ACS - Opening and expanding

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Opening and expanding

garr con to their home FTW!

Opening Moves

The standard opening

The purchases you make early on effect your entire game. The actual settings and your faction choice will affect what you want/can afford, however you can usually use a rule of thumb and purchase a miner, outpost, teleport, and refinery and sometimes enhanced constructor.

It is recommended that you almost always get enhanced constructor if your research time is less than your con build time (see example). Enhanced constructor improves the constructor's signature, speed, and hull; allowing you to push your constructors further and take more of the map faster. On lower money settings, enh con is sometimes hard to fit into the budget. An acceptable trade off is to delay purchasing your refinery (or partial it) and get enh con first.

Example Iron Coalition has minor cons build in 120s, and their research takes 120s. Thus you need to purchase enh cons before the cons so that the research will finish before the cons launch

Should you go Rix, IC, Belters, or TF partial (right mouse click) your final purchase so that you still have money to hand out to pilots wishing to purchase items.

Your outpost should go 2 sectors from home, in a strategically important sector (see below). Your refinery goes behind the outpost to begin the mining chain. Your teleport builds at home, on a rock that is in front of a green door (and we cannot stress this enough).

Carrier use

Factions with starting fighters may want to buy a carrier with their opening money (forgoing an initial refinery or enh con if necessary). Carriers can be devastating when pushed into the enemy's mining sectors. Hopefully your team can keep the carrier alive with one or two nans while the rest of your team rips in figs and destroys their economy.

For factions with interceptors as starting ships, carriers can act as a home rip for the scout pilots while you push your initial teleport forward, allowing you to leapfrog your 2nd wave of cons forward.

Alternatively carriers can be used for miner defense, especially if you're facing against tac. If you have a carrier in a sector with your miners then your miner d can get resupplied and new defenders can rip in.

The downside is that carriers cost as much as an outpost, more than a teleport, and approx half of a techbase. While carriers are mobile, they are easier to kill than a built base (esp susceptible to figs and sfs) and have low-ish energy reserves that limit the number of ships that can ripcord at one time. If a bunch of fighters rip to a carrier, the carrier will die for lack of nans. Used wisely by a focused team, carriers are very difficult to stop. Used haphazardly by an unfocused team, a carrier can be a waste of money.

Sector rush

DrStrnglv popularized this strategy. The idea is to get your entire team to rush the enemy home and kill their initial cons and miners. Have one or two scouts to find alephs and the rest of the team in an offensive craft (int/fig). Follow the horde with your outpost, and make sure your team doesn't rush until the outpost is safe. To avoid being completely blind, you may want to pick a few scouts to travel off in different sectors and drop probes. If you get bomb rushed and your team is stuck in lt ints you aren't going to fare well.

This gambit relies on several things:

• Getting to the enemy home fast enough. This is a matter of faction choice, and a little bit of luck with alephs being closely spaced.
• Your pilots staying coordinated and grouped together to focus firepower.
• Your pilots being smart and killing the enemy's econ, and not getting sidetracked chasing down enemy pilots.

Bomb rush

The idea is simple: Get a base next to the enemy home, buy bombers ASAP, and put your entire team on a bomb run. Win by killing their garrison before they get a techbase. This approach can work very well if your bomber is not eyed and/or the enemy hasn't seen your opening op yet. If a bomber (or two) with a 10 nan train rolls into the enemy home unannounced, you just might win the game.

The problem here is that you end up committing a lot of resources to a very risky venture. If it fails, you're left with almost no map control, while the enemy is working on its techbase and/or a 3rd round of ops/teles. You'll have to bomb them back to claim more of the map for mining, but probers will now be looking for you.

Given that there are many ways that this can fail, bomb rushing is not a recommended course of action for most situations. Chances are fairly good that the enemy will see the opening base, and probe whores will eye the bomber when they probe that sector. If the enemy rush a techbase (belters can afford one easily) then you might successfully bomb the garr and still lose the game. You might roll unannounced into their home with 2 bombers and 10 nans, and still not kill the garr because of good prox drops, smart d, and/or bad luck.

