Circus-Maximus.com - The H-Files

<======================> VGA PLANETS: The -H- Files <=======================>
<========================> Version of November 96 <=========================>
<=========================> Released on Nov. 17 <===========================>

HINTS begun by Roger Burton-West <ubte30e@ccs.bbk.ac.uk>
continued by Gary Grothman <grothmag@vax.cs.hscsyr.edu>
Gordy Pine <gordy@compumedia.com>
Luc Projean <buck@cedep.com>

This file is a collection of submissions & strategy hints that were nabbed
off alt.games.vga-planets and excellent web sites that are going to be
mentionned later in this publication.

The main purpose of the -H- Files is to help novice players avoid common
pitfalls & allow them to play competently in games with more experienced
players. It may also contain some tips of value to relatively advanced
players.

The last update of this file that I know of was completed in November 94, I
[Luc Projean] will explain why I decided to continue this publication.

I started playing VGA PLANETS about 2 years ago, and I saw this file on the
alt.games.vga-planets newsgroup, and found it very useful since I was a
complete newbie. 6 months later, I stopped playing for personal reasons,
and now I recently came back to the VGAP world. I looked around for this
file again, and saw that in 2 years, it hadn't been updated at all. Of
course, the game had developped alot: Ion Storms, Cloning and Tachyon beams
were all alien to me. After this, I decided to help the VGA PLANETS community
and it's newbies by updating this file, and adding ALOT of hints and
strategies I captured on the NG and on web sites.

I will try to give credits to every post I'll quote in this file, there
might be some cases where the credits are not valid, I apologize to these
persons, and I wish to thank everyone for making this possible for me.

I also want to warn you about the many grammar errors in this document. I
am myself French Canadian, and a good part of these hints come from people
whose native language might not be english. I do not want to modify the
hints from these people to correct grammatical errors, because I wish to
keep this as original as possible. (Not to mention, I might put errors
where there aren't :) )

===============================> DISCLAIMER <================================

The purpose of this file is to aid the user base of VGA PLANETS regarding
different tactics to use in VGA PLANETS, by Tim Wisseman.

Luc Projean claims NO responsibility regarding any illegal activity
concerning this file, or indirectly related to it.

I. If you wish to distribute this file, distribute the CURRENT and UNMODIFIED version.
II. It would also be nice if the copies give some credit to the current,
and former maintainers of this file.

========================================> Table of Contents <================

****** 0.1 Introduction
0.2 The history of VGAP
0.3 Credits
0.4 Where to get VGA PLANETS
0.5 Excellent VGAP-related Web Sites

****** 1.0 Race-specific tips: Introduction
1.1 The Federation
1.2 The Lizards
1.3 The Bird Men
1.4 The Fascists
1.5 The Privateers
1.6 The Cyborgs
1.7 The Crystal People
1.8 The Evil Empire
1.9 The Robots
1.10 The Rebel Alliance
1.11 The Missing Colonies of Man

****** 2.0 Misc. Things introduction
2.1 The Great Fighters/Torpedoes debate
2.2 Ion Storms
2.3 Mine Sweeping
2.4 Which Freighters to use?
2.5 General Colonization tips
2.6 Ship Names Suggestions
2.7 Diplomacy

****** 3.0 Conclusion

<======<0.1>============================> Introduction <====================>

I welcome any comments about this publication at <buck@cedep.com>. Any
suggestions or additions can also be sent to this address.

Also, If you wish to have your name and email taken out from the -H- Files
for personal reasons, just email me.

<======<0.2>============================> The History of VGAP <=============>

VGA PLANETS has been written by Tim Wisseman, who can be reached at
<cocomax@aol.com>.

Before I started this project, I didn't know the history of VGA PLANETS
very well. I hope this section will be as informative to you as it was to
me, the information I'm about to give you has been taken from a discussion
with Tim Wisseman himself.

There was a version 1.0 of VGAP, how many copies did it sell? 13.

The 13 copies were all sold to Sierra Online people, and after playing it
they began working on a clone called 'Outpost'. Halfway into writing
'Outpost' they decided it would be a bad idea, so they brought in a NASA
person to add details. Outpost changed completely into an all new game that
ended up looking nothing like VGA PLANETS. Some of you probably know what
was the result of Outpost game released by Sierra...

Tim knew the Sierra people because the Sierra office at the time was only
20 miles from Tim's house, and many of them shared the same BBS.

Version 1 was released the same day LA burned in the riots. Tim remembers
sending it to the first BBS while watching LA burn.

Version 2.0 came 5 months later, it was kicked off of CompuServe for having
a Darth Vader(tm) picture included (which was homemade). It was changed to
a Gorby Picture and all the race names were changed, it then became version
2.1.

About 500 copies of version 2.0 were sold.

Later version 3 was released on April 1 in 1993, we also have to give
credit to Tim for making this version since it sold over 50K copies by the
time I'm writing this article (November 13, 1996).

I wish this section of the -H- Files interested you, since I'm sure many of
you didn't know these things.

=======<0.3>============================> Credits <=========================>

Most of the credit goes to Tim Wisseman, author of VGA PLANETS. He
programmed a great game that gave us many hours of entertainment and that
will probably continue to do so for a long time to come.

I have to give credit to Roger Burton-West, Gary Grothman and Gordy
Pine for starting the Hint Files.

Some of the strategies and hints found in the -H- files were taken from Ted
York's Web site, that can be found at <http://www.teds-universe.com/~goldman>
I have to thank Ted for letting me use them without a doubt.

I also have to mention the strategy section of Timo Kreike's web page at
<http://www.chem.vu.nl/0/Studenten/kreike/vgap.html>
Timo let me use his strategy section, and I have to thank him for that.

And all the posters of the alt.games.vga-planets NG who provided us with an
endless source of hints and strategies. [Not to mention hours of
entertainment :) -ed]

=======<0.4>============================> Where to get VGAP <===============>

The best place to get VGA PLANETS related programs would of course be at Tim
Wisseman's web site, located at <www.wilmington.net/vgaplanets/>

=======<0.5>============================> Excellent Web Sites <=============>

Well, since this is an hint file, I'm not going to review these sites for
you, it's your job to check them out for yourselves.

Tim Wisseman's Web site: www.wilmington.net/vgaplanets/

Ted York's universe: www.teds-universe.com/~goldman/

Timo Kreike's Web site: www.chem.vu.nl/0/Studenten/kreike/vgap.html

The Zone: VGA Planets: www.cit.gu.edu.au/~cvenour/planets/

The Den of the Draconian: ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ryo/

Galactic Traveller's VGA PLANETS page:

www.jacobean.demon.co.uk/vgaplanets/start.html

=======<1.0>============================> Race tips: Intro <================>

Most of the text following this introduction has not been thought up by me,
but by addicted VGA PLANETS gamers. Sometimes I'll make some comments,
these will be included between these: [].

Also, some of the strategies mentionned might not be 100% accurate, don't
hold me responsible for these mistakes, I am not a VGAP god or a wizard and
I can't go thru all the files to check, sorry :(

=======<1.1>============================> The Federation <==================>

Build neutronic refinery ship(s) early. You have no fuel carriers, so your
supply will be limited.
Build an alchemy ship early - preferably before the N. refinery. Keep it at
your home world until you can build a Nebula or Missouri to escort it to a
Bovine (supply-producing) planet.
You are going to have to trade to get fuel carriers, fighter ships, and
respect. Form a stable alliance with a stronger race. Offer them use of your
Super Refit capabilities.
Despite the lack of fuel carriers, you have a good balance of ships, mostly
leaning toward torp-based weapons. Crank up your torp tech level, and
concentrate on tech 7 and higher torps.
Nebula - carries 350 torps. Good for torp transport, or can use on long
treks through enemy space dropping 50 mines 7 times to form a wall.Sweet ship
to offer in trades, but be careful who you give it to.
Missouri - good torp & beam ship, high mass, can take some hits.
Kitty Hawk - holds 65 fighters, reasonably priced. You can build a couple
of these, and send them out with other ships in a fleet.
Nova - Not bad for a tech 10 ship. I haven't had the chance to battle test
mine yet, so I can't give good advice on Nova vs T.Rex, etc.
Nocturne - Don't overlook these! They hold 50 torps - not much in a battle,
but can be loaded with torps and distributed across your territory. In times
of emergency, they can cover your planets with small minefields6 (beware
cloakers!), and be used to trigger planet defenses if/when attacked.
A previous hint said that Feds lose in the long run. Without fuel carriers,
you will lose quickly.

