Skirmish HELP?!

[Nehellsan]

Im playing T1 advanced bases sk valley alliances allowed

How do I win?

Right now the first thing i work towards is lancer, and i place mg bunkers as well as mini rocket towers around my base at all the choke points.

5-8 minutes after starting, i get rushed. Normally Ive built so many bunkers and mini rocket towers that the AI just get destroyed.

but when i reach 25 minutes, i have got 2 cannon fortresses and basically no other hardpoints except for a couple of lancers. Then i get rushed with bunker busters, light cannons, flamers, mini rocket pods, mini rocket arrays, you name it. Basically every T1 tech weapon was against me. Cannon fortress is killed within a couple of seconds. Since my lancers were destroyed by another one of these groups a couple of minutes ago, I have no other defense and I lose =(

Help please? Criticism and general raging will be appreciated

I'm still a nub so this will help me become a better player!

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Howdy Nehellsan.

I research flamers, machineguns, mortars, antiaircraft and the research/power/factory upgrades first. I don't worry about cannons since they aren't that useful against the AI invading your base. Rockets are secondary to me, since they're rather slow firing. By the time the AI is getting to my base, I've got Assault Guns, Inferno Flamers (almost to Plasmite) and Incendiary Mortars already placed and ready to go. Combine that with CB Towers and you should be in good shape. Be liberal with everything, at each choke point. You want flamers in front of everything else, then your guns, then mortars behind (but close enough to get the AI before they can fire on your flamers.). It works for me, at least.

[Nehellsan]

Thanks, im working on it now. Already up to assault gun and inferno, got bombard =D Thanks again

Do you use units or hardpoints to defend?

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Hardpoints for defense. You *could* use units though. I recommend Assault and Flamer Cyborgs, they're cheap and fast to replace if you use 4 Cyborg factories like I do.

[zydonk]

Are you upgrading concrete and ammo? They make a real difference in the early stages. Also, stagger the lancer towers behind bunkers, so that they fire in waves instead of all at once. The bunkers - whether mg or flamer - will draw attacking fire. (A bunker with a lancer tower behind is pretty well a lancer bunker!)

[Nehellsan]

I was up to plasteel and i eventually won. Turns out I'm really good at T3 skirmish, but fail in T1

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Flamers are your friends in T1. They'll keep the AI off your back.

[Nehellsan]

Funny.
The next game i played was the exact same and i was rushed with 100 AI units at the 40 minute mark. I had researched Lancer, Assault Gun, Incendiary Mortar and had lancer hardpoints behind rotary mg bunkers and incendiary mortars behind those. I was constantly behind in power and had almost always 0 power. I had no units other than trucks, and what exactly do you mean with 'liberal at every choke point' I used overkill lancers and i still got owned =(

[zydonk]

Funny.
The next game i played was the exact same and i was rushed with 100 AI units at the 40 minute mark. I had researched Lancer, Assault Gun, Incendiary Mortar and had lancer hardpoints behind rotary mg bunkers and incendiary mortars behind those. I was constantly behind in power and had almost always 0 power. I had no units other than trucks, and what exactly do you mean with 'liberal at every choke point' I used overkill lancers and i still got owned =(

A hundred units? What map? What mod? Where were you attacked, in the field or at your base? The problem with fortifying choke points (including the entrance to your base) is you might well have limited firepower, while the AI is jamming up (choking!) against your defences. Hang back from the channel itself, so you can create a killing field for your weaponry, into which the AI units will enter one or two at a time.

Others might have better advice, but I feel you are doing too much too fast. Keep it simple, keep it tight.

[Nehellsan]

Sk Valley is the map. I dont play with mods and i was attacked in my base. Right now im trying to research different things, such as hyper velocity cannon, flamer, and machinegun. It seems to work.

[Goth Zagog-Thou]

Do what you will. I use Flamers instead of the Lancers. Flamer, Inferno, Plasmite. Fire. Lancers, being missiles, are too slow for me.

And I consider 'being liberal with defenses at choke points' to mean the main path the AI is using to get to your base, lock it down with Flamers, Assault Guns and Incendiary Mortars. Once you have artillery (howitzers and the like), switch your Incendiary Mortars to those. Place a CB Tower near the front line, and a Sensor Tower nearby, and you're good to go.

[zydonk]

Sk Valley is the map. I dont play with mods and i was attacked in my base. Right now im trying to research different things, such as hyper velocity cannon, flamer, and machinegun. It seems to work.

Valley is a bitch to play. You have to control the crossings - too many entrances to your base. Use mg bunkers as a wall, backed up with flamers. Get Lancers asap and just concentrate on holding those positions as you research up.

Try Mountain instead to practice on. It will stretch you a bit, but you won't have the AI in your face to the same extent, and it does allow the development of varied tactics. But keep it simple and tight at first. Find out what works for you and master it. Later you can try out other weapons and strategies. I'd say most players develop a fixed style of play - esp in sk (where the AI can be pretty predictable). I, for instance, rarely use cannon or borgs.

[Nehellsan]

Ive already beat mountain a couple of times, but that was with no alliance; it was the first map i played because i saw a post saying: Try mountain first, it helps you develop your skill. Actually my preferred way is to develop flamer cyborgs first, then research lancers, HPV, AA, then like synaptic links and and upgrading hardcrete/rockets/cannons. It works in mountain at least.

[NoQ]

Playing a FFA may be even easier than beating a single opponent

[zydonk]

Another map to try is RollingHills. It has the typical Pumpkin asymmetry, porous bases, but the terrain is composed of narrow valleys among high hills, some of which will be fotified by the AI. Also remember to select different bases as your starting point; this will give you a feel for how the AI plays.

As said above, one AI foe alone can give a hard game, while an 8c game can let you hide out while the AI players slug it out among themselves. But watch out there, you can end up with some pretty tough opponents.