It's lonely here! (First post!)

[Xrati]

"Quiet, I'm hunting for Wabbit!"

What a great idea for a mod, an Elmer Fudd race that roams the Galaxy hunting Wabbit!

Once you get numerical superiority, it's a matter of just cleaning up.

[Hunpecked]

Well, I'm nearly 60 turns into the next game against the "Big 5" AI empires, and it's certainly more fun. With mines turned off I'm inflicting less passive damage on the AI navies and fighting more actual battles (and not always winning). Admittedly part of this is poor play on my part (I've been slow to defend warp points with satellite groups), but overall I think the game balance is much better.

I also like the expensive tech option; it tends to prolong the usefulness of older ships, reduces the human player's tech advantage over the computer, and shifts the game's emphasis more from whiz-bang ultimate weapons toward good steady play.

Further play may reveal my expectations to be exaggerated, but so far it's looking good.

[Xrati]

Sounds like your having more fun then any human should ever have!!!

[Hunpecked]

Not quite. I mean, it's not like I'm playing strip SEIV hotseat with supermodel Adriana Lima!

[Xrati]

Well if you can play mindless games! I'm sorry, that's mine less games. It must have been the super model thing!

I've found that in the late game, mines become useless anyhow. All fleets run around with minesweepers and replacement capacity is limited because of production needs, say as in really BIG ships!

[Hunpecked]

While I have certainly made some "mindless" moves in this game , I believe the "mine-less" aspect has more to do with the AIs' performance so far. While human players can take them (almost) in stride, mines seem to pose a much harder problem for the AIs in SEIV. If I understand Master Belisarius correctly, it's impossible in SEIV to program an AI to build fleets with the proper number and design of minesweepers. In my first big game against the AIs, for example, by turn 100 the Narn were building battleship minesweepers with level 1 sweeper components, and sending them singly into my fields of 90-100 mines. The AIs do put haphazard fields at jump points, but apparently nowhere else, including planets. Since I consider SEIV's mines feature "gimmicky" anyway, I didn't think I'd miss them (and I don't).

Anyway, last night I had a big turn (#68). I had recolonized a border system sterilized earlier by the Aquilaeians, and was building weapons platforms in a frenzy (I had colonized both a planet and its moon to double production). Unfortunately a 22-ship CR/LC Aquilaeian fleet soon jumped in-system and headed for the planet and its rag-tag fleet of 10 LCs. Two jumps away, meanwhile, the 8 cruisers I had gathered to reinforce the first system were faced instead with another CR/LC fleet (of 20-odd ships) that had just blown through the satellites guarding the warp point.

My anxiety was misplaced, however. The cruiser fleet annihilated the second enemy fleet without loss, thanks to fleet/ship training, Level 2 ECM, and Level 3 Stealth/Scattering Armor. The first enemy fleet bypassed the recolonized planet (for now), giving me time to put two more weapons platforms in place. And on the other side of my little empire I captured the Narn Homeworld intact--just in time, too, because I also captured 5 undeployed satellites equipped with Talismans (Talismen?)! With luck the Narn are too weak now to take advantage of their breakthrough, but I forsee hard fighting on this front.

BTW, the more I see of the Narn in these games against the AI, the more I wonder why they didn't make the final round of AI Deathmatch 3. With their strength in research (125%), they reached PPB V before I did, developed intelligence capability shortly after I did, and despite high tech cost developed the Talisman about the same time they did in an earlier normal tech cost game (and ahead of the Tessellate, winners of Deathmatch 3). Some time I'd like to try more min-maxing on their attributes (many are left at default) and put them up against the Tessellate.

[Xrati]

The reason that the AI does not build good minesweepers is because the AI Research only covers the techs that the specific race uses. The AI may, at a later time, move into other areas of research but only after they get the tech that is specified in the txt file. I have seen them build level 5 minesweepers, but they don't build enough of them to deal with a 100 mine minefield. BUT they will keep sending them one after another at the minefield and will eventually sweep all the mines (not very efficient).

You are right about "SEIV's mines feature "gimmicky" anyway, I didn't think I'd miss them (and I don't)." if the AI does not use them correctly, then it wastes time and resources on building them.
I feel the same about the intel part of the game. I guess I've just seen to many games where the AI steals your tech and then all their "Friends" have it a few turns later. Then again I can see where there would be races that exisit to steal technology! Personel choice I guess.

[Hunpecked]

Speaking of intel, I started counter-intel at a low level maybe a dozen turns ago (racial intel set at 45%). When the Narn (intel at 100%) began running intel projects on me, I immediately ramped up counter-intel, but it was almost too late: the 3rd & 4th Narn projects got through (Fuel Leak and Order Snafu). Counter-intel has foiled the last two tries, so I may be out of the woods, unless the other AIs gang up on me.

From my earlier games I got the impression that intel is another feature that works in the human player's favor. Toward the end of one game I was capturing enemy ships left and right; I was particularly proud of my little armada of Talisman-equipped former Narn ships. For this game I set my empire's cunning to minimum and decided to play counter-intel almost exclusively.

[Hunpecked]

Bad news on turn 69. The Aquilaeian fleet went for my outpost colony this time. The defending LCs were old, untrained, and only partly upgraded (in particular, none had Stealth/Scattering armor). Worse, they deployed around the planet and its moon; skirting the moon to get at the enemy they joined the action one or two at a time and were predictably crushed by the concentrated AI fleet. In retrospect I would have been smarter to retreat and hope the weapons platforms could take out a couple of enemy ships.

It cost them over half their fleet, but the Aquilaeians now own the moon (the planet was glassed--again). BTW, this was the first time (in my limited play against the AI) that I've seen an AI empire TAKE a world instead of glassing it.

Meanwhile the Narn got two more projects past my counter-intel; I REALLY have to build more intel facilities! On the bright side the Narn continue to hurl their ships against my captured Talisman satellites...Narnburger, anyone?

[Xrati]

Time to re-group and counter attack! You can bet that the Aquilaeian has another fleet sitting behind that one.

To me Intel just adds time to my turn and the returns of it just are not worth it. AND when all the rest of the races join in, they will defeat your counter measures. The AI never goes after other AI so you become the prime target for intel attacks.