Apollo Platoon

Build/Research List

Name	bp	Ore	Cry	Hyd	unlocks
Research Lab 1	0.8	200	400	200	Energy, AI, Jet, Laser
Research Lab 2	1.6	400	800	400	Armor, Pulse
Energy Tech 1	1.2	0	800	400	Jet, Pulse
Jet Drive 1	1.0	400	0	600	Artemis
Jet Drive 2	2.0	800	0	1200	Atlas
Jet Drive 3	4.0	1600	0	2400	Hermes
Espionage Tech 1	1.4	200	1000	200
Espionage Tech 2	2.8	400	2000	400	Hermes
Espionage Tech 3	5.6	800	4000	800
AI Tech 1	1.0	0	400	600
AI Tech 2	2.0	0	800	1200
AI Tech 3	4.0	0	1600	2400
Pulse Drive 1	6.6	2000	4000	600	IBM
Pulse Drive 2	13.2	4000	8000	1200	Apollo, Charon
Armor Tech 1	1.0	1000	0	0
Armor Tech 2	2.0	2000	0	0	Apollo
Armor Tech 3	4.0	2000	0	0
.
Capitol 1	0.7	400	120	200
Capitol 2	1.4	800	240	400	Shipyard
Shipyard 1	0.7	400	200	100	Artemis, Helios
Shipyard 2	1.4	800	400	200	Atlas
Shipyard 3	2.8	1600	800	400	Apollo, Hermes, Charon
.
Atlas x4	16.0	8000	8000	0
Hermes x6	6.0	0	6000	0
Apollo x8	68.0	48000	21250	0
.
Total	151.3	77800	59560	13900

Apollo Raiding

In my opinion, this is the best way to get a Raiding type of player started. It's a relatively long list, so I'll try to explain it in parts.

Espionage

I don't believe in attacking blindly -- meaning, sending an attack without having some knowledge of what your target might have waiting as a defense. So, one of the first things we do is get a somewhat-decent espionage. You'll need Jet Drive 3, Espionage 3, and Shipyard 3; and then you can go ahead and make 6 Hermes ships. Yes, I'm aware it only takes Espionage 2; but you "save" a bit by going up to 3 instead: you only need to send those 6 Hermes ships to spy on someone with Espionage 4, and you'll still get a good-enough picture.

You'll finish Jet Drive 2 and Shipyard 2 along the way to getting Espionage 3 and finishing up the rest of the research. So you should have an opportunity to build the 4 Atlas ships.

Raiding Inactives

While you're waiting for the Atlas ships, start looking around your solar system and the nearby solar systems. Look for the inactive players and send your (Hermes) spy ships out. If the report comes back and says that planet does not have any ships or defenses sitting on it, then send you Atlas ships to attack.

A large number of players actually don't even play the game -- these people might have signed up just to respond to the nagging of their friends. So the only thing defending their planet is an Atlas ship. If they turn inactive, other players around you may do you the favor of destroying that Atlas ship ... which would then turn the planet to being undefended.

Raiding Actives

One of the fun parts of the game is finding a good fight. Many active players will have followed the tutorial and built their first ship -- an Artemis. However, they usually don't follow up with good defenses; rather, they start building up their mining production. And what this means is that they can be vulnerable to being raided!

And that is what the Apollo ships are for. They are well armed and armored, and you'll find that your full fleet of 12 ships (4 Atlas, 8 Apollos) has a good shot of pushing through a ground defense of 12 missile batteries or 12 laser cannons.

In the template above, I've also recommended taking AI 3 and Armor 3. AI 3 will allow you to send out 4 attack fleets in one sitting (1 Atlas, 2 Apollos). Being able to spy-and-attack multiple targets should help you start harvesting in a good load of resources. Armor 3 will help keep your ships alive if they ever get into a fight.

Wiping Out

If you don't do any additional research or building, then with the way I have the research and buildings set up, you should be able to drop down below 100 build points if your entire fleet is destroyed. By going below 100 build points, you'll be safe under newbie protection. And that might be important to give you some time to gather up resources and formulate a plan. Perhaps you need to recolonize somewhere else (consult with the Gaia Peace Project for information).

Navigation

• Return to Newbies (n00b) page
• Jazzy's Gaia Peace Project
• Le TerJ's Artemis Zerglings
• Jigo's Dionysus Project