Exo Etherial

Right, to beat a buzz-rush... Atry: Kindjal, they're cheap, effective, have a decent rate of fire, and you can feild alot of them in a short amount of time. If, in the unlikely event, they fail you can always pop a Machinegun Post turret in the middle of the buzzes and watch the fireworks. Hark: You'd think this one would be tricky, but it isn't mostly because the only reason another hark player would be caught by bbuzzes would be if he was working on getting tanks... Which are the perfect anti-buzz weapon. Again, you can also pop up a Flame Turret or two to help your meager (yet effective) tank force. Ordos: By the time a mass of buzzes is created, just like Harkonnen, you've probablyt been creating Laser Tanks en masse. And why wouldn't you? The Laser Tank is the cheapest and fastest building of all the base-tanks. Use the Laser Tanks like you normally would, have them weave back and forth, forcing the buzzes to turn in order to shoot at you, wreaking havoc all the while. Ordos turrets are useless, so you might as well go all panicy and start cranking out those oh-so-nice-and-oh-so-cheap AA Troopers. This is for all the houses, try coraling the saws with WALLS. Buzzsaws can't get out if you squeze them into a remote corner of your base. Also, you might wanna think about walling off your base enterances smarly and preventing a possible rush in the first place while leaving holes big enough for your inf. to get through. Blah, I'ma go to bed now. :P

Actually, most profiecient Ordos players rather like the Ordos APC. Not so much for its ability to carry infantry (for my purposes I always put in 2 Mortars, 2 AA, and a Chemie) but for its AA attack. Devestating when mixed in with Laser Tanks. Makes for a floating carpet of death.

You use them mostly to route groups of certain kinds of infantry (preferably from Inf. Rock): Base line inf. IE: Light and Chem. Mortar Inf. Flame Inf. Unsupported groups of snipers. Contaminators Feyds, but only with proper Scout Support Fremen Warriors, see above to be truly effective. Not the premier unit for jack diddly, but useful in a limited capacity.

Another fair point; however, stealth and Contaminators aren't that possible. Especially since in most games the Fog of War is not in play. Also, the extra armor on a Contaminator isn't that spectacular (And some might go so far to say it outright sucks donkey; loads of it.). In fact, during a single-player Atry mission, I do believe you're forced to mow down entire ranks of them with nothing but Light Infantry and paltry sum of snipers. I don't know about you but I haven't lost a single time during that particular mission, no matter the difficulty setting (The ego throbs! ;D ). Now! If you are distracting this hypothetical group of Sards with cheap Light Infantry or Chemical Troopers, again, this probably won't work. It only takes a single volley for a Sard to kill Lights and Chems, and they only have to turn around and mow down the Contaminators and their APC. Every factor is working against you, really. The cloak doesn't work when it is too close to the enemy. The Contaminators don't move fast enough nor do they have enough hit-points to do little more than cross the gap between APC and enemy much less not get killed even before they get out and fully mobile from the APC... In short, there is a very good reason hardly any member of this board would hold Contaminators as anything more than a waste of money.

My god, someone has actually said it... ;D

I like Ordos, they hit hit hard, they hit fast. They have the cheapest basic tank unit. They believe in neither good nor evil, only in power. They know that Spice is not a neccesity (like the Atry), they know that Spice is not power (like the Hark), they know that Spice is money, and money is power. Money buys the ships, money buys the weapons, money trains the troops. Spice is just a means of getting money. They are a joy to play with. Whether commanding a floating carpet of laser-ladden death, or marching mortars across the sand to bombard buildings from afar, or simply setting up a ring of Kobra, Chem and Missle Troopers around a spice field - Ordos is always the most impressive and the most fun to use.

Sards have some of the most usefull units in the game. Escpecially when Ordos. You need that extra anti-air edge, trust me. Fremen have their place, true, but they take too long to produce, have no psychological factor (well not on me at any rate) and are too easy to kill. If you're fremen and your opponent has chosen to litter the sand with scouts you're more or less boned up at *ss. Oh sure you can try the tedious process of trying to kill them all but that woudl be like... Hmmm, that would be liek trying to track down Fremen o nthe sand and we all know how impossible THAT is. With Sards you get it all, Infantry Rock capable artilery units that are also a sniper and turret all rolled into one. Plus, while more expensive than a Feyd, they don't take as long to make, meaning that you'll have about 2-3 Sards onto the field before one Feyd is done training. Now... My math is Fuzzy... One Feyd against 2 Regular Sards... Hmmmm... Who would win?

