Psilons overrated?

[MyName]

For us playing on Impossible, here's my rankings:
D-Tier are the Mrrshans.

In my opinion Mrrshans is Top tier since they have the strongest ships in the game. Only need NPG, Warp 3 and few planets to win the game.

[Anskiy]

You sure have a bold opinion.  I can't say I agree though, in most games they fizzle out because of their bad economy and diplomacy, in my experience. I agree that their attacker bonus is pretty nifty though, and scales nicely throughout the game, assuming they survive long.

[luddite]

Until you start doing research the Psilons basically have no benefits at all. Compare that to Klackons, Sakkra, and Silicoids, each of which have direct economic strengths that provide benefits on turn 1. Even the Meklars have a benefit that becomes effective sooner than the Psilon's.

I'm not a regular player on Impossible outside of SGs, so take what I have to say with a pinch of salt, but I don't think you're wrong. I'm not so sure about the Meklar or Sakkra, but top players (Thrawn) have shown that aggressive play with the Klackons is stronger on average than the "classic" build-then-push techiniques the Psilons lend themselves to. 

Wait, do you have a link to this? That sounds interesting. I've never found that early aggressive play works at all in MOO1. That's of the main reasons I got bored with the game.

[haphazard1]

Early aggressive play is very difficult in MOO1, particularly at impossible difficulty. The AI has such an advantage, especially with the free colony ships, that it almost never works. You are stuck putting large amounts of production into colony ships while the AI grabs worlds for free and can afford to build some early war ships.

[MyName]

To successfully play aggressively, you just need to understand how bombs work and make effective tactical decisions. That's all you need. When you start grinding down the AI fleet, it starts to seem like your opponent is too weak
Edit: Most likely, you still won’t be able to win if your closest neighbor has squeezed out half the map from other opponents

[Cyneheard]

To successfully play aggressively, you just need to understand how bombs work and make effective tactical decisions. That's all you need. When you start grinding down the AI fleet, it starts to seem like your opponent is too weak
Edit: Most likely, you still won’t be able to win if your closest neighbor has squeezed out half the map from other opponents

Are you playing on Impossible and using the patched version? The AI is a lot tougher patched. And NPG fighters don't capture mature worlds at all.

Basically any race can win once you get Antimatter Bombs + good propulsion + any decent weapons. The problem is getting there.

[MyName]

The AI is a lot tougher patched.

AFAIK: Patched version have ECM fix so it's even easier to play vs AI because Mrshans and Alkari become monsters at a late stage

[luddite]

To successfully play aggressively, you just need to understand how bombs work and make effective tactical decisions. That's all you need. When you start grinding down the AI fleet, it starts to seem like your opponent is too weak
Edit: Most likely, you still won’t be able to win if your closest neighbor has squeezed out half the map from other opponents

Wait, how do bombs grind down the enemy fleet? You can't attack ships with bombs.

I've always found it better to make endless hit and run attacks with missiles. Everything else just takes too many losses to keep up with Impossible AI production.

[MyName]

I've always found it better to make endless hit and run attacks with missiles.

Good for new players but boring

Everything else just takes too many losses to keep up with Impossible AI production.

Not true

Wait, how do bombs grind down the enemy fleet?

Bombs for early aggression and not for fighting the fleet.

[luddite]

Wait, how do bombs grind down the enemy fleet?

Bombs for early aggression and not for fighting the fleet.

So how do you fight their fleet while you're also building bombers? (assuming this is early in the game on Impossible, when you still have minimal production and the AI gets a huge head-start)

Even if you win the war against your neighbor, it seems like a losing game because you're putting so many resources into just destroying stuff, rather than building yourself up.