When and Where to Wage War

[coyote720]

I'm new to the game, but I am at the point where I'm comfortable with initial expansion. I am able to get my share of territory, keep up with technology, and maintain an adequate fleet.

However, I would appreciate any tips how to go from there. Last game, I attacked a weak neighbor. He had some defense treaties but they were all already at war. Things did not go well. I got counterattacked by a stronger friend of my victim, and I was lucky to escape with a white peace.

It just seems like there are so many interwoven defense pacts and federations that the game becomes a stalemate for me. I know that isn't the case or nobody would play this game! Again, any tips appreciated.

 

[shadowclasper]

Your best bet is to pick war goals you can very rapidly prototype. Build up maximum force power as rapidly as you can, get a good admiral, evasive/tricky generals are generally the best to my mind, and then you want to go for very rapid captures and occupations of planets.

You also want to use reaving fleets. What I've done in the past is send forces deliberately to fuck up the enemy's infrastucture in as many places as possible with small 5-10 ship fleets that hit targets of opportunity and drain their stations ability to do shit. They spend time and money having to rebuild those, and the AI is really bad at it, which cripples them for the next thing.

Basically, don't pick maxed out war goals, pick out achievable goals, chip away at the foe.

 

[Jerev]

As posted above, destroying the enemy infrastructure is a good strategy. I would also recommend playing with very few empires (e.g. 8-12 on 800-1000 stars). That way you should be able to expand / build a bigger empire before you meet others. This gives you more tactical options, because you can be more efficient than the AI and may be able to take on whole federations.

 

[Alblaka]

Just colonize effectively, priorize minerals, max spaceports on all planets you own to boost fleetcap, then fill that fleetcap with any non-retarded ship composition and run over your neighbours with your superior quantity of ships.

Except for Advanced AI starts, there is never a reason for any AI empire to have more ressources or naval limit then the player, and unless you anger a whole federation (without size or allies to back yourself up), you should never face a superior fleet by attacking another empire.

 

[krios41]

Just don't attack people with a defensive pact, ever, unles you completly dwarf them in fleet power.
I have noticed that the AI seems to prioritize fighting the player if it's at war with multiple nations (including you ofc)

 

[Jerev]

Just don't attack people with a defensive pact, ever, unles you completly dwarf them in fleet power.
I have noticed that the AI seems to prioritize fighting the player if it's at war with multiple nations (including you ofc)

Well the player is the greatest threat to all AI nations; kind of like an endgame crisis from the start. Jokes aside if the AI wouldn't focus humans, we would win too easily. But I never experienced it for myself, because I purge a lot. So everyone is always allied against me. I hope that with Utopia we got more chances to grow tall on less space so that people like the OP could grow in peace, until they are stronger than the opposition.

 

[krios41]

if the AI wouldn't focus humans, we would win too easily.

i sort of have to disagree. That logic only aplies late game, but in my last 10 attempt at a playtrough i alway's get boxed in super fast (for some reason i just fail to expand at the same rate, and it's not ebcause of a lack of minerals) and waging war to expand is a no-go because the whole galaxy is alway's locked up in defensive pacts (with no way to anoy the AI to such degree they declare war on you so you get to benefit from your defensive pact). So the only thing left is to hope a war breaks out and you get some more breathing room.

 

[Jerev]

i sort of have to disagree. That logic only aplies late game, but in my last 10 attempt at a playtrough i alway's get boxed in super fast (for some reason i just fail to expand at the same rate, and it's not ebcause of a lack of minerals) and waging war to expand is a no-go because the whole galaxy is alway's locked up in defensive pacts (with no way to anoy the AI to such degree they declare war on you so you get to benefit from your defensive pact). So the only thing left is to hope a war breaks out and you get some more breathing room.

It all depends on the starting conditions. I play with more habitable worlds and less but all advanced AIs. After the buff of spaceport power, I see no fun in early game wars. You are right of course, that when you are boxed in early, there is no other way and a "feature" like AI focusing humans can become annoying fast.