Sins of a Solar Empire ( and a bit of ME3 )

After playing a game of Sins at lunch, I've come to a revelation. Back before I even tried to play RTS's in multiplayer, I was a fail turtle, as in I'd spam defenses and hide behind my walls. I realize now that it's not about cutting a thin slice of pie that won't fill you up, but taking a large slice that you can actually eat without puking it all up. Your defenses should be your last line of defense, and not your only offensive capability. Likewise, you don't bite off more than you can chew. Slow and steady wins the race.

You can see evidence of the former in my desperate defense of doomed planets, and that's why I used to fail at competitive strategy. After a while of playing CNC3 it dawned on me that RTS's are all about early game rushes and creative deployments, not hiding behind your walls all day.

Well Sins does offer the possibility to sit in your defenses all day.

I mean, Entrenchement was an expansion that added just that, stronger defenses and the option to sit in them all day. Also, ways to smash said defenses.
Then there's the TEC loyalists in the upcoming Rebellion that literally specialise in sitting in playing defensively.

It's just that, by sitting in your defenses all game, you're not putting any pressure on the enemy. Unless you've captured most of the map, he's got free reign over it, can spread how he sees fit unchallenged and take all his time to plan his attack.

It's just a matter of priorities.

Like Jedi and CMA putting all efforts into defenses while you're pushing on my homeworld, probably not the best priority then.

Me putting all resources into defense cause my cap ship's down, my expansion effort has failed, my fleet is in bad shape and I know you, Jedi and CMA will be coming soon.
That was probably a wise move.

Pat Best wrote:

It's just that, by sitting in your defenses all game, you're not putting any pressure on the enemy. Unless you've captured most of the map, he's got free reign over it, can spread how he sees fit unchallenged and take all his time to plan his attack..

Exactly. Take too little and you can't grow your economy to build up a fleet. A good example of this is the match we're continuing tonight, had I played more aggressively we could have cordoned you off and then destroyed you at our leisure. Take too much and you'll face underdevelopment taxes and the like, which means that after breaching a strong point your empire is ripe for the taking, ie that match I had with CMA where he got past my fleet and started wreaking havoc on my inner worlds.

There's a fine balance here, and that's what makes it such a good game. As opposed to, say, Starcraft. It's fun but there's no strategic depth in comparison to Sins.

Tiel wrote:

Pat Best wrote:

It's just that, by sitting in your defenses all game, you're not putting any pressure on the enemy. Unless you've captured most of the map, he's got free reign over it, can spread how he sees fit unchallenged and take all his time to plan his attack..

Exactly. Take too little and you can't grow your economy to build up a fleet. A good example of this is the match we're continuing tonight, had I played more aggressively we could have cordoned you off and then destroyed you at our leisure. Take too much and you'll face underdevelopment taxes and the like, which means that after breaching a strong point your empire is ripe for the taking, ie that match I had with CMA where he got past my fleet and started wreaking havoc on my inner worlds.

There's a fine balance here, and that's what makes it such a good game. As opposed to, say, Starcraft. It's fun but there's no strategic depth in comparison to Sins.

Starcraft does have a very limited strategy, being some units hit harder against others, and some hit weaker on others. But in the end, most of the strategy comes out of the micro by the players themselves, not from the way the game was made.

I guess it doesn't help that starcraft has three entirely different races whereas Sins has three roughly similar races with their own perks.

Until, of course, I come along and together with Pat burn the skies free of all of you. Oh the joys of multi-system maps...

Meanwhile I should be able to play sometime today. Right now... sleeeeep.

Shiva wrote:

Until, of course, I come along and together with Pat burn the skies free of all of you. Oh the joys of multi-system maps...

Meanwhile I should be able to play sometime today. Right now... sleeeeep.

If we do play we're doing something other than Systems of Power :L

And we're spamming novas

I'll be expecting it from the beginning now, I'll be spamming Deliverance Engines.

Unfortunately for you, it's much harder for you to become immune to Deliverance Engines than it is for me to become immune to Novaliths,

OR IS IT???

It is. You'll need to fully upgrade your cultural stuff and have at least one media hub per planet. That'll cost you a lot of logistics slots and, depending on how many planets you have, could even force you to sacrifice military labs and therefor your novaliths.

ehh, if I have my own system shouldn't be too hard, 'specially since I can add two more buildings per gravity well with an upgrade.

The bigger the systems we each get, the more Deliverance Engines I can have and the more Media hubs you're going to need.

ok then


I still cant believe we killed your cap ship without losing any of ours last night

CoalMiningAlchemist wrote:

ok then


I still cant believe we killed your cap ship without losing any of ours last night

It was my weakest one, and I was focusing fire on the star base.

whiiich my support cruisers were replenishing shields for


on a side note you should be leading any space-fleet we have into battle

Pat Best wrote:

CoalMiningAlchemist wrote:

ok then


I still cant believe we killed your cap ship without losing any of ours last night

It was my weakest one, and I was focusing fire on the star base.

That you failed to destroy

Tiel wrote:

Pat Best wrote:

CoalMiningAlchemist wrote:

ok then


I still cant believe we killed your cap ship without losing any of ours last night

It was my weakest one, and I was focusing fire on the star base.

That you failed to destroy

THOSE DAMN DUNOVS!!!

I'm really glad I accidentally made two XD

I'm going to have to bring ships to drain their energy now.

Good thing I have that starbase pimped out now. Not going down any time soon.

Don't be so sure >_>

Tiel wrote:

Good thing I have that starbase pimped out now. Not going down any time soon.

With what money? You've got no source of income.

Besides, even if Jedi and CMA gave you the money you needed, I took out one of your pimped out starbases before, I'll do it again.

Problem is that camping won't give you planets .

Pat Best wrote:

Tiel wrote:

Good thing I have that starbase pimped out now. Not going down any time soon.

With what money? You've got no source of income.

Besides, even if Jedi and CMA gave you the money you needed, I took out one of your pimped out starbases before, I'll do it again.

Yes, but this starbase is backed up by both of ours, and that enormous fleet. It is a much more difficult target.

Last_Jedi_Standing wrote:

Pat Best wrote:

Tiel wrote:

Good thing I have that starbase pimped out now. Not going down any time soon.

With what money? You've got no source of income.

Besides, even if Jedi and CMA gave you the money you needed, I took out one of your pimped out starbases before, I'll do it again.

Yes, but this starbase is backed up by both of ours, and that enormous fleet. It is a much more difficult target.

If I can get your fleets out of the way, I can bomb his starbase from the safety of the edge of the gravity well, away from both your star base's weapons.