again with just a few planets.  I ended up with 13 or 14 worlds on that game but only 5 of them were really important systems.

I'll post my final update a little later.
-sc

[Neutron]

VP for happiness are calculated is calculated by summing the population of each colony multiplied by the happiness on that colony. So small worlds don't matter much, whether they're happy or not.
Best way to get VPs is to build lots of Entertainment Centers on your high pop worlds

[Iceman]

I ended up upgrading my mines to get more money and I expected to take a VP hit from the extra pollution but it didn't happen even though the charts showed my net happiness fell.  (I ended up winning the game.)  So I'm not sure how the VP for happiness is calculated....

Well, when ground mines are involved, the picture gets darker. You'll need to build all the upgrades of Terraformers and Weather Controllers to balance Happiness (and that requires Tech Complex, and more upkeep), AND you'll get a growth rate penalty which kind of goes against what you want.
For crowd control, lowering taxes (Popularity though, not Happiness) is a better bet.

The VP calculation is rather simple, as Neutron pointed out. Plus, a clean Habitable (Hab 5) system gets 50% base "happiness" (VP happiness - it gets somewhat confusing using the same word for 2 things that even though related, are used for different things), and you get +/-5% per Happiness point (the colony stat happiness). Your homeworld, being Ideal (Hab 8 ), starts with 65% happiness.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have built on barren worlds at all.  

In the end it depends on wether you're playing for VPs, or just playing for conquest. If the latter, forget about all the fancy stuff.

But what do I loose from the added bureaucracy?

Bureaucracy decreases your Popularity (not Happiness), and increases your expenses. You can compensate in various ways, namely through Security (Marines, Sec ctrs, gd att ships) or Popularity measures (taxes, etc). The contribution of Happiness towards Popularity is capped at 3, so not all systems can use that. Notice that Happiness above 3 doesn't help Popularity, but it does count towards VP calculation (capped at 100%).

Although some of those planets opened up parts of the map for more exploration so it is a balancing act I guess.

I'll have to try the Qa Qa again with just a few planets.  I ended up with 13 or 14 worlds on that game but only 5 of them were really important systems.

This last game I played, small map, I only had 5 colonies by turn ~50; 3 were Rich, including my homeworld, and the other 2 were Normal Ideal. I actually colonized 2 other systems, both Poor Barren, to extend range, but uncolonized them asap (first thing I did was scrapping the CW). I could have kept them, as I was only losing a bit of taxes from the 2 pop, but there was really no point (other than the # of colonies chart, heh).