You are the poor guy who probably will not win by the course of time and
simple surviving. Use your money advantages to outrun your enemy early - they
will loose much of their value later. You can use your Refit mission to
overcome temporary supply shortages - simply build the ship and refit it later
when money or minerals are plentiful available.
Your Escort of Choice is the Loki. You can equip it with slow drives and tow
it by the freighter, if money is rare. The Vendetta does it as well but it is
a little short on Crew and tends to get conquered by the Enemy.

They can Super Refit ships, for profit.
That's why the Solar Federation is sooo powerful! ;-)
(another "ally" tip)
(meaning? --- Ally w/ the Feds, send them your old ship <GIVE it to them>,
have them "ReFit" it with upgraded stuff. They return it to you. Work out
the $$ yourselves..a great alliance tool)

=============================================================================

<Cg, CG@PRIMENET.COM>

I rank the FEDs with the Fascists as a tough race to play well and they
are really not for inexperienced players but great success can be had with
both races inthe right hands and the right ship combo's.

Many Fed players overlook the great THOR..this little guy has only one
beam but it packs 8 torptubes! Three of these will take down a Biocide and
if you use them with your Carrier..you'll put a big hurt on the enemy.The
Thor strips the huge enemy carriers of all their shields with the proper
amount of torps onboard..this leaves your carrier to finish off all but the
largest enemy carriers.. and against the largest carriers..send in 2 Thors
then your carrier or 3 Thors alone.

=============================================================================

<Caswell, EMAILLC1330@CS.ARBOR.EDU>

The feds have fairly large ships camparitive to other races. This is
not nesicerily a good thing. When the Sheild bonus of the other race is
applied it is not him with biggest ship that wins but he with the most
torpedo and I mean TORPEDO tubes that wins.

=============================================================================

<Visitor, DEMO.TELEGALLERIA1@TELE.INET.TELE.FI>

The few first turns of the game are very important, these are the
turns where you find your good native/mineral planets before your
friendly neihgbour gets them.

So first build a couple of medium/large freighters with warp seven-,
or nine-engines if money is available. You can later super refit the
slower freighters and they will be great money/colonist suppliers.If
your neighbour is a cloaking race you should acquire a probe.

decent firepower against low mass ships. Later on make nebulas for
security and cargo transfers. Arm them with blasters and mark4, w/w9.

=============================================================================

<Visitor, DEMO.TELEGALLERIA1@TELE.INET.TELE.FI>

You have got one big advantage which will possibly keep you from
trouble if used right. Yes, the Eros & Bohemian ships are very wanted
by many races.These ships don't cost toomuch $$ or minerals and the
Feds advantage is money making. So exchange the ships for a big load
of minerals, you'll need them when making your big ships and a huge
load of fighters for the kittys.

=============================================================================

Is it just me, or does nobody seem to like the Feds? Well, played
right, you can shove those cloaking, fighter carrying, hyperspacing
ships right back down everybody's throat!:)

Part1- Early in the game

Don't bother with the big, bad ships right now. Build Nocturnes and
Vendettas for escort/scout, and Nebulas for armed colonization. That is,
unless you come into contact with other races. The Nocturne/Vendetta
ships have a fair amount of "punch" and they are dirt cheap. Don't mess
with the fancy, tech 10 weapons. X-Rays and Protons are fine. The only
things you should fight with these are freighters and scouts. The
Nebulas have 350 Cargo Space, making them great for colonizing with
firepower.

Part2- The Middle

IMHO, this is the coolest part of the game. It is also the most
crucial. You can still come from behind, but wars are starting up,
you're building 3-7 ships a turn, and the struggle for power is starting.
The Fed's attack of choice - the Missouri/Arkham combo. The Missouri is
nearly as strong as the Nova (too expensive to be of any use) and the
Arkaham will take out all but the strongest Medium-Light Ships. A Loki
here and there will protect you from cloakers, but don't worry about
those unless cloakers are in your immediate area. If you have a fighter
supplying ally, KittyHawks are a decent fighter ship. 4 Beams, 6 Bays
will seriously injure just about anything smaller than the KittyHawk.

If you absolutly, positivly MUST build a Nova, don't bother with meg
Tech 10 weapondry. TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE!!!! I only build 2-4 Novas total
and use them for rear guard or (this is the only practical use for it,
IMHO) it's a great intimidator. Few races will have the guts to go after
one of these. (Little do they know it's got X-Rays and Mark 1's) :)

Part3- The Finale

If you are not in the top 3 by turn 40+, you are screwed. Find an ally
up there and help him win. The Fed's are not a comeback race. Build
Missouris and (yes I know what I said) Novas. If you got the dough build
high tech level Novas. The 500 ship limit is undoublty in effect so you
need the most powerfil ships you can get. (or afford)
Hope this helps,

Rob Nielsen

=============================================================================

<Visitor, DEMO.TELEGALLERIA1@TELE.INET.TELE.FI>

Comments= There are few good ships which you should build.
Nocturne - A very useable ship, good cargo size and could
not be noticed as a threat for the defending race.

Just drop 50 mark 8 torpedos and he'll never ever let
one noctune past his territory.

Eros-Need is say more, cool down your planets with these and trade them like
hell.

Bohemian - Heat your planets and trade this baby for a decent minerals.
load of minerals.

Nebula- Great mine layer, decent 'punch' .Need I say more ?

Brynhild - Make one to look for good native planets.

Missouri - I don't like this hull, not enough fuel space, takes
too many minerals to build and doesn'tcost that much less that you should
not build a nova.

Thor-Good torpedo ships against non-fighter races.

Diplomacy - 6 beams & 6 torps make this ship a very good planet taker shame
about it being tech9. It's cheap anyway.

Kittyhawk - This ships is the second backbone of your race.

Nova-Excellent ship, build these in force. You don't need many to take out

cloaking races when striking in a fleet with a loki.

Pray for a bovinoid & Insectoid world :)

=============================================================================

<Caswell, LC1330@CS.ARBOR.EDU>

The Thor class frigate is probably the best ship for the dollar. When
properly loaded with torps this baby will eat most small ships for dinner
and trade hard with most mid to large ships. 4 of these things working
together might be able to bust a homeworld. I don't know from experience.
I do know that 8 tubes give a definate plus in combat.

=============================================================================

Well I have noticed that SuperRefit mission is GREAT!
I build ships (little ships and few MerlinClass Alchemy and few Eros
Class Ships (Of coz I put best tech on them what I can...)

Then I exchange them for other ships (Which have tech 1 engines, weapons,
and torpedoes)

Then I Super Refit them to best Tech I can and then Clone them and voila
I have soon many GREAT ships... =)

=============================================================================

<Markus, MARKUS@IUS.GUN.DE>

cmader@wpo.uwsuper.edu meinte am 19.09.94 zum Thema
"Re: playing the Fed's":

> Actually, I find a very useful combination ship in almost all cases
> to be the Nebula Class. Granted it only has 4 beams and 4 tubes, but it
> also has a decent mass. The Thor isn't very effective against a carrier, it
> will only get about one volley of torps out, two volleys if you are lucky.
> The Missouri falls in the ranks of the NOVA--to expensive to waste, however,
> if you arrange the battle order for the Kittyhawk to go first and the NOVA
> second, you have a good one-two and should keep the NOVA, depending upon
> the number of opposing fighters. Granted, you lose the Kittyhawk and its
> fighters and that's expensive in credits, but you are the Feds and if you
> play your cards right, you should have a lot of credits built up to build
> fighters at a mere 100 MC.

