Posted by: Waffles
« on: March 18, 2011, 01:50:05 AM »I find it kinda amusing that that's what he googled since that exactly what the Bay12 forums describe it as. Though even they had a hard time figuring it out
Initially, you can get by with minimal armed ships. A squadron or so (as however defined by you). You'll need survey, colony and freighters more at the beginning.In the very early game, when defence is less of a problem than the complaining colonies think it is, I tend to use Missile Defence Bases - Essentially PDCs with 20 AMM launchers, a magazine, a sensor and a bit of armour and that's it. They're cheap to research and build (although a big Res 1 sensor can be quite expensive at low techs), and they will remain useful later on in the game should there ever be an actual fight at that colony - extra AMM fire is always good. And a PDC only needs Launcher Reload 3 to get 5s RoF AMMs, so they'll actually be pretty effective if you remember update the missiles every now and then.
Don't forget that once a population hits 10 million (I think), it starts to want protection. Protection is calculated on a system-wide basis. So a couple of destroyers can provide protection for small out-system colonies.
Don't get discouraged if it all seems overwhelming at first . There is a lot to take in and most players need a few weeks to really get their head around the game.
Steve