Impossible is ... very hard.

[Zalson]

I've recently tried to make the jump from Hard to Impossible -- and it's been, well, nearly impossible.

I won one game as the Psilons, one as the Humans, and one as the Klackons. The rest have been an assortment of council losses (usually shortly after getting the REX dogpile that accompanies a successful land grab) and/or having an AI settle within 3 parsecs of my homeworld. For the latter, the slog that would accompany that kind of aggressive settling is ... not appealing.

Any advice anyone can offer? I'm still learning the game and am contemplating going back to Hard and trying for some rapid wins with some of the weaker Races (Mrrshans, Darloks, Alkari, Bulrathi).

I'll try to post some reports as well. What would be helpful?

[Sirian]

If you can defend it, it belongs to you. If you can't, it doesn't.

Are you building positive relations? Trade agreements and upgrades on them, even at a financial loss, can make the difference between co-existence and becoming a target. Sometimes being a target is inevitable, but sometimes it isn't. Erratic rivals are out of your control, but even bribes have their place with the rest. Learning to spot what sites you CAN'T defend can save you some tension from fights you're destined to lose -- as well as saving colony ships. No use building a colony ship for a planet you can't keep, when those resources could have built warships to better keep the rest of your planets.

Have you ever read my reports from 2004? You might pick up some subtleties there, while any vet trying to diagnose your issues could overlook something, as there is a lot of detail to master to survive the early eras on Impossible, especially when not playing the strong races.

There's also something to be said for practice. Nobody wins every game they play on Impossible. Some losses are good for the soul, keeps you hungry and coming back for more. Try different galaxy sizes as well as different racial picks.


- Sirian

[Zalson]

How would you recommend defense for either unclaimed stars or newly-established colonies before 2400 (e.g. with only starting tech)? Frequently, my options are pop-gun laser fighters and/or laser dreadnoughts -- neither of which are particularly effective. Maybe my tech pace is too stagnant in the early game? Or I'm not aggressive enough in placing my pieces?

I ask because my recent game put me in a rough spot: sandwiched between the game-leading Pacifist/Technologist Sakkra and Erratic/Technologist Silicoids. While I was able to hold off the Silicoid advance into my space, the Sakkra have spread like the plague.

I think my error (among many) was try to tech slowly in peace without an affirmative popgun defense on my unclaimed point worlds. Instead of having 100 fighters in orbit of the 3 or 4 unclaimed worlds (which were out of range and/or uncolonizable), I only had a few scouts. I figured the proximity to the rest of my worlds would deter settling but it would appear I was mistaken. Does you know how the AI decides to select targets?

I do try for the trade agreements and probably need to try bribes and gifts more, especially before council votes.

Practice is definitely helping -- as is trying new things. The reports have also helped a lot too; I'm happy that you've restored your site.

Your practice comment is why I was was considering dropping the difficulty: I'm playing the game for fun, so I might as well relax a bit to try and learn it better.

I think I'll give impossible another go (with a random leader) and see how it goes. I'll try to take notes, too.

Thanks for the advice!

[Sirian]

How would you recommend defense for either unclaimed stars or newly-established colonies before 2400 (e.g. with only starting tech)?

You should definitely not be on starting tech at 2400.

Defense bases upgrade with new tech, cost relatively little (and little to upgrade, too), and are highly effective against the AI, which doesn't know some of the edge strategies that can work around the bases (to some extent). The AI needs to be two grades of tech quality above you, across the board, to negate defense bases entirely, roll over them. So standing up defense bases is your best per-credit expenditure (in general) in defense of your planets. When you are investing for the long haul, bases are the staple. (And forget the AI's "2 per population" rule of thumb. You need enough bases to win, however many that happens to be. I don't even begin to blink at base counts until bases are eating 20% of my revenue on maintenance cost!)

Ships, on the other hand, cannot be upgraded, so their shelf life is limited. Their tech level will be surpassed. They are expensive to build for the firepower they deliver. In my play experience, ships are to be built for a specific purpose during a specific window of time, and then you have to use them or they were just a waste. There's no such thing as "investing in your fleet for long term". That's called wasting credits.

Still, there are some missions that bases can't cover, especially defending fledgling colonies.