If you play with engine tech bonus you'll see why the thor is a nice
ship. It'll fire up to 4-5 volley's with 50% bonus. A max of three

kill's every carrier in the game. The third survives only with shields
down usually.

MfG Markus Z-Netz: markus@ius.gun.de

=============================================================================

TAN TOT LIT (isc30236@leonis.nus.sg) wrote:

: Or try 3 thors with transwarp and mark 7/8 if u have eng shield
: bonus on.

My friend Chris Kirby, an avid FED player, after taking some of your advice
writes:

I just tried this. It failed miserably. Not only did none of them fire a
single torpedo, I had to live with the fact that I paid for 3 of them with
Mk 8s and transwarp drives. I shot down a whopping 5 fighters. Better luck
with two missouris and some backup ship. Heavy fighter carriers can kick
the **** out of the feds with ease. Pound per pound the feds dont have the
firepower to deal effectively with any REAL fighter carriers. To just hold
their own you have to outbuild them in NUMBERS of ships (ex. 3 Missouris to

1 Biocide or high mass fighter carrier). Oh and by the way if you feel like
doing the math, figure out how much more minerals and money you lose doing
it this way. And dont forget the Feds mine at 70% in comparison! Dont get
me wrong the feds can hold out against some of the other races and
eventually if they get some much needed alterations they might hold their
own in certain arenas but at present the Feds and the Facists are two of the
weakest groups in the game. (Gee, I wonder why these races are the last
spots always taken??? HUMMMM)

I personally want to know which host version you were using when you tried
this (3 X Thor Class w/ Mk8 and Transwarp -VS- Biocide). We used host v3.15
with fed crew bonus and 25% E-S bonus.

elmo@gate.net (Yuri Villanueva)

=============================================================================

>I am playing in game as the Feds. I have little experience with this race.
>can anyone give me some Hints ?

Build Carriers. Lots of them. Lasers are fine. Grab an automa if you can.
steal a Lizard too. In the end game the Carrier will give you a big
advantage.

kleitch@idirect.com (Kevin Leitch)

=============================================================================

>I am playing in game as the Feds. I have little experience with this race.
>Can anyone give me some Hints ?

Raise your hull tech to the max, and pump out ships with Quantum drive 7's,
MK I's and X-Rays. Later, once you have your economy up and running, super
refit these ships to Heavy PHasers and Mk VII or Mk VIII. If you would
like to

use these ships for real work until you can upgrade them, then put on
Disruptors and MkIV torpedos first.
--
Richard Hendricks
hendric@ksu.ksu.edu

=============================================================================

<Dan McInnis, YOYO@DIGITAL.NET>

Kevin Leitch wrote:
>
> In article <N.072496.191415.93@wxs5-11.worldaccess.nl>, voogt@worldaccess.nl
> says...
> >I am playing in game as the Feds. I have little experience with this race. Can
> >anyone give me some Hints ?

> Build Carriers. Lots of them. Lasers are fine. Grab an automa if you can. steal
> a Lizard too. In the end game the Carrier will give you a big advantage.

Ummmm...

I dont think so. The fed carriers are ok, but for them to be effective at
all, they should be led in with a couple of torpships. Its rather a waste
of money and minerals to put so much money for all these carriers if youre
going to lose at least one to a heavy carrier every time.

I would have to say that for the feds, build a shitload of good hulls.
Missouri's,

Diplomacies, Nova Super D's, Kittyhawks and lokis. Not so many of the loki's
tho :)
Build them with whatever engine/max # of beams/max # of tubes that you can
so you can fill the ship Q. You then end up with a medium fleet of decent
ships with good weapons and transwarps on them, and then you can go back
(after the Q of course) and super refit the hulls that need good weapons
and engines. When you face any kind of hardcore resistance, you will lose
ships, so by keeping your opponents ship numbers down, and your own high,
you can beat them.

I know all this because I got all my advice from a guy who has won 7 games as the
feds, and this is how he did it :)

Dan McInnis <yoyo@digital.net>

=============================================================================

>Ok, I have got much help from people out there, though I still
>need a VERY important question answered out there!
>The fed tec 10, rad ship though it is, has NO hope in hell of
>defeating those nasty huge cylon, colonist, borg carrier ships
>that can destroy anything in this game. HOW do ye defeat them
>without taking enormous amounts of damage and loss of ships
>and MC????????? ;-(

>There must be some way, though it is eluding me...

First, build cheap Missouri Battleships with X-rays and Mk8 torps.
Put about 30 torps on them, and set one to attack before the Nova.
The Missouri will damage the carrier (usually brings down the shields)
enough so that the Nova can destroy it.

You'll lose a cheap Missouri. He loses a Golem or Gorbie. Sounds
like a good trade to me! If he sends two carriers, Have another
Missouri/Nova pair at the point of attack just in case. Your
first Nova should be able to bring down the shields of the second
carrier if you put enough torps on it. Then have a second Nova
finish it off.

Remember, you as the Feds can build hulls with Tech 1 items, then upgrade
later as you bring in the money and minerals. It is _vital_ for you
to build a good hull every turn. You can refit as many ships as you want
around one base, _in addition_ to building a new ship. Once the 500 ship
limit is reached, build as many bases as possible and set all to build a

good hull. This will allow you to scoop up lots of ship slots.

Mike Lemon

=============================================================================

=======<1.2>============================< The Lizards >======================

B. Lizard

Go out, find enemy planets you want, and land 1000's of clans to take
them over and defend them. You'll probably want 2 or 3 warm planets to grow
lizards on, and remember not to build more mines than you need. Use that
defense bonus on ships by using small, cloaking ships to steal ships off
other people.

Normally the Lizards are lousy (or so-so) cloakers. The Reptile isn't
heavily enough armed, and the Lizard Cruiser is too massive - it needs too
much fuel. But they have their Lizard Ground attack, which can cause
horrific damage to your planets. Additionally this can be used while
cloaking.
Two countermeasures: Develop Planet defenses to max, and place well
armed ships around endangered planets. If the Lizard conquers the planet,
you will take it back immediately. And that Planet Defense reduces his
ground combat ratio. Once one of these Lizard Cruisers loses its Colonist
load, it has lost most of its destructive potential.

Your Escort is the Vendetta. Since you have the 150% advantage, it is
more impressive in your hands than with the Fed.

>If you had a Lizard ship orbiting a planet and you upped the tax rate to 100%
>and the Lizard ship had the Hisssss Mission set would that mean that you'd
>get major $$$ without any risks at all or would the population riot? I know
>the hisssss mission will stop civil wars, but will it stop people from
>rioting?

Nononononononononono.

_Don't_ raise taxes to 100%. Dumb. Civil war for turns & turns, even with 3
or 4 Hisss! ships orbiting the planet. Hissss! only decreases unhappiness
_a little bit_. You'd need multiple ships Hisssing! to manage 100% taxes. I
have one planet with 15 mil Ghipsoldals at a 40% tax rate and 7 ships
Hissing! and they're stable at 'Unhappy.' (host 3.11) The number of ships
needed to keep your planets not rioting is not directly proportional to
your tax rate.. Unhappiness is more like geometrically related to tax rate
(I dunno what the exact deal is). Hisssss! does not stop riots immediately.
You can have a planet rioting while ships HIssss! at it. Such planets will
just stop rioting quicker. You can also HIssss! at planets you don't own
and it'll work. Hissss! at your allies in exchange for better ships... ...
Nope, sorry. I tried that, ONCE. It took two turns with taxes at 0% and
two ships in orbit with the HISSSS Mission going, to recover from bumping
taxes up to 100%. Thank God I did that early in the game so it didn't hurt
me. (FYI: This was on version 3.0d) So for all you Newbie Lizard players
out there, Do NOT set your taxes up to 100% and think the HISSS mission
will make everything o.k. the following turn.

