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=Blitz=
<blockquote>
''This is about the Standard Blitz format. For Campaign-enabled blitz games, see: [[Campaign Blitz|Campaign Blitz guide]].<br>
</blockquote>


Blitz is a 1 on 1 short game (average 10-30 turns), with 16 planets instead of the usual 500.<br>
Blitz is a 1 on 1 short game (average 15-30 turns), with 16 planets instead of the usual 500. It can be played at [[Planets Nu]]. Blitz games will end when a player resigns, a player misses three turns in a row, or one player has 90% military score. Playing Blitz will not affect your [[tenacity]].  
It can be played at [[Planets Nu]].<br>
Blitz games will end when a player resigns, a player misses three turns in a row, or one player has 90% military score. Playing Blitz will not affect your [[tenacity]]. You can look at the current [http://planets.nu/#/leaderboard/blitz Blitz Leaderboard].


It is a great way to learn the game.
Blitz is a great way to learn the game for new players. Since Blitz games are so short, you get quick feedback for your decisions, instead of having to wait many turns (which could take weeks) before your learn if your game plan was good or bad. Because resources are limited, it also forces you to make the best use of resources that you can, which teaches you how to make ships in an efficient way. Blitz also lets you play more games, because the games are quite short. This gives you more opportunities to try different races and new strategies.  


==Settings==
Blitz games use the [[Short Format]] rules, which alters the race balance slightly to better suit smaller games.
Win Condition: MilitaryScore (90%)
    Planets: 16
    Star Clusters: 0
    Nebulas: 0
    Debris Disks: 0
    Max Ion Storms: 4


==Features==
=Tips for Playing Blitz=
*You gain campaign resources for the race you play.
:* It is usually best to stick with [[Engine Tech Level|warp 7 engines]]. Upgrading to Tech 10 engines is very expensive (2400 MC), and warp 9 engines cost a lot more minerals and MC. When needed, you can always overdrive your warp 7 engines to warp 8 or 9. Since big carriers have more engines, warp 5 engines work well since they're cheap, and they can be overdriven to warp 8 in a pinch (with virtually the same fuel efficiency as warp 6 or warp 7 engines!). You'll usually want to tow a carrier with a faster ship anyway, so you can use even cheaper engines if you want.
*After you create a game, anyone can see the race you have selected, even if you chose "unknown" (the random selection) under the game Allies tab.<br>
:* Economize! Only build what you need. Do not waste minerals on [[Beams|high-tech beams]] if you don't need them. Do not waste money on engines if you don't need them. (E.g. a defending ship can have warp 1 or warp 5 engines, which are cheap). Do not put [[Torpedo|Mk. 7 torps]] on your ships if you can't afford the MC.
Your race choice when your the creator of the game should be one that can win vs the 10 other races, since the second player will choose the race he think best to beat your race.
:* Rush strategies usually work well.
:* Avoid over-expanding and over-investing in planets. It is difficult to defend your planets in Blitz, so pick a couple planets that are important and defend them. You usually want to defend planets with good natives. To defend against ground combat races (Lizard & Fascist), defend your high-income native planets by putting a lot of clans on them or maintaining minefields. Expanding too far and building too many mines will cost you a lot of MC which could be used to build ships instead.  
:* Don't be surprised if an enemy tech 10 Warship arrives at your Homeworld by turn 7 and sometimes even earlier. Monitor the scoreboard to look at the military score of your opponent. This can inform you if your opponent has built a large ship that turn. (The [http://onebit.ca/cgi-bin/vgaplanets.py/Shipyard Military Score Calculator] can help you estimate what size of ship an enemy has built.)
:* In general, you don't need a second [[Starbases|starbase]]. There are exceptions to this rule, however: e.g. Fascists can benefit from more starbases because this allows them to build many [[D19b Nefarious Class Destroyer|D19b glory device ships]]; Evil Empire can use several starbases to produce more fighters and to defend important planets.
:* Every time a native planet is conquered, the native population is reduced by 25%. To avoid losing too many natives, avoid re-taking a native planet with ship combat. Instead, drop clans on it, which will not reduce the native population.
:* Plan ahead to have resources to keep building a ship every turn. It's easy to run out of Duranium or Molybdenum (or Tri if you are a carrier race).  


