TDM is really cool

[Hunpecked]

Kamog, could you go into more detail about how the Tessellate managed to prevail? Did you min-max your own race? Handicap yourself some way? Were the game settings unusual in some way that favored the AI? What was the bonus setting for the AIs? Did the Tessellate prevail early or late in the game?

I ask because I'm playing a game against 5 TDM AIs and so far the Tessellate have caused me less trouble than, say, the Aquilaeians or the Narn. They're building large fleets (up to 97 ships so far) of tough ships (some shields, lots of crystalline armor), but the vast majority are planet killers (armed with napalm) useful only as target practice for my PPBs and APBs.

In the game settings I eliminated mine tech (the AIs aren't very sophisticated about mines), set AI bonus to low (2X?), and used the expensive tech option (I like a slower path through the tech tree). Some AIs seem to cope well with pricey tech (the Narn in particular), but I'm wondering if that's handicapping the Tessellate AI disproportionately. I did min-max my race (human), but didn't take any racial tech areas.