Let me take that scout off your hands...

So everyone basically had two scouts and a flagship, but everyone was also done scouting. The scouts were all parked at home, just gathering dust.

So I went from one race to the next, buying up one of those useless old scouts from each. Hey they were gonna be mothballed anyway, right?

Naturally, the guys back home were eager to test out their latest schematics for a triple-gun fighter on the new hulls.
15,566 views 11 replies
Reply #1 Top
Pricey, but I suddenly had a wicked little fighter wing, the Phoenix Squadron
Reply #3 Top
yep, i buy them by the dozen. let's me see large portions of the map and acts as a reserve force near every possible warzone. i buy them with the leftover value from trades(max money then ships, ships, ships). certainly beats taking influence instead
Reply #4 Top
well being able to control the UP would make your conquest of the Galaxy all the easier.
Reply #5 Top
cool idea. It would save a ton of time and effort, because I routinely deploy an extensive sensor net of simple scout ships. You are basically buying a turn-key sensor net with that method. Upgrade the ships in place, shift them around a little to optimize their coverage and voila. I'd say keeping defenses and armament off of them until absolutely necessary would avoid even further cost. Just upgrade the sensors.
Reply #6 Top
after getting enough miniaturization (usually after adv mini, without any extra mini bonus from other sources), i designed a small hulled constructor. any surplus scouts that i bought off an AI, i upgrade to a constructor and send em to my nearest starbase/build a new one somewhere. much faster than just waiting for my planets to slowly crank em out themselves.
Reply #8 Top
Great ideas! Normally, I just strap one weapon on them so they are cheap to upgrade, then use them for cannon fodder to take enemy forces on wild goose chases while my main forces (complete with transports) move in on their planets and conquer them without having to fight their way there.
Reply #9 Top
Back in the 20th century we called that a "decoy"
Reply #10 Top
Actually, one gun ftrs can cause serious havoc by "raiding". Give it enough lifesupport and engines and the small ftrs can go "behind" the lines and start picking up undefended starbases, constructors and troop transports. 2 or 3 can gang up on his small ftrs as well. If your main fleets are attacking his planets, the AI has a hard time sending resources to go hunt down these. If you kill his starbases, you can cut off his economic support. Once you've conquered some planets, throwing one of these on them as "home defense" can keep the computer from counter attacking.

What's sad is that one medium hull with good defenses and enough speed is sufficient to protect against these kind of attacks, and the AI hasn't done that yet. Of course, I haven't played at painful yet...
Reply #11 Top
Yes Dlapine I play similarly.

I never build Scouts...Surveyors are my Scouts. When they become obsolete, I arm them and extend their range/lifesupport and of course speed.

I then turn them into Privateers/Wolfpacks that hunt behind enemy lines. This works quite well for me so far.

I like to give the Privateers names like Drake, Raleigh, Hudson etc. Adds some flavour and makes you careful how you move them. Nothing like bumping your Drake up next to an incoming Fleet of Drengin where you didn't reserve enough mp's to get out their range pronto. Then again half the time even though you are the only target, AND in range, they won't come after you. Grrrrr.