[Grandpa Kim]

Originally posted by Dingocat85:
IMO, There are two outstanding racial weapons:

1) The Allegiance Subverter:
Once they get Ion Engines III, virtually *every* AI ship fits itself with a Self-Destruct Device, rendering Boarding Parties useless

Not so! I am currently playing my best ever game against the TDM races. I was hemmed in badly at first and the only way to gain tech was with boarding parties. I gained over half my tech by that method even though the AI used SDD! True, the boarding parties won't board with an SDD onboard so they just wait till a random shot takes out the SDD, then board. Sure, sometimes you get a gutted hulk, but on two glorious turns I captured ships with four different levels of engines and 4 turns later I had moved from CT I to JP II. The tide has turned in this game but I am still using boarding parties and still adding the occasional new tech even though boarding is getting tougher all the time.

And if you play a low-tech, tech-trading-impossible game like me (all Ice & Gas Colonization Techs I needed to know, I got from analyzing enemy Colony ships ), the AI will never use Master Computers, so you should be safe using the Allegiance Subverter all game long.

Just add high tech cost and that describes my TDM game perfectly. ...But all races are using master computers. *shrug*

Kim

P.S. Dingocat85, please change your avatar pic. I'm beginning to have fantasies.