Chapter 1:Whole Game Strategy
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In this chapter
Stars! is a rich game with more options than the casual game player may know what to do with. There are considerations of where to colonize, where to scout, what to build, and who to fight. Before the game even starts, there is the ultimate consideration of Whole Game Strategy.
What is Whole Game Strategy?
It is an idea, or a plan, of what your goals and drives for the game are going to be. Will you try to simply grab your piece of the pie (or, hopefully, a little more than your piece of the pie) and hold it? Will you try to overwhelm the other players with high technology gadgets? Will you have overly productive colonists, but poor factories, or just the opposite? What are the downfalls of any of these strategies? When designing a race, all of this must be considered.
A Whole Game Strategy is just that: your strategy for the entire game. Granted, you can't expand for the entire game, nor have higher technology for the entire game, but your strategy must encompass the entire game nonetheless. "Have high technology" is not a strategy, after all.
"Lower my Technology requirements, without sacrificing too much, in order to gain an early technology lead in one or more fields" is more sound. Even better, "Lower my Weapons and Construction technology requirements in order to build well armed battleships before anybody else. Take advantage of the low construction technology by relying on remote miners for minerals, and protect these remote mining operations with superior warships." Now that is a strategy.
Having any strategy at all will put you one step ahead of the player who comes into the game fresh. In this chapter we'll look at some popular, proven Whole Game Strategies that will help you be successful against a wide range of opponents. Without concentrating extensively on individual race parameters, let's examine a few possible races created with these strategies in mind. As we'll see, there are tradeoffs inherent in designing a race to play any Whole Game Strategy.
Simple Expansion Strategy
Simple expansion involves taking over the universe planet by planet. It's a very common strategy, and the beginning of almost any good Whole Game Strategy. The idea here, however, is to expand throughout the entire game, ignoring all other players and overwhelming them with your numbers. Often, you will have to design a race that can live almost everywhere, or can live everywhere. Then expand. And expand. And expand. This kind of strategy is quite hard to overcome, if the player using it can get some momentum.
- note
- "If you're new to Stars!, create the example races provided here as you read. Notice how many advantage points are gained and spent as you make each choice, helping you understand the kind of choices you need to make when planning a race and a strategy.
Races that enact this strategy should have both a fairly high growth rate growth and the ability to live (almost) anywhere. Since each of these characteristics is expensive in the Race Wizard, they must be balanced by choosing either expensive technology or a poor economy. These races often use the primary racial trait of Hyper Expansion to take advantage of the doubled growth. However, the doubled growth is typically used not to grow more quickly, but to create more advantage points by allowing you to lower the growth rate to (or below) that of an average race. In Simple Expansion strategies, most of those extra points can be used to make every world habitable by selecting immunity or by expanding the habitable range to its limits.
Let's look at two Hyper Expansion-based races that both use the Simple Expansion Strategy.
| SIMPLE EXPANSION EXAMPLE 1 | SIMPLE EXPANSION EXAMPLE 2 |
|---|---|
| PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Hyper Expansion
No Ram Scoop Engines Only Basic Remote Mining No Advanced Scanners
Gravity Immune Temperature Immune Radiation Immune Growth rate 9(18)%
2000 Colonists/Resource
10 produce 7 resources Require 10 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 6 Normal mineral cost
10 produce 5kT of minerals Require 10 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 5
Energy: +75 Weapons: +75 Propulsion: +75 Construction: +75 Electronics: +75 Biotechnology: +75 'Start at Tech 3' checked 10 leftover points for Surface Minerals |
PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Hyper Expansion
Improved Fuel Efficiency Improved Starbases Only Basic Remote Mining
Gravity Immune Temperature Immune Radiation Immune Growth rate 4(8)%
900 Colonists/Resource
10 produce 15 resources Require 7 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 16 Normal mineral cost
10 produce 20kT of minerals Require 3 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 22
Energy: -50 Weapons: -50 Propulsion: -50 Construction: -50 Electronics: -50 Biotechnology: -50 'Start at Tech 3' NOT checked 5 leftover points for Surface Minerals |
Each of these races would benefit from the Simple Expansion strategy. The race in Example 1 sacrifices economy for a higher growth rate and needs to expand quickly to survive (the Hyper Expansion trait allows a growth rate of up to 40%--amazing, yes, but not a viable option for a tri-immune race). With expensive technology and poor factory and mineral settings, this race may end up the technological laggard, despite having over twice the worlds of all other races. For this race, rapid breeding would definitely be a key to conquest.
