What the heck?

from Sins Forums
I started my first random small game on 1v1 with a CPU. I was playing TEC. After around two hours, my expansion was stopped by a pirate base in the way. Because of this, I warded off countless raids for hours while the other faction colonised every other planets and asteriods. After a while I've researched enough techs to build an effective fleet. I sent my main fleet of around 30-ish ships to the pirate base, with a level 10 capital ship (the Kol class) and a last minute tack-on of a level 1 capital ship (the Dugov or some thing like that).

The slaughter lasted about a minute after my exit from phase jump. I put my fleet on hold so their turrets wouldn't reach. I sent a scout beforehand so it wasn't surprising to see so many ships. What I didn't expect was their firepower. I had lots of light frigates while their fleet consisted of 5 light frigates and the remaining dozens are all cruisers. In the end, after all light frigates are destroyed I had to leave my cruisers behind to lure their fleet away while putting my capitol ships on retreat. Fortunately the capitol ships survived.

The pirate's retaliation came just then, sending a dozen cruisers and a handful of light and seige frigates to my staging planet. My Kol Battleship took on about 8 cruisers, with the Dugov refilling its shield and helping out a bit (still level 2). I had a small reserve of 5 light frigates which took care of the pirate seige and light frigates. By the end of it, the Kol had no shields and two thirds of hull points left. That was a relief. I learned a bit from the first big fleet battle... Fast forwarding time after I have researched some more, I built around 12 Kodiak Cruisers and 30 light frigates with the now level 3 or 4 Dugov. Time for revenge.

Exitting from the phase jump at their base, I held my fleet at the border of the gravity well until their fleet came out of range of their turret. At that point I switched the range of engagement to local. I find that this range is much more effective than hold when activated at the right moment. After one huge arse battle (so far), after I've shot down the last of their cruisers, my rival faction sprung an unforeseen ambush on the planet I just left with my fleet, complete with a message "You can't save Chione now!". Fortunately I lost only around 10 ligh frigates in the pirate battle so I phase jumped my whole army that is left back to meet them.

Upon arrival my whole fleet homed in on their capital ship. The Kol blasted one or two frigates away before joining the rest of the fleet. With their capital ship's shield approaching zero after around 30 seconds, they retreated their entire army (yays). I was pretty surprised with the ambush sprung by the AI right after my fleet has gone through a major battle. No wonder I caught a glimpse of an enemy scout ship during that battle. Right afterwards, I had to finish what I started so I proceeded to bomb the **** out of the pirate base. Lo and behold, my intel warned me of an impending pirate raid. Moments later a raid-sized fleet phased in. Then promptly phased out when I send my fleet after them. LOL.

After bombing their base to oblivion, I colonised it (for the sake of colonising). I thought I eradicated the pirates for good. Nope, I got another warning of another raid. This time they didn't flee so I crushed them. My warm fuzzy feeling evaporated. The pirates are still there! I bombed their base to hell and took over but they still pop out of nowhere. I saved and quit. What the heck?
42,947 views 20 replies
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
In some maps there are more than 1 pirate bases.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Edit : Lol Mettra beat me to it.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Oh ok. The thing is, like I said, the AI have already colonised every other colonisable planets/asteriods. The rest are asteriod belts or some other uncolonisable instances. However if I wipe out every base, will the pirates be gone forever or will they still pop up?
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Ooops... internet messed up.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Wow that's a mighty huge map for me, since I've played my first and only game on a small map. I might try it after I have more experience with the game. As it is, I can't close a small map within a few hours yet. Might be because of that pirate base holding up a strategic point :(
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
Try turning the pirates off. (In the 1.04 patched version in Options)
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
If you think that map is too big try the maps that are just under radom small in your map chooser. These are 2way maps that have 7-10 items as well as the sun and so can be a nice quick starter game.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
I'm planning on trying that. As for the pirates, I *was* going to turn them off until I forgot and just tried to play with it. The good part is it gave me some experience of the game.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
go to the pirate screen and look at the picture of the pirate. If the glass is broken in front of his face, then the pirates are dead and cannot raid anymore. Also, is it possible that some earlier raid (maybe on an AI planet) is still alive, out there and just keeps raiding?
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
The reason I like xtantos map is it in my opinion feels more real, I get the feeling there distance between factions and feel like Im actually exploring . Plus since I practice on it; it has helped my start game alot. The way the last map worked out it clearly showed what lacked, my middle game.

I actually like the pirates , adds some uncertainty to the game :) but I would be interested to know if its possible to wipe them out as well?

Currently I just get into a bidding war and with pirates and constant attack my game is slowly improving. I can understand your frustration though since I started out so well yesterday and botched my middle game but its all experiance I guess :)
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
Yeah, turning off pirates is a good idea when you are just starting out. As you get better, you can try playing with the pirates turned on again. Also, if you don't want the pirates raiding you all the time, put bounty on your opponents head. If they have the most bounty on them, the pirates will attack them instead of you. It costs money, but I have found that it is usually worth it. Don't worry, you'll get better the more you play, and eventually the pirates won't be as big a problem.
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
Maybe I will try that as well beejmin. Dunno I kinda like it atm, I will see how my next game goes, notice you won on that 4 way map as well :) I was doing great and procrastinated during my middle game , neglected diplomacy and ended up stale mate for a while and then because of that lost. The one thing about the pirates that is a pro unless Im wrong about the fact they attack ai like they attack the player is that I sometimes put bounties on the factions head who is the most threat to me. Even at this I still need more practice with the game in general but I am getting there now.
Reply #15 from Sins Forums Top
Yes, you can wipe them out. You just have to obliterate all of them. If one pirate ship is left alive, the pirate loop will continue to run.

As an idea for use of pirates, put a large bounty on the people you want to attack next. This can provide heavy distraction as your enemies divert forces to weaken the pirates. They are also good for getting cap ships to high levels pretty quickly, since they are a renewable force. While pirates are often confusing to newer players, you need to learn how to fight with them to maximize your potential.
Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top
Yes, you can wipe them out. You just have to obliterate all of them. If one pirate ship is left alive, the pirate loop will continue to run.
End of quote


This isn't entirely true. If you take over all the pirate bases, they will not pester you any more. Whether there are a few pirate ships left is irrelevant. Of course, if you fly into a system that has pirate ships in it, they will attack you, but they will not leave whatever system they are in if you have destroyed their base.

Reply #17 from Sins Forums Top
As an idea for use of pirates, put a large bounty on the people you want to attack next. This can provide heavy distraction as your enemies divert forces to weaken the pirates. They are also good for getting cap ships to high levels pretty quickly, since they are a renewable force. While pirates are often confusing to newer players, you need to learn how to fight with them to maximize your potential.
End of quote

Exactly. Pirates can be a pain in the butt, but they can also be very useful when manipulated in the way described in the quote. There have been multiple times when I've waited until the pirates drew an opponent's forces away from a certain planet, and then attacked that planet while it only had planet defenses.

Reply #18 from Sins Forums Top
I've thought about it more and yeah, I can use it to train my capital ships. Credit is relatively easy to generate so next time I'll put a huge bounty on :D A bunch of upgraded gauss cannons, some Cobalts and a couple Kodiaks can repel them just fine.
Reply #19 from Sins Forums Top
Pirates make excellent capital food. Best served with Kol or Marza.

Speaking of which, I remember killing off pirate bases with single high-level Kols and Marzas...both in the same game.
Reply #20 from Sins Forums Top
Yeah, one of the first games I played, I had it on easy, and I took out the pirates with my one capital ship. The pirates were stilling annoying the heck out of me at that point, so it was very satisfying. :)