silly AI thing #2484

It's a good tactic. What the ai should do is ensure that they take the starbase that turn. IE have at least a constructor around and a small fleet to hold it...

I think i've only 1ce seen the AI park fleets on starbases. I was like OMFG !!! Personally this is one of the biggest weaknesses of the AI, relying on starbase defenses.

The last few games, i would line up stacks of constructors near each of the enemy starbases, and in the first week of war grab them all. When you get 2-3 military ones, you become practically invincible even with inferior tec.

Actually I've had a neutral AI steal my resources during several wars. Especially minors, they always seem to have constructors handy.

Just out of curiousity..... What Intelligence setting are you all playing on? 

generally crippling, but lately i've played some masochist.

well sometimes what i do is i give one of the warring nation enough ships to destroy the starbase and if they are out of range, even build him a starbase... sometimes it works, and sometimes they just ship the ships back home and they leave the mining starbase alone.

well sometimes what i do is i give one of the warring nation enough ships to destroy the starbase and if they are out of range, even build him a starbase... sometimes it works, and sometimes they just ship the ships back home and they leave the mining starbase alone.

I have used this strategy as well. Of course, you need a backup plan for when they don't attack the star base.

I think the AI takes the view that it rather have a non-enemy have the resources than the enemy.

While I do this to some degree, because after all it's the prudent thing to do, I don't go out of my way to take advantage of this. But, if I am attacking another race's starbase I always try to have a constructor on site to take it over. Somehow the first thing seems sort of cheesy while the other is just good planning. I know there isn't much difference between the two, but I try really hard to not use any cheese to win.

You can grab all kinds of goodies when the AI goes to war. I always park constructors next to resources, but you can get planets this way as well. Once one side starts to lose bad, and cannot field any more fleets, I park transports and whatever ships I have a turn away from planets that I want from them. As the winning civilization chews through their defences I grab lightly defended planets from the loser, leaving useless or very high population worlds to consume their transports (on the occasion they send any in time).

I think the AI takes the view that it rather have a non-enemy have the resources than the enemy.

Frogboy, this would be okay on "normal" difficulty levels. But on higher ones, AI should seriously think who is likely to grab this resource after it destroys the starbase. If another AI can grab it, then ok, but if player can grab it, then not ok.

Or, if player does grab a resource which AI freed up within couple turns, then it should become more hostile to the player. Maybe even open diplomacy channel demanding to give that star base or declare war. Something like that.

If you keep on doing this the AI should get annoyed otherwise i agree with Frogboy

Yes, the last two posters are quite right; this should also apply to rushes wherein I go for the higher worlds around Sol and niglect to sieze Mars until the Altarians swoop in, and then overwhelm Earth with influence. While they're my allies! You should be able to demand that ships leave your territory and vise versa [like in the Civ series] for your own craft, and whatnot.

Most of the time when I see an AI starbase destroyed that AI has a constructor on its way to build another. It's just the matter of another race grabbing the resource before that AI can, and whether or not that constructor is destroyed.