Campaign missions vs. side missions?

[Eldragon]

I just finished the tutorial and am now free to move about the campaign map. However I am confused over what I should be doing on the campaign map. I see there is an orange shield over a planet for the main campaign mission, but there is also a purple shield over another planet with a number of it for what seems to be a side mission and that number counts down each turn? Then there are also tokens representing cylon fleets. What is the relationship between doing the campaign mission vs. the side missions? What happens if I ignore those side missions?

[Supreme Doge]

Originally posted by Eldragon:

I just finished the tutorial and am now free to move about the campaign map. However I am confused over what I should be doing on the campaign map. I see there is an orange shield over a planet for the main campaign mission, but there is also a purple shield over another planet with a number of it for what seems to be a side mission and that number counts down each turn? Then there are also tokens representing cylon fleets. What is the relationship between doing the campaign mission vs. the side missions? What happens if I ignore those side missions?

1. Campaign missions will advance the story and unlock new ships, weapons and squadrons for you to use. They are not temporary and will have their prompts on as long as the mission isn't completed. However, beware that as you progress through the campaign and unlock new ships, the Cylons will get stronger as well.

2. Side missions will not advance the story and will instead reward you resources (req points, tylium, officers) upon successful completion. The countdown number indicates the number of turns after which the mission will expire, which means that you have a limited number of turns to arrive and complete it. If you ignore the side missions, you will not have any penalties, but you will miss out on potential resources you might gain from them.

3. Cylon fleets are targets that you should actively seek out in order to liberate planets and secure systems. If you don't take care of them in a timely manner, you risk being overrun or losing planets.

4. There is no relationship between main story missions and side missions aside from the fact that completion of side missions will net you resources to use on purchasing blueprints and constructing ships that you will have unlocked from completion of story missions.

[Eldragon]

Thanks. Sounds fairly similar to most games of this style.

[Thatslifebro]

Originally posted by Eldragon:

I just finished the tutorial and am now free to move about the campaign map. However I am confused over what I should be doing on the campaign map. I see there is an orange shield over a planet for the main campaign mission, but there is also a purple shield over another planet with a number of it for what seems to be a side mission and that number counts down each turn? Then there are also tokens representing cylon fleets. What is the relationship between doing the campaign mission vs. the side missions? What happens if I ignore those side missions?

On the Point of ignoring side missions. In my opinion you never should. In order to Maximize colonial stability and therefore income you need a good fleet over every single Colony with an officer on it. That will also prevent the colony leaving the quorum, in which case you would not get any supplies from them.
In early game its fairly easy to do so especially if you use all side missions to farm Tylium, exp and Fleet Points. If you constantly ignore them and rush into campaign missions you will be completly overrun at some point because you dont have enough income to build ships and recruit officers in sufficient numbers.

[OMG My Profile Name Does Not Fi]

Originally posted by Thatslifebro:

On the Point of ignoring side missions. In my opinion you never should. In order to Maximize colonial stability and therefore income you need a good fleet over every single Colony with an officer on it. That will also prevent the colony leaving the quorum, in which case you would not get any supplies from them.

In early game its fairly easy to do so especially if you use all side missions to farm Tylium, exp and Fleet Points. If you constantly ignore them and rush into campaign missions you will be completly overrun at some point because you dont have enough income to build ships and recruit officers in sufficient numbers.

This is good advice when starting out if you aren't familiar with this sort of game. Simply play the long "economy" game get 2 (or more) fleets per system and be able to easily upgrade the fleets to max.

It is possible to rush through the campaign with very few fleets but that is for much more experienced players.

One last point - having Cylon fleets in a system only matters if they are above a habitable world. Soif they are not, it can often be best not to waste the time and effort chasing them.

[Supreme Doge]

Originally posted by Thatslifebro:

Originally posted by Eldragon:

I just finished the tutorial and am now free to move about the campaign map. However I am confused over what I should be doing on the campaign map. I see there is an orange shield over a planet for the main campaign mission, but there is also a purple shield over another planet with a number of it for what seems to be a side mission and that number counts down each turn? Then there are also tokens representing cylon fleets. What is the relationship between doing the campaign mission vs. the side missions? What happens if I ignore those side missions?

On the Point of ignoring side missions. In my opinion you never should. In order to Maximize colonial stability and therefore income you need a good fleet over every single Colony with an officer on it. That will also prevent the colony leaving the quorum, in which case you would not get any supplies from them.
In early game its fairly easy to do so especially if you use all side missions to farm Tylium, exp and Fleet Points. If you constantly ignore them and rush into campaign missions you will be completly overrun at some point because you dont have enough income to build ships and recruit officers in sufficient numbers.

In my opinion, there is actually a reason to ignore side missions in 2 cases. First, if you spend more tylium in ship repairs/replacements and jumps than you make back from the side mission. Then it is simply unprofitable unless you really need commander exp or req points. Second, if you run into the one of the over-the-top late game Cylon fleets that will basically tear through Jupiters with ease (on commander difficulty).