Matrix Games Forums

Hello!
Here's some game experience:


I often start meritocracy-trade-mind, as it suits my playstyle.

During my games I managed to get accustomed to some habits in early-mid game.

*First check Decisions, make decisions and then move your troops. I managed to get some nice synergy from people who wanted borders and conquering their city simultaneously upping those profiles.

* as soon as you can raise taxes: Raise taxes. Money will come in, the economy will pay your troops.

*With research councils I will always go 35/65 % discovery/research first. Those 65 will go into discovery anyway as there is nothing to research and as soon as something is discovered, it will get researched subito. And all techs in early game are good.

* Use your covert ops cards. Often. After you expanded your borders a bit and got lucky and did not have a slaver neighbor, use Send Spy, Send Spy team or Send Spy Ring every time you get lucky on the roll to acquire these strat cards. Your scouts have managed to get next to a border, but you do not have an actual border to that territory? Spy! Your units have 2 hex view range but only liberate the hexes next to them. Better be safe than sorry. With a bit of luck in your leaders, you get a crit - that is 50 over the threshold number - on sending the team, getting double the agents deployed. With 1 spy you get info about the minors orientation; raider, farmer, mutant, slaver, theocracy,etc. With 3 you get full intel on the territory, city, road map, hex perks. With spies you expand your range of view, see monsters and units and their stats.


*Conquering cities: When I get a new city, I immediately raise the public spending to 10 Credits per month and invest 500 Cr to make the tranport hub public, opinion is down, so that's the best time to do it. As soon as the governor is chosen, if I have a Zoo, Private investment, Commercial Project, Investor backing or other Zone strategem, this is played. Most of those cards can be played 3x, so you get the public opinion of those barbarians quick. And I strategic move some backwater militia for garrison use in. I take time to add via Z some hex perks that add loyalty -Hot Baths for example - to the new zone.
When happiness is >85 that zone gets to be made into a regular zone, getting cultural adaption quick and easy because we have all the luxuries, Zoos, etc. And then the taxes flow.

* Because I hate slavers, I spy their borders, but do not have one actually. I managed to pull that stunt off with relative ease twice. Once I opened only one hex with a bike militia - bikes do not liberate adjacent territory - because I had to, then blocked the slaver swarm with it until I got my light tank battalion raised, in positionand THEN declared war. Beware, slavers will rip off some off your population when they declare war. I saw 70.000 go into slavery in one game!

* Once you get intel on the major regimes, you see their mindset. Militarists will go to war with you, for sure, sometime. In my recent game managed to raise my relation with said regime consistently over 45 with the 'Plea for Friendship' covert ops strat card until I was ready to make the first strike against him. I just hoped that the ~30 relation war scenario works for the AI as well. Can someone confirm that?

* I will deliberately send weak leaders or troublemakers onto suicide missions. Release that governor, make him leader of the infantry battallion next to those tanks and let him attack.

* I close off a lot of roads. And check them regularly. Slow and steady, slow and steady.

*I got accustomed to those hotkeys:

1 - units invisible
6 - supply layer
Z - draw zone borders
P - supply preview
M - Move
I - Investigate
S - Strategic move along roads
A - Artillery

The G is a trap! I often fell for it and Group moved units I wanted to move seperatedly. Do not G!

*Cultist units: I love me some Mystic Priests. Readiness never goes below 75 (?).Add 2 to your strike forces!


*I read in a thread that someone had a good experience in rejecting leaders of factions that do not suit him. I can support that, but in early game you often just want 'a' leader.


That's it for now, hope that helps someone!

"*With research councils I will always go 35/65 % discovery/research first. Those 65 will go into discovery anyway as there is nothing to research and as soon as something is discovered, it will get researched subito. And all techs in early game are good. "
There is one issue with that idea: What if the tech the discover is useless for you at that moment?

Once you got 3 techs in a group Reserached, you unlock the next group(s). Wich adds so many techs to discover, you are prone to never draw the right tech with Discovery.

Of coruse, starting at T4 wehre you at least start with Power Generation makes it a lot easier.

"* Use your covert ops cards. Often. After you expanded your borders a bit and got lucky and did not have a slaver neighbor, use Send Spy, Send Spy team or Send Spy Ring every time you get lucky on the roll to acquire these strat cards. "
Having gone for a "Secret Service Council first" approach, I can only confirm that. I ended up with a inspired leader, that basically could only crit succeed on any minors. I never used Spy-Ring,because the Spy-team already critted and gave me 6 Spies.
And with 6 spies I had full scouting of the enemy forces and plenty of chances to interfere in elections of the majors...

"*Conquering cities: When I get a new city, I immediately raise the public spending to 10 Credits per month and invest 500 Cr to make the tranport hub public, opinion is down, so that's the best time to do it"
T1 Truck stop is a must-have for every city.
I am less sure about Public Budget, however. I can not confirm if it even works. Being unincorporated however removes the taxes.

"* I will deliberately send weak leaders or troublemakers onto suicide missions. Release that governor, make him leader of the infantry battallion next to those tanks and let him attack. "
There chance to die in combat depends on their Heroism and Personal Combat.
Personal Combat is also used for the Assasination Stratagem.

You are right with the possibility of maybe getting an unwanted tech with my approach. But it generally saves me the maybe precious 2 PP to change that councils priority. And I play with T3 tech.

I rarely need that Spy ring, too. I go for covert ops council early, but not first. With election dabbling, what is your experience?

I do the public budget routinely, just to be sure that some money gets invested if I happen to not draw the cards I mentioned in the OP. I do this to raise happiness to make that zone a regular zone asap.

ORIGINAL: Maerchen

I rarely need that Spy ring, too. I go for covert ops council early, but not first. With election dabbling, what is your experience?

Just having 6 spies regulary gave me decisions to give some dirt to one of the parties. Basically, I dictated their Political party, without even using the purpose build Stratagem.

The actuall "support party" I only had to drag out when I started to go for a different target faction. Like Swapping those Realpolitikers out for some Syndics, to avoid alliance vs me.