My Mrrshan/Impossible game, the last one I played, is the last report on my MOO1 site. In it, you can see exactly what I was thinking, what I did, how I used ships in several early-game cases, how I used bases, what a battle victory looks like, and what a lost cause looks like -- all in one report. While that game may not help you much with the wide array of knowledge you need to duplicate that kind of performance, it CAN get you wired in to the idea of HOW to use ships vs HOW to use bases. Then it's up to you to take those principles and practice with them until you learn enough details to start making the right calls on when to fight for a world, when to cede it, who you need to look out for vs whom you might be able to befriend, what to try to defend with, when and what to research, etc. Make enough good calls and you'll begin to turn L's in to W's. The more good calls you make, strategically, the more W's you'll accumulate.

Losses tend to teach you the most. Fortune favors the bold.


- Sirian

[Zalson]

How would you recommend defense for either unclaimed stars or newly-established colonies before 2400 (e.g. with only starting tech)?

You should definitely not be on starting tech at 2400.

I agree. It would appear from my look back that I overemphasized propulsion tech. A balanced approach would likely be better -- especially in contact with a hostile neighbor so early. Especially since Deflector 2 protects you from laser and missiles.

Going to be playing the Bulrathi on Med Impossible. We'll see how it goes.

[Zalson]

Well, this is depressing: I had three poor planets in the first game. Game 2 -- two ultra poors...

[Psillycyber]

Usually a single missile base with class II deflector shields researched will protect you from almost everything that the AI will throw at you up until about 2400. Sometimes it might be worth it to start on building said missile base right away using only the production from pop. That way, if the AI still does god forbid take the planet, they won't steal any factories or tech either.

Another thing that you can try to buy yourself some time: let an AI fleet take orbit around one of your planets, and only then slowly assemble a counter-force, timed to arrive at the planet when the enemy's super-slow transports get there. That can, in some cases, get rid of the need to keep an expensive standing fleet and buy you about 5-10 extra turns in some cases.

Sometimes it might be better to just let the AI take a planet that will foreseeably be contested and let the AI build it up a little before building your own aggressive force and taking it back from them. You can devote the production that you would have spent on the colony pod on fighters instead (plus some more, I would recommend. 100 fighters would probably be enough in most cases). If you time your aggression to take these planets after they have built some factories, but before they have their first missile base up, it is usually quite feasible to take the planet with a moderate investment, and sometimes you'll even get a tech out of it! Note: keep an eye on the diplo situation. Usually this strategy is easier if you have a relatively small empire (which is more likely anyways if you are not trying to REX super far, but instead letting the AIs come to you and take the planets in the contested middile), which means you won't be a candidate in the council vote and won't have to worry about the ramifications of your diplomacy on the vote as much. Also note: don't try this against the Bulrathi or Sakkra. You'll need decent gropo and at least a solid core of 3 or 4 planets from which to send pop.

Some map setups on impossible literally are impossible (such as one with two or three ultra-poors as starting planets). I don't feel bad about re-rolling those right away.

[Sirian]

Some map setups on impossible literally are impossible (such as one with two or three ultra-poors as starting planets). I don't feel bad about re-rolling those right away.

On the other hand, I had two poor planets on that final Mrrshan game, IIRC -- and that was on a small map, where they made for a larger share of the total.

What do you have to lose playing out a bad start? You're not expected to win, so the pressure's off. Sometimes in these losing games, I play to survive. Lasting all the way until an AI wins the vote is a victory compared to being wiped out.

It's a game: be fearless. Get out there and see what you can do.

Part of winning on Impossible is developing the confidence you need to take well-calculated risks. Fortune favors the bold.


- Sirian

[SvenBent]

i just made the same jump and won the fighr try on impossible.

the differen was alot less than the time o jumped from average to hard. but i think it was because iwas now armed with a lot of the knowledge i gained from this forum.

without knowing about the ressaerch bonus i dont think i would be bale to both have a fleet strong enough to not be rolled over and still be able to keep research a float

[RefSteel]

Some map setups on impossible literally are impossible (such as one with two or three ultra-poors as starting planets). I don't feel bad about re-rolling those right away.

Wait, wait, please tell me you kept some of these starting saves. Unwinnable-looking starts can be a lot of fun to play even when between the start and the variant, nobody actually wins!