suggestions for mrrshan vs hard AI

[Zoli]

Im quite new to the game, however I played A LOT of MoO1 25 years ago. Now i have read the wiki and experimented about 10 hours w various strategies. Still cant "rush" the AI with Mrsshans (im using ice-a mod). Is it Even possible? Is there a generally best strategy for the tiger people?

What is a reasonable turn number for conquering the first AI colony? 100?

It seems to me that its a good start to research research lab (takes a looong time) then reinforced hull, auto factory then I have multiple choices: forcefields for mass drivers and shields III or physics for super-modified lasers or fighter bays. All versions were a failure for me after 3-4 tries for each. The fighter bay-route seemed especially pathetic. What i might be doing wrong? Any help appreciated.

[Darkshape]

Most races I have every played as like the early research lab -> reinforced hull -> automated factories start you described. Mrrshan definitely excel with beam weapons, so again the mass drivers or refined lasers are the way to go for them.

The biggest boon that mass drivers have is the automatic no range dissipation and higher damage per hit than the lasers. However, with the Mrrshan I like pushing for neutron blasters instead and having the extra refinement buff for my lasers in the mean time.

Neutron blasters are absolutely brutal weapons in the early game, and if you focus on having fast(ish) engines and okay computers you can have the initiative to go first on all battles because of the Mrrshan +50 beam attack racial bonus, and still have enough beam defense to avoid taking damage. This is important because attrition is bad, and attrition is bound to happen if your unshielded titanium armor ships actually do take a hit! Reinforced hull can help, but I find that it is usually better to focus on keeping the initiative and filling your tonnage with guns.

Also, autofiring/continuous/no-range-dissipation/armor-piercing lasers are pretty brutal versus unshielded enemies. Even if you fail to destroy the enemy ship in the first turn before they get to go you can still do plenty of damage and even disable their critical systems. You should probably ignore the armor-piercing trait if the enemy has heavy armor researched, but frequently this ship mod will not appear on anything except planetary bases.

I noticed that a Mrrshan AI player has some reasonable success with destroyer class ships. Due to their small size they are pretty hard to hit and tend to have initiative, but are also not so small as to not have any carrying capacity like the frigate. Don't feel the need to build a cruiser or battleship to start with, though it certainly does help if you can!

In tactical combat you should keep your ships at max range to avoid taking damage. Your beam weapons should be designed to ignore range damage loss. Use medium (not heavy or point) mount beam weapons to shoot down incoming missiles if you have multiple ships. If you have one ship that is larger you should put PD beams on that and move the other picket ships next to and behind so you can use all your weapons.
Consider outfitting a destroyer or two with these weapons exclusively to act as picket ships to protect your others. Definitely include plenty of heavy-mount beam weapons to devastate enemy ships, bases, and planet emplacements. Retreat with ships as needed to avoid losses. Overcompensate enemy technology advantage with numbers and initiative.

Prioritize your race kill targets. Darlock and Psilon are usual first picks because of their uncanny ability to aquire technology. Also kill any non-repulsive race as a priority when able. Repulsive races tend to be more isolationist and therefore do not technology trade, so they can usually always be attacked with impunity. They are therefore easier to fight and should be prioritized last and killed as an opportunity rather than a priority. Attack the biggest enemy first to prevent them from getting either a research or fleet advantage. Then progressively take the next strongest, etc. This is frequently either the Sakkra or Silicoid. Bottom line here is that there is no bright-line kill order rule. Use your best judgment as to who is the biggest threat using the suggestions described here. And always remember that the enemy you should attack is the one you can attack right now!

Remember, bottom line is that the Mrrshan is a RUSH race. Their bonuses are ill-suited for long technology-heavy games. Rush an opponent and seize an early economic advantage of having additional colonies. Be aggressive to everyone. Don't focus on building colonies yourself, but don't forget to do so to aquire valuable (ultra) rich and terran worlds. Build as many ships as you can as fast as you can and use them. If you lose your fleet you pretty much lose, so always check enemy technology and colony defenses before attacking.