Tech rush

In almost all cases, commanders should not even consider buying a techbase until AFTER their first round of constructors plants. Even then, many commanders go for a 2nd round of small constructors/four miners before buying a techbase. A commander could open with buying a techbase and try to out-tech the enemy. This is almost universally a bad idea.

The problem is that rushing a techbase will consume most of a team's opening funds, while only securing 1 (maybe 2) sectors to mine. Mining will take forever, because you have fewer miners and no refineries. While you might get enh tech up first, you have no easy access to enemy assets and thus no way of slowing their tech race. The main reason why you bought the tech base (tech) ends up being useless to you. All the while, the enemy will have expanded all around you and will probably get adv tech up before you do.

There are a few situations where this might actually work. Most of them are stupid (stupid money, stupid stack, stupid map). One strategy may be to go IC, rush tac, kill their miners quickly, and rely on your lt ints for d. If it is a big map, then this might work (once). In general, however, don't do this in a real game.

Pushes

This involves pushing one or both of your cons further than the regular 2 sectors, instead building them to 3 or more sectors from your home. The benefits are obvious (more of the map, closer to the enemy mining), but there are some economic and strategic drawbacks to consider: pushing your op con disrupts your mining chain; it places your base closer to the enemy and thus easier to bomb; it means a longer delay before you can get your 2nd wave of cons out.

When deciding whether or not to push, consider the following factors:

• What do you want to accomplish? Pushing your op is great for miner harassment and bomb rushes. If you're not bomb rushing and the enemy isn't going to mine on that side of the map, you have little to gain by pushing. However, that push just made your op easier to bomb and disrupted your mining chain.
• Do you have enh con with good defense on the op? If your cons are standard, pushing is risky but doable. If you don't have good d with good starting ships, don't push.
• Did the enemy send his/her con the same way? If so, pushing probably won't work unless you have a vastly superior escort (which you probably don't).

No homerip

In this popular gambit, the initial teleport is sent forward instead of built at home. You've seen (and will see) variations on this gambit as we discuss specific factions and maps. No matter when the theme, the basic idea behind this move is always the same: send the tele con forward to claim more of the map and speed future expansion. You could build it one sector behind the outpost, in the same sector as an outpost (thus creating a new "homerip"), or in a different choke sector entirely. Often the tele is built near a desirable tech rock.

This approach can work well if you follow it up with more expansion and get a homerip up soon. An opening carrier can double as a homerip for the first minutes of the game but will be insufficient as the game progresses. Rix and TF can use SR scouts/miners as homerips until a proper one is built.

Still, this approach is not without drawbacks. If the enemy opens by rushing your home (with a con, bomber, or miner hunters) and you don't have a homerip, it will be very very bad for you. If you only have scouts and lt ints and build the tele alone it is susceptible to bombing. If you have a weaker starting faction, sending your cons in two directions will split your D. If one of your cons (with half d) runs into the enemy's (with full d) you will lose it.

Some faction specific notes from certain commanders

Giga

Giga can research patrollers, which are basicaly a scout with less scan and speed and a fair amount more power. On most money settings these are really useful ships to have, acting for defense and offense. You will want these almost always, one exception is that if you are rushing expansion, as you can get ints up so quickly, it's not really worth researching the patties. — Quoted from Shizoku

A good Giga strategy I've found is to buy bombers asap and force your team to bomb. (scouts or bomber guys) . Giga has a nice window to end the game if your team will cooperate. But then, get a tech up asap because giga bases WILL die. — Quoted from Ozzy

Technoflux

TF has the ability to use skycap towers, on higher money settings these are worth getting because they act as incredible miner, conn, and early bomb rush defense. Another item that TF has is the ability to mount light booster on their scouts giving them a large speed boost, this should always be either purchased initially, or at the very least, initially partialed. — Quoted from Shizoku

OP, Ref, Miner, TP, Light Booster in about that order. Send initial TP out for: tech, expansion, or with OP depending on situation. Use your miners for initial homerip, second TP can build at home if your didn't use the first for a tech-base rip. The ref is incredibly important for TF, as their miners are slow as hell but they mine incredibly quickly. If the enmy is Tac, you can consider bombers early, otherwise get your tech up. Start the tech base upgrade at the same time as the Enh ship research. Keep those miners going and you should be able to have Adv Tech done in between 15 and 20 minutes. — Quoted from Anguirel

Partialling bombers is also useful with Tf. Technoflux's basic bombers are dangerous offensive and defensive ships, even against advanced tac and sup. With the lower cost and longer research time, you can partial bombers and not suffer from sticker shock.

