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[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

http://ixion.astroempires.com/?ref=I.10148
and there we go!

[Volatar]

Make sure to join the guild at http://ixion.astroempires.com/guild.aspx?guild=70

[SeaBee]

Alright, I'm building my first outpost ship now -- what are the guidelines for making my first little colony? Should I keep it in or out of my starting region? And should I send escorts with it (seems logical to do so to me)? Is my starting region basically always scouted for me?

Also, does it annoy my fellow dwarves if I put a colony in one of their systems, or is better for us to spread out from each other? No idea how this works, I just don't want to be stuck with one little planet and up a useless farm the entire game.

Not sure why, but I'm enjoying this web game a lot more than I expected. It is certainly a bit more complex than I thought it'd be.

[LordBucket]

I'm enjoying this web game a lot

Glad to hear it. Yes, it's quite good.

what are the guidelines for making my first little colony? Should I keep it in or out of my starting region? And should I send escorts with it (seems logical to do so to me)?

Depends on how cautious you want to be. If you blindly send an outpost ship to a system you can't see, the best case is that you colonize the base with no issue. But if you can't see it, it's possible that the base may already have been colonized since the scouting data was last updated. That can be inconvenient, especially if it's an 18+ hour trip. And worst case, you fly right into a hostile force and you lose the outpost ship and the 100 credits it cost you to build.

The safest option is to send an advance scout to the region so you can see it, and to be sitting at your computer watching when your outpost ship arrives. That way, if anything hostile shows up you can recall the outpost ship and it will return to its origination point.

But if the risk of losing a 100cr ship doesn't particularly bother you, sending it blind and unescorted is admittedly convenient.

Note though that the current colonization list is two days old, and as you've probably seen mentioned on the boards, many of those bases are no longer available. So it may be worthwhile to confirm your intended astro is still available before sending the outpost ship.

Is my starting region basically always scouted for me?

Regions you have bases or fleets in are visible to you. Systems that guildmates have bases or fleets in are visible to you.

does it annoy my fellow dwarves if I put a colony in one of their systems, or is better for us to spread out from each other?

It's generally appreciated, as there are reasons for players not to colonize a bunch of bases in the same system themselves, and having them colonized by you prevent anyone else from taking them. This reduces attacks of opportunity. For example, if someone hosile colonizes a base in the same system as one of yours, it's very easy for them to see your base, and even to keep a large fleet right next to it protected by their base defenses. It's easier to attack a target right next to you than to go looking for targets somewhere else.

By colonizing bases in the same system as your fellow dwarves, you reduce the chances that hostiles will do so, thus reduced the likelihood of your fellow dwarves being attacked.

It also makes it fast and easier to help liberate each others bases if occupied.

[SeaBee]

Excellent information, thank you for taking the time to type that all out for me (and any other new/prospective players).

EDIT: My recruitment link is http://ixion.astroempires.com/?ref=I.6843 if anyone feels like using it.

[nichaey]

I'm going to give this a try, name is Nichaey

[SeaBee]

So I threw a fleet off of a fellow dwarf's planet. Noticed it had an option to "Revolt" that allied planet. Is this something I want to do?  The wiki said it was something the owners would want to do but didn't mention allies.

[LordBucket]

"Revolt"

Revolting causes a base to no longer be occupied. Without a revolution, the base will still be occupied even if there is no hostile fleet in orbit.

Your fellow dwarves will very much appreciate it if you do this for them.

[SeaBee]

Thanks. I wanted to be sure I wouldn't somehow "steal" the colony from anyone or screw something up.

Getting tough to find good colony spots. [WL] is all over the place. And my colony ship moves so slow ... which is funny since I'm now using one of them as a scout until I can find a new place to build. Yes, I'm AE's Least Efficient Player.

Built one real scout ship to play with just because I wanted one. I want to get some colonies going near some dwarves in other regions, hopefully I can find a few that aren't taken while my colony ship is on the way.

Oh, and are frigates any good? Finally unlocked them.

[LordBucket]

are frigates any good?

Frigates are excellent against cruisers, heavy cruisers and battleships. They are really bad against fighters, corvettes and dreadnoughts.

They are generally suitable for attacking bases defended by anything from photon turrets to p-rings. Turrets up to plasma (and possibly ion) are best attacked with fighters.

They are the easiest ship to gain access to that is capable of carrying fighters.

Are they "good?" Well, combat in AE is very much like rock-paper-scissors. Any ship will be useful in the right situation, and weak in the wrong one.

If you have more specific questions, I might be able to answer in more detail.

[Volatar]

What is best for taking out planets defended only by a couple missile turrets?

[SeaBee]

... destroyers are smaller than frigates in this game? (Just unlocked destroyers, I'm way behind in tech.)

Thanks again for the info. I see the wiki mentioning counters for some things, but it isn't too clear about, say, fighter vs corvette battles. Or ships vs planetary defenses.

Oh, and I just found a cool little M44-213 crystalline asteroid! Going to claim it if no one else finds it first, just because I don't have one and it looks kind of neat. Don't know if it's actually good or not, but I'm a newb so I'm allowed to do foolish things. If I can nab it I'll have bases in three different regions.

[Volatar]

Yeah, frigates being larger than destroyers is weird and wrong.

I just wish everyone would get ship sizes right  Its not hard to do.

[Nonsapient]

I have a question about this game;  how possible is it to follow a 'carebear' route/  I understand it's all about strategy,  i just tend to enjoy being the millionaire that sits back and helps others, as opposed to a front-line man.

[LordBucket]

What is best for taking out planets defended only by a couple missile turrets?

The general rule is: "It is most cost efficient to attack with the lowest tech ship you can that will sucesfully destroy your target."

So for missile turrets, attacking with 100% fighters will usually the best option.

cool little M44-213 crystalline asteroid
Don't know if it's actually good or not

M and crystalline would make it a moon, not an asteroid. It's probably ok. Personally I think crystal is overrated. Once you're established production tends to be more of a limiting factor than credits, but it's probably not a bad choice. You've mentioned you'll be playing somewhat casually, so that might mean you'll be participating in less combat, thus getting less income from occupations and salvage...in which case havign a crystalline for the extra income may be helpful.

how possible is it to follow a 'carebear' route/

It's possible. But the mechanics of the game favor players who go on the offense.

I understand it's all about strategy,  i just tend to enjoy being the millionaire that sits back and helps others, as opposed to a front-line man.

Well, the question becomes: "in what way will you sit back and help?" There's no way to send money to another player. The preferred method of support is with fleets.

If you want to build a huge fleet, and just not use it...station it on our blob to inflate our fleet numbers, make us look more intimidating, and give attackers one more target to have to choose amongst, there would be some small benefit to that. And, by simply colonizing lots of bases and preventing our enemies from doing so, there's some benefit to that too.

But this is a combat game. It's not sim-space. The game mechanics discourage simply building up an empire and letting it sit. Players who do so tend to become lucrative targets.