The People's Army - Guide

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Contents

[edit] Overview

  • Huge number of ships and ship devices
  • An economic juggernaught
    • MC are never a problem
    • Minerals are never a problem
    • Mid Game fuel limitation
  • Easily re-makes planets to
  • Economic juggernaught that finds difficulty winning battles
  • Often disliked as Peeps tend to trade ship plans in a big way.

[edit] Strengths

  • A huge number of ship devices & a small subset of super ships (see ships)
  • Pyramid Lounge - only the Peeps and the CoM have this - (1 MC/HG)
  • Soil Reformer - only the Peeps, RCS, and the Centaurs have this - Never a food problem
  • Reticulian Light Beam - only the Peeps and Aczanny have this - Slaver races will be knocking at your door for this one!
  • Scalar Wave Amp - only the Lizards & the IMT have this - the Crystals will pay dearly for it!
  • Unlimited Minerals - Scalar Wave Damper together with a Scalar Wave Amplifier creates planets that produce unlimited minerals - no other race starts with this capability
  • Barb, Grav & Laser Mine Layers - Only the Solorians & Crystals also have those three types
  • Gambling Deck at Hull Tech 2 & dirt cheap
  • Show Lounge also at Hull Tech 2 on the above ship - No MC problems!
  • The Genesis is the ultimate terraforming ship - Heat, cool, soil reform, a Scalar Wave Damper and a Bioscanner.
  • Submarines - Fully cloaked miners and destroyers

[edit] Weaknesses

  • No warships that will hold up in battle, particularly boarding
  • No fuel converter
  • Offensively challenged
  • Peep ships cost too much in Minerals
  • Tendency by poor players to trade poorly or allow their ships to be captured too easily. This transfers the Peep's manifold economic benefits to others that then defeat the Peeps in battle.

[edit] Ships

  • huge ship list
    • 4 ships at every tech level
    • have nearly every Ship Device and can hack captured ships with devices they do not have using their Hacker Droid
    • make a good trading partner
    • makes it hard to choose the right ships to build
  • most ships have rather small crew, making them easy targets for boarding

[edit] Super Ships

Make these in qty (& do not trade!, most valuable first) --KBJ07675 04:15, 16 July 2006 (CEST)

  • Dirk Light Submarine - an invisible hyperspacing minelayer. Optimal strategy will make the whole universe a cloaked mine field grid allowing the explosion of 4 mines on any turn over any planet (if you like trig, put five over the important planets). This elimates many small ships at your leisure and ensures that you can clear any annoying opponent's minefields at will. Make sure the centers of each field do not overlap!
  • Propaganda Luxury Cruiser - Instantly cash double your income by putting one over every base.
  • Sacrifice Improved - the preferred Pyramid Lounge plus many more useful devises.
  • Exodus Advanced Terraformer - It bears repeating do not trade this!
  • Genesis Improved Terraformer - It bears repeating do not trade this!
  • Claymore Advanced Submarine - Three Minelayers in one, totally cloaked, but remember that laying and particularly sweeping minefields increases your Sensor_Profile. With each of these ships having a mass of 1,000 (requiring 1,000 Minerals), 6 Engines and burning proportionate fuel, a large number of these will be outside your budget.
  • Anthem Intelligence Probe - nothing compares to it - Hyperspace 450 with a scan range of 900 & dirt cheap!
  • Autonomy Elite Battlestation - Your Alchemy ship - it costs too many mineral but it also has a few other useful devises including your Hacker Droid and the Agro Dome.
  • Defiance Weapons Platform - Costs nothing 20 MC, 30 Minerals. Ideal with free weapons or cheap ones when you have few minerals and lots of MC. Think about building a 100 with 18 Disrupters, a small shield and 2 Servodyne 800s and perhaps a few point defenses. Cost is just 411 MC and 30 Minerals each. Add Exotics and you have the cheapest defense known to Planets. Never build less than 20 as they are easily boarded and destroyed when not in packs. Think of them as expensive low/no speed fighters with a lot more punch
  • Martyr Glory Ship- the cheapest Glory Device in the game - use on Amorphous Worms or enemy population centers at will!

[edit] Dangerous Ships

Do not build many of these but more important - do not trade them!

