The Missing Colonies of Man
Race Characteristics
Strategy Guides
The following guides below may provide helpful information:
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Racial Abilities
- Build fighters in space: Carriers can easily build fighters with the cost of 3
- Fighters can sweep 20 mines per minefield per turn up to 100 LY away
- 70% of the crew goes traitor when boarded by another ship
Ship List
See The master ship list for a list of The Missing Colonies of Man ships.
Important Ships
- Cygnus Class Destroyer: This is a small and cheap torpedo ship. It is useful as a minelayer for laying small overlapping minefields to thwart cloakers. When used in conjunction with a Patriot it is a strong weapon.
- Cobol Class Research Cruiser: This is the Colonial ace-in-the-hole. This ship gives the Colonies the ability to create fuel out of thin air, or rather the vacuum of space. They are also good cargo transports and mine layers. They also have a Bioscanner.
- Lady Royale Class Cruiser: This ships is extremely useful in Privateer hands, less so in Colonial hands, but it does serve its purpose. The Lady Royale doesn't have a big cargo bay, but that cargo bay can be used to generate money provided it is filled with clans. For every 1 clan on board a Lady Royale, 1 mc is generated per turn. So a Lady Royale can build 160 mc/turn. This is not a whole lot of money, but if you have a Large task Force that needs to move across the map, and you are transporting clans, you might want to consider bringing a few of these guys along. 5 Lady Royales moving 10 turns with 160 clans = 8000mc when you would have generated 0mc if those clans were onboard other ships. That's enough for 222 MkVII Photon Torpedos. Build these ships when you have the hull tech, but can't seem to produce anything else useful from a planet. The additional money will make it worthwhile.
- Aries Class Transport: The Aries is an improved Neutronic Refinery Ship. It turns minerals into fuel on a unit-for-unit basis--but doesn't need supplies. It's also very cheap. Stick a Transwarp engine on it and send it wherever you would normally need a refinery ship. Send an Aries to the front lines if your warships are short on fuel. As you capture enemy planets, use the Aries to convert captured minerals into more fuel for your fleets--or simply use the Aries to "burn up" the minerals so your enemy can't use them if they recapture the planet. Be sure to protect the Aries so it doesn't get captured.
- Tranquility Class Cruiser: At first you may look at the Tranquility and say, The Cobol is a better ship with Ram scoop and Bioscanners. The Tranquility has its uses with 380 kt of Cargo space it can lay huge mine fields, as well as carry nearly as much Cargo into a warzone as a Gemini. You won't build a ton of these guys, but a few dedicated mine layers are useful to consider.
- Patriot Class Light Carrier: Light, cheap carrier that is a fire and forget weapon. It won't win the war, but when used correctly will push the tactical advantage in your direction.
- Gemini Class Transport: The Gemini is one of the best Colonial starships available. This ships power is derived, not by is ability in combat, but for its ability to make large amounts of fighters very quickly. The Gemini can be built cheaply and generate a huge fighter stockpile. A Gemini tied with a Merlin Class Alchemy Ship over a Bovinoid world can be your primary fighter production facility. A Gemini can produce a maximum of 40 fighters/turn. With this ship, there is no reason why the Colonies should ever need to spend a single MC on a fighter. Build some of these to fill your bases with fighters and to arm your Virgos.
- Virgo Class Battlestar: The backbone of your offensive fleet! With 10 beams and 8 fighterbays and 290 holds it can carry most of what you need into combat without batting an eye. Build these enmasse.
Strategy
Overall Strategy
Early Game
Expand fast
Cobol's are excellent early exploration and expansion ships. They can drop fuel on planets ahead of your large freighters which can get your clans off of your Homeworld quicker than most of your opponents aside from the Rebels and the Cyborg.
Ally with cloaking races
A good tactic to use when you get your hands on a cloaking ship is to move the ship in advance of your main offensive fleet and then start separating out your enemies' main defenders. A common tactic used by Crystals, Feds, and Cyborg is to lead a carrier in battle with a torpedo ship. If you separate his fleets by towing them apart and taking them out individually you can lose fewer Virgos while decimating his heavy ships.
Midgame
Go on Offense
With nearly unlimited fuel, the ability to keep the space 100 ly's from your carrier free of mines, and the ability to build fighters in space the Colonial fleet can survive with nearly no support from home. Use this to your advantage.
Build Task Forces
Task forces are important for the Colonies. Not task forces of destroyers, cruisers, and carriers. Rather, task forces consisting of Cobols and Virgos. This is the Colonial backbone. Each Virgo built should have one to two corresponding Cobols. These Cobols stay with the Virgos everywhere they go. It also won't hurt to rotate in a Gemini. Because your Virgo's should be fighting not building fighters. Have one of the Virgos tow the Gemini if necessary.
This task force has an unlimited fuel supply and a big, steady supply of fighters. These task forces can run independently and be used to harass an enemy's rear areas and supply lines without you worrying about having fueling locations. Usually a group of two or three Virgos is good to have. It isn't a bad idea to have one of your Cobols loaded with torpedos too. That way as they travel they can lay mines behind them. This discourages any following cloaked ships from performing a cloaked intercept. The main strengths of the Colonies is their ability to load a bunch of clans, supplies, minerals, fighters, and torpedos onto their ships and then bring destruction to the enemies doorstep, and to continue operating after it has sped through the enemies main battle lines.
Patriot Swarm
Build a bunch of Patriots and unleash them on your enemy. They are not meant to actually harm hard targets, they are meant to overwhelm your enemies defensive capabilities. Do not expect many patriots to survive. Do expect your enemy to be thrown into confusion and then take advantage of the holes opened in the enemies defense.