IC

As Weed discussed in the IC article , some commanders like to buy their techbase immediately after their first round of opening constructors. Others like to focus on expanding first. Some commanders like to buy enh con if they can, while others eschew it. There is a consensus that if you buy enh con, do it first (before buying your first op and tele). IC small cons have a 2 minute preparatory time, so buying enh cons first insures that your first cons will be enhanced.

Dreg/Rix

Several commanders suggested buying enhanced constructors (even if you have to skip a ref), and many also recommended enhanced miners early. This may or may not be compatible with the strategy you have in mind (or the funds available), but it is a suggestion you should nevertheless consider.

Belters

Initial cons, buy your third (1.5 minutes in or so) miner, then invest in bombers. Belter bombers are incredibly powerful for offense and defense, and also very inexpensive to research. There's literally no better use for ~$6k of your early funds. If you get the chance to push an OP, you can bomb early and hard before they get tech. If you both build in the same spot you can bomb it out. If they bomb rush you, you can use the bomber to defend far more effectively than regular fighters (and then counter bomb). Heck, you can even use a bomber for miner D in a pinch. After one or two OPs, I'd suggest TP+Tech bases for expanding, especially if they go Tac or Sup. — Quoted from Anguirel

On 1.25 starting money, you can afford everything and both Enh Miner and Con, no reason not to get Enh Miner but you may withold Enh Con for tech or a carrier. However as Belters are quite cheap Enh Con will help expanding immensely. — Quoted from CronoDroid

GT

You only have to buy a miner, op and tele, even on 1.0 there is enough for Enh Miner or if you wait for the payday a one cashbox that's a carrier. GT Carriers are incredibly tough and can be used to harass the enemy miners with a few good carrier pilots on your team. Enh Miners on the other hand help GT's slow mining and are absolute tanks with 1.0 Hull and 1.1 Shield. — Quoted from CronoDroid

Expanding

Reading the map

Every map has key sectors, aka "choke" sectors. Each map has certain sectors you must control to win. Consider the Star map, which has two "primary" choke sectors and two "secondary" choke sectors.

If you control both of the chokes the enemy has nowhere to go that isn't 1 sector from one of your bases. They can't expand or mine. Their only hope is to bomb or run their cons/miners through a 2 sector gauntlet to the middle track. The two secondary choke sectors are 10 and 7. Aside from home sectors, any sector on the map is adjacent to 10 and 7, meaning that your team has easy access to every sector on the map if you control 10 and 7. Additionally, 10 and 7 provide the only access to the center track, providing you with 2-4 sectors of safe mining.

If you're thinking about Star, you want to control one of the primary choke sectors. Bonus if you get both, but the enemy is also trying to secure a primary choke. Chances are you'll only get one. It will help you a great deal if you can control one (or several) secondary choke sectors as well. On star, the secondary choke closest to your home is the easiest to secure, and will help you secure several sectors on the map for safe mining. If you can secure it with a teleport, you can rip additional constructors forward and send them down the center track to seal it. On the other hand, securing the secondary choke on the enemy's side of the map will give you easy access to anywhere the enemy could possibly be mining. You don't get the same mining security, but you can easily win the economy war by killing enemy miners. This is a good route if your team has the whorepower.

Just be sure that your team probes. The disadvantage to owning a sector like 10 or 7 is that the enemy can bomb you along several different routes, and one of those routes probably involves an aleph very close to your base. Whip your team and get them probing, or it's a wasted effort.

The moral of the story is that each map has key sectors. Look for them. The sectors that secure territory and afford easy access to enemy mining are the sectors that you want to control. Once you learn to read maps in this way, you'll begin making smarter decisions in the opening phases of the game.