> For all you Lizard People out there that have played for quite a awhile,
>How are we supposed to beat anyone?? This is my first game, my ships suck,
>I'm over extended in planets, because my lizards mine too fast then get
>angry, I have to build all freighters to send them back to my two starbases
>which are already sucked dry.
>This means I have a few escorts,
>and my biggest ship is the size of the cylons tech 6.
>Not only that they are about to attack me, and they can at any given time,
>because I don't have any mines, all my Mo
>are in my freighter's hulls, and the freighters just ship Supplies back and
>forth. Meanwhile I have to let the ULS Patrick (Merlin)
>to rune seven or eight times just so
>I can build another one, and build torpedoes.
>How am I supposed to beat a swarm of fighters from the cylons anyway??

As a sucsessful Lizard player, ther eis one thing you have going for you:
Money, LOts and Lots and Lots and LOTS of it! If you've got it, and Alchemy
ships, build starbases to defend your planets. If you haven't had time to
set up a strong intimidation based economy (Love that hiss mission), I cant
help you much..

| For all you Lizard People out there that have played for quite a awhile,
|How are we supposed to beat anyone?? This is my first game, my ships suck,
|I'm over extended in planets, because my lizards mine too fast then get angry

Mining faster then everyone else is GOOD. The reason your natives or colonists
are angry is because you are taxing them to high. The lizard HISSS mission
will help solve this problem.

| I have to build all freighters to send them back to my two starbases which
|are already sucked dry. This means I have a few escorts, and my biggest ship
|is the size of the cylons tech 6. Not only that they are about to attack me,
|and they can at any given time, because I don't have any mines, all my Mo are
|in my freighter's hulls, and the freighters just ship Supplies back and forth
|Meanwhile I have to let the ULS Patrick (Merlin) to rune seven or eight times
|just so I can build another one, and build torpedoes. How am I supposed to
|beat a swarm of fighters from the cylons anyway??

From your desctiption you probably going to die if the Robots want to kill
you. You have to be careful with your minerals from the start of the game
all I can say is think ahead several turns. Your ultimate goal is to find
bovinods planets and put merlin alchemy ships in orbit around them for an
unlimited supply of minerals.

How do you kill someone with this lizards? Build lots of lizard class
cruisers with high tech torpedo tubes. Put lots of torpedos and clans on
board, go into enemy teritory cloaked, drop clans off on his worlds. It
takes over 900 clans to get planetary defense upto 80 so most worlds will
have 60 or less defense which will make the lizards ground attack ratio
30:4 instead of 30:1. So 200 clans can kill 1500 enemy clans. Thats 2 or 3
well developed worlds or as many lightly populated worlds as you can
reach. Since the lizard cruiser cloaks the only way to stop this attack is
with mines. Thats why the cruisers have high tech torps to lay mines to
destroy enemy mine fields. Its a bitch for the enemy to take back the
planets because lizards can take 150% damage (yes even the planets) and if
they don't build up the planetary defense then it makes it that much easier
for the lizards to take.

Unfortunatly the Robots are the lizards worst nightmare only the lizard
battleship (and alchemy ships) have more than 4 beam thus fighter races have
an advantage. And the robots mine 4 times better than everyone. The only thing
the lizards can do to stop a direct attack is build lots of battleships with
x-ray lasers and high tech torps.

>What kinds of ships are best at Hiss'ing? And how much over amounts can I
>get per turn, safely?

Build Escorts. Lots of them. With 6 or 7 in the air you can get taxes up to
about 75%!!! The T-Rex is small but only requires 2 engines. It is therefor
cheap to build. Build a fleet.

Use the LCCs as planetary attack ships. Cloak and drop colonists. Even
captured freighters can be used as assault ships by Lizards. Capture the
freighters and then drop the colonists (if that is what they are carrying on a
planet. If you have enough you get the planet. If not you dropped his
population by a big margin.

>Do the Lizards have to be offensive early on?

I've never played the Lizards, but they are oriented reasonably well for
defense: with your 30:1 ground combat ratio when attacked, it's darn hard to
take your planets away from you. For offense, I think you'd do well to slowly
advance your borders outwards, crushing enemy frontier worlds by dumping
massive numbers of colonists onto them.

The 150% is only really important in the battle where you get to that
figure; but it's quite impressive there. I have taken on many Rushes with
T-Rexes and it generally requires 2 T-Rexes lost and the third damaged;
that's 1 less than the usual number of Vic/Diamond flame b-ships usually
lost. This carries over into the other Liz. ships as well. The Lizards real
problem is the lack of ships with many beams, which makes them vulnerable
to carriers; they fare well against torpedo races like the Feds and
Fascists. But that's symptomatic of the greater strength carriers have
against all torp ships. A 1-1 kill ratio is nothing to sneer at! The
Lizard cloakers are generally light in combat potential, but cheap in
minerals, tech levels for the hull, and credits. Thus, you can crank
T-Rexes at old established starbases, while making cloaking ships at the
new frontier bases. They do have good cruising range, and excellent cargo
capacity for assault troops, supplies for repairs (important when
penetrating minefields) and torpedoes (for extended raiding campaigns and
minelaying). 2 of the cloakers can survive a mine hit (the Liz cruiser 2
hits). When loaded with supplies, they can be in pretty good shape after
that hit. They are not intended to be heavy combat ships, but are quite
adequate at planet-busting and convoy raiding, as well as planet-taking
ground assault. The Reptile is strictly a scout; but it's fine against
freighters, and can take a small frontier world with 50 colonists in the
cargo hold. They have cloaking and that is nice. The ground attack is also
nice.

Take them on the offensive and conquer new worlds by hand-to-hand combat! But,
do it early in the game.
Agreed, be quick out the gate. But not only the ground assault - the double
mining and Hisss mission give them the cash and minerals to build starbases
and reach high tech levels early.

>On the defensive Lizards suck.

Why? Lot's of other races won't have their cash to lay minefields, or a
ship to match the T-rex, and they never have to worry about ground assault.
They can afford starbases to toughen their planets better than most, as well.
Sure they don't have huge ships, but can't you think of something to offer a
neighbor (or a neighbor's enemy) from their stock of goodies, to get a ship in
trade?

>To do well you probably need a good starting position and build lots of
>starbases quick so you can get massive numbers of the pathetic ships.

The ships are not pathetic-they're as good as most Fed except the
high-end, which with 70% mining the Feds have trouble building; are
comparable with Birds (except their B-ship doesn't cloak); better than
Fascist, Privateer (except the speed), Borg (except the cubes), Crystal
(except the expensive Crystal Thunder), and not too shabby against the rebs
and colonies, except the Pat, Rush and Virgo - and as I said, you just have
to sacrifice some T-Rexes. The 500 ship limit is their biggest enemy; fight
it by building lots of bases, and destroying the bases of your enemies (or
capturing them!). That demands either treachery, or a little homework.
They aren't any good at simply walking over the enemy, like the Borg in the
end-game, but what fun is that?

If you concentrate overrun type missions on key enemy planets, it can be
very successful. Imagine being able to take the enemy's starbase just with
an overrun (possible in games where all sides start with very low
populations)! Being able to do it from a cloaked ship means you've got deep
penetration on your side, except against the Privateers (who can anticipate
where you will try to strike, and Rob you blind) and people who build
minefields.

The FAQ suggests finding warm planets to breed lots of Lizard colonists.
Sounds like a good idea.

> On the defensive Lizards suck.

One thing in your favor is that your planetary defence is boosted by that 150%
bonus. A "depth" defence where you build up a lot of well-defended planets and
wait for the enemy to attack works best for you than for any of the other race.

Lizards - Have pretty good ships. The 150% damage ratio can help, but only
if you can get a few more torpedos off in those last few seconds of life.
The Lizards need LOTS of cruisers and LOTS of colonists, as that is they're
only defense against the big fighter races. They just don't have the Fascist
plethora of beams. All-in-all, a good race if played properly. They're
mining ability and Hisss mission make finding natives and good planets
essential. In a bad position, the Lizards will find it tougher than most to
be strong. In a good position, they can be dominant.

Yes- the Lizards can arrive cloaked, drop colonists, and leave, without ever
uncloaking. The only defence against this type of attack is to lay mines and
hope he hits one. Web mines are especally good. The Privateers have the option
of leaving ships in orbit set to "rob", although this won't catch the lizard
ship until after it's droped its marines.
The best defence, of course, is not to let the lizard get close enough to do
this to many planets at once. Don't keep much fuel on the ground at any border
planets.