Yeah, contaminator really are the most useless units ever conceived in the history of gamedom. They have a good concept behind them: "Hey! Lets have a unit that instantly makes more of itself when it kills others!" But, instead of a possibly good unit they have to go and make it so that it only affects infantry, has only a melee range, and is utterly usless against anything else. Some might liken the Cont to the SC Zergling... if the Zergling was a slow-as-shite unit that could be run over by the hoardes, can onyl be made one at time at a painfully slow rate, and can only bitch-slap the weakest of the crap weasels you find in Emperor... Leeches, on the other hand, are the nastiest units ever to be conceived in the hellish pits of RTS conceptualists. Fast and distruptive, they can put a serious cramp in an enemy's harvesting efforts. (I think I've said this many times before, Nav.) A single Leech in an enemy feild before adequate (worm-not-attracting) defenses are put up usually makes a gauaranteed loss for the victim. What use is being Atry and having the option of Repair Vehicles if you don't have the cash to upgrade your factory, much less make the damn (oh-so-targetable and weak) things?

My funniest moment in playing Emp was my 4th multi-player session with Minxed Missle. We were both harvesting fast and building hard , trying not to ride Zero. I was Ordos(Sard and IX subs), she was Atry(Fremen and Ix subs), we were still both relatively new at the game, and rather chatty. So you can forgive the both of us for only having 1 factory out by the 20-minute-mark. I had a scout in her base, tucked neatly away in a crevice near her deployed MCV (you know, those little 1-2 square wide niches? Yeah, those are SO exploitable for hiding your scouts in a good place.). And I coudl see that she was building Sand Bikes... Lots of them. ... Lots and LOTS of them. I chose not say anything, pumping out AA troopers and Laser Tanks; Peppering my base with Pop-Ups I just grinned silently readying for her push (we were both major turtlers back then). 45-minutes and se lets loose her hounds, so to speak. 50 Scouts bikes mixed in with about 15 Mongeese, with (according to her) about 75 more in qeue with 3 factories behind her. I already knew anbout the factories, and I made a note as to what they were pumping out and then... I brought down my hammer. The first wave(40 of them, having opted for a squad of Chem Troopers to deal with any infantry rush{as opposed to using Dust Scouts}) of Laser Tanks smashed against her swarm of Bikes with predictable, blowey-uppey results. Intending to let them kill any and all Bikes they might encounter, preferring to then send in the clowns and deal with the Mongeese with AA Troopers and a singular death squad of Sardies (10:5 ratio Regular dominance). It was in the middle of the carnage that the worm came... I jsut laughed my ass off as it effortlessly took out 30-45 units on it's first pass before everything on the sand forgot what it was shooting at to point their collective guns at the worm. It took only one volley of laser, missle, and autocannon fire before it went away, but it left a huge gash in the melee. Which quickly went back to what it was doing. I just about fell out of my seat laughing because it managed to eat most of her fielded Mongeese. ;D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2002/disposable_planet/ The link is a to a rather relevent story. More or less bringing up the issues facing the planet (and those living upon it) today. Genocide, the word is taboo in conventional conversation. Bringing up thoughts of WWII, the atrocities of the Nazi party of Germany, the massacres of Kambodia, Bosnia, and others attempting to wipe out entire cultures in the name of hatred and predjudice. But, will this crime agaisnt human diversity one day be a regular occurence for the future and well being for humanity a whole? Are entire cultures to be wiped from the face of the earth just so people like you or I can continue to eat and feed our present and future families in comfort? Is the future to be like the past in that the idealism and the sanctity of life will no longer be for all? I, unfortunately, have to say yes. I have to see beyond my own petty emotions, and peer beyond the soul until only the flesh, a competitor, remains. The lifestyle of many developed western countries is unsustainable upon the scale of the current world-wide population. And the western countries WITH those lifestyles would resist giving them up. You may deem me a monster when I say that money for food aid to a country that cannot support itself (or human life in general) would be better invested in offering quick death. You might even be right. . .

I rather enjoyed reading this post. Thank you for putting it up. Being a humanist nuts-and-bolts kind of person, I find this very enlightening.

Heh, well it has been fun but my computer needs every megabyte is can get these days. So, I am afriad that with the uninstallation of one of the greatest RTS games I've ever player, I must say goodbye to one of the best game-related forums I've ever read or had the priviledge to post upon. If I ever get a new and better system, who knows, I might jsut come back. But until then: Rock on, and gas'em all... 8)

Bricks with wings, having to stop to turn out of the way of anything is a pain. Having to stop to turn out of the way with weak armor is just a waste of money...

If you can build it, sure... I dunno, I've never had ANY trouble taking those things down... EVER.

I dunno about the hardest to stop but my most disasterous defeat was rather simple, yet elegant and sneaky. It was a small force and only in the middle of what could be otherwise considered a long game. (12 minute mark) Haronnen/Ix/Fremen opponent had made a main push with what I thought was just a few (11) Assault Tanks and a few (4) Sard Elites flanking them. Far be it for me to deny an oppertuniny to teach someone humility. I gave it about 15 seconds before everything went sour. Out of nowhere, 5 Feyds popped into existence behind the main group. I'll be damned if not but 2 (outof 12) of my Laser Tanks were caught off guard on the first pass. The bastard then put his Elites back onto gaurd mode sacrificing the comparatively cheap infantry to take out my remaining two tanks. I dunno, maybe the timing was bad, but my base was pretty much unprepared without the Laser Tanks to quickly rush in and turn things to my favor. I bit the dust with many explosions and much screaming death.