When to buy tech

Knowing when to transition from the early-game land grab to buying and developing tech is tricky. Doing it too soon will stunt your econ and mid-game. Doing it too late will get you wiped off the map. There are several factors to consider:

• The map and your current expansion -- Have you secured enough He rocks to support advanced tech? Know approximately how much money is in each sector (see supplemental post).
• Miner access -- Can your team disrupt the enemy's mining easily enough? Do you have some good launching points for miner o?
• The enemy commander -- If the enemy com is very aggressive, you need to get tech up early. Otherwise, you can put it off and focus on expansion.
• Faction -- Some IC commanders like to buy their tech base almost immediately after their first round of constructors. The idea is to get a leg up in the techrace. Others will pursue some mix of partialling the techbase and early expansion. Belters can also get tech out early, since they can buy their tech fast and still afford to pump out a 2nd round of constructors. Factions like BIOS and Dreg have to wait, because their techbase is so much more expensive.

Pushing

An effective mid/late game expansion strategy is to put a con into a sector controlled by the enemy. Not only do you get a good shot at taking the sector away from them and/or threatening a techbase, but you also occupy the enemy while your team can do something else (tp2, sbs, etc). The following commanders have some suggestions about good pushes:

* You should have enh. cons Send them in probed areas with at least 1 escort. All depending on enemy talent, tech, faction, and distance from your building spot, you have to dose the amount of escort (extreme: building in the enemy's home when they are tacspansion and turtling in their home). If you're bombing, it's always easier to send the con behind, or to somewhere else, and divide their defense, provided the escort can properly choose to escort the bomber or the con given the D pattern. — Quoted from Jell

The tactic I see used most often is to send it in behind an offensive action of your own, such as rushing their miner or a bomb run. A second factor of it is good scouting/deprobing... IE the first time they see the con is when it comes in behind your miner sweep/bomb run/whatever, forcing them to either defend the target or kill the con. 9 times out of 10, a smart team should worry about stopping your Offensive action first, then counterbombing if possible. The other major factor is communication, making sure the team knows what you are about to do and stand ready to support it. If your not combining the con push with an offensive action, you need to have 3 good scouts who know how to use their mines effecticely and 2-3 figs/ints to protect the nans. You also can't play around with it, you need to build the con on the closest rock to the aleph that you can, even if its not in that great a position. The longer the con spends in sector, the more chance the defenders have of massing overwhelming force. Best places to pull this are vs Tele or Ref;s vs an expansion team, or sectors without Rips for a team that can rip. The key is to choose a sector where the enemy CANT respond quickly, near as I can tell. — Quoted from Da_Muck

If its a sector they wanna hang on to, you need hvy D or keep em busy with something else in another sector. Having some eyes in the sector where you are pushing is good, then you can see if they are coming to kill it and can send it elsewhere, as opposed to having it walk into a camp. When commanding expansion I try to not have my OPs walk too long by having well placed teles. For an example on Hihi, I can send a tele high and have it build as close as possible next to the aleph leading to the sector adjancent to enemy home. Later an OP only has to rip in and cross a few k in order to reach the target sector. As an additional bonus, if the enemy sends a con into the tele sector I can have ppl attacking it very quickly in scouts, or with a bomber if I got em. — Quoted from Grey_Slayer

Knowing your team and the enemy

The tech path that you choose and how you expand should be affected by who is on your team and who is on the enemy team. For example, if you have several int whores on your team, go exp. If you have several good sfs pilots, go tac. If teams are very large, sup is a good choice (especially if the map isn't tight) as sup's power really reveals itself in large teams. If you have a lot of new/intermediate players, missile techpaths like sup or tac usually work better than exp.

Conversely, if a well known bomber whore is on the enemy team, assume that you're going to be bombed. Plant your first teleport at home and don't push your outpost. If the enemy commander is more of a build-up-then-push kind of player, then you can postpone your techbase for a few minutes and expand more. If several members of the same squad are on the same team, assume they will be coming for your miners together. Probe and beef up your miner d.

It is always good to have some skilled miner whores on your team.

Credits: Shiz, Clay_Pigeon, Anguirel, Jell, Grimmwolf, NakPPI, Ozzy, Da_Muck, Grey_Slayer, CronoDroid

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