When to attack

[Arkcon]

Originally posted by Zoompet:
Hmmm, this is getting a little far a field.

I guess what I was driving is which is better an early, middle or late game attack. Why, do people think they need a certain tech item, an economy of X size, a fleet of Y size, etc.

This is in particular reference to human players.

Well, OK,

Economy - try to figure out what trade you lose by attacking the enemy, and how that affects your maintenance. How many ships will you lose, what planets you're likely to capture, that sort of thing. You may colonize planets after you glass them, so you will spend resources building facilities and units, and population bonus will initially be small.

Tech- A very general rule of thumb is to not be more than 1 ship hull size behind an opponent. Yes Light cruisers can hold their own against battleships maybe. But frigates vs dreadnoughts? That might not work well. Which particular weapons? Too tough to call.

Fleet size - once you've hit a planet, if you intend to stay, see what ships you'd like to post at warp points and have blockade other planets. Expect a large planet to be able to bring up a couple of small ships or several fighters in a few turns. Be ready to handle them.