I’d like to start a thread to discuss BOTF tactics. (And i have, wahay!)

As I have begun playing the game online again I have noticed how much the tactics used online differ from those you learn when playing against the AI. Tech level, map size, minors and skill level can all affect the way you play significantly.

In a game I played recently against Jig he used some interesting tactics. Playing as the Klingons (I was Cardassians) he successfully stunted my development by sending dozens of cloaked MKII scouts into my territory. A couple of these puppies could take down a Cardassian Heavy Cruiser easily and in no time at all Jig had successfully put me out of the game.

I’ve noticed myself that playing as tech 5 requires fast expansion by military force, whilst playing as tech 1 requires somewhat slower expansion and a more defensive battle plan. Staying out of the way of other majors for as long as possible.

I’ve also noticed that there are certain ships that are a ‘must build’ and these change dependant on the tech level. Examples of this are the Klingon and Cardassian Heavy Cruisers at Tech 5, some strategic research can put your whole fleet up a level if you build only these highly effective ships.

So, does anyone have any examples of these kinds of tactics? If so please post here and share you wisdom. Very soon BOTF will become obsolete as the new game will take pride of place, let’s share the knowledge whilst people still need to know. (And so i can get medevil on Jig)

I only recently discovered how damn important training you fleets are. In a Romulan game I am playing (against the AI, but what the heck) I have a fleet of 6 Legendary Warbirds and there isnt a single battle I lost with them so far. 20 Federation Galaxy class II's? No problem! The fireworks are just brilliant!
Maintaining an elite fleet of ships is the way to ensure victory with only a minimum ammount of ships.

Very true, I’ve discovered the value of building a small group of disposable ships when invading a planet. Losing ships of that caliber to planetary bombardment is just a waste. A dozen or so destroyers/light cruisers are cheap to build and no loss to your fleet.

Of course the rule of thumb for planetary bombardments is to mass as many ships and you can into the battle. This is not always possible when playing at low tech or on impossible settings.

Well, I'm afraid I can't give you any detailed tactic as to how many ships I deploy where or something like that. But I always like to play the Feds (guess I'm just an idealist). Now the problem with the Feds is always that they don't like war... So when playing as the Feds I usually take an a little surreptitious approach. If you want a minor race that already belongs to someone else - why bribe the hell out of them. Because if you are peaceful enough you'll have enough money to do that. If you want to go to war with another race - why provoke them until they declare war on you. That way you won't be (at least officially) the aggressor. I'd say I turn the Federation into a Romulan Federation (or Federation Empire?)... Looks peaceful and diplomatic on the outside but always gets its way through bribery and ruses.

I always find the key to the Feds is establishing an alliance or at the very least a strong relationship with another major power. If you declare war against the enemies of your friend you'll usually be okay.

If you’re going solo then the key is definitely to never act as the aggressor, but always be ready to strike fast once war is declared. Seize systems with dilitium present first. But then that’s a rule of thumb for all races.

The alliance thing is definately true, but quite frankly I hate (!) winning the game because I have an ally. I want it all just for myself! (I guess that's the Klingon/Cardassian in me)

ha ha i always just have a couple systems producing destroyers and scouts for me to scrap so that i can pay off minor races. i never give major races a dime. By the time they get truly pissed i ussually have my heavy destroyer so their ships dont mean alot anyway, and when i get the defiant watch out:) Ive found that one defiant is more than a match for 40 enimy cruisers:)

Why yes. Those Defiants are handy little buggers! That's what I mean there is a little of every race in the Federation. The surreptitious side from the Romulans, the Cardassian side that wants to grab everything (of course peacefully ), the Klingon side which is probably best representd in this stout little warship/escort called Defiant, and the Ferengi side (I never really had any monetary problems with the Feds), and last but not least of course the Federation side which is kind of idealistic with all those morals towering above anything else