==Bugs==
===Suggested opening strategy===
*Sometimes the game hang when crating a blitz, wait 60 seconds, and reload the game tab if the game is not created.
:* Use your [[Medium Deep Space Freighter|MDSF]] to go to a planet within one jump at warp 9. Try to go to a more distant planet (close to 81 LY), since your other ships will have warp 7 engines and can't explore as far as the MDSF. Load 100 clans, 100 supplies and 700 MC so you can build factories and mines as soon as possible. (Use BDM friendly code to drop MC on same turn as clans/supplies).
*Sometimes when you create a Blitz game their is only 2 planets and the homeworld are at the same location, just delete the game, and remake.<br>
:* Consider an offensive rush by building an attack ship on your first turn.
You may have to wait 24 hrs when those bug occur, I have recreated many blitz the same day and all add the same bug (24 hours later everything was back to normal). [[User:LordLancelot|LordLancelot]] ([[User talk:LordLancelot|talk]]) 18:47, 27 October 2014 (PDT)
:* If you do not rush, build an [[Large Deep Space Freighter|LDSF]] to find a native planet as soon as possible. If there are no planets within 49 LY, you can probably overdrive to warp 8 or 9. (Some races might prefer to build a warship with a big cargo for colonizing instead, such as an [[Emerald Class Battlecruiser|Emerald]] or [[Nebula Class Cruiser|Nebula]]).
*If a player is removed from a blitz game by missing three turns in a row (thus crediting a loss), the other player is credited with a win, but the game is still active, allowing uneven win-loss totals throughout the ladder.
:* On your homeworld, build max factories and mines. (If you are Lizard, you won't need as many mines; 200 is fine).
:* On your first turn, tax your homeworld to -30 happiness. After that, let the population grow until happiness returns to 100. This will help your population grow, and increase your tax income quickly. In practice, you will need to tax whenever you need money, so it's OK to tax before happiness returns to 100.  


==Lodda Tips==
===Races overview===
*Look at mineral density at start, it can differ from usual games alot and can influence strategies, ship buildings etc.
:* The best races in Blitz are arguably Lizard, Robot and Rebel. Fed, Fascist and Evil Empire are also competitive.
:* Cyborg is considered the weakest races in Blitz. With their new [[short format]] upgrades they may be playable now, however. Crystals are difficult to win with, but playable (build small webmine fields instead of big ones).
:* Avoid Privateer if you don't want a Rock-Scissors-Paper game. They are easily beaten by Fed, Lizard, Fascist and Bird.  


*Develop planets away from your enemies, not in his path to your HW. Usually blitz is brutal, and many warships flying around. I often did normal game approach , sent 1000s of clans to good planets, just to have them wiped out by a strong attack quite early.
==Race-Specific Advice==
'''[[The Solar Federation|Federation]]'''<br>
:Build Mk. 7 torps early, since you can afford them with double tax income. Deploy minefields to protect against cloakers. A [[Missouri_Class_Battleship|Missouri]] rush is a reasonable strategy. Be sure to build a ship every turn--you can build ships with cheap engines/weapons early and upgrade them later the super refit mission, when you have more money/minerals.<br>


*Rush strategy seem to work often, no need for economic buildup with most races and in most games. Rebel and Colonies worked quite well for me.
'''[[The_Lizard_Alliance|Lizards]]'''<br>
:Use your [[Lizard_Class_Cruiser|LCC]]s to do ground attacks and freighter raids to disrupt their economy. You can use your economic advantages to overwhelm an opponent. E.g. by spamming [[T-Rex_Class_Battleship|T-Rex]]'s with warp 7, x-rays and Mk. 4 torps. Since your ships can take 150% damage, it will cost your opponent more MC to kill a T-rex than it costs for you to build it. <br>


*don't over expand, planet count doesn't mean anything, military and developed planets near home is much more valuable.
'''[[The Empire of Birds|Birds]]'''<br>
:Birds are a bit weak, but can win with a skilled player. Building a [[Dark_Wing_Class_Battleship|Dark Wing]] (warp 7, heavy blasters, mk.4) on your first turn works well as a rush. Load 100 supplies on your Dark Wing in case of a mine hit, which will allow you to stay cloaked and able to raid his weak ships. You can use [[Swift_Heart_Class_Scout|Swifties]] to change your opponent's planets' friendly codes to BUM, which will steal his money. To defeat carrier races, cloak-intercept his carriers, then tow them to your starbase, where a Dark Wing + Starbase combo can defeat the carrier. You can also simply tow his carriers away with a ship that runs out of fuel, and then is refueled by a cloaked ship doing a cloak-intercept mission. <br>


