Just jumped into the water.

[sabre1]

Well I finally purchased this series. It appears to be easier to learn than DW.

A good friend of mine insisted that I wouldn't like it, but I will give it a shot. I figured with the price reduction, now as as good a time as any.

I know that ugly dwarf Martok loves it so hey, he must know something?

Any suggestions welcome. Behave yourself Martok, or I'll sic Anguille on you. [:D]

[Anguille]

Hi,

Glad you purchased it...do you also have the Supernova addon?

Anyway, i recommend you to check the Ntronium forum, that's where you'll get most information.

Meanwhile, i'll be glad to give you any kind of information you want

Cheers [;)]

[martok]

Good to see you've joined the ranks, sabre. I hope you enjoy the game as much as I do!

ORIGINAL: sabre1

Well I finally purchased this series. It appears to be easier to learn than DW.

A good friend of mine insisted that I wouldn't like it, but I will give it a shot. I figured with the price reduction, now as as good a time as any.

Yeah, Armada is a lot easier to learn than most 4x titles I've played, including (and especially!) Distant Worlds. If you have any questions, though, please don't hesitate to ask.

ORIGINAL: sabre1

I know that ugly dwarf Martok loves it so hey, he must know something?

Any suggestions welcome. Behave yourself Martok, or I'll sic Anguille on you. [:D]

I promise I'll be good....ish. [;)]

[sabre1]

Yep purchased Supernova.

1.How much automation do you implement?

2.How many transports for moving populations?

3. General maintenence questions in order to optimize your economy?

4. Best practices for research?

5. Best exploration and colonization strategies?


I started off with just myself and one other race on the biggest map just to learn how to run the economy. The tutorial puts you into a combat situation to quickly.

[Anguille]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

Yep purchased Supernova.

1.How much automation do you implement?

2.How many transports for moving populations?

3. General maintenence questions in order to optimize your economy?

4. Best practices for research?

5. Best exploration and colonization strategies?


I started off with just myself and one other race on the biggest map just to learn how to run the economy. The tutorial puts you into a combat situation to quickly.

This is how i play it:

1) I automate all population transports. In some rare cases when a planet is being neglected because it has poor growth rate but is of strategic importance, i do it myself.

2) It depends on the size of the map. I guess in your case 15-20 would be nice.

3) Do not overbuild...and see if you can improve your income (mining, internal trade and of course many tax-payers).

4) Focus on 2-3 trees but it aslo depends on your race (some races have research boni). Building is important in the beginning (especially for comet mining). I always build up labs of Skunk Work....your researchers will try to find out things by themselves...goes faster and completes the trees you focus on.

5) Scouts are important as they can see the "specials". These specials can bring a lot of money, so it's important to find the right planet at the beginning. I colonize all the good planets...i expand as long as i don't find an enemy.

What is your race and what is the other race?

Cheers

You have version 1.04?

[sabre1]

Well, I'm the humans, so what is a good race that I can probably beat up on, while I learn the mechanics of the game?


Thanks Anguille!

[Anguille]

The Teyes have been created by Ntronium to be the victims (see also the ingame videos). They are not very clever (slow on research) but they have high growth....


Beware, they will put up a good fight (actually it's my fav race [;)] )

[martok]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

1.How much automation do you implement?

Like Anguille, I automate all population transports (aside from the rare exceptions when I want to fill up an especially important colony with a low growth rate).

I also allow the AI governor to run a lot of my less important colonies. The AI governor isn't great, but it does an okay enough job that I gladly make use of it on the larger maps (which is nice if you're not a big fan of micro-management like me).

ORIGINAL: sabre1

2.How many transports for moving populations?

It partially depends on the size of my empire. However, the rule I generally follow is to build/assign 1 transport for roughly every 20 population units under my rule. (Thus, if I have a population of around 600, I try and have 30 transports devoted to moving my people around.)

ORIGINAL: sabre1

3. General maintenence questions in order to optimize your economy?

As Anguille said, don't overbuild. The economy in Armada is pretty tight in the early-to-mid game, and you simply will not have enough money to build all the things you want to right away. Try and focus on developing no more than a few planets at a time, else you'll quickly run out of cash.

Be especially careful to not build too large a military too quickly, unless you're planning to attack (or be attacked by) someone very soon. Ships are expensive to both construct & maintain, and you'll be forcibly reminded of this if you forget it!

ORIGINAL: sabre1

4. Best practices for research?

To again second Anguille, you should focus on just 2-3 research fields at a time -- I find Construction and (to a lesser extent) Information techs to be especially useful in the early game. However, it also depends on what bonuses and/or penalties your particular race has.

I suspect I don't build as many Skunkworks as Anguille, but they are undeniably useful and....efficient. [;)]

ORIGINAL: sabre1

5. Best exploration and colonization strategies?

Scout ships are your friends. I recommend building an additional 3-5 (depending on map size) right away -- this will allow you to explore the galaxy and find those good planets for colonization that much more quickly.

Yellow and orange stars are the ones most likely to have Ideal, Oceanic, and Habitable planets (which is what the majority of the races can colonize with their initial tech), so make a beeline for those when possible.

Try not to colonize Poor planets unless: a.) they possess some sort of major bonus or trade/tourism good that would bring wealth to your empire; and/or b.) they occupy a key strategic location.

ORIGINAL: sabre1

Well, I'm the humans, so what is a good race that I can probably beat up on, while I learn the mechanics of the game?

The Walden Forest tend to be peacemongers (they actually *lose* victory points if they kill enemy populations!), and so are unlikely to attack you. Like Anguille's beloved Teyes Flock, however, they're not pushovers -- while they generally don't like to go to war, they don't hesitate to defend themselves!

[sabre1]

Thanks Martok,

Information printed out and saved from the resident experts (Anguille and Martok)

BTW,

Who "usually" wins when you guys do PBEM? [:D][;)]

[Anguille]

Ah...i think you talk to the wrong guys...i don't think that me and Martok are among the best in this game...i have one pbem where my last planet is being bombed to the end and another one where i am stuck between two big races. [:'(]

[martok]

Yeah, I'm not the greatest of players, at least in part because I lack that "bloodthirsty" mentality so often needed in MP games.  I play to have fun, not to win (although winning is always more enjoyable!). 
 
I suspect that a 1-on-1 matchup between Anguille and myself would be like a couple of little girls getting into a slap fight.  [;)] 
 
 
 

[Anguille]

ORIGINAL: martok
I suspect that a 1-on-1 matchup between Anguille and myself would be like a couple of little girls getting into a slap fight.  [;)] 

Yep...something like that [:D]

[sabre1]

Pretty funny guys.

BTW in case you didn't figure it out, I'm Epee1 over on Wargamer.

[Anguille]

Hadn't realised...good to know [;)]

[martok]

Heh, no I had no idea either (although it makes sense in hindsight). 

By the way, here's the link to the main Armada forums.  (Just in case Anguille and I are unable (or unavailable) to give you the advice you seek!)  [:)] 

[sabre1]

Thanks Martok, I didn't realize Armada had its own forum other than Matrix.