Early game crap

[morganja]

I keep bouncing off this game due to two highly annoying early game mechanisms. First, the fact that every neighbor gloms towards your capital with every single unit they have. I am guessing that since they have five or more units all bee-lining towards your capital from every direction, none of them actually defend their own capitals, or branch out in any other direction.
The fact that I can't keep a two hex range around my capital free from enemy units in the first 10 turns is just stupid. They take your territory, but you can't fight back against them without declaring war. It makes zero sense.

Secondly, the 'ambushes' are another terrible mechanic. Again, they ambush and attack your apparently blind troops, but that isn't an act of war? How? What? Why?

It would be nice if my neighbors all didn't send every single unit towards my capital taking my territory without repercussions. How about, I don't know, if my neighbor sends every single soldier they have towards my capital, their neighbor goes and takes theirs? Or perhaps, even better, dial down the initial insane aggression.

Instead of ambushes by 'neutral' parties, just end movement? Because, if someone shoots and kills someone else's troops. that is an act of war? No?

[KingHalford]

Other players seem to have passed this point of the game though. Assuming you're interested in some assistance, if you tell us your game settings and the kind of map you tend to play on, I or others will likely be able to help you past that early game point.

It is true that occasionally a start can be particularly brutal. Without knowing anything else, I'd advise you start with 1 Army in your starting zone. You don't have to have it but it can help a lot if you're immediately neighbouring hostile regimes (which isn't always the case)

[KingHalford]

Ambushes make sense. They only happen if you're intruding on territory that isn't your own, and a war declaration isn't necessary when you've got such "indeterminate" borders. The other issue you've discussed can be mitigated by not pissing off the AI all at once. I'd advise not trying to push into too many AI territories at once. Farmers will usually take a lot of provocation before they'll declare war, but other more aggresive minors can do it if they feel you're taking even small amounts of territory from them. Majors aren't automatically hostile either.

All of this is highly dependent on game settings and the planet you're on, as always with this game.

[bvoid]

The game is a bit of a noob trap - it should have a warning about settings. If you play on minimum tech start with no troops it can be very difficult! You may have to turtle until you can build up - this will be frustrating for new players.

Instead start at tech 4 with 1 brigade per zone. All those neutral units are militia trash and are mostly a speed bump.

Even better - you don't need to fight them at all a lot of the time. Diplo annex them and get loads of free trash militia - useful for pushing borders etc.

[DasTactic]

As the others have said, the game takes a little time to get used to when you start playing. If you are playing on planets with rough terrain (mountains, hills, forests etc) then you will need a lot more recon on tiles to see if anything is there (usually around 70+). Plains and deserts require a lot less (usually 40). Some aliens also have camouflage which makes them even more challenging to spot.

In the early game, the units you start with should be large enough to push back the borders by 1 hex. If the border doesn't push back, you can assume a unit is hiding there. Don't walk into these hexes until you get higher recon.

The Major AI doesn't specifically target you. They do their own thing until they declare war. Then they will try to cut off your supplies. The Minor AI will usually try to cut off your supply if they can depending on what sort of AI they are. Specifically, Raiders, Slavers, Nomads, Sentinals and some aliens will try to encroach into your territory as that is how they expand. They only expand at the expense of Major players (you and the Major AI) but they don't build new units. So you need to wear them down. A good way to do this is with Buggys because they are really cheap, have extra supplies, have reasonable protection, and are good against most Minor AI units except Sentinels. They also dramatically improve your recon.

The game is awesomely great once you get past the initial learning curve so I hope you stick with it.

[SamuraiProgrmmr]

I struggled with the same issues that you are describing. Later, when I understood how to survive the first 10 turns or so, I started struggling with other things. Those problems also went away with more understanding. The truth is that this is a serious, in-depth, no holds barred wargame.

It is true that some (well, I'll just say it - many) game starts are extremely difficult bordering on untenable. Crafting a game start that gives you a decent chance (or even a small advantage) can be useful when learning this game.

Here are the things I try to do in order to make the game a little more approachable:

Broad Strokes Goals :
* Create a planet with open water - this is one less thing to limit your growth
* Create a planet with lots of ruins - this helps with gathering artifacts - the most important of which may be the automated cloning facility.

Choices :

* Normal Planet Size
* Unclassified Planetary Class
* History Class - unselect all except for Spread Out which should be selected
* Generation Settings
* * Detailed Planet generation
* * Know map, otherwise complete (personal preference)
* * 1 human player
* * City State start
* * 1 Army per Zone
* * No story modules
* * Tech Level 3 (others may disagree but I think it helps when learning)
* * Development Speed - Normal
* * Organizational Level - Only Supreme Command Council
* * Difficulty Level - Regular (I have read that Beginner will teach you bad habits)
* * Game Variants - None
* Planetology - looking for the following (re roll as needed until you get it)
* * Temperature - something reasonably close to livable (encourages colonization which will become important)
* * Planet Age - 3 billion years or more
* Geology (re roll as needed until you get)
* * Mountains less than 20% or so (optimally 15% or lower)
* * Oceans - at least some - the more the better
* Biosphere (re roll as needed until you get)
* * Low (or None) Atmos Human Hazard
* * NO sentient life forms
* * very low (or None) Xenobiological Hazard
* * Not a large or dangerous 'Top Of Evolution Lifeform'
* Colonization - re roll as needed until you get close to (or above) 1 Billion
* Apocalypse - re roll as needed until you get at least 2 million - the more the better


If you are on a particular step and can't seem to get a desired roll after many tries, start the whole process over.

With a planet generated like this, you should have the following qualities -

Lots of ruins, some of which will have a chance for artifacts
Plenty of population so you can grow as needed
Open water to prevent having to build ice mines in order to grow

Give that a try and see if it is not a little easier to get established.

I urge you to continue climbing Mt. Learning Curve. This is the most satisfying wargame I have played. Good Luck.

[eddieballgame]

One of the, many, pluses of this great game is just how brutal one can allow for his/her gaming pleasure.
Of course, one needs to have paid his/her dues via play time in order to be able to handle the tougher planet setups.
In the beginning, watching videos by DasTactic, for example, were invaluable & now...the tougher the better.