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[Il Palazzo]

Yeah, good job at diminishing your own prowess, Kebooo.

I'm pretty sure it's Mlittle. Haven't heard from him in a longer while, doesn't respond to diplomatic messages.
I just hope he didn't go AWOL nakh-style.

[neotemplar]

Glad to hear it's still going as these games are the only heartbeat EFS has online anymore.  I just got the game running as only the underdogs version works for me and I've been playing it standard vs the AI.  The AI incidentally really is idiotic seeing as the fake power graphs claim they are super strong yet I can semi successfully invade three of their planets at once.  I'm still not even sure what units are good though seeing as I captured some warlocks that looked awesomely strong but always die or flee prior to the psych phase of combat...  At least in standard I'm finding assault legions and violator artillery to be a winning combo.

[Il Palazzo]

The AI...
eh, well. The game is, quite simply, and as been said many times before, unfinished. Playing against the AI is really, really boring. I don't want to take away your fun, neotemplar, but you'll see the pointlessness of it sooner or later.
Perhaps adhering to the multiplayer rules(which can be found at the Nova home page: http://website.lineone.net/~rwein/nova/home.htm, section "other stuff", "home rules") would make your game more sensible and maybe even rewarding.
There's some info on the mechanics, as well as unit charts, if you're wondering about what is happening and why.
In the case of Warlocks, you need some troops to act as a meatshield throughout all the phases of combat prior to three "psych" phases, e.g. two "ranged", three direct" and four "close" phases. Warlocks are one of the last troops being targetted, but you need at least enough chaff(high agility, high armor stuff is the best for that role, e.g. mastiff tanks) to equal the number of enemies to ensure your Warlocks stay safe. And when you do get to the psych, they can mop up your adversaries pretty neatly.
Of course, when you're fighting against the AI, this doesn't really matter that much. Good for practicing though.

[neotemplar]

Well I had Xyll War-beasts in front of them at the time.  Those actually seem rather useful, though I saw one get it's life bar blasted off and then immediately heal to full mid battle... not sure how that happened.  I like the assaults though too as they seem to soak damage better than most infantry and it's relatively easy to afford them. 
The AI seems worst at space battles though in which I can just use carriers to outnumber their ships.  In fact carriers full of fighters seem the best at vs space combat.  Honestly the AI players usually are easier to fight than the accursed rebels are.

[Il Palazzo]

Unfortunate, but true. If you're looking for a challenge, letting the Symbiots spread might be a good idea. Genning a random map with unbound Symbiot systems works best.
Still, they don't build ships, so once you or AI blasts them away, you're back to square one. There was a mod, I believe, which let them build their fleets, but then they oftentimes left them on the ground, making it easy for you to just grab them.

On that seemingly healing unit, it's just a glitch. The health bars during battles are not really representative of combatants' damage taken.

[neotemplar]

Also I've discovered that at least in standard you can kinda run no taxes at all with a single planet producing extra singularities.  That and by selling singularities from ruins you can make obscene amounts of cash.  My shipbuilding is nearly always based on limited cermasteel, or electronics anyway.

[Il Palazzo]

Well, when playing with humans, it's not that easy anymore, as there are four other players who exploit the game to similar degree, so you can find yourself in an arms race that makes you value every little bit of a resource you can get.

[neotemplar]

That's probably very true.  Also the starting worlds in historical seem very unbalanced.  Decados seems kinda screwed.  I've most recently been playing as Hazat and the planet of Vera Cruse is completely awesome.

[Kebooo]

The historical galaxy is actually fairly balanced.  al-Malik have the most resources by a long shot available to them (because of the Symbiot planets, which are easy to conquer in the late game).  Decados have a pretty good selection, especially with a barren world and a desert world.  Ultimately energy, trace and gems are how your empire's strength is measured.  Li-Halan are similar to Decados in the resources.  Hawkwood have the fewest resources.  But they also have planets next to Byzantium II and the most gems early on.  And Hazat have probably the fewest planets to naturally expand to, but practically surround Byzantium II.  So I wouldn't say any house has a real tangible disadvantage to anyone else except maybe Hawkwood.

The AI is really why this game didn't get higher reviews than it did (usually 60-75%).  It simply loses its luster when you find out the AI cannot defeat you.  Even if you are awful.  They will never declare themselves emperor.  So the only way for you to lose is to lose all your nobles.  But they won't land troops and attack your home planet.  So even when they patched them to build more units, more cities, and so forth, you still could not lose unless you intentionally went out of your way to lose your nobles.  Human games make it so much better.

The graphs are fairly accurate, but ignore the score.  The score takes a lot of things into consideration, including money, research, units, value of units, if you've signed the holy writ, etc.  Your score can go down on the same turn simply by spending resources.  The unit/city charts are accurate in raw numbers, but it doesn't necessarily mean power.  20 Cadiz Dreadnoughts won't show up as many units, while the AI loves to spam low level, weaker units even at the end of the game.  Also, the AI is completely impotent in the Nova patch because of the immobile emplaced guns.

And as for the Symbiots, they're another unfortunate bug.  They are formidable units, and can expand very well.  The caveat?  They do not build spaceships, and you really have to change the whole exe to change that (I think Hyperion managed it).  And the new units they build are 0 loyalty, making them very easy to route.  If those two bugs hadn't existed, they would have remained a threat for entire games, adding an entirely new dynamic.  As it is now, they are only a threat so long as they control space transports.

[Zorgn]

I checked my mail again and confirmed that I sent the turn off to Mlittle on the first. This is really dragging on.

[Kebooo]

So it's been two weeks.  I say we wait until the 1st (so a full month) and then look for the most experienced possible replacement, someone that is willing to do whatever it takes to maintain his growth and pace.

[Margrave]

I really don't want mlittle to leave, but this delay is getting kinda tiring. The first sounds like a good idea.

Also, I know what you all are thinking: You want me to merge the Noble Houses of Hazat and al-Malik together. While we all know the galaxy would be better off that way, I have to decline your gracious offer. Unless you want me to? No? I didn't think so either...

[Kebooo]

Well, mlittle hasn't posted in the topic for almost two months, and it's been 25 days since the turn was sent to him.  So I've changed the topic's name and made it clear we want someone that's willing to rise up to the challenge of replacing him.  A strong al-Malik presence makes for a strong game, even if they are barbarian lords.

[Kebooo]

Bump back to first page..

[Il Palazzo]

I wonder, maybe we've already depleted all the EOFS fans on the net?