*don't make warp 9, warp 7 and overdrive is fine on these small maps, i have not run out of fuel yet. (maybe there are exceptions on strange maps, I have one very strange now, 5 planet vs 11 planet cluster, separated by gap over 81 LY, first gap i have in blitz :))
'''[[The Fascist Empire|Fascists]]'''<br>
:Pillage is a great mission. If you can pillage your opponent's homeworld once, that will probably win the game. Pillaging opponent's native planets is also a great way to cripple his economy. Your cloakers can effectively raid his economy, by attacking freighters or with ground attack. Use [[D7_Coldpain_Class_Cruiser|D7s]] for ground attack. [[Deth_Specula_Class_Frigate|Deth Specs]] are good for mine sweeping, attacking starbases and early game rushes. Glory devices are great vs. cloaking races, and can also ruin an opponent's homeworld or native planets. Use glory devices with your [[Victorious_Class_Battleship|Vickies]] to make up for their weakness.<br>


*always beam up the stuff you need most, every mineral/fuel counts.
'''[[The Privateer Bands|Privateers]]'''<br>
:Rock-Paper-Scissors race. Against a competent opponent, you should always lose vs. Feds, Lizards, Birds and Fascists. Robots might be an even match, since they have large mine fields which restrict your movement (and hence your ability to rob). You can easily beat Crystals by spamming Meteors with disruptors and no torps (to avoid giving them a cloaked minelayer if captured). You have a good chance to win vs. the other carrier races and Cyborg. <br>


*don't waste money and minerals on beams in most cases, other stuff seems to be more important, i go with plasma bolts. Exceptions maybe against crystals, or robots?
'''[[The Cyborg]]'''<br>
:While considered very weak, the Cyborg are not totally hopeless in the hands of a skilled player. One strategy is to use your [[Firecloud_Class_Cruiser|Fireclouds]] to rush the enemy. To rush, build 2 Fireclouds, then an [[Annihilation_Class_Battleship|Annihilation]] (with cheap engines, plasmas and Mk.4 torps). Send your first FC forward without being seen (you may need to overdrive). To avoid your FC being spotted and killed, send the Anni up with [[chunnel]] after a couple turns. You can tow the rest of the way (use beam up fuel mission) or else try another chunnel. <br>
:It is important to defend your large assimilated native planets, since if your colony is destroyed, your millions of colonists will be killed. It is possible to win the game with only 1 or 2 colonies (easier to defend), as long as those planets have the minerals you need. Dropping clans on your opponent's native planets can also assimilate his natives, thus ruining his income. Be careful chunneling from your homeworld, since any newly built ships will be chunneled away after being built. <br>


*set ntp if you tow freighters with torpedo ships, you like to capture them, not destroy them. Built slots are precious, usually you wont need/be able build second base, except maybe with lizard or other special cases.
'''[[Crystals]]'''<br>
:Unlike big games, in Blitz you cannot usually win with large webs because your econ is small and they're too easy to sweep. The exception is when there's an ion storm, which makes them unsweepable and therefore devastating. A well-timed web field with an ion storm can win you the game. Otherwise, don't expect to capture many enemy ships with large webmine fields. Use [[Opal_Class_Torpedo_Boat|Opals]] to lay many small minefields to delay and frustrate your enemy and defend your colonies. To win the game you will probably need conventional forces to win, so build [[Emerald_Class_Battlecruiser|Emeralds]] and [[Diamond_Flame_Class_Battleship|Diamond Flames]]. Make sure you have a lot of Moly, or you won't be able to build Diamond Flames. <br>


