Least favourite faction?

Clear Skies · April 6, 2001, 16:28

Got a faction who ALWAYS gets on your nerves? Someone who will break any treaty, any pact just to kill you? Post them here!

My two least favourites are Deirdre and Santiago. Dee seems to start stealing tech if I get so much as three advances ahead of her, and that REALLY annoys me. I usually ignore it first time, second time I'll cancel a Pact, third time it's all-out war.
Santiago's more of a problem, what with her improved army. Technology is my only desire when playing SMAC/X, so I usually play as the Cyborgs or the UoP. Running Knowledge always seems to get Santiago riled - she seems to think it's covert weapons research! Me? Never! (innocent look)

Also, anyone who manages to build the Planetary Datalinks when they are really behind on tech gets an almost instant Vendetta. In my book that amounts to tech stealing, and I HATE it!

How about you?

Jokka das Trevas · April 6, 2001, 18:03

I can't stand even seeing Mirian

She's devoted to kill me, whoever am I at the moment.

I just kill her in first sight. She was pretty submissive the only time I did pet her, though.

But I don't pet anymore, as pets don't expands themselves and you have to give cities to them if you want them to be useful... But I like micromanagement, so I take care of my cities myself and just kill the b1tch :P

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Long live THE HIVE!

Rift · April 6, 2001, 18:20

Strange, because my most loyal allies are Santiago and Deirdre. Then again, maybe it's because I usually run Power and Green. Santiago has also given me a hand in a vendetta, and Dee had sometimes given me techs when I had none to trade...but she's a bug in my current game, because try as I might, I can't strike a pact out of her and she refuses to attack Miriam, since she's a "pacifist". Damn...I guess I'll have to rely on my probe teams to introduce the two in the form of a vendetta

knowhow2 · April 6, 2001, 22:45

I hate the one that invoke the UN most. Bro Lal, or as I call him backstabber.

Solver · April 7, 2001, 05:14

Miriam. I've never played here, and I always try to destroy here. I conflict with her idelogically, and I don't like the way she looks. I'm happy to get a game without her, Marr is better.

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Solver - http://www.aok.20m.com

Cybergod · April 7, 2001, 06:23

The factions that always seems to pronounce war on me are Believers and Santiago. Hive not so much, but after a while. In SMAX, it's all of the aliens, which is really annoying. Also Deidre turns out to be a real b***h in the late game, especially if I was pact with her ever since I met her. In late game, she thinks she is the boss (lathough I am ten time a s powerful as her) and refuses to trade techs and even sends probes on me! Also once, when I was first playing the game, I was ten turns away from completing Asc. to Trans. and she, lathough we were pact, pronounced war on me and made pact with Santiago. Oh well, I just waited a few more turns and I won...

buster · April 7, 2001, 08:45

Angels - the +3 probe bug makes them really annoying to play in late game.

Other than that I avoid factions that are hard to pop boom and or to get to +2 energy.

That includes cult (-1 econ and can't use wealth, cyborgs -1 growth, Gaia cant use Free market, Hive due to -2 economy).

Against AI it does not matter much, but in MP playing someone who knows how to juggle SE to get pop booms and +2 energy at same time one gets left in the dust.

April 7, 2001, 14:21

If it's SMAC, it'd have to be Yang. He's such a stubborn social freak. Whenever I play a game where he starts near me, i make it a point to annhilate him, and later (if do or die is off) seek him out and enslave him.

In SMAX, it's those damned aliens. I've never played a game where the aliens aren't on my nerves. I just kill those critters. forget enslaving them, there's no point. AS for humas in SMAX, it's cha dawn. no matter that i'm ten times stronger, he'd still jump into an oppurtunity wage war with me. enslave the spore-sniffing fanatic!

I just hate to eradicate factions. it's such a waste of commerce income from pacts.

The Commodore · April 7, 2001, 18:59

Funny, I run Green, so Dee loves me...

Morgan gets on my nerves, but I enjoy playing as him. SMACfanatic, you should learn that Morgan is a good techie too.(I'm like you, all-out research.)

Miriam is fun, I like runing over her bases.

I suppose that Yang is my most hated foe.

N35t0r · April 8, 2001, 05:56

I nearly always play with UoP (don't have SMAX), and the civ i hate more are the Hive...

I nearly always end up fighting against Miriam and Santigo, but i do hate the Hive most.

Clear Skies · April 8, 2001, 15:22

I never like playing with Morgan. For one thing, the hab dome/complex (whichever it is) restrictions tie me down way too much. The extra energy does come in handy for the labs, but I like to be able to run Green for the Planet bonus (I love Psi attacks). Plus, I never get his monopolistic mentality, and I prefer to play as a faction with whom I can empathise.

Cybergod · April 8, 2001, 16:56

quote:

Originally posted by SMAC Fanatic on 04-08-2001 03:22 PM
I never like playing with Morgan. For one thing, the hab dome/complex (whichever it is) restrictions tie me down way too much. The extra energy does come in handy for the labs, but I like to be able to run Green for the Planet bonus (I love Psi attacks). Plus, I never get his monopolistic mentality, and I prefer to play as a faction with whom I can empathise.