In my game as the Lizard (in turn 130 something, with 103 ships 'ruling' the
space lanes), I can confirm this, more or less. Lizard ships will survive
battles if they are damaged >100%. If they are involved in multiple battles,
they will go on to fight the next battle even if damaged >100%. However, they
will have _neagtive_ shields for this battle. e.g. a 130% damaged ship will
have shields of -30%. A neat bug. I've never had a ship with negative shields
survive a battle, though, so I don't know what happens. However, after all
battles are done, the ships >100% damaged do indeed seem to dissapear. This
stuff is more than likely host-version dependent.

Lizard ships who hit mines to be damaged >100% do _not_ dissapear, though.
So this would be the way to test the capture scenario. Since the scenario
mentioned involved the Crystals, this is probably what happened. This is
one of the things I love about the Lizards- the Lizard Cruiser can survive
two mine hits (damage of %124) and still move off at about warp 6. One hit
(62%) and it can still do warp 9. [If a Lizard ship, at >99% damage, if
captured by another race, WILL blow up., Ed.]

: What is the best way for the Lizards to counter a Gorbie? What about a
: Super Star Carrier (or whatever the name was).
: I have plenty of resources and was going to through T-Rexes at them, but the
: thought just hit me to use Escorts to take out fighters, since they are dirt
: cheap. I will also be mining quite a bit shortly.
: What are the best Lizard ships overall? Someone had suggested the
: Madonzilla carrier, but I always thought they had too few bays for
: a carrier. The Lizard Class Cruiser also looks very good for minelaying.
: I believe it held something like 290 mines.

Generally given equal strength empires, The Empire will cream the Lizards,
so your best options would either to surrender or try and placate the
Empire player. If you have plenty of Credits, offer 10-30 thou to him,
maybe he will attack someone else instead. Note: If the Empire has
purchased bulk Meteors from the Privateers, and is towing his Gorbies from
deep within his Empire into battle using them, then he will have
substantially lower fuel costs than normal and can also counterattack with
rapid and deep thrusts at your starbases. If he also owns half a dozen
bovine planets with starbases then he can turnout a couple of Gorbies each
turn, which could make life considerably more difficult and a prolonged war
futile.

The LCC is a good ship to lay mines and dump colonists on enemy planets,
but your main battleship is the T-Rex. Since you have to play against a
fighter race you should fix them with X-Rays and Mk7 or Mk8.

The fighter production is slow for the Empire and the Gorbies are
expensive. Assume a T-Rex takes out 35 fighters on a Gorbie, so if you have
an average of one battle per turn he needs 7 bases to reproduce the
fighters. If you add some Escorts he will need even more bases. (Of course
never, ever attack a Gorbie with just one T-Rex).

Use wolfpacks of T-Rex, 3 T-Rex should kill a Gorbie. One T-Rex should
also beat a SS Carrier/Cruiser. Go for his planets with LCC's full of
colonists so he will need 2000+ clans on every planet to hold them (esp.
his bases). Go for his bases with T-Rex if he has many colonists on his
bases. He will have a tough time to move his Gorbies to defend the bases
(and he will need lots of fuel). He will need also 60 fighters at every
front base to defend the base. Capture his freighters (stay cloaked at
planets and wait for his freighters, tow them away and capture them). The
Empire needs lots of minerals (for the expensive ships and all those
bases), so capturing or destroying freighters is an effective way to weaken
him. The Empire is strong if it has 10+ bases and lots of ships, otherwise
the torp ship is too light and fighters are rare (so it would be a good
idea to use some Escorts to take out fighters).

If they have comparable starting positions the Lizard is clearly superior
to the Empire. (This of course changes quite a bit if the Empire produces
more free fighters per base, say 10+.)

=============================================================================

<???, razkuli@sleepy.cc.utexas.edu>

Eric Heft (eheft@discover.wright.edu) wrote:
: Well,
: from playing the lizards ... the lizards will not kill you by using
: thier battleship ... they WILL kill you by using *LOTS* of
: battleships.

I hear ya, man, I hear ya... hordes of T-REXes rock. Now if only someone
would be stupid enough to trade me a Golem...

4200 MC a turn from 15 mil Amphibian Representatives (120%) is cool too..
it really helps you crank up the starbase techs and build those fighters
for the Madonzillas (in the abscence of REAL carriers...)...

: If the lizard player is up to par and didn't get screwed to bad,
: they should have a killer economic base, able to crank out several
: fully loaded TRX's ... ie 10 H.Blasters and 5 Mark7 or 8 tubes and
: 35-45 torps. plus his other bases should crank out some LCC's with
: mark8 torps and land colonist / mine fields deep into your territory.
: If on the otherhand you can nuetralize the key 'hssing' planets
: you can hurt'm good =)

I dunno... I like Heavy Disruptors myself... better percentage of capturing
ships when you're not trying to beat the shit out of them.

: If you have about the same number of capital ships I'd say you
: are in a good position, if you are behind and the player is
: experienced in fighting your race, it may be a really good war =)

For the Lizards, that is...

: Eric

Cyas,

razkuli@sleepy.cc.utexas.edu
-------------------------------

=============================================================================

ssenkere@tuba.aix.calpoly.edu (Scott A. Senkeresty) wrote:
>
>Using (some version of) host 3.2:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is your problem, get the latest version and it will stop.

>
>It seems that whenever I raise my tax rate above 31% I will loose a
>huge portion of my people. Why!? I am the Lizards, and though
>collecting 3,000MC is nice... I would like to bump the tax rate up!
>

>Its weird, because 31% will actually leave my people happy (I have
>enough Hiss'ers) but 32%... and SLAM-O... a million or so people die,
>and I get a message saying 31% is the max tax rate.

In earlier versions of Host 3.2, this was a planned feature (disadvantage)
to the Lizards. When you taxed a planet > 31% AND had Hissing ships in
orbit, people died from overwork/stress related injuries. It has either
been removed entirely or the cutoff has been raised in the final version of
Host (I've taxed upto 40% without having been hit).

>
>Thanks,
>-Scott

Conrad Lesnewski <calbasil@ifu.net>

=============================================================================

<Jackal, JACKAL@KAIWAN.COM>

Christian Klass <chribeag@fub46.zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:

>Hi there!
>
>I need some hints on how to get the most out of the Lizards. Anyone has
>some cool tricks at hand? Which ships are best and for what, special
>tactics etc... All that stuff - so far I "only" played the Colonies of
>Man and the Lizards are quite different. :)
>
Well, one trick that you might like to use is putting a dozen ships
above a high-population planet with the mission for all of them set to
Hiss...I've heard you can squeeze something like 70% tax rate out of
the planet and still have a happy population by doing this. Lotsa
money!

jackal
jackal@kaiwan.com (jackal)

=============================================================================

<Chivar, CHIVAR@NEXUS.INTEREALM.COM>

Christian Klass wrote:
>
> I need some hints on how to get the most out of the Lizards. Anyone has
> some cool tricks at hand? Which ships are best and for what, special
> tactics etc... All that stuff - so far I "only" played the Colonies of
> Man and the Lizards are quite different. :)

I would suggest staying away from the small and medium freighters except
maybe in the very beginning if the host set up the game for a mineral
and money poor universe. Build Large freighters when you can and use
them to drop colonists on nearby good Planets. IMHO, your best
beginning workhorse ships are the Lizard Class Cruisers. Build them
after you have done some preliminary colonization and other development.
They are a good all around ship for the mid game. They have relatively
large cargo holds for dropping your very strong attacking colonists.
They can cloak without having to worry about Lokis. By a host default
they can stand up to most of the small to medium ships with the lizard's
ability to take 150% damage before getting destroyed.

You have Eros ships which you can use to cool hot planets by
terraforming them, so don't shy away from a good mineral and/or native
rich planet because it is hot.