*don't delay transferring minerals/cash home, next turn the enemy might take your cash planet, and build fighters/torps with your stuff, every turn counts.
'''[[The Evil Empire|Evil Empire]]'''<br>
:EE used to be the weakest Blitz race, but now is powerful with the new [[short format]] rules which give them +15 fighters per turn instead of only +5. EE can do a quick rush since Dark Sense you tell you exactly where the enemy's homeworld is, and you will not waste any turns finding it. A quick [[SSD]] rush is possible to do an Imperial Assault mission on your opponent's homeworld (use warp 9 and maybe Heavy Blasters), but is risky. A [[Gorbie_Class_Battlecarrier|Gorbie]] rush is more likely to work, using Starbase Fighter Transfer to send some fighters forward to it later. The Gorbie could be towed by an LDSF or another ship; otherwise warp 7 engines are OK. Sending a [[Super Star Carrier]] or [[Super Star Cruiser]] can be a good opening to keep your opponent off-balance; these ships are quite powerful against medium ships.<br>
:For defensive strategies, EE can build lots of starbases early to secure their position over key worlds, making themselves difficult to attack. This "turtling" strategy can work until you have enough resources to start building Gorbies. It's a good idea to build an LDSF on your first turn, and then load it with enough minerals and credits to build a new starbase right away. More starbases will increase your fighter production and defend your key worlds. Build your starbases at planets with either natives, tritanium or molybdenum. Once you have the three resources, you will be able to keep a continuous flow of resources to build fighters and Gorbies. Your opponent will have a difficult time attacking your starbases without taking losses. <br>


*don't make too many fighters with free fighter races, 90 per big carrier is fine, you dont need 300 fighters and 1 carrier. observe your tritanium demand and supply.
'''[[Robots]]'''<br>
:Your large minefield bonus is very powerful. Consider building a [[Cat's_Paw_Class_Destroyer|Cat's Paw]] on your first turn with 157 Mk.4 torps (maximum minefield size) and sending it up to lay a large minefield near your opponent. This can impair your opponent severely in the early game. This forces them to spend time and resources on good minesweepers instead of colonizing or attacking. If your opponent does not prepare sweepers, they can find themselves with freighters destroyed/damaged from mine hits, and unable to sweep mines due to lack of resources. Laying mines will buy you time to colonize and find duranium to build carriers. You can use your Cat's Paw to scoop the minefield back up to impede the opponent's sweeping efforts, then re-deploy at a later time hoping to catch his ships in transit. Rushing with an [[Instrumentality_Class_Baseship|Insturmentality]] is another possible strategy (especially if your opponent expects you to lay minefields instead), but is arguably riskier. <br>


*standart tech for me: warp 7, plasma bolt, mark 4.
'''[[Rebels]]'''<br>
:Your best advantages are [[Rebel Ground Attack]] and your [[planet immunity]]. If you can find opponent's homeworld, a single turn of RGA mission can ruin their homeworld's econ and win the game. If you are fighting another carrier race, having RGA and planet immunity forces the opponent to defend with ships and to set primary enemy, which gives you left side advantage. This advantage is decisive against other carriers. You can also use [[Falcon_Class_Escort|Falcons]] to HYP to your opponent's worlds, possibly succeeding in an RGA against a crucial planet, and scouting where their homeworld might be. <br>


==Lord Lancelot Tips==
'''[[Colonies]]'''<br>
*First if you the one creating the game, I would avoid the Privateer they can be easily beat by a few races Fed and Lizard for example.<br>
:Colonies are a respectable Blitz race but weaker than Rebels since they lack RGA. Defending your colonies with [[Virgo_Class_Battlestar|Virgos]] might be difficult since you will need several colonies for different resources and you will not have many Virgos. An early rush with a Virgo towed by a cobol is a reasonable strategy, especially since you can sweep any minefields in your way with your fighter minesweeping ability.  
**When your creating the game, it would be wise to not click turn done, until you know what race your playing against and adjust your ship building.
*Expect an enemy tech 10 Warship at your Homeworld by turn 7 and sometimes even earlier.<br>
*Warp 7 engines are your friends<br>
*If you watch the Military score change inside the game, and use [http://onebit.ca/cgi-bin/vgaplanets.py/Shipyard Shipyard] you can get a pretty good idea what the enemy is building.
*Some Races tend to do poorly in blitz, the most notorious would be the [[Borg]].
*For a list of Races (and players) who are doing great you can check the [http://planets.nu/#/leaderboard/blitz Blitz Leaderboard].
*Most of the Blitz games you will not need to make new [[Starbase]].


*Basic Turn one:
**Put 200 cargo: clans, supply and money into your starting warp 9 medium and send it to a planet 1 turn or less from your HW, one away from your enemy would be best.
**Build Max mines, max factory and set tax to -30 happiness.
**Build a ship, and plan ahead to have resources to keep building a ship every turn.




