Playing silicoids well

[Shiver]

Whenever I play Silicoids, the AI gets mad at me for expanding so much (which I'm supposed to) and I get dogpiled. Repeatedly. Throwing up missile batteries on all my worlds doesn't help much seeing as how I'm counting on a large amount of weak systems to keep me going. Sirian seems to have rated them as just beneath the big three (Psilons, Klackons, Humans), but for me they play dead last. So how's it done, Realms Beyond guys?

[dathon]

Hard to say without specifics from your games, but if I had to guess, I'd say you were going too light on the military. You are right in that you are supposed to expand quickly, and that will piss off your neighbors. The Silicoids aren't really meant to be played diplomatically, though it can be done. Better to go in with the mindset that you are going to take it to your enemies hard and early, going for a conquest/eradication win. So, don't be surprised that you get dogpiled; anticipate it, and have some defenses around to deal with it. The AI will not usually get too mad until you have a CLEAR lead in territory and/or population, so you should have a little time to build up in most cases (nothing is ever certain in this game, esp with erratic/ruthless opponents). Also, you can use enemy-of-my-enemy diplomacy to turn an AI late to the pile-up into a friend.

Also keep in mind the half growth rate. If you let your systems develop like the other races, you'll be too slow. Usually I will have one or two planets on "settler duty", keeping them at half full (best growth rate) and shipping the pop to all my other worlds (every turn if applicable) to stand them up quicker.

Last note: I'm assuming you are referring to SIRIAN's website

-dathon

[dathon]

Oh, and One More Thing ™

Due to having a large number of worlds, the Silicoids can usually afford to lose a few on the fringes, so if you start losing a couple, don't panic. And don't forget that the Good in computers can make for effective spying.

-dathon

[Zed-F]

Where Silicoids fall in the ranking depends on the map. I find that they tend to do better on larger maps than smaller ones because losing any given planet is relatively more affordable and because it's easier to leapfrog all over the place; one or two asteroid stars are less likely to block your progress entirely.

Expanding as fast as possible is just as important with Silicoids as with everyone else. Because you will be spread out all over the place and growing your worlds more slowly, missle bases are less useful than with, say, Meklar. Your core worlds should be focusing on expanding your reach, not missle bases; the fight will inevitably be at the periphery, and you want to stop it before it reaches your core, not when.

Diplomacy can be a very powerful tool. If you ask the AIs to go to war with their neighbors often enough, eventually they will agree, regardless of other factors, even including alliances. If you are not ready to face a dogpile, this is one key way to avoid them. It's more effective to do this before you annoy your neighbors enough that they start declaring war on you, though better late than never. This will also tend to short-circuit the early alliance behaviour and cripple the AIs ability to reach distant worlds.

One important thing to note about Silicoids is that their innate advantages are most useful early in the game, and you must make the most of them at that time if you want to have the best chance to succeed. Dathon is right that you must play with an aggressive mindset as Silicoids; you should be constantly scheming to expand your territory and the size of your population. Turtling is definitely not the Silicoids' style.

[Shiver]

Alright, I won a decisive victory as Silicoids. I expanded hard right from the start. Almost zero static defenses were ever built; instead I opted for medium sized missile boats and later some heavy beam + repulsor beam tanks. At one of the earlier galactic votes every other player voted for my opponent, but he still couldn't win! Once I had secured a very clear economic and technological advantage I started using my mobile defenses to roll the other players onto the fringes of the map. A Xenophobic Alkari cried uncle and because he had been at war with the other players, he ended up making it all the way to "Relaxed" in diplomatic relations with me. I never quite got an alliance out him, but he voted for me during the winning election. I don't remember gaining a single Artifact or Ultra Rich world, and I have a suspicion that grabbing these is one of the keys to winning as Silicoids.

What made this game easy: my opponents were Humans, Meklars, Darlocks, Alkari and Mrrshan. There were no Psilons present to pose a long-term threat, and no Sakkra to counter me with their own expansion bonuses.