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Dispersed is for Major Ai's, although depending on the map they aren't actually that far away. I typically find the nemesis is close to my doorstep hoping he isn't set to blackmail. Although honestly I'd be happy if an ai was that close, well a tad further for danger unless you have tank tech to breakthrough quick.


Are you playing on tech 3 militia only starts(I'm guessing aggressive ai?)? Maybe download pyomus's map gen world(or mod export it yourself from ingame, this data is changed a lot with new major/minor patches but won't break saves, it will stop you from making a new map if it has missing data) and increase the size of land zones then they can't start next to you.(Modding is great, 125, 175 is pretty good, most is to 100.) It may also be the oceania worlds. I play with the 3 mid settings in history class severe, nemesis, spread out and maybe life. Stress adds to many zones. 40 is prime. Or maybe some strong non aligned on outpost would be cool. Really if you are seeing a lot of zones know that you are going to be close together and should maybe restart the gen.

Midcore seems to have logistics go everywhere as long as it exists but the lack of traffic signs made me give up on it. Yeah you don't need them but it hurts seeing logistics flow without signs. It at least makes logistics closer to equal to ai logistics.

AnddyiRaynor wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:22 pm Dispersed is for Major Ai's, although depending on the map they aren't actually that far away. I typically find the nemesis is close to my doorstep hoping he isn't set to blackmail. Although honestly I'd be happy if an ai was that close, well a tad further for danger unless you have tank tech to breakthrough quick.


Are you playing on tech 3 militia only starts(I'm guessing aggressive ai?)? Maybe download pyomus's map gen world(or mod export it yourself from ingame, this data is changed a lot with new major/minor patches but won't break saves, it will stop you from making a new map if it has missing data) and increase the size of land zones then they can't start next to you.(Modding is great, 125, 175 is pretty good, most is to 100.) It may also be the oceania worlds. I play with the 3 mid settings in history class severe, nemesis, spread out and maybe life. Stress adds to many zones. 40 is prime. Or maybe some strong non aligned on outpost would be cool. Really if you are seeing a lot of zones know that you are going to be close together and should maybe restart the gen.

Midcore seems to have logistics go everywhere as long as it exists but the lack of traffic signs made me give up on it. Yeah you don't need them but it hurts seeing logistics flow without signs. It at least makes logistics closer to equal to ai logistics.

I don't understand most of what you are saying, as I am not familiar with the names or numbers you are quoting. I am playing one zone with two formations. I shouldn't have to mod a game to make it playable; it should come that way. Having a minor capital within three hexes right at the start means my two formations are tied down immediately in a siege (as I've yet to see odds better than 1:1 in these situations, as the minor inevitably has a ton of units stacked on the capital). Leaving me with a few militias to deal with the ravaging aliens I know are coming, because this seems to draw them like flies to a pile of crap. Restarting a game set up constantly to try to get a start that doesn't have another nation or a mass of aliens waiting to overrun me the first turn is annoying at best.

I suggest picking a tech 4 start in the planet generation settings. Then you start with the ability to produce light tanks, and a single battalion of those can break most minor regime stacks.

havoc1371 wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 5:13 pm I started a new game. Selected "simplified logistics". I don't see anything different in the game, so what does this do? Just give me more points but still requires the same tedious management of supply lines manually?

"Easier Logistics" doubles the production of logistics points. "Midcore Logistics" makes it so full logistics is sent each way at intersections instead of getting divided up, but logistics point use on any branch is deducted from all the branches, the net effect being that you get the optimal amount of logistics possible with your logistics assets everywhere without having to direct it with traffic signs.

Didn't get far as the game started with a minor capital only 3 hexes from mine and while I was surrounding it, spawned a massive alien unit between my troops and my capital in my controlled area and completely cut off all my units by eating up all the hexes between my capital city hex and my units. I just quit the game in frustration.

As far as I know, there is no way for aliens to spawn in the middle of your territory. Rebels from your regime can, if your leaders or population are angry at you (you will be notified when a rebellion starts), and there are a few events that can spawn enemy units there depending on the option you pick in the decision (Dr. Frankenstein, AI mainframe, pirates on the coast if playing with the Oceania DLC enabled).

Soar_Slitherine wrote: Thu Nov 30, 2023 8:11 am I suggest picking a tech 4 start in the planet generation settings. Then you start with the ability to produce light tanks, and a single battalion of those can break most minor regime stacks.

havoc1371 wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 5:13 pm I started a new game. Selected "simplified logistics". I don't see anything different in the game, so what does this do? Just give me more points but still requires the same tedious management of supply lines manually?

"Easier Logistics" doubles the production of logistics points. "Midcore Logistics" makes it so full logistics is sent each way at intersections instead of getting divided up, but logistics point use on any branch is deducted from all the branches, the net effect being that you get the optimal amount of logistics possible with your logistics assets everywhere without having to direct it with traffic signs.

Didn't get far as the game started with a minor capital only 3 hexes from mine and while I was surrounding it, spawned a massive alien unit between my troops and my capital in my controlled area and completely cut off all my units by eating up all the hexes between my capital city hex and my units. I just quit the game in frustration.