[edit] Good Ships

Good but tradable for a price --KBJ07675 04:15, 16 July 2006 (CEST)

  • Amnesty Recruitment Center - It cost to much in minerals to make in qty but do not trade this early
  • Off-World Colony - 50 LYs per turn makes this next to useless for the peeps but the devices will convince others to pay through the nose once your other ships are off the trading block. Pyramid Lounge, Soil Reformer and Anti-Matter Maul (for unwanted Jump Gates) make this hugely valuable
  • Academy of Advanced Defense - Just one device but the Pirate wants one!
  • Revolution Light Carrier - It cloaks and carries pods. Hugely useful to the Peeps but not unique.
  • Emissary Scout - It has a Reticulian Light Beam - a weak cheap ship and of questionable value to the Peeps as the Peeps are not a Slaver Races ( no Labor Camps or Labor Mines. However emptying undefended colony bases and thereby destroying the race's happiness with 50,000 prisoners per ship is effective for economic warfare.
  • Drusus Improved Submarine - If you have to give up a submarine this is it. But at just 3 Fuel a turn to cloak, do not figure you will see it again.
  • Tolerance Light Terraformer - Offer a Global Warmer in place of the Genesis.
  • Cleansing Advanced Destroyer - It is the closest you have to a swarmer. It hyperjumps (300) moves in normal space (150), decent shield (max. 1500, use 900) with good adjustments +75 Attack, +25 Evade & 8 SW 4 LW (size 60). Now the bad news - no repairs, 25 guests, 25 crew, no pods. Use in packs with overwhelming force - anything else is just stupid
  • Justice Advanced Cruiser - This looks like a servicable ship until the first time it is boarded. To the good, it has great range 300 Hyperspace or 130 ly/turn in normal space. The only use is a 50 cargo capacity when you need to hyperspace delivery.
  • Liberty Light Battleship - 2 pods with speed 150, makes it a good fast cargo ship, but can also tow smaller ones. Enough weapons and armour to defeat early attacks from enemies (and the speed of 150 is good for that too).

[edit] Other Ships

The rest are of zero importance. --KBJ07675 04:15, 16 July 2006 (CEST)

[edit] Strategy

  • First and foremost this is not a beginner race.
  • You will be trading a lot so if you do not know your enemies or fully trust them, you will quickly shift the game balance in favour of these players by trading to their hearts' desire. Do not trade freely and reserve your very best ships as untradable.
    • Give the Crystals an Exodus Advanced Terraformer and the game is over
    • Give the EE an Amnesty Recruitment Center & a Reticulian Light Beam & they will quickly win
    • If you do not know well the race you trade to, do not trade.
    • If you do not know the player you trade to is an expert on races, do not trade
    • If you do not trust the player you trade to, do not trade anything too valuable
    • The combination are many but the point is simple, never make another player more powerful than the peeps. Or allow him a new capability to make a third player more powerful than the Peeps. THINK! THINK!! THINK!!! and read in detail the ships NEVER to trade.
  • Know the game settings
    • If the HConfig-Setting Alien Hulls have problems with Combat, Scanning and Repair is enabled, do not trade for a swarmer (see Alien Hulls for more details on the defects on alien hulls).
    • If Hacker Droids are disallowed make use of that
    • Be wary of changes in Minefield setting

[edit] Technology

Priority is in order

  • Hull Technology - All the way to Hull 10
  • Hyper Space Technology - To Warhop 2020 Tech Level 9
  • Base Technology 1 - Pod Pads
  • Pod Speed Exotics - seconary to above
  • The other technologies are relatively unimportant until Mid Game - Normal priorties after hold after the above list after the top three are completed and at least one Pod speed exotic is active.

Do not waste a drop of fuel!!!

