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From: jpulliam@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Jacqueline Pulliam)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Re: STRATEGIC CONQUEST
Message-ID: <46997@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Date: 7 Jun 90 18:30:52 GMT
References: <1054300002@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Sender: root@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington IN.
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In article <1054300002@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> cjones@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>I've recently started to play Strategic Conquest.  I can win when playing
>up to level 8 and anything above level 10 blows me away.

This isn't bragging (there are obviously SC players much better than
me), I just want to establish my ability level:  I always win at 12,
have roughly 50-50 success at 13, a little worse at 14, and usually
(although not always) lose at 15.

>I've just recently started building a fighter for my first object in order to

I do the same, all the way to 15 (but it sometimes works to gamble by
building an army first, especially if you luck onto a small island
where the other cities are _real_ close and quick to find.  Like I
said, though, that's all a matter of luck).

>first ship build is a destroyer to do the same for overseas scouting.  Then
>I finally start building transports.

I don't.  If I have more than 4 cities on my first island, I may
dedicate one to making destroyers and fighters.  But the first thing I
_always_ build (other than armies, armies and armies) is a transport.
More about why in a sec.

>In the middle game (if there is such a thing) I start building battleships
>and bombers.

Once I have 6 or more cities (this number varies depending on where I
start on the board, whether I've made contact with the enemy, how many
islands I'm spread out over, and how many islands I can see), I start
building the "big country" items:  bombers, battleships, and s**tloads
of destroyers.

>initial builds).  The bugger had three or four battleships, two carriers and
>lots of destroyers and a few misc subs.  I started infringing on one of his
>islands and he kept using bombers to destroy the city I just overtook.
>Quite frustrating.

I know what you mean.  I once sat down and simply tracked what he had,
as soon as I saw it (I think this was a level 15 game).  By day 35 or
36, he had 2 or more bombers, 1 or more battleship, 2 or more
carriers, more than 5 destroyers, a few transports, and a _lot_ of
fighters and armies.  Bottom line:  it would be almost impossible for
him to have started off in the same situation as me (one city, one
army or fighter).  I'd love to find out how this program works... I
suspect I'd find that the enemy is not run the same way as the human
player, at least not at the higher levels.  He either starts off with
a plus-up in forces, or he starts with more than one city, or he
begins the game established on a number of islands, or something like
that.  But the "odds aren't even" in the higher levels, I am sure.

>So anyway.  What strategies do others use when/if playing SC at higher levels?

The one thing I _keep_ in mind while playing is that this game isn't
about tactics or strategy:  it's about production rates.  The key is
to get as many cities as you can as fast as you can, and to build the
right things with those cities.  So I always build a transport early,
and get troops to as many islands (and in as many cities) as I can find
before I run into him (that also helps against his bombers, because
I have too many cities for him to seriously affect my production
rates, in percentage terms).  The fighters stay important so you can
keep finding new islands (keeping your intel. ahead of your
transports, but not too far ahead, is one of the finer points of
managing the production schedule in the non-contact part of the game).

Second point:  you have a better chance of beating him at sea if you
can cordon off all his ports (this is later in the game, after you've
figured out what most or all of the board looks like:  that's what all
those destroyers are for, in addition to shutting down his
transports).  So I try to put a battleship and a destroyer in front of
every one of his port cities to keep the ships from coming out.  The
destroyer is there to find subs that come out to sink the battleship.
This is always frustrating (he is always bombing your battleship, or
sending another battleship out after it, or sneaking a sub up to it),
but I think it helps speed up your conquest _and_ it keeps your own
shores and transport route free of enemy ships.

Third point:  as long as the islands are fairly close together
throughout the board, you'll never need a carrier (except as a "cheap
battleship").  Subs are up to you, I don't use them.  It's almost like
the computer can see where your subs are whether or not he should be
able to.  So I stick to armies, fighters and bombers, battleships,
destroyers and transports.  My ultimate production plan (mid-game, I
own about half the board, he owns the other half, we each have about
25 cities) is:
		5-10 armies
		3- 6 fighters
		3- 6 bombers
		2- 4 battleships
		2- 3 destroyers
		1- 2 transports

And as I start overwhelming him, I start shifting cities to making
bombers and fighters.  Once you have his sea ports cordoned off,
there's no need for a lot of ships:  you only need to produce enough
to continue replacing those you lose.  And as you take his islands,
his number of sea ports decreases, so you stop needing ships at all.
But you can _always_ use planes 8-)

>Thanks in Advance

You're welcome, hope this helps!

JP