How to deal with those goddammed Hackers?

Skanderbeg · November 24, 2000, 06:25

I am in need of a good strategy against those Data Angels. They are a real plague.
In my current game (transzendent level) I had to ally with them because they were leading in tech and I need help against the caretakers and spartans, who were allied against me.
But at the time a became the strongest faction, they were no longer my friends and attacked me. Now they overrun my still week occupied caretaker and spartan bases with their elite probes.
My current tactic is to try to planetbuster them faster as they can planetbuster me, but that seems not to be they ideal tactic to me.
Perhaps somebody has better ideas.
Greetings Skanderbeg

mark13 · November 24, 2000, 08:07

One tactic against the Data Angels - probe-defend your bases like mad. Stack them up - you should have about 4 probe teams in each base, IMO - and laugh as all the Data Angel probe teams get annihilated by your garrison. Remember, of course, that as one of your probe teams fall, their probe team(s) will be lying outside the base, waiting to be picked off by the garrison inside.

In the late-game, use probes of your own to sabotage production of PBs. Foil probes usually do the trick.

Mark13

Aredhran · November 24, 2000, 08:37

Build the hunter-seeker algorithm secret project, or garrison defensive probe units in your bases.

Aredhran

Aredhran · November 24, 2000, 08:38

Damn, why didn't Mark's post show up when I loaded that thread

mark13 · November 24, 2000, 08:46

The good old cache - it was half an hour, mind, so I would expect it to show up....

VoodooChild · November 24, 2000, 12:51

Couple of things going on here. First off the Diplomatic engine works in this way: #1 and #2 will almost always fight one another, so when you passed the Angles on the power graph it is no surprised that they would come after you. Also the first player to throw a PB (unless restrictions are lifted) will be hated by all the other factions. Also the faction hit by an attrocity will never again be friendly with the aggressor.

The #1 thing the Angles need to do is inflitrate all the factions. This will allow their Tech Share ability to kick in. There are a couple of ways of doing this, but the easist is to build the Empath Guild. If you build the EG then it will deny them and make it easier for you to become Govenor and therefore prevent the Angles from another method of inflitration.

Once the Angles have their inflitration, the best method to keep them in check is to kill or ruin the other tech factions. Make the Angles have to learn their own techs. Of course this doesn't mean anything to your pressent situation but worth saying if you have another game with them.

For your game, do as the others suggested. Get the HSA, build Covert Ops Centers and crank out probes. Inf probes are good for defending bases, put your best reactor on them for the extra hit points. Use Probe Foils to terrorrize their bases. Look inside their bases to avoid their defensive probes or to figure out which base to hit. If all else fails boost your Probe rating as high as you can. After all what good is learning tech if your not alive to use it?

It sounds like you are in the fight of your life, good hunting.

RedFred · November 24, 2000, 17:48

An additional bit of advice is that the AI will often send their probes to you along fairly predictable corridors. With luck you can pick them off before they get near to your cities. Patrol (manually) those corridors with two rovers. Make sure that they end their turn on the same tile so that they cannot be subverted. Once you have D:AP you can switch to air patrols. Enough air units and you can block probes' progress through choke points.

Also, early in the game if you think that you will need a lot of defensive probes, consider going into the design workshop and prototyping a cheaper one movement probe.

Googlie · November 24, 2000, 18:40

or better still - patrol with mindworms - probes are useless against them but they sure make wormmeat out of probes

Skanderbeg · November 27, 2000, 06:11

Thanks for all Your tips!
Most of them couldn't be used any more in this certain game, because the anti-probe secret projetcs were built buy other factions, and the bases attacked by the hackers coudn't be protected by probes, because they were attacked every turn by several probes and copters.
But Your tips will be helpful in the next games.

I ended this game at 865 points, when I was attacked by a second faction with planet busters and in the same time got very serious ecodamage with lots of locuts everywhere.
I am glad at all , because it's my new record in the transcendent level (I have not won it until yet, but I am working on it).
Greetings to all smac fans!
Skanderbeg

Ogie Oglethorpe · November 27, 2000, 15:34

Skand,

I wouldn't say the following is a good strategy (esp. in MP) but 'gainst the AI, it might work.

Native life is immune to mind control from probe teams. Simply ring your bases with native life and you've effectively created a barrier to any PT actions.

The AI is pretty much clueless in combined arms tactics and will more often than not send PT after PT without backup conventional forces. 'gainst a human though its a different story as one would expect a empath chopper to clear teh way for the endless probe actions.

May be of some use to experiment.

Edited: Whoops looks like I should read all responses more clearly. Apologies to googs for repeating the same advice only in a different context.

Og

[This message has been edited by Ogie Oglethorpe (edited November 27, 2000).]