When you start encountering other races with the cloaking ability, it is

time to build Lokis. They won't uncloak your ships or the Feds if they
have been able to get cloakers, but they will help against other enemy
cloakers. Send them out in a battle group with your LLCs and larger
ships. Set them to sensor sweep give you the chance to detect long
range cloakers. Don't waste them as primary attackers; make sure the
other ships in your battle group have a lower numbered id# and/or
friendly code.

Someone else pointed out that by host default, you can mine at the 200%
rate, you will quickly need merlins and neutronic fuel refinery ships,
so don't sell off your supplies unless you really need to. Save them
for making fuel and other minerals when you can build ships.

If you can ally with the Colonials and the host keeps the Cobol ability
to be able to gather fuel, try to get a cobol with transwarp drives.
Clone it! Have these ships continually intercept a ship in your battle
group untowed and not towing other ships to provide your cruisers and

battleships with needed fuel. I'm pretty sure this will work for other
races besides the Colonials... :?

As far as end game strategies, it depends on the host parameters (i.e.
do you get free fighters at your starbase?) and your enemy situation.
Your biggest ships are not the strongest in the game, so ally with
someone with stronger ships. If you can get your hands (claws?) on a
big borg ship or Virgo or Gorbie with your 150% fight ability, you will
be pretty well off to say the least.

Someone else may have some other tips, but I hope this helps too. :)

Sir Chivar <chivar@nexus.interealm.com>

=============================================================================

Christian Klass <chribeag@fub46.zedat.fu-berlin.de> wrote:

>Hi there!

>I need some hints on how to get the most out of the Lizards. Anyone has
>some cool tricks at hand? Which ships are best and for what, special
>tactics etc... All that stuff - so far I "only" played the Colonies of
>Man and the Lizards are quite different. :)

>Bye,
> Chris

Sure, here are a few hints: overtax the native rabble enforcing your
will with a beam ship or two set on hisss...it will work with your
natives also. Early in the game, build lots of Lizard Cruisers (with
Transwarp and decent beams/torp tubes...colonize with these ships,
they cloak!!) . Never forget that you have a 30-1 advantage on ground
assult advantage....290 clans will wipe out 30 times there
number...290 being the capacity of a Lizard Cruiser.

panknin@sky.net (Michael Panknin)

=============================================================================

The Ever-so-wise Allan Gray <wag@islandnet.com> once said:

->Reptile wrote:
->>
->> What happens if a t-rex fights a missouri. And the t-rex
->> kills the missouri, but ends up at 107% damage, will it
->> blow up? Will it start with 107% in the game?
->> I have never experienced this, but as you probably can
->> imagen, I'm going to end up with some numbers right above
->> 100% with t-rex's vs missouri.
->> Thanks for all help!
->>
->
->Lizard ships will not be destroyed until > 150% damage. However, if
->they are > 100% and not above a Lizard planet, they are supposed to be
->destroyed at the end of the turn. Host 3.22005 does not seem to follow
->that convention - I've seen an LCC take 3 mine hits and it's still
->floating around in space.

I've seen that also. Our lizard player is curretnly making
his way (with a MBR) to my stargate to get home with it at 120%
damaged.

John

=============================================================================

<Pazi, PAZI@TO.ICL.FI>

wag@islandnet.com wrote:
>Lizard ships will not be destroyed until > 150% damage. However, if
>they are > 100% and not above a Lizard planet, they are supposed to be
>destroyed at the end of the turn.

Nope. Lizard ships withhold >100% damage ONLY IN SPACE. The
tidal waves of a planet will tear them apart. I presume that's
also _any_ planet.

-zi

=============================================================================

Reptile wrote:
>
> What happens if a t-rex fights a missouri. And the t-rex
> kills the missouri, but ends up at 107% damage, will it
> blow up? Will it start with 107% in the game?
> I have never experienced this, but as you probably can
> imagen, I'm going to end up with some numbers right above
> 100% with t-rex's vs missouri.

The ship will blow up. In 1 host I experienced that it stayed
allive, but is has to be an old one, as this game ended about
1 year ago.

Jan Huijsmans J.Huijsmans@sara.nl
huysmans@pi.net

=============================================================================

On Sun, 6 Oct 1996, Reptile wrote:

> What happens if a t-rex fights a missouri. And the t-rex
> kills the missouri, but ends up at 107% damage, will it
> blow up? Will it start with 107% in the game?
> I have never experienced this, but as you probably can
> imagen, I'm going to end up with some numbers right above
> 100% with t-rex's vs missouri.
> Thanks for all help!
>

It depends on the host you're using. And perhaps also on the hostversion.
At least there is a difference between Host and Phost.
In Host Lizard ships survive if they have less than 150 % damage. So it
is possible to fly around with 107%damage.
In Phost once you've reached 100% damage, you are doomed. You will fight
the last battle, but after that, you're out.

Bye,

Maurits

=============================================================================

Lizard campaigns are difficult to pull off successfully. This is
because the Lizards have battleships that are much weaker than those
of most other races, even with their 150% percent damage ability. So
you must learn to fight smarter than your enemy.

Lizards, with their fast cash and minerals, can build a large number
of warships quickly. You can flood an area with T-Rexes and soon control
the spacelanes. Against the Empire, 3-4 T-Rexes will always result in a
kill. The problem is that, once the 500 ship limit hits and everyone has
battleships waiting in the queue, your enemy can replace his bigger
battleships easier than you can replace the 3-4 T-Rexes you need to take
them out.

This means you need to focus on the ground attack as your means of
combat. Save your T-Rexes for the strategic battles you'll have, and
use your cloaking ability to disrupt enemy shipping, find strategic
targets for those T-Rexes, and conduct ground attacks.

The Lizard Class Cruiser (LCC) is the troop transport of choice due
to its large cargo hold and cloaking device, but it really chugs down
the fuel. So try to use your other cloaking ships where they can help.
The Reptile Destroyer is a weak ship with small cargo capacity, but is
a great scout with good fuel economy. It can easily dispatch freighters,
and can tow more powerful ships to waiting T-Rexes. Used with ground
attack fleets, it can remain to Hiss captured planets. The Saurian
Cruiser, while smaller than the LCC, is a good ship for laying nuisance
minefields behind enemy lines.

Also remember that when you capture a planet through ground attack, you
don't have to keep it. Disrupting your enemy's economy is the main
priority, not defending a smattering of planets all over the starchart.
You may leave one clan on a captured planet as a means of knowing when
the enemy returns, but unless the planet has major strategic importance,
don't stretch yourself thin trying to keep every planet you capture.

When you are forced to face an enemy in ship-to-ship combat, use your
ships wisely. Blindly throwing large numbers of ships at enemy fleets
will eventually cause you to lose the ship slots you already own to other
races, even if you can afford to replace all your battle losses. Build
your ships with combat in mind -- and where they will fight. Focus on
high-tech torps for crippling enemy ships. Only load leading ships with
enough torps for battle; those first few T-Rexes will only fire a couple
of volleys of torps before spewing atoms, no need to have the cargo hold
full of torps that never see battle. Unless you need to do minesweeping,
use low-tech beams for picking off fighters.

Mines are very important to the Lizard player. You can easily afford
to churn out minefields, and can help greatly in your defense. An invading
fleet that hits mines is much more susceptable to your T-Rexes. And you
can make =big= fields almost as easily as the Robots. Confuse the enemy by
dropping mines, sweeping them up, then dropping them again in another spot.
If "mines destroy enemy mines" is enabled, you have a great minesweeping
weapon.

One last word about the 150% damage ability. Don't rely on it to protect
your ships. Once a ship has over 100% damage, it has no weapons and
becomes a very expensive freighter, easily picked off by the enemy. Ships
with more than 100% damage can be destroyed by enemy planets, as those who
have received the message about their ship being ripped apart by tidal
forces can verify. Repairing a badly damaged ship isn't easy when you're
far from your starbases and need 500 or more supplies, which are often in
short supply during a campaign. All the more reason to use the ground
attack: so you can capture enemy starbases to repair your ships. There is
nothing more gratifying than an enemy losing ships trying to destroy a
starbase he built!

=============================================================================

I am talking about the Madonzilla here.