In contrast, the race in Example 2 has a lower growth rate balanced by cheap research. With great mine and factory settings, and with all research cheap to perform, it should be fairly easy for this race to quickly gain technology. Rather than rely on sheer numbers, this race can expand with fewer colonists using the protection of its advanced technology.
Hyper Producer Strategy
A race using the Hyper Producer strategy attempts to get the most out of each world, much the same as the race in our second Simple Expansion example. Races using the Hyper Producer strategy must have highly efficient mines and factories, often gaining them through the sacrifice of technology, growth, or even colonist productivity. They must colonize worlds that have high Germanium content and build factories as quickly as possible. These worlds will slowly but eventually become the largest production centers in the universe.
- glossary
- Breeder worlds typically have high habitability values and low mineral concentrations. There's not much else to do there other than make babies and (we're guessing) listen to country music.
This strategy benefits from a slow, calculated expansion and continual colonization (in the beginning) from the homeworld, and (later) from established production worlds and breeder worlds.
Here are two races that can take advantage of the Hyper Producer strategy:
| HYPER PRODUCER EXAMPLE 1 | HYPER PRODUCER EXAMPLE 2 |
|---|---|
| PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Jack of All Trades
Improved Fuel Efficiency No Ram Scoop Engines No Advanced Scanners Only Basic Remote Mining
Gravity Immune Temperature -80 deg C to 80 deg C Radiation 30mR to 70mR Growth rate 19%
1500 colonists/resource
10 factories produce 15 resources Require 8 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 20 Cost less minerals
10 mines produce 10kT of minerals Require 4 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 15
Energy: +75 Weapons: +75 Propulsion: +75 Construction: +75 Electronics: +75 Biotechnology: +75 'Start at Tech 4' checked 0 leftover points |
PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Claim Adjuster
Improved Fuel Efficiency Total Terraforming No Ram Scoop Engine
Gravity .54G to 1.84G Temperature -84 deg C to 84 deg C Radiation 29mR to 71mR Growth rate 18%
2500 colonists/resource
10 Factories produce 15 resources Require 8 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 25 Normal mineral cost
10 mines produce 15kT of minerals Require 4 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 15
Energy: +75 Weapons: +75 Propulsion: +75 Construction: +75 Electronics: +75 Biotechnology: +75 'Start at Tech 3' checked 16 leftover points for Surface Minerals. |
These races are very different than the two we looked at previously. The race in Example 1, based on the Jack of All Trades primary trait, has selected a combination of disadvantages and advantages that allow for larger than normal populations while making this race highly productive. For example, the Jack of All Trades-based trait provides automatic penetrating scanners, allowing this race to select the No Advanced Scanners lesser trait without penalizing itself in the game. It also takes advantage of the Improved Fuel Efficiency/No Ram Scoop Engines combination, providing a very usable ram scoop engine (the Fuel Mizer) early in the game, despite the apparent No Ram Scoop Engines disadvantage. Having access to the Fuel Mizer will speed colonization efforts. Selecting Only Basic Remote Mining does limit the technology that can be used in remote mining operations but increasing the maximum possible population by 10%. The Jack of All Trades trait alone provides a maximum population that is 20% greater than the norm, giving this Hyper Producer race a total maximum population that's 30% greater than the norm.
- see also
- Chapter 2 provides more information on the Improved Fuel Efficiency/No Ram Scoop Engines combination.
The habitability settings for this race are fairly typical. More important are the factory and mine settings. The number of resources generated per colonist, while lower than average, is more than made up for by very plentiful, productive and cheap-to-build factories. Because this race will need a lot of factories, and therefore a lot of Germanium, and has very poor remote mining capability, mine productivity settings are set fairly high. To pay for mining, research has been made expensive (but will start at tech level 4 to give the player an immediate boost.)
