Glistening Gems:
Autarch's Guide to the Crystals

This guide was written due to the frustrating lack of Crystal guides on the Net. The Crystals are an often over-looked race, brushed off as weak and not much of a threat. That is, until one either plays them, or one runs into someone who KNOWS how to play them...

For the beginner and intermediate, this is the guide for you. If you're an expert, and I am not, you don't need this. The Guide is a conglomeration of stuff I have read, learned, and played. (More)

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Glittering Webs:
A Guide for Playing the Crystals in VGA Planets

Many guides exist on the Net for the various races of VGA Planets (created by Tim Wisseman- Thanks, Tim!), but I've found that the Crystals are often overlooked, or even worse, ignored.

This is an overview of strategies, advice, hints, and tips that I've collected from as many sources as I could find, with some personal experiences and experiments thrown in. I'm not even trying to cover situations that you will find in the many add-ons available for the Hosts: the points made here will have to be adapted for each new game you play. (More)

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Cecil's Crystaline Strategy

This is the "Light Ship" from Battlestar Galactic (Galacticia 1980). (Thank you Tim W!) But nevertheless, I still think it is a cool picture because it is a mysterious picture that no one can seem to figure out. Much like many players who don't play the Crystals. They just don't know how to use them or take the time to do so. They want fighting warships, or ones that can sneak off cloaked, or the big huge carriers. When you look at the Crystalline fleet next time, you will notice that they have only a few decent warships that will generally be wiped out anyway by another fleet. This is because that other races generally have larger warships. The Crystals don't. Well, not at first anyway, until you start taking those nice large warships from your opponents. And hence the players soon figure out that the Crystalline race isn't as bad as they thought it was. (More)

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Crystals 101

So whats the big deal? The Crystals do not have the big ships. They can't build fighters. They can't ground assault. And they can't clone. In fact, they can't do a lot of things. So why do you hear about others who see the Crystals and cry? Why are the Crystals becoming a popular race to play? And why are more and more Commanders making it a priority to knock the Crystals out early -- before it is too late! (More)

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The Crystal Guide to the Echo Wide Web

Experienced players are probably more interested in the Strategy and Tactics section. First time Crystal players or Newbies are advised to read also the first chapters. Advise to ALL players: When in doubt set up a game and test (more experienced players should already know this) (More)

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Crystalline FAQ

G'day....

There's a lot to say about the Tholians. They are one of the three races that are the most difficult to play. Never ever one should judge from the difficulties of playing a certain race for that races power/force. To clear things up: When referring to the Tholians we are talking about race 7, also known as "Crystals" but they have nothing in common with the crystal entities appearing in some series of Star Trek [I really have no idea what he is referring to...].

This FAQ is just some advice and help. When playing with different shiplists, addons, etc. one has to think of other ways or try out totally new stuff.

Planets is a game intended to end the boring "always against the dumb computer" type of games. If one does it right, he or she can even have some serious fun. It's up to the player himself, how he does that, though. (More)