As far as I know, there is no way for aliens to spawn in the middle of your territory. Rebels from your regime can, if your leaders or population are angry at you (you will be notified when a rebellion starts), and there are a few events that can spawn enemy units there depending on the option you pick in the decision (Dr. Frankenstein, AI mainframe, pirates on the coast if playing with the Oceania DLC enabled).

Selecting a higher tech level is just saying the player can't handle the basic settings. A player shouldn't have to give themselves a bunch of cheats to simply play the game.

So simplified logistics is really just a cheat. I'd prefer an AI advisor to let me know where to place logistical items to best support my supply, or to tell me how to fix a bottleneck problem.

As far as I could tell, the alien appeared smack in the middle of my controlled space. I cleared everywhere within 4-5 hexes except that enemy capital 3 hexes away and suddenly there was something two hexes from my capital that moved across and cut off all my troops. Seems like anytime I make progress the aliens seem to work in concert with the minor and major nations to attack me.

havoc1371 wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 6:07 pm Just started another game with the "dispersed" setting and here I am again with another nation spawning just hexes away from my capital. Is this game broke? I've played about a dozen games now with "spread out" setting and almost every one starts with enemy on my doorstep.

That's normal, Spread out appears to do nothing most of the time

Voker57 wrote: Fri Dec 01, 2023 12:14 pm

havoc1371 wrote: Wed Nov 29, 2023 6:07 pm Just started another game with the "dispersed" setting and here I am again with another nation spawning just hexes away from my capital. Is this game broke? I've played about a dozen games now with "spread out" setting and almost every one starts with enemy on my doorstep.

That's normal, Spread out appears to do nothing most of the time

Seems to be more than a few features in this game that don't actually do anything.

I will try to help (if my english is bad - do not kill me xD)

1. First you need to ask yourself if you want to invest time in this game. The game is hard looking at most of games available today - steam is never ending (you have a manual with 410 pages). There is some reasons why this game is hard and in niche:
- Simulation - the game is trying to model some realistic features so we have more insteresting choices (it is not Starcraft when you buy a single unit and move it around). These games generally have more code development inside than graphic designs so you need to learn how it works - sometimes by your own experience
- Military - you have opprotunity to manage unit formations with corresponding HQ in specific terrain. People who play military board games would be happy here - you have advantage/disadvantage in some hexes and the composition of troops is very important
- Sandbox - every map is unique and nobody played the same planet twice. Of course some random attributes might be unfair but it is a challange to adapt to a new enviroment (and there is a lot of it)

2. How to start better?
- create more friendly planet - maybe something similar to Earth or just empty Moon
- start Tech 4 or 5. Generally I think tech-3 is Hard Difficulty, tech-4 is Normal Difficulty, tech-5 is Easy Difficulty. It is not a cheat to play easy/story mode game
- turn off Air Units - you do not really need it at this moment
- turn off Oceania DLC if you have it - same as above
- turn off Nemesis
- turn off Alien Life - less wild creatures is ok, they might be annoying and you do not want to have a '16m metalic wyrm' or 'immortal werewolf' around..
- turn off Survival Stress - less AI is good so you can focus on yourself
- maybe turn on Outpost Colony - in my opinion you as a player can manage better smaller population than AI - with big population there is a lot of troops

I don't know much about "Easier logistics" but you can try it

3. Logistics (what is important for me)
- everything you do need some logistics - building, gathering resources, supplying units - try to not do everything at once
- trucks should not be private (they are weak in numbers and range)
- trucks generally have 100 Action Points (sometimes 110?), on dirt road they can move up to 10 hexes (sealed roads are much better) - at 10th hex you need a supply depot for better range or new truck station
- if you have a big mine use rail - just like in real life everything heavy by train
- if you have a frontline more than 10-15 hexes away from city it is better to use train and at the end the next truck station for distribution
- generally in combat I am trying to have 1 level of truck station for every 2 brigades if they are shooting (you can try: one fights one is resting)
- if you attack more then more ammunition need to be delivered
- sometimes supply can disappear (something have higher priority at the moment) but it will go back to normal eventually - so try not to find a hole in the system because you will be fine

4. Other tips (some from manual)
- militia is for security and support tasks - do not rely on them
- infantry is mostly for defense - without 'ranged weapon' it have reduced attack value by 50%.. so just camp around enemies so they attack you (MG infantry is good in it)
- recon is very important - not only to know where is enemy, what is enemy and how many but for tactical purpose - in this system if you do not have a good recon the enemy units can have up to 3x more hitpoints when defending
- check if enemy is a soft targer or hard target - you need appriopriate weapon and caliber for it
- in version 1.25 AI is more challenging and is 'thinking' better - if you don't attack them they might just leave you alone
- combat odds are not the result, it is the first prediction and it also depends on your recon
- it is slow game, if you rush too much you lose

I am not calculating the game - it is not excel. It is hard to find a game with good logistics system - I like this one

And remember it is not a AAA game with huge budget and micro-transactions - for every tip, tutorial and upgrade you need patience