Strategy suggestions

Polaron weapons are only better than Mesons if you opponent uses a lot of shields relative to armour and has not got Phased shields of any sort yet. It’s probably better to stick with Mesons against a human player especially if they have an edge already in weapons.

Other things worth trying are combined missile and cannon ships remembering that if you continue to research them they are still variable even against ships with PD screens as they are very long ranged relative to canon and allow you to fire as you close. Mounts for direct fire weapons are also to be recommended as they produce a decent damage boost tl10 frigate hulls with three moderate tl CSM's and a mounted meson cannon is a good light gun ship especially if backed up with other larger dual armed and specialist ships.

I also use Ion mines a lot since crippling half the enemy as he comes through a warp point is good and will help a defending squadron a great deal if they hang back causing him to have to come for them with half his fleet the other half being stuck in the warp point with zero movement. I have not used them is stock but they are fun when they work they also expedite ship capture if not stationery targets are easier.

Finally make sure you crews are trained and that you keep up with sensor development as combat sensors are quite an edge

Hope that helps

Use the mines in conjustion woth your ships...

Lead him/her into a trap and let the mines do there job. At least until you can catch up, also use espionage to hinder his/her tech progress.

Well, being stock I assume he doesn't plan to land troops, meaning you have to win in space. You've got to get the drop on him in research, but at the same time you need to outlast him. What does your production look like? Is he chewing up all your ships constantly and you are at the max sustainable production you can have? if so, boost up your resources. If not, boost up how many shipyards you have. It might be worth it to build a Shipyard ship to get that extra production up and going if you aren't at the most you can support. I suggest you make an alliance with one of the other players to defeat this guy, since he's probably stronger then at least one other player. Get together and wipe him out, but watch your victory conditions. If conquest is the only victory, then you better have a plan for dealing with your "ally" effectively. If you set yourself up so you take fewer losses and get more gain in your "Let's devide his territory thus.." you might get an upper hand on your "ally"
The extra territory will give you the strength to handle the 4th person, since he will be at normal strength, and you and your former ally at 150%
But you gotta be careful, if you start a fight with the other 150% and he allies with 100% man, your gonna get whopped on. Better to tell the 100% guy that you won't attack him if he gets in a war with the other 150% guy, and once you see some conflict going between the two to roll up and backdoor the other 150% guy. Wait long enough though and you'll be looking at horrific warp point assaults. In the end, it might be best for you to develop your planetary shileding and stellar manipulation and shut down access for the guy who's better then you, opening it up to a different empire that is on par or weaker, giving you a good buffer zone.

Ultimatly, your advantage is that you can make very good defenses. I am pretty sure if you don't keep that advantage pacing his development of better weapons, you are screwed. Deversify your defenses for sure though, because I'm sure he's working on a counter to your mines.

I am not a fan of mines, but that's me (I pause and wait for the flaming to occur) - I hate them and find them a nuisance - develop, deploy, etc. Let's get to brass tacks and blast each other out of the sky, I say. But again, that's me.

Evilginger hit it dead on the through analysis of Polaron vs. Mesons. Also, begin using (as has been suggested) mounts on direct fire weapons and get cranking on those space-based shipyards.

I believe that, at this point, your best bet is to continue to build this alliance you have with the less threatening player, keep on eye on said player, covertly monitor their progress, then strike from his weakest and least defended planets and begin his destruction ONLY after you squeeze any useful tech from him/her. If he has no probative value, eliminate him now, kill off his population, and begin using them as research centres. This will solve your expansion problem. Cold and heartless, yes, but you are not playing for popularity.

Is Ship capture an option? With the idea the other guy said about ion mines, build a couple of boarding ships (or maybe boarding drone??) and one repair vessel, go get the immobile free ships.

Without ammo, nice guns are just sophisticated clubs.

it works but you realy need to criple the target hence the ion Mines which do it with minmum risk you then need to lower the targets shields there are shield damaging weapons and I would arm the boarding ships with them to shoot down the shields as they aproach to within boarding range. This is about as far as troop landing range on a planet. If you have enough boarding parties capture is quite posible. As bording parties are destroyed by use it would be a good idea to have a repair ship at hand. I would arm that with shield depleating weapons to have it help out.

I would point out that ship capture is not somthing which is easy to do on a large scale

First of all, wait before joining a multiplayer game. Practice, hone your skills, tink of strategies. Don't post your thoughts here, unless you have a fabulus way to counter the plan, already. If I get stressed out, I pause and break out the chess board. When you join a game, investigate the players. Write down there strategies.

Force them into a last stand, preferably near a Black Hole. Shove them down there, and make them eat seekers. Put mines on your side of the warp point. That sort of thing.

Defence mines should have all of the warheads. It makes it easier to blow them up with waepons platforms.

Try occupying a planet, first. If that fails, blow the planet up.

I'll let you in on a few of my strategies...

1)(works for BM) Put a fighter bay on your ship. 6-7 fighters are far more effective then another 30k weapon. Don't go overboard or else you'll make a carrier, and the point of these ships is that they can be built and filled with fighters before the carrier is finished constructing. The resulting ship is quite powerfull.

2) Weapons platforms. 8 of these babies can hold off a large fleet...

3) Mounts: If your opponent isn't mounting his measons, try mounting yours...You should be able to close the gap in power while being a couple levels behind...

Thats it for now. Can't give away to much or else my PBW enimies will attempt to emulate my great strategy of vitory. Or I could be spouting crap in an attempt to throw off my enimeies. Pick

I was wondering, in BM what is the difference of anti-proton beams and meson blaster? Which is better in what situation?

Also, does the score have any degree of accuracy? Like if it says I'm 1st place, does it really mean I'm winning?

MBs pack a little more punch at close ranges and requires a short range strategy to be useful versus the longer range and more accurate APB.

The score is somewhat accurate, but only measures what you have in terms of ships, colonies, and research and not how well you can use it, which is perhaps the most important factor to actually winning.

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