Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

Well it didnt feel like a "winning" strategy anyway. But it seems like its good for my "deck of tricks". It might be a one-shot in a game but in certain circumstances its (like having a dozen "dreadnoughts" while he is still trying to finish his first) it could gain you a small advantage you can capitalize on.

I just realized (from a post on the SEIV discussion list) that it duplicates the old SEIII build-queue arrangement.

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

So here's what you do, construct the dreadnought with a repair bay, begin the retrofit at the spaceyard, then send it on its way. Then it will repair in transit, and have something ready whenever it encounters an enemy ship.

I'm starting to use the retrofit building more and more. For a while, I would rarely build battleships and never build dreadnoughts. They take too long to build. I only built them when I had max spaceyards, and plenty of time to wait -- which means I've practically beaten the A.I. into submission anyway.

I would use boarding ships to steal opponent battleships and dreads, but their designs were weak, that inspired me to design dreadnoughts and retrofit. But I never did that with my own.

'Course once I got to build a battlemoon, I absolutely had to use the retrofit series. It takes 22 turns to build an almost empty hull, and moving only one sector a turn, that time was better spent filling the hull with components instead of having it be fully built.

That's when it hit me, why not do it whenever building will take a long time; dreadnoughts, starbases in nebulas, etc.

On some level this is an exploit, subverting the balance that long build times provide. But I dunno, you see half built starships in sci-fi all the time, seems kinda appropriate.

It kinda returns us the the multiple spaceyard queues of SE3, where you could see your partially built hull filling with components, and move it around according to your new priorities.

[EDIT]
Gandalf Parker beat me to that Last point, that'll teach me to get a snack mid-typing. Oh well, it's his thread anyway. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

This strategy works agaisnt humans too. As long as you don't build all your shell ships as the same class. Keep varying the class names and the other guy will never know until he attacks the strength of the fleet. Scanners will tell him, but you can counter that by putting scatterign armor on your shell ships.

The two biggest problems with this are the cost and the micromanagment headaches. Cost though is always easy to remedy in SE4. More planets.

Geoschmo

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

I recall that one of the best peaces of advise I was ever given about ship design and strategy was to not diversify your ship design, stick to solid one weapon platforms and build differant ships for differant weapons. It worked and I have yet to loose to an AI.

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

Gandalf,

Very Interesting strategy..as well as Arkcon's.

I have no real advise..but it is very interesting to me..and should be to lots of others that:

(1) based on the nuber of Posts you show;
(2) the length of time I have seen you on the Boards;

one would assume that you are one of the VERY Experienced Vets and would know everything about how to beat the game/ai's/others.

What I'm trying to say is that its refreshing to see a vet still working on strategies to play the game..and that us with less experience can take heart in that we arent as bad or hopeless as we might think we are when getting our but handed to us.

Hope that made sense and that it wasnt taken as an offense.

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

If these forums were only for Space Empires IV, that would still be a semi-truthful assumption at best... In this case, it is not. Most of GP's Posts have been racked up over in the Dominions 2 section.

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

Dominions 2 is one of those games that could be far far more than it has become. I like the game but hate the deludge of micro-management and lack of support infastructure that games like SEIV have built into them.

If you combined the best of Dominions 2, SE IV, Moo3, and GalCiv into one game, ohhhhhhhhhhh God what a game that would be. The manual alone would be as thick as a telephone book.

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

Amen!

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

And I don't play very much. I can beat the ai, but I tend to turtle.

Re: this Strategy must be broke
 

That is what makes SE4 the greatest game of all time. Seriously, I'm never bored with the game and all its nuances. There is always something new to do. I don't know how to explain it to other people -- maybe to say SE4 wasn't written or even designed/crafted -- it was invented.