[edit] Economics

[edit] Population Growth

  • MC Production is ultimately driven by Population Growth which is limited in order by
    • Food which is easily over come with enough available planets to farm together with Agro Dome
    • Planets available to colonize - For the peeps every planet is or will be an ideal planet
    • Use by enemies of the Shokazul Pulse
    • No other race grows like the Peeps
      • Base Growth Rate is 150 or 5% x 150% or 7.5%
      • While the Crystals and the Scavenger Tribes at 175 and 160 respectively have higher Growth Rates, the Peeps enhanced ability to produce both food and MC will leave both those two races far behind in the population race.
  • Population growth enhancers
    • Have enough food - at least 100 food for each 100,000 colonist (based on the typical requirement to have 100 turns of food). With half food you get 7.5% x 50% = 3.75% growth
    • Keep colony populations below 30 million - after 30 million, the growth rate drops proportionately until it is zero at 50 million.
    • Keep your people happy (above 110) which gives a 50% bonus 7.5% x 150% = 11.25% (= doubling of population every 6.50 turns)
    • Minimize Training Centers as each of these inhibits growth by 1% - so 7.5% becomes with ten active Training Centers 7.5% x (100% - 10 x 1%) = 6.75% Turn off your Training Center to start.
    • Minimize Cities as each of these inhibits growth by 0.2% - so 7.5% becomes with five Cities 7.5% x (100% - 5 x 0.2%) = 7.425% - Do not worry to much about this one, but keep in mind that cities use food.
    • Add Tank-O-Tronic Exotics for for a bonus of up to 140 points or so base becomes (150+140%) x 5% or 14.5% or with happy colonists 21.75%. Recommended points to add Tank-O-Tronics:
      • Tank-O-Tronic should be added only when they can be maintained indefinitely.
      • Tank-O-Tronic Cloning System A costs 8,000 a turn, This can reasonably be maintained when the total population exceeds 10 million colonists. (about turn 17-20 with 1 million to start)
      • Tank-O-Tronic Cloning System B costs 50,000 MC a turn, This can reasonably be maintained when the total population exceeds 65 million colonists (about turn 30-35 with 1 million to start)
      • Tank-O-Tronic Cloning System C costs 150,000 MC a turn, This can reasonably be maintained when the total population exceeds 250 million colonists (about turn 38-43 with 1 million to start)
    • Add Undercities (10 more than Cities) to enhance growth up to 3% or 24.75% which is doubling every 3.13 turns. This process typically occurs after Tank-O-Tronics on fully unless needed for defense.
    • Add a Amnesty Recruitment Center on turn 10 and the poputlation growth rate on turn 11 can rise to 15% (instead of 11%) due to the additional 100,000 colonists on turn. (assumption - 1 million colonists to start)
  • Following this path, the Peeps can have 1 Billion Colonists on not less than 34 bases on turn 49. Beyond that point, conflict is inevitable outside the very largest maps. Human Wave attacks are very viable as Population with very unreasonable Troops production becomes both easy and effective. Even the Crystals fall quickly when hundreds of pods can be boosted to eliminate mine defenses.

Paying Tank-O-Tronic B with only 65 mio colonists seems to be pretty hard. Perhaps possible if you do not pay any other exotic techs. Same for T-O-T C with 250 mio colos. The Amnesty Recruiting Center is of much help only for the first turns and if you have a low starting population.

[edit] MC Production


For maximizing your population you will need a very good food management if the host has activated the food stock pile! You should not build cities at all in the early game, perhaps even not in the mid-game (depending on game settings). Cities will consume much of your precious food. But later on cities will be more useful, since the cost of 2 food per turn per cities can be neglected compared to the population growth. For example: One world with about 20 mio colonist can have a population growth of 2 mio cols (10% growth), these new colonists need an extra 2000 food stock pile (standard food stock pile of 100 turns), which can be very hard to get, so build cities instead. Of course you can optimize the balance between cities to be build and food production ...

[edit] Fuel Economy

  • Fuel is your most precious commodity!!! You will run short!!!
  • Use Pods to move anything and everything early
  • Trade early for a DTMS-N Fuel Converter
  • Chain Pod boosting so Base A pods to Base B whild B pods to C and C Pods to D with all being within a turn's boost of the target base. If they all say boost 50,000 colonists, the effect is to ship in one turn 50,000 colonists from A to D for 100 MCs accross a distance no pod can cover in one turn - Potentially with full pod exotics as much as 240 Lys by for the Peeps
  • Mole Mobile Drilling Rig are particularly effective mining Fuel. Use lots of these in planets modified to create minerals.