There are a lot of people who claim that the Madonzilla is a useless
carrier. I must agree with them if you plan to use it on its own.

HOWEVER, it can be VERY useful if you are high on money, and low on
minerals or shipslots (shiplimit!).

Everybody claims it takes 3 to 4 T-rexes to kill a large carrier,
correct,

but now instead of 4 T-rexes use the following battlegroup and order:

T-Rex
Madonzilla
T-Rex.

Remember that torps are best against shields and fighters are best
against hulls.

The first T-rex brings down the shields and hopefully starts on
schratching the hull and dies.

The Madonzilla launches fighters to directly damage the hull. Depending on
the carrier you are fighting and interfighter combat the madonzilla might
survive, so don't overstock him on fighters, but also don't be too much a
scrooge.

The offending carrier is now heavily damaged and should be easy picking
for your last T-Rex.

Advantages: you loose less shipslots for killing a large carrier. You
loose less priority buildpoint in killing the carrier.
(a Gorbie: 10 points : 3 T-rexes 15 points or T-rex+Madonzilla 10 points)
(doing this from memory so i might be slightly off on the number of points).

Disadvantage: Fighters are expensive, but so are torpedo's and ships and
you are hissing aren't you?

This tactic might also work for the Bird/fascist carrier (7/3) but they
have less money.

From a Cyborg player

Hoping his neighbour didn't think about this, it would make a war a whole
lot costlier for me.

J.P.van Bolhuis
vbolhuis@elektron.et.tudelft.nl

=============================================================================

If you are being attacked by a race with big ships such as the Empire
or the Borg there is a simple defence.

1. Build Minefields BIG minefields. You have enough minerals and money.

2. Set some cloaking ships preferably Lizard Class Cruisers cloaked on
the outskirts of your teretory and fill them with the maximum number
of tech 10 torps possable. as soon as a hostile ship appears drop
as many as you want right in it's face.

3. Build your T-Rex, No build 100 of your T-Rex, one Gorby may be able
to destroy one T-Rex but 3-4 T-Rexes can destroy a Gorby anytime.

4. Set some small cloaking ships out near the hostile border, stay
cloaked and meet up with the hostile ship if you can. Then tow
it to a set point in space, such as 1231,3219 then set all of
those T-Rexes waypoints to to the same point. It makes a nasty
supprise for some poor attacker.

=============================================================================

1. You have a lot of money and a lot of minerals, your problem will be
getting them where you need them Build a lot of large freighters.
Then use them. Send them to any planet with minerals and pick them
up. I usually have 3-4 freighters supplying a starbase and about
7-8 planets supplying the minerals for that starbase.

2. Remember #1. you can get a lot of minerals, and will need them if
you are to expand.

3. Make about 2 serpant class escorts with tech 10 engines and disrupters
on them. They will be good for moving money around. I usually have at
least 10,000 mc on each serpant going to one strabase or another.

=============================================================================

You will have a lot of money, If you don't you arn't the Lizards. I
normally build atleast 100-200 mines on all my planets unless they are
completely worthless. Even with the Lizard Mining Ability I cannot keep
expanding unless I get that influx of minereals.

I also normally build at least 100 factories on each planet, these will
keep you supplied for building all those mines. also it is a nice added
cashflow if money somehow gets low.

Last but not least I max up my defences on every planet. It may seem
wastefull but I've suppriesed a few attackers who thought they could pick
off an easy planet You have the money and supplies for it spend it.

Building all these things on your planets is likely to catch the
attention of the natives. I normally keep my tax level low on most
planets unless I think I can get major money outa them. You only need
5-6 planets producing 10,000 mc a turn each to support even a great
empire. If you don't know how to make a planet do this, read your docs,
look for the Hiss mishion.

=============================================================================

To make a neverstopping fleet make an aliance with the ROBOTS!
You may sell them yoyr cloaking cruisers and buy their ships (mainly
carriers -> Instrumentality which can take 150% damage is a space
vampire!). And can you imagine a cloaking cruiser with 290 tech10
torpedos and only one launcher (enough) in the manipulators [ ;-) ]
of robots, with their *4 minefield bonus?...

So find a thrustworthy robotic partner NOW !!!

Bejozaurus I, the great khan of the Lizards

=============================================================================

As with all races, the ships you build depend on what phase of the game
you're playing and what the ships will be used for. These are my
recommendations; your mileage and results may vary.

Small DSF: Don't build these. Save your money and minerals for ships
better suited to helping you win. (Although, if you are trying to fill
a ship slot to keep it from an enemy, keep one in the queue at low-tech
starbases until you can queue up something else.)

Serpent Class Escort: Most efficient use is as a hisser. Cheap to build,
one of these with all tech one is normally the first ship you build at a
new starbase. With tech ten engines, it can be used as a money runner,
but I prefer the Reptile for that.

Reptile Class Destroyer: This is your primary scout ship. Use to probe
enemy defenses and capture freighters. Can also be used as a money runner
(cloaking hides your routes), a towing ship, and a hisser for captured
planets. Good fuel economy.

Neutronic Fuel Carrier: You will need these in the mid-to-late game to
ferry fuel to your forward ships. Have the advantage of being able to
transport money with no fuel.

Medium DSF: An early game ship that is used for colonizing, and
transporting minerals to your bases (and planets you have targeted for a
starbase).

Lizard Class Cruiser: The primary weapon in your ground attack arsenal.
One of these loaded with troops can take over most enemy planets; a fleet
of 3-4 will definitely increase your real estate holdings. Used in fleets,
1-2 should be loaded with torps for minefield/battle purposes, or half
torps and half supplies (for battle damage repair). Used in conjunction
with Reptiles (as scouts), you can ground attack several planets at once,
which is much more effective than planet hopping. Warning: These ships use
a lot of fuel, so make the necessary arrangements to refuel them.

Eros Class Research Vessel: You need lots of colonists for ground attack,
and they grow best on temp 50 worlds, so you'll want a few Eroses to cool
those hot planets. These ships do double duty, cooling and hissing at the
same time. And with torps, they are better at defending a planet than a
Serpent. Remember that a planet is cooled one degree for EACH Eros in
orbit per turn, so multiple Eroses are most effective. When used in pairs,
one with tech six engines can tow another to the next planet when temp 50
is reached.

Vendetta Class Frigate: This ship is rarely built. The small cargo hold
does not lend to minelaying, and its small size does not make it battle
worthy. I only recommend them as defensive ships at starbases where you
can't yet build "real" ships with tech ten engines.

Large DSF: The backbone of your supply lines. Bite the bullet and put
good engines on them, you don't want to tie up valuable ship slots with
towing ships unless absolutely necessary. Transport minerals to your
starbase worlds, then take colonists back to your developing worlds to
better mine them (and grow more colonists on more worlds).

Saurian Class Light Cruiser: A versatile ship often overlooked by Lizard
players. While it is smaller than the LCC, it is cheaper and more
fuel-efficient. Can be used to ground attack lightly defended enemy
planets, and is especially useful at laying minefields within enemy space.
Use as a cloaking freighter at your front lines, a scout ship, a towing
ship (both your and enemy ships) and a minesweeper.

Loki Class Destroyer: The famous decloaking ship is very useful in a
defensive mode at starbases against cloaking races. In such roles, can be
used as a hisser too. Other than decloaking and minelaying, not a very
useful ship. One advantage: since you are immune to the Loki's effects,
you can easily sneak up on the Federation player depending on =his= Lokis
for protection from cloakers.

Madonnzila Class Carrier: Not a very useful ship. The low number of beams
and fighter bays make it an expensive target. The only excuse for these
ships is to ferry fighters from established starbases to forward ones
needing more fighter defenses.

Super Transport Freighter: You might want a few of these for sending large
amounts of minerals to your starbases. The advantage is you can visit
several planets on your pickup run, then deposit the entire load at your
starbase. If you build one, use tech ten engines.

Neutronic Refinery Ship: You will =need= these ships for your fuel-hungry
fleet in the late game. As fuel resources dry up, your fleet will quickly
become stranded unless you have the means to resupply them. This ship,
combined with NFCs for transporting fuel, are very important to your
long-term strategy.