In Example 2, based on the Claim Adjuster primary trait, Total Terraforming has been selected to enhance this race's intrinsic ability to instantly terraform its own planets. Eventually every world will become habitable, and over 20% of all worlds will be ideal by the endgame. The resources generated per colonists value is lower than in the preceding Jack of All Trades example, but factory settings are better. This race will need to colonize using even more people than the Jack of All Trades-based race, and its colonies will grow at a lower rate. This race will want to establish colonies quickly as soon as the population is available, so it too has selected the Improved Fuel Efficiency/No Ram Scoop Engines combination.
- see also
- For more information on the Claim Adjuster ability to perform instant Terraforming, see Appendix 2 (to be provided). For more information on the benefits of Total Terraforming, see Chapter 2.
Notice that the option for 'Factories cost 1kT less' is unselected for this race. Hopefully, their remote mining capability will help (since they did not select Only Basic Remote Mining). Even so, this race will need to carefully plan its mining strategy, as the amount of Germanium needed to make all of those factories is quite daunting.
Hyper Growth Strategy
On the opposite side of the production scale is the Hyper Growth strategy. While the Hyper Producer strategy sacrifices growth for potentially larger, highly productive populations, Hyper Growth sacrifices population size for fast growth. Like races using the Simple Expansion strategy, a race using the Hyper Growth strategy must expand to survive. Unlike Simple Expansion, Hyper Growth has specific goals; for example: 25,000 Resources by 2450, and Armageddon Missiles and Battleships by 2460.
Hyper Growth is typically the hardest strategy to play, but well worth the effort. More will be said about it later in the discussion of Monster Races in Chapter 2. For now, let's look at an example race and discuss the basic idea.
| HYPER GROWTH EXAMPLE |
|---|
| PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Claim Adjuster
Improved Fuel Efficiency Total Terraforming No Ram Scoop Engines Only Basic Remote Mining
Gravity Immune Temperature -40°C to 80°C Radiation 40mR to 70mR Growth rate 19%
1000 colonists/resource
10 Factories produce 12 resources Require 9 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 12 Normal Germanium cost
10 Mines produce 12kT of minerals Require 4 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 12
Energy: +75% Weapons: +75% Propulsion: +75% Construction: +75% Electronics: +75% Biotechnology: +75% 'Starts at 3' checked 21 leftover points for Surface Minerals |
The important things to notice in this example are 19% growth, good but not fantastic factory settings, and mine Improved Fuel Efficiency for speed, and a narrow habitability range. Initially, only 1 in 7 planets will be habitable. However, this race has traded a little economic development to obtain a stronger long-term growth strategy via the Total Terraforming trait. By mid-game the race will achieve Total Terraforming 15%, and half of all worlds will be habitable. Eventually, with Total Terraforming 30%, nearly every world will be habitable. Notice that the ranges for Temperature and Radiation are slightly off center. If done carefully, this gives points for use elsewhere while only slightly affecting eventual planet prospects.
- 1 in 7?
- The Stars! Race Wizard does not account for the Claim Adjuster trait's intrinsic instant terraforming ability and will show this ratio as 1 in 10.
As part of the Hyper Growth strategy, you'll need to think ahead and extensively plan where and when to send your people. Seek the worlds with high habitability values where your race will thrive. Unlike the Hyper Producer strategy, Hyper Growth does not rely on factories and doesn't require worlds rich in Germanium. There are even more things to consider than what we explain here in this quick example. Simple race design is not even half the battle with a Hyper Growth strategy!
So how does our sample race measure up to the goals set above? With such high research costs, they will have a hard time building Armageddon Battleships by 2460, but with a well-planned expansion strategy they should reach 25,000 resources by 2450.
- see also
- We'll talk more about environment settings in Chapter 2.
High Technology Strategy
So far, all our example races but one have sacrificed technology for economy--a very common strategy in Stars!. A strong economy can make up for expensive research but cheap research can never make up for a poor economy.
- note
- The benefits of high technology are apparent in your first battle against someone wielding better technology. Your poor little shields are cut apart by better beams, and missiles blow your gleaming battleships apart before you can even get in range.
When designing a race and strategy based on cheap high technology, don't sacrifice too much economy, habitability or growth. This non-trivial task can be made easier with tradeoffs in research page of the Race Wizard. For example, a race without Total Terraforming could make Biotechnology expensive and avoid the field.