[edit] Producing Troops and HG

[edit] Colony Worlds & Producing Unlimited Minerals

  • Build a Genesis Improved Terraformer and a Propaganda Luxury Cruiser for every colony and push every colony to an ideal climate and 250 or more soil rating.
  • Getting Planets to produce Minerals
    • Ship Building
      • Build packs of 8 Exodus Advanced Terraformers these produce 40 points of Delta Stress using their Scalar Wave Amp each turn as well as adding an average of 40 points of stress
      • Build packs of 5 Genesis Improved Terraformersl Soil Reformers will work in any number. Build five to match up the Scalar Wave Damper to Scalar Wave Amp. Five Scalar Wave Amp will eliminate 40 points of Delta Stress each turn and subtract an average of 50 points of stress a turn.
      • These two packs together will have the net effect of adding zero delta stress and eliminating 10 points of Stress. Consequently, a stable point (on average) would be 10 delta stress with all ships using the 8 Scalar Wave Amps and 5 Scalar Wave Dampers. At say 900 Stress, this will at steady state produce 1200 Neutronium and 400 Tritium per base.
      • Or with say 10 such groups, at say 600 Stress and 100 Delta stress. produces 5400 Neutronium and 1800 Tritium. Of course if the ships go away at this higher level of Delta Stress, the planet goes over 1000 Stress in four turns rather than 10. So make sure no one destroys this pile of ships (particularly the Genesises).
      • A planet with 10 such groups (130 ships) is vulnerable to attack as if a number of the Genesises are detroyed, the planet will likely explode.
      • Recomended outfitting is as follows. Genesis without engines (or Ghipsoldal free ones) and an 80 point shield (275 MC, 80 Tritium). Exodus without engines, an 80 point shield, 4 Meson Guns, 2 Turbo Lasers, and a Servodyne 600 (Cost 913MC, 20 Tritium). Total cost for each group is (6765 MC, 740 Tritium). Add Mole Mobile Drilling Rigs to help with the mining and voila unlimited Minerals
      • The approach from a low stress level to the higher productive level produces more than the steady state.
      • It may very well be that a dynamic approach (osscilationing Stress and delta Stress) may be better but life is too short to do that much hard work.
    • Cookbook Procedure (with one group of 8 Genesises and 5 Exoduses) is as follows:
      • Park the Exodus group over your first target planet for two or more turns. This should raise your Delta stress 80 points or more.
      • Next bring in the Genesises with some of the Scalar Wave Damper on to get the Delta Stress to a multiple of 5. (ie 1 or 6, have 2 on, 2 o 7 have 4, 3 or 8 have 1, 4 or 9 have 3 on. Then turn all 5 on and forget them. All further delta stress adjuestments are done by turning off Scalar Wave Amps
      • At 300 Delta Stress, drop out some Scalar Wave Amps for one turn to drop the delta stress to 70. Then at 600 (five turns later) turn off 4 Scalar Wave Amps for one turn to drop the delta stress to 50. Then again at 800 (five turns later) turn off 4 Scalar Wave Amps for one turn to drop the delta stress to 30. Then finally at 800 (five turns later) turn off 4 Scalar Wave Amps again for one turn to drop the delta stress to 10 which will be stable and produce about 1200 Neutronium and 400 Tritium at turn.
    • Warning - Do not do this on your HW as it is relatively easy to disrupt and will likely cause the HW to explode.
    • Thank you Flynx for pointing out my error and his note on optimal approaches has been moved to the discussion section. --KBJ07675 14:29, 2 May 2007 (CEST)

[edit] Exploration

  • Build a few cheap - one way Dirk Light Submarines for early exploration. They go to a planet drop a Minefield as far away as possible then act as sensor stations or alternatively build a base and recycle there. It is not worth the fuel to bringing them home although a second jump for more exploration may make sense so long as you recycle them at the second destination (no captures).
  • Build several Propaganda Luxury Cruisers with cheap engines to send out to local planets. One of these should have a FTL-5 Warp Drive for towing other Propaganda Luxury Cruisers
  • At Hull Tech 3 build one or two Revolution Light Carriers with your starting FTL-5 Warp Drive Starting Engines. THese will be the backbone of your base construction and merchant fleet.