Very true, but that is what Kobras are for fixing, really. This, of course, begs the question: Should a deployed Kobra be considered a turret on our little scale?

Ah, I will hae ot take your word for that. But, the when compared to the Gunship, the Ornithopter isn't a stand alone fighter. In other words, yeah, it might finish the job, but it won't finish it nearly as fast or efficiently as the Gunship will. Besides, Atry has somer of the most formidable land-based artillery in the game, so you are better off not using Ornis when Minos and Air DRones work jsut as well as (if not better than) Ornis. Plus, the DRone/Mino combonation doesn't require any time spent on annoying reloads.

I shall set the scene: You are on QT settings. You are Atry, Hark, or even Ordos. IT hasn't even been 10 minutes yet and you're doing great! You just got out that second Factory! Victory will be yours in just a few minutes! Everything is qued up and as you prepare for youe happy-dance of victory... Horror! 15 Missle tanks just crested over the ridge. Oh no... How did they?! They are being flanked by 30 Sardie regulars! How?! Duh, your opponent has just utilized a Projector Rush. This very nasty, very effective way of killing most mid-level players. Quite simply put, you focus on a straight-up scout'n'burn BO so that your have 2 Houses of Ix as soon as possible, all the while compensating for your lack of units with defensive structures in key areas and base entrances. This works best if you are Atry or Hark and thus have access to good turrets. IF you're Ordos compensate how you normally would with Chems and AA troopers. This works THE BEST when you are going against Atry oponents and are Hark. Tromping your absolutely free forces with a few projected Snipers in the mix with your projected Missle Tanks can make all the difference. Insta-gibbing any scouts that they are stupid enough to think they will boil off your projected army of doom.

If I'm Ordos I prefer to just wipe away the shroud and then hunt down my crates with Dust Scouts. Eh-heh! Once had a quintet of cloaked 3-chevron ranked Dust Scouts prowling the sands! Oh man! You should have heard the poor sap that I had the pleasure of using them on... REPEATEDLY! Did a rather nice job of keeping his scouts off most of the map. "Goddamnit!" "You son of a bitch! Where are you?!" "GAAAAAH!" Eh-heh... HeheheHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahehhmhmhm-mmmm. Yeah. Oh, and as for Ornis/Guns. Orni's are a complete wasste of a good 1200 solaris. Fire to slow and too lightly armored (never seen and Orni COMPLETELY use up it's payload kept getting shot down too quickly), and I don't care what the manual says they move like a friggin' brick-with-wings and are just as manuverable...

Ordos Lasertank all the way. Regenerative, fast, rotating turret, good range, 100% accurate, killer damamge against both buildings and vehicles. The reasons stated above all spell D-E-A-T-H for your enemy. When in large groups they make for a manuverable carpet-o-armeggedon For anything unfortunate enough to be within range.

Nothing gets my blood pumping quicker than watching my death squads of regular Sards pounding the sands and killing every living thing in thier path. Gotta love that minigun, beby. 8)

For m,e it would have to be the Ordos Adv. Carryall. Like all ordos vehicles the lil' bugger regenerates, and unlike other Ordos vehicles it doesn't slow down once damamged. Well, in my experience it never slowed down after taking a missle. For sheer utility (and a bit of nasty Carryall baiting), and longevity I like this one best.

Ordos APC's are excellent at distrupting harvesting efforts. Even if they can't finish the job. The Carryalls take them away and those are seconds of cash lost right there. A very useful, if a very nasty, thing to do.

Yeah, well my philosophy is: Anyone can use Fremen and rock, but the best use Ix and then laugh evily as they dance upon your corpse. But anywho, projected armies are very nice, if you dedicate two group slots (6 and 7) to the projectors and the copied unit you can raise an army very, very quickly. Projections don't cost anything, so I say: Send them off blindly to kill, my son! Send them off blindly to kill!

'Allo, all you happy peoples! As the topic sudjested I am going to relate the joy of Projector Tanks. When I was but a wee gaffer in my playing of Emperor, I didn't have much regard for Subhouse Ix. I thought, at the time, all they had going for them was the Infiltrator. I thought the Projector was like all the other hallucination capable units of other games. Able to make useless replicas that couldn't be of any help in a fight. Then I found out quite by accident (a slip of the mouse and lax micromanaging techiques forced me to have 5 of these...) that these are absolute murder! A projection should be treated as what it is, a delicate gun. One hit and they pop like a balloon, which isn't that bad mind you. You can, for instance, do what I've done many times before. Turtle for a short period until you get out a single unit, the ideal unit would be an Ordos Laser Tank for this, and 5 or more projectors. Isolate your vehicle unit with walls and then... MASS PROJECT! Within a few seconds you'll have put together an overwhelming force of hallucinatory death that will be able to turn back any push. Repeat as needed, and if you have Sardies as your secondary Subhouse, then by all means project, rinse, repeat. ;D A particular favorite strat of Ooh-Ooh-Ka-Choo-Sexty-Two.