Erm, you can STILL run Green with Morgan (its Planned he can't chose)...

The Commodore · April 8, 2001, 20:44

Yes! That is Morgan's best benifet... He can get the wonderful +2 Econ via wealth, and still have a paradigm econ with Demo/Green. Wealth gives big morale problems, but with green, you can use Mind Worms instead of normal units!

Over-all, that's hard to beat!

Another thought: The Hab-complex thing is good...drones won't be a problem. I do horizontal expanding anyway, at that time in-game.
[This message has been edited by The Commodore (edited April 08, 2001).]

Aginor · April 8, 2001, 21:58

[quote]Originally posted by The Commodore on 04-08-2001 08:44 PM
Yes! That is Morgan's best benefit... He can get the wonderful +2 Econ via wealth, and still have a paradigm econ with Demo/Green. Wealth gives big morale problems, but with green, you can use Mind Worms instead of normal units!

Unfortunately, the inability to run Planned early for the Industry boost really, really sucks. Granted, as Morgan you want to run Market and Wealth almost from the second you get them...but it's tough to get tons of bases up and running fast without it. Similarly, I find Santiago's inability to run Wealth frustrating, especially with the Industry penalty.

I find that UoP's ability to run everything important (Demo, Market, Planned, Green, Wealth, Police State, Knowledge) is hard to beat. Every other player loses one of these options. Though the Hive's Police State/Planned/Wealth combo is completely insane - the most powerful single combo I know of since it can be run VERY early and only carries a -2 Morale penalty for a return of +1 Econ, +2 Growth, +2 Industry, +2 Support, +2 Police. (added to the base -2 Econ, +1 Growth, +1 Industry) Strong, no?

I can't stand Miriam and annihilate her whenever located. She just has a major attitude problem in all games, and the way her bonuses are structured the best defense is definitely a strong offensive to neutralize her offensive bonus. You don't want her trotting up Infantry outside your bases.

Paul Vella · April 9, 2001, 03:26

Ha! I always play as Santiago cause there ain't no better! But Miriam does get on my nerves so much! She makes pathetic demands for more than half of my energy credits when I can easily destroy her!
However, the Hive can be trouble if you let them grow. I usually take them out quickly before they can build the citizens force and make their bases virtually protected. But I win, all the same.
The only trustworthy factions I find are the University and the Morganites! Brother Lal is never even considered a faction cause of their minute faction size whenever I play.

Skanderbeg · April 9, 2001, 04:57

The factions which go on my nerves most are the Morganites and the Data Angels.
I love green economy, and that alwas pisses Morgan off. Morgan Industries is only good for one thing - as planet buster testing range

And those Angels love to probe even there allies

If I don't get the HSA, the Angels are my primary target.

Yes, Santiago, Yang and Cha Dawn like to declare vendetta on me, but normally they were not strong enough to do me any harm.

Deirdre is a reliable ally most times (because of my green econ), and astonishingly in a lot of games I have good working pacts with Miriam

And Miriam is often easy to submit, and then she is a nice pet

A strange guy is Domai

Sometimes he is the most reliable pactmate You can think of, but in other cases he can be the worst plague

I hate it when his ecodamages drowns my land, and I hate it to be probed by him. And the Drones with their industry are one of the factions played best by the AI. So it is normally my strategy to conquer them as soon as possible, except they behave very, very pretty

Earwicker · April 9, 2001, 10:39

Miriam and Yang are big pests in most of my games, but I am more annoyed by Zak. He gets uppity because he's got a 2-1-2 rover, starts harassing me (most often Cult or Gaians) for energy and other techs, and finally pronounces vendetta unless I buckle under (which I never do). I hate having to slow down growth, exploration, and development to have to find him/ ward off his wandering attackers. He makes an ok pet once he's subdued, though.

Domai makes a great friend if he's not your next-door neighbor. In the latter case, he will forget all the gift techs and niceness, renounce a pact and eventually sneak attack if he's near enough. With slightly more separation, though, he'll bog himself down in vendettas and gift you a lot of units to upgrade.

The Pirates are another thorny faction. While friendly enough early on, they wind up in so many vendettas that you're bound to be in pact/ peace with at least one of them and he starts getting mad. Staying at peace with him is a waste of time, since he will always start building his bases right offshore of yours to steal the development efforts.

The worst things about Miriam and Yang is that they make lousy pets -- they wind up in vendetta against the world, so peace with them creates diplomatic hassles with other factions. Knock 'em out and use their bases as supply crawler factories until you can give them away to a worthier pet.

Locus · April 9, 2001, 10:45

Miriam is the psycho, pain in the @ss warmonger in most of my games. She's such a nuisance I take great pleasure in crushing her.

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Brother Locus of the Peacekeepers