IF you want a challenge, play me.<br>
==Bugs / Issues==
Occasionally when you start a Blitz game, the map is uneven. In extreme cases, you will see 4 planets on one side of the map, and 12 on the opposite side. In this case, delete the game and re-create a new one. In general, it is best practice to check a game's starmap before another player joins, to make sure the map is fair. If it seems very uneven, you can delete the game (only before turn 2) and re-create a new one, with no penalty.
 
=Notes=
*These games do not have Massive Meteor Impacts (https://planets.uservoice.com/forums/136520-general/suggestions/2485223-massive-meteors-should-never-be-in-blitz-games).


=See Also=
=See Also=
*[[Planets Nu Client Add-ons]]
* [[Campaign Blitz|Campaign Blitz guide]]
*[[Planets Nu Tools]]
* [http://planets.nu/#/leaderboard/blitz Blitz Leaderboard].
*[http://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlIkgb1jJPu3dFFvNFRyZW54b0ZOaUU4cE4ydUhva0E&usp=drive_web#gid=2 Public Blitz Statistics]
*[http://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlIkgb1jJPu3dFFvNFRyZW54b0ZOaUU4cE4ydUhva0E&usp=drive_web#gid=2 Public Blitz Statistics]
* [http://sites.google.com/site/csplanets/legacy/tournaments Past Blitz tournaments]


[[Category:NuHost Addons]]
[[Category:NuHost Addons]]

Latest revision as of 23:33, 28 December 2021

This is about the Standard Blitz format. For Campaign-enabled blitz games, see: Campaign Blitz guide.

Blitz is a 1 on 1 short game (average 15-30 turns), with 16 planets instead of the usual 500. It can be played at Planets Nu. Blitz games will end when a player resigns, a player misses three turns in a row, or one player has 90% military score. Playing Blitz will not affect your tenacity.

Blitz is a great way to learn the game for new players. Since Blitz games are so short, you get quick feedback for your decisions, instead of having to wait many turns (which could take weeks) before your learn if your game plan was good or bad. Because resources are limited, it also forces you to make the best use of resources that you can, which teaches you how to make ships in an efficient way. Blitz also lets you play more games, because the games are quite short. This gives you more opportunities to try different races and new strategies.

Blitz games use the Short Format rules, which alters the race balance slightly to better suit smaller games.

Tips for Playing Blitz

  • It is usually best to stick with warp 7 engines. Upgrading to Tech 10 engines is very expensive (2400 MC), and warp 9 engines cost a lot more minerals and MC. When needed, you can always overdrive your warp 7 engines to warp 8 or 9. Since big carriers have more engines, warp 5 engines work well since they're cheap, and they can be overdriven to warp 8 in a pinch (with virtually the same fuel efficiency as warp 6 or warp 7 engines!). You'll usually want to tow a carrier with a faster ship anyway, so you can use even cheaper engines if you want.
  • Economize! Only build what you need. Do not waste minerals on high-tech beams if you don't need them. Do not waste money on engines if you don't need them. (E.g. a defending ship can have warp 1 or warp 5 engines, which are cheap). Do not put Mk. 7 torps on your ships if you can't afford the MC.
  • Rush strategies usually work well.
  • Avoid over-expanding and over-investing in planets. It is difficult to defend your planets in Blitz, so pick a couple planets that are important and defend them. You usually want to defend planets with good natives. To defend against ground combat races (Lizard & Fascist), defend your high-income native planets by putting a lot of clans on them or maintaining minefields. Expanding too far and building too many mines will cost you a lot of MC which could be used to build ships instead.
  • Don't be surprised if an enemy tech 10 Warship arrives at your Homeworld by turn 7 and sometimes even earlier. Monitor the scoreboard to look at the military score of your opponent. This can inform you if your opponent has built a large ship that turn. (The Military Score Calculator can help you estimate what size of ship an enemy has built.)
  • In general, you don't need a second starbase. There are exceptions to this rule, however: e.g. Fascists can benefit from more starbases because this allows them to build many D19b glory device ships; Evil Empire can use several starbases to produce more fighters and to defend important planets.
  • Every time a native planet is conquered, the native population is reduced by 25%. To avoid losing too many natives, avoid re-taking a native planet with ship combat. Instead, drop clans on it, which will not reduce the native population.
  • Plan ahead to have resources to keep building a ship every turn. It's easy to run out of Duranium or Molybdenum (or Tri if you are a carrier race).