Merlin Class Alchemy Ship: Also an important ship to your long-term
survival. While Lizards are good miners and taxers, you will still need
minerals and supplies to feed the Neutronic Refinery Ships. And Merlins
quickly turn Bovinoid worlds (with enough colonists) into starbases.

T-Rex Class Battleship: Your primary battle weapon. This ship is
relatively cheap for you to build, and you should churn them out. Build
about half with tech one beams (you'll lose them against enemy carriers)
and half with tech ten beams (your enemies will mine as a defense against
your cloakers). It takes 3-4 T-Rexes to take out a Gorbie, so only use
enough torps to do the job at hand. You should also carry a lot of
supplies along to repair battle damage. Since you should also have a lot
of cash, carry plenty of money to build torps in space with minerals from
all the planets you are taking over with the ground attack.

=============================================================================

<Chris Hoyal, HOYALC@MINN.NET>

Whatever it takes, get your hands on a falcon and clone it.
with it's 3 jump range and 120 cargo, they make one of the most effective
troop transports ever. Very cheap, HYPer jumpable, and large cargo
combine to be make this ship a must have.

=======<1.3>============================< The Birdmen >======================

Birdmen are monstrous cloakers. They can cloak nearly all, one occasionally
wonders that one can still see their planets.
Also they can, via the super spy mission, find out your friendly code in
order to steal fuel and other stuff from your planets.
Two strategy hints: change your friendly codes on endangered planets each
round, and mine, mine, mine to keep the Birds off your territory!

Your Escort is the Bright Heart. Want more power? Use the Deth Specula.

> Now that planets can have friendly codes of ATT and NUK, what good is the
> Bird Men Super Spy Mission?
> Is there still anyway to steal from planets?

Well, since when a Bird Man is on a Super Spy mission, cloaking is part of the
mission, it is kind of hard for a planet to NUK or ATTack something that for
all planetary sensors that is not there...

Birdmen - The strongest race in the game by far. The new hosts have brought
the Robots off of the throne with the limits on minefields (a welcome change).
People talk about the cheap Fascist battleship, but the Birdman battleship
costs a few dollars and a few moly more for two more tubes and CLOAKING. This
ship can decimate any race's defenses if used properly. In addition, all the
little ships have good cargo space, torps, and cloaking which makes them great
explorers/colonizers. They don't have a carrier worth crap, but who needs
carriers when you have fleets of Darkwings? The greatest weakness of the Birds
is finding that big money planet so they can boost their technology. Once the
economy is strong, this bunch will take over, Golems and Gorbies aside...

:One thing about this is that if you Super Spy, then aren't you open to being
:attacked by the other player's warships? Surely you lose any element of
:surprise? If you attempt it on a planet with a...

No, you are still cloaked while you Super Spy, which makes it one of the
more useful race capabilities in the game.

>How many DarkWings can a task force of two Biocides, with about 110 fighters
>each, expect to beat? Best case? Worst case?

.... for my 2c, I reckon the two Biocides will take out 5 DarkWings. I know a
Virgo can take out two and still be only about 50% damaged, so a Biocide might
take out three, hence a second Bio will take out numbers four and five
(assuming number three is badly wounded by the first Bio, even if it isn't
destroyed). Sorry about that .....

=============================================================================

n article <38gab8Elkj@uni-erlangen.de>,
tnfechne@cip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Torsten Fechner) writes:
> hello players,
>
> i am playing the birds but i am not happy with this race.
> the super spy is not usefull und building fighters in space is not
> supported.

* Super spy is NOT usefull if you talk about stealing enemy friendly
codes (most players keep changing them), but it's VERY usefull to
get to know the strength of the planetary defence. Also you can
see how many money the planet owns (=> is the planet worth the
attack). It allows you to plan your attacks quite well!

* It's not a fighter race, so there's no way of building fighters in
space. You have other abilities: Cloacking! A cloaking battleship
can mean more danger than a carrier! If you want to use carriers,
don't play the birds. If you can handle the bird mens cloacking
capability well, you're very, very hard to beat!
You must allways take a race that fits you. If you're sneaky, take

the pirates. If you don't want fancy tricks and special abilities
(that are hard to use well) take a 'normal' race like the feds or
the rebels. They have to work hard for their living, but they have
a quite decent fleet. Just take a look at the differences and try
to get an idea of which race fits you best.
In the meantime, try to master some birdmen-skill. It's a great
race, you can really be a pest to others. They will most certainly
FEAR your cloacking capabilities! If you don't like it afterwards,
take on another race.

> what effect has it if i cloack all my ships? enemy couldn't see them,

* Imagine: you've got a cluster of planets (about 7) in a remote
part of your empire. There is a starbase on one of the planets.
No sign of trouble from your neighbours. The birds don't seem to
pay you any attention and the crystallines are too busy fighting
the fascists.
Suddenly, in one turn, several PREVIOUSLY CLOACKED deth speculas

blast all of your planets into oblivion while a darkwing demolishes
your starbase. OOPS!!!
Meanwhile, there seem to be several small cloakers in your territory
that seem to have a big hunger for freighters... You'll have to
guard all your transports with escorting ships...

Get the idea?

> but if they scan the ships there is now danger for my because i could
> scan the enemy, too....

??? I don't understand you :-(

> what are the best strategies to play the birds?
> how to deal with the super spy mission? if there is a starbase, Spy is
> very dangerous (surrender....)

* You can superspy a planet with starbase to get to know the strengt
and value of the planet BUT DON'T CHANGE YOUR FRIENDLY CODE TO THE
STARBASE'S!!! Use the superspy to gather information, not to steal
stuff. If it works one time, the rest of the game it won't.

Reinout van Rees
Delft
The Netherlands

=============================================================================

cg@primenet.com (CG) wrote:
> Before you get rich enough materialwise to build DW's..you need to build
> a strong fleet of Resolutes and Fearless Wings..these ships work well as
> freighters also. The Resolutes are especially nice for taking planets..hence
> the Super Spy Mission...locate your enemys richest planets using it. The SS
> mission is also very nice for getting materials and fuel.

Less useful on controlled planets than uncontrolled. Super Spy tells
you where your neighbors' homeworlds are. Learn that ASAP. Keep some
Swift Heart scouts running around in your neighbors' (even friendly
ones) looking for his weak points. When your ready, send a swarm
of Darkwings to his bases, and Resolutes to his support planets,
and nuke him till he glows in one turn. Have a couple Resolutes/
Fearless Wings lay *gobs* and *gobs* of mines the same turn.

Then mop him up.....

Problems with the DarkWing: Fuel, Fuel, Fuel. Its a '72 Boss
Mustang with a Geo Metro fuel tank. Use White Falcons to tow

them around, and the falcons double as protective minelayers.

Most importantly, don't show yourself until at least turn 10
if at all possible.

Mike Lemon

=============================================================================

<???,???>

>In article <1994Oct3.152154.1@leif> rtaylor@kean.ucs.mun.ca writes:

>> Is there any info on playing the birds? Doesen't seem to be
>>anything in the FAQ.

I've got different suggestions than the last poster (Tom). One of the
advantages of the birds is that their ships are relatively small. That
gives them the advantage early on, as they can produce some good ships
while the empire or robots are struggling to put out a ship.

Use your cloaking scout to explore potentially contested areas, and enemy
space. If you want to go to way with someone, then send in these and White
Falcons to attack and destroy any and every freighter you can get your
hands on. The Falcon is capable of missions deep inside enemy lines!
Early on, people won't have minerals or cash to build big mine fields, so
take advantage of this and scout their territory looking for valuable
planets and ships.

When you get involved in serious war (at whatever point in the game) then you

can use these early ships to scout for enemy forces. The Falcon (and the
scout depending on host settings) can weaken enemy defence by towing an
enemy ship away from where it is defending, therby making the original
target more volnerable. For example, your spies have revealed a valuable
starbase that is pumping out golums; arrive there with 2-3 darkwings. At
the same time, tow away any defending ships. You will then hit and destroy
the starbase with little difficulty. You may not be a