[Emperator Orionii]

Class III shield rush should work for Mrrshan. How are you designing ships? Don't go close to starbases early on, shoot them from afar with heavy mount. Also don't wait too long, with no tech Elerians (true rush race) can build a cruiser with 1 HV laser and bunch of PD laser in 22 or so turns so Mrrshans should have a destroyer supplemented with few frigates by then too. One HV laser is enough to bring a star base down early on, don't underestimate it's puny 6 damage and unrefined damage dissipation. Actually, try Elerians to see how rush in MoO 2 works and then try to apply the knowledge to Mrrshan.

Interceptors are not good match for Mrrshan, they are low tech solution for industry races that can churn out quantity of ships. Mrrshan are more about quality of beams.

[Zoli]

thanks guys very much!

[Delthea]

If you're determined to use a stock race, Mrrshan is an awkward pick. Their points are split between "Let's make great beamers" and "Oh right, we have ground combat bonus, too", and you usually will focus on one to the exclusion of the other.

Playing on ICE, you can use that ground bonus to raid/capture star bases, and a run up the forcefield tree for Mass Drivers + Class III shields will allow you to have autofire MDs with great accuracy. Take advantage of the fact that you have the CP boost and crank out a bunch of Destroyers with this.

Unfortunately, if the AI gets planetary radiation shield, and even a single planetary defense (such as fighter garrison or missile base), the game goes from "easy free population" to "planets wholly immune to your attacks".

If you've got a great lead, and don't need to worry about the planetary defenses (fighter garrison or missile base can be shot down), you can put some bombs on these destroyers as well.

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If the game goes past this, just commit to beams, and pick up the 2750 computer instead of autolabs. This will give you all the accuracy you'll need, and practically guarantee you're moving first.

Either gauss cannons (HV does 14.5 damage vs planets) to stay in the forcefield tree, will allow you to at least damage a planet right up until the 15,000 RP Barrier Shield, or you can opt in the direction of the disruptor cannon (HV does 30 damage vs planets), which will never be shut down by shields.

Gauss is cheaper, and simultaneously techs defense.
Disruptor is more expensive, but will eventually pick up autofire mod, and cannot be stopped by planetary shields alone.

Both of these are "Damage not reduced by range", which is something the Mrrshan really like, as their superior beam attack score allows them to fire from a distance.

[Zoli]

So, guys, thanks again for the great help. I managed to kill off sakkras by turn 140, im not sure if its too late or not. After this conquest i stopped to catch my breath a little, research low-hanging, very useful techs, this might by a mistake too.

What does initiative depend on? attack rating? combat speed? computers?

[Emperator Orionii]

Originally posted by Zoli:

So, guys, thanks again for the great help. I managed to kill off sakkras by turn 140, im not sure if its too late or not. After this conquest i stopped to catch my breath a little, research low-hanging, very useful techs, this might by a mistake too.

What does initiative depend on? attack rating? combat speed? computers?

Beam attack and combat speed. So computers and battle scanner help indirectly. Mrrshan racial traits too, so do augmented engines. I think the formula is initiative = speed + BA/10.

[Zoli]

also, can u tell me what is the beam defense of missiles?

[Emperator Orionii]

Originally posted by Zoli:

also, can u tell me what is the beam defense of missiles?

No definitive answer, old unofficial MoO II guide[gamefaqs.gamespot.com] says speed*5 (like ships) but I don't if it is true. Manual for 1.50 mentions some kind of configurable per missile type bonus on top of speed*5 but not a list of default numbers.

[Feathergun]

I’m late to the party but here’s my tip - Warlord gives you extra CP so smaller ships are viable, combined with their evasiveness you can beat bigger ships. Focus on destroyers early game and use Outposts to get range to early AI colonies and try to gain easy wins early. Warlord adds CP in a snowball effect making it easy to keep up pressure. Carries better into mid-game than Elerians despite requiring more resources upfront.

My preferred custom is Telepath + Warlord + Feudal for rushes but using the pre-gen races I’ve found Mrrshan to be better than Elerian due to Warlord.

I always use Mutation tech for bonus points anyways and not Warlord.