Suggested opening strategy

  • Use your MDSF to go to a planet within one jump at warp 9. Try to go to a more distant planet (close to 81 LY), since your other ships will have warp 7 engines and can't explore as far as the MDSF. Load 100 clans, 100 supplies and 700 MC so you can build factories and mines as soon as possible. (Use BDM friendly code to drop MC on same turn as clans/supplies).
  • Consider an offensive rush by building an attack ship on your first turn.
  • If you do not rush, build an LDSF to find a native planet as soon as possible. If there are no planets within 49 LY, you can probably overdrive to warp 8 or 9. (Some races might prefer to build a warship with a big cargo for colonizing instead, such as an Emerald or Nebula).
  • On your homeworld, build max factories and mines. (If you are Lizard, you won't need as many mines; 200 is fine).
  • On your first turn, tax your homeworld to -30 happiness. After that, let the population grow until happiness returns to 100. This will help your population grow, and increase your tax income quickly. In practice, you will need to tax whenever you need money, so it's OK to tax before happiness returns to 100.

Races overview

  • The best races in Blitz are arguably Lizard, Robot and Rebel. Fed, Fascist and Evil Empire are also competitive.
  • Cyborg is considered the weakest races in Blitz. With their new short format upgrades they may be playable now, however. Crystals are difficult to win with, but playable (build small webmine fields instead of big ones).
  • Avoid Privateer if you don't want a Rock-Scissors-Paper game. They are easily beaten by Fed, Lizard, Fascist and Bird.

Race-Specific Advice

Federation

Build Mk. 7 torps early, since you can afford them with double tax income. Deploy minefields to protect against cloakers. A Missouri rush is a reasonable strategy. Be sure to build a ship every turn--you can build ships with cheap engines/weapons early and upgrade them later the super refit mission, when you have more money/minerals.

Lizards

Use your LCCs to do ground attacks and freighter raids to disrupt their economy. You can use your economic advantages to overwhelm an opponent. E.g. by spamming T-Rex's with warp 7, x-rays and Mk. 4 torps. Since your ships can take 150% damage, it will cost your opponent more MC to kill a T-rex than it costs for you to build it.

Birds

Birds are a bit weak, but can win with a skilled player. Building a Dark Wing (warp 7, heavy blasters, mk.4) on your first turn works well as a rush. Load 100 supplies on your Dark Wing in case of a mine hit, which will allow you to stay cloaked and able to raid his weak ships. You can use Swifties to change your opponent's planets' friendly codes to BUM, which will steal his money. To defeat carrier races, cloak-intercept his carriers, then tow them to your starbase, where a Dark Wing + Starbase combo can defeat the carrier. You can also simply tow his carriers away with a ship that runs out of fuel, and then is refueled by a cloaked ship doing a cloak-intercept mission.

Fascists

Pillage is a great mission. If you can pillage your opponent's homeworld once, that will probably win the game. Pillaging opponent's native planets is also a great way to cripple his economy. Your cloakers can effectively raid his economy, by attacking freighters or with ground attack. Use D7s for ground attack. Deth Specs are good for mine sweeping, attacking starbases and early game rushes. Glory devices are great vs. cloaking races, and can also ruin an opponent's homeworld or native planets. Use glory devices with your Vickies to make up for their weakness.

Privateers

Rock-Paper-Scissors race. Against a competent opponent, you should always lose vs. Feds, Lizards, Birds and Fascists. Robots might be an even match, since they have large mine fields which restrict your movement (and hence your ability to rob). You can easily beat Crystals by spamming Meteors with disruptors and no torps (to avoid giving them a cloaked minelayer if captured). You have a good chance to win vs. the other carrier races and Cyborg.

