General Tips:

• Big ships matter a lot more than little ships
  • Little ships for harassment, big ships (big carriers and battleships) for actual fighting
• Minefields are a very important defensive resource.  Renew your minefields!
• Spending time on diplomacy is never a waste.  Don’t just “play your turn”.  Talk it up!
• New players give up easily, and often much too soon.
• A lost battle doesn’t mean a lost war.  Don’t quit too early!
• Score isn’t everything:
  • A high number of planets often means a player’s ships could be really spread out
  • A high number of ships can mean that the player has a lot of crappy little ships and only a few really big capital ships
  • A high military score could mean that the player has built “warships” that are actually Merlins or Neutronic Refineries.
• Reaping the spoils of war is a long process.  Shorten it by bringing clans!
• Some races need an early 2nd starbase.
• Higher numbers of Starbases become more important as the game progresses.
• On the Planets.Nu host, your cloaker will decloak to attack if you have your primary enemy set (see Cloaking rules on that host).

Shipbuilding:

• Build something every turn, with every starbase, even if only a Small Deep Space Freighter (SDSF) with low-tech engines.  You want to be able to control when ship slots are available!  (there are exceptions to this based on host settings and situations – in Production Queue games, it’s often better to collect PBPs and not build a SDSF with the starbase).
• Most races have a “utility ship” that is cheap to build and effective even with lower-tech (Nova 5) engines.
• Learn the best technology breakpoints and how to equip your ships.
• Ships with 1-2 Beams have trouble taking out even planets with zero (0) defense posts if all they have is Lasers or X-Rays (the battle times out before they can capture the planet).  Use Blasters or better on your small scouts – it is worth the resources.

Diplomacy:

• Get an ally.  The best ally to have is often the best player among your two neighbours, regardless of race.
• Share as much info as possible with your ally.
• Do not let your ally get in a position where he can take you out swiftly (for example. when he’s controlling lots of warships around your core worlds).
• Deny information to your enemies and neutrals.
• Do not give away any information for free.
• Trade information.  Often you can trade ship sightings with other players, and get an idea of where the various races are located.

Combat:

• Big ships fight other ships and starbases.
  • Big ships (Battleships and Carriers) with basic weapons (X-rays, Mark 4’s) still easily beat medium ships with the best weapons.
• Medium ships fight planets and freighters, and lay mines.
• Small ships scout and harass freighters

Invasions:

• Planning for fuel is a big part of an invasion
• Sudden, massive strikes, or hitting several points at once is the most effective way to start a war. Ramping up your attacks allows your victim to ramp up with you.
• Secure your back (with a treaty), then be first to attack.  You want combat to take place around his planets, not yours!
• Always follow an invasion force with supply ships (fighter builders and freighters with clans and supplies).  You need to build a supply base for your next push.
• Escort your supply ships with medium warships when in combat zones.
• Bring more torpedoes/fighters than you think you need.  Battleships without torpedoes are easily destroyed.
• Lay offensive minefields to:
  • counter defensive mine-laying
  • damage defender reinforcements
  • prevent smaller ships and freighters from fleeing safely.

Defending:

• Scouting is your best early defense.  Know what’s coming.
• Don’t fight battles you can’t win.  Do your Simcraft, and pull ships away if you can’t get at least a good exchange of ships by fighting.
• Always counterattack after repelling an attack.  Your attacker probably has less than you think, and if he has more, then it doesn’t matter anyway.
• Use the Scorched Earth defense – do not leave resources, especially Neutronium (fuel) and MC (money), for your opponent to grab.  If you aren’t defending the planet with an expectation to win, leave nothing for the conqueror.
• Try to draw off attackers by going around them with a medium warship and harassing their planets or support fleet.
• Expect sneaky cloaker tactics from attacking cloaker races (Lizards, Birds, Fascists, Privateers).
• A mix of large and medium warships gives you better defensive response options than a lot of large ships.  Don’t chase raiding destroyers with battleships!
• For planetary defenses, max your planetary Defense Posts first.  Aside from defensive ships, Starbase Fighters are your best option when equipping starbases with static defenses.