A race with Improved Fuel Efficiency could make propulsion expensive and rely on the Fuel Mizer engine almost exclusively. If this is your strategy, you should take No Ram Scoop Engines as well, as the ram scoop may never become available. Also consider taking Gravity immunity, as Gravity Terraforming is dependent on your technology level in Propulsion.
- tip
- If you have three or fewer expensive fields, uncheck 'Starts at level 3'.
A Jack of All Trades may want to take Electronics cheap to take advantage of this trait's intrinsic penetrating scanners. The fewer the fields you make expensive, the more you should consider deselecting the 'Starts at level 3' box.
Here are two example races that would benefit from cheap technology:
| HIGH TECHNOLOGY EXAMPLE 1 | HIGH TECHNOLOGY EXAMPLE 2 |
|---|---|
| PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Super Stealth
Improved Fuel Efficiency Advanced Remote Mining No Ram Scoop Engines No Advanced Scanners
Gravity Immune Temperature -20 deg C to 140 deg C Radiation 45mR to 85mR Growth rate 12%
1500 colonists/resource
10 Factories produce 12 resources Require 9 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 12 Require 1kT less Germanium
10 Mines produce 12kT of minerals Require 3 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 12
Energy: -50% Weapons: -50% Propulsion: +75% Construction: +75% Electronics: -50% Biotechnology: +75% 'Starts at 3' not checked 1 leftover point for Surface Minerals |
PRIMARY RACIAL TRAIT:
Interstellar Traveler
Advanced Remote Mining Improved Starbases No Ram Scoop Engines Cheap Engines
Gravity .62G to 4.40G Temperature -60°C to 140°C Radiation 35mR to 85mR Growth rate 17%
1000 colonists/resource
10 Factories produce 10 resources Require 8 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 15 Require 1kT less Germanium
10 mines produce 10kT of Minerals Require 4 resources to build 10,000 colonists can operate 10
Energy: +75% Weapons: Normal Propulsion: -50% Construction: -50% Electronics: +75% Biotechnology: +75% 'Starts at 3' not checked 20 leftover points for Surface Minerals |
The Super Stealth race in example 1 probably benefits the most from cheap technology, especially in a universe full of people with expensive technology, because of their innate ability to learn technology from others. With a low growth rate and average economy, choosing cheap Weapons technology will help keep them from getting stomped by the Hyper Expansion-based race next door. For scanners and cloaks, Electronics has been taken cheap as well. Energy has been taken cheap to help with scanners, and for extra shielding. With Construction expensive, it will be hard to get those extra remote miners, so this race may have trouble there. Also, with Biotechnology expensive, it may be hard to reach level 10 and the Robber Baron Scanner that makes Super Stealth the race we love to hate, with its ability to steal minerals from our planets' surfaces. No Advanced Scanners was taken, because this race already has advanced scanners.
- see also
- Intrigued by the Super Stealth ability to steal minerals? See the appendix on Super Stealth.
To take full advantage of the expensive construction and cheap energy, Regenerating Shields may be a better choice for a Lesser Racial Trait than Advanced Remote Mining. Only playtesting (Chapter 3) will show for sure.
The Interstellar Traveler race benefits from cheap construction and propulsion, to build their stargate network. Normal weapons help, and don't cost as much as cheap weapons. This race tries to get the most benefit from its cheap construction with Improved Starbases and Advanced Remote Mining, and will try to absorb the penalties of No Ram Scoop Engines and Cheap Engines by using stargates as much as possible.
The Big Picture
When you design a Whole Game Strategy, remember that the game may be decided quickly, or may last many turns. In a multi-player game you can never be certain when the game will change direction. If your race matures quickly, then finds itself without critical minerals, and a race that didn't grow up as fast begins building fleets that you can never match, you are in trouble. If you count on your mines to conquer the universe, a Hyper Growth race may ruin your day by overcoming you before you are ready. Decisions abound as you prepare your Whole Game Strategy, and none of them are easy.
None of example races in this chapter should be considered as perfect examples of their genre. However, they all display a thought-out approach to race and strategy design. Some were designed with the idea of quick growth, others with the hope of gaining new technology quickly or maximizing long term potential. All were designed with some Whole Game Strategy in mind.
- last word
- Playtesting is the only way to tell how a race will perform in actual game play.