[edit] Battle Tactics

[edit] Early Tactics

The initial attack mode is offensive laying of minefields. Use one way Dirks loaded with Ord. The Ordnance is far more expensive than the ship and the minerals are negligable. The MC for the Hyperdrive are also significant. Long term the real cost is the fuel to jump. Short term the cost is the MC. The Dirk is fully cloaked and so should be most of the minefields you lay. Best case allows for 5 minefields to explode on one ship at the nexus of the five minefields. Typically these are set around a planet. This will destroy many small ships. Set them, recharge them. HWs are a favorite location. If that suceeds, follow up with Martyr Glories and explode the HW.

Example for a plan for 5 minefields over a HW at 500,700. Geometry of these 2,000 ord minefields would be 72 degrees and 18 lys thus being laid in a pentagon. That suggest (0,18), (4,-18), (-9,15), (12,-13), (-16,9) & (17,-6) off of the center of 500, 700 or at locations (500,718), (504,682), (491,715), (512,687), (484,709) & (517,694). Then when the time comes, explode them.

[edit] Mid Game Tactics

Okay you've now got more technology. The Dirks are still the core but with Warhop 2020s fuel becomes less of an issue. Time is the limitation. Build not less than 20-30 Dirks once you have Warhops. Mine the whole universe on a grid - 25 ly squares is ideal - most of these should be cloaked as it allows you to clear out any intervening minefields when you need to approach any potentially mined area. If you need to move your Dirks at 12 ly or 6 ly a turn to infiltrate other's space feel free to do so - they will not see the Dirks anyway. Five exploded barb minefields will destroy any ship under 100 mass and disable anything under 200 mass. The typical sequence with Warhops is:

  • Odd turn hyperspace in and lay barb mines.
  • Even turns hyperspace out and explode all 5 minefields as well as reloading ordnance for the next wave. In a pinch do not be afraid to explode them every turn (which will kill all 5 minelaying Dirks) as MC are not an issue and the Dirks are cheap in minerals (your mid game limitation).

Also remember to lay grav minefields all around the HWs of hyperspacing races (Rebels, EE,Centaurs, Scavengers). Assign at least one Claymore to each nearby Hyperspacer. Do not lay these on the HW but spread them out at least 30 lys from the HW so they will have to take two turns or hyperspace into them. After you have laid about 5 or so turn one or two on at random. Use your Dirks to reload ord. Lots of small grav minefields are most effective. Of course these are only used if needed but what weapons once deployed are not needed. Of course the area between his HW and yours is prime territory.

[edit] Late Game Tactics

At this point Swarmer Races, Minelaying races and pure Hyperspacing races are toast. The big boys are left and the dreadnoughts are coming and all you have is unlimited MC & Minerals and more cloaked minefields than they can imagine. But that has little effect on dreadnoughts.

[edit] Enemies

In order of most dangerous

  1. Stormer They board and take ships without needing a Boarding Laser and take your population by Ground Combat and put them into Labor Mines and Labor Camps for MC so they can capture even more Peeps.
  2. Aczanny Great and fast early attack ships. They will use their Reticulian Light Beam to take your people without Ground Combat. Peeps are their favorite guest in their Private Hotels (Labor Mines and Labor Camp)
  3. Evil Empire Speed and Camps make the choose the Peeps as early targets. As they hyperspace, Gravitonic Minefields are a must. Another Slaver race - Do you see a trend?
  4. Borg Peeps need to kill them early as late there is no chance. Of course that applies to almost any race facing a well played Borg. They do not use slave labor, they assimilate.

[edit] Potential Trading Partners

  1. Feds You may be able to deal with them, as they are not a slaver race, but they board at will if you cross them. They can provide you with plenty of food.
  2. Lizards Ground assault - but you can keep them at bay with Barbitic Mines.
  3. Pirates A great ally, but never to be fully trusted. They will steal from you but since they can't use plans and you can solve so many of their problems, an arrangement can be made. The key point is to keep your bases small enough that they will not be able to take too many MCs.
  4. Rebels A great trading partner. They can and will take Peeps out early if you do not find a deal to make them a friend.

[edit] See also

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