The Cyborg

While considered very weak, the Cyborg are not totally hopeless in the hands of a skilled player. One strategy is to use your Fireclouds to rush the enemy. To rush, build 2 Fireclouds, then an Annihilation (with cheap engines, plasmas and Mk.4 torps). Send your first FC forward without being seen (you may need to overdrive). To avoid your FC being spotted and killed, send the Anni up with chunnel after a couple turns. You can tow the rest of the way (use beam up fuel mission) or else try another chunnel.
It is important to defend your large assimilated native planets, since if your colony is destroyed, your millions of colonists will be killed. It is possible to win the game with only 1 or 2 colonies (easier to defend), as long as those planets have the minerals you need. Dropping clans on your opponent's native planets can also assimilate his natives, thus ruining his income. Be careful chunneling from your homeworld, since any newly built ships will be chunneled away after being built.

Crystals

Unlike big games, in Blitz you cannot usually win with large webs because your econ is small and they're too easy to sweep. The exception is when there's an ion storm, which makes them unsweepable and therefore devastating. A well-timed web field with an ion storm can win you the game. Otherwise, don't expect to capture many enemy ships with large webmine fields. Use Opals to lay many small minefields to delay and frustrate your enemy and defend your colonies. To win the game you will probably need conventional forces to win, so build Emeralds and Diamond Flames. Make sure you have a lot of Moly, or you won't be able to build Diamond Flames.

Evil Empire

EE used to be the weakest Blitz race, but now is powerful with the new short format rules which give them +15 fighters per turn instead of only +5. EE can do a quick rush since Dark Sense you tell you exactly where the enemy's homeworld is, and you will not waste any turns finding it. A quick SSD rush is possible to do an Imperial Assault mission on your opponent's homeworld (use warp 9 and maybe Heavy Blasters), but is risky. A Gorbie rush is more likely to work, using Starbase Fighter Transfer to send some fighters forward to it later. The Gorbie could be towed by an LDSF or another ship; otherwise warp 7 engines are OK. Sending a Super Star Carrier or Super Star Cruiser can be a good opening to keep your opponent off-balance; these ships are quite powerful against medium ships.
For defensive strategies, EE can build lots of starbases early to secure their position over key worlds, making themselves difficult to attack. This "turtling" strategy can work until you have enough resources to start building Gorbies. It's a good idea to build an LDSF on your first turn, and then load it with enough minerals and credits to build a new starbase right away. More starbases will increase your fighter production and defend your key worlds. Build your starbases at planets with either natives, tritanium or molybdenum. Once you have the three resources, you will be able to keep a continuous flow of resources to build fighters and Gorbies. Your opponent will have a difficult time attacking your starbases without taking losses.

Robots

Your large minefield bonus is very powerful. Consider building a Cat's Paw on your first turn with 157 Mk.4 torps (maximum minefield size) and sending it up to lay a large minefield near your opponent. This can impair your opponent severely in the early game. This forces them to spend time and resources on good minesweepers instead of colonizing or attacking. If your opponent does not prepare sweepers, they can find themselves with freighters destroyed/damaged from mine hits, and unable to sweep mines due to lack of resources. Laying mines will buy you time to colonize and find duranium to build carriers. You can use your Cat's Paw to scoop the minefield back up to impede the opponent's sweeping efforts, then re-deploy at a later time hoping to catch his ships in transit. Rushing with an Insturmentality is another possible strategy (especially if your opponent expects you to lay minefields instead), but is arguably riskier.

Rebels

Your best advantages are Rebel Ground Attack and your planet immunity. If you can find opponent's homeworld, a single turn of RGA mission can ruin their homeworld's econ and win the game. If you are fighting another carrier race, having RGA and planet immunity forces the opponent to defend with ships and to set primary enemy, which gives you left side advantage. This advantage is decisive against other carriers. You can also use Falcons to HYP to your opponent's worlds, possibly succeeding in an RGA against a crucial planet, and scouting where their homeworld might be.

Colonies

Colonies are a respectable Blitz race but weaker than Rebels since they lack RGA. Defending your colonies with Virgos might be difficult since you will need several colonies for different resources and you will not have many Virgos. An early rush with a Virgo towed by a cobol is a reasonable strategy, especially since you can sweep any minefields in your way with your fighter minesweeping ability.


Bugs / Issues

Occasionally when you start a Blitz game, the map is uneven. In extreme cases, you will see 4 planets on one side of the map, and 12 on the opposite side. In this case, delete the game and re-create a new one. In general, it is best practice to check a game's starmap before another player joins, to make sure the map is fair. If it seems very uneven, you can delete the game (only before turn 2) and re-create a new one, with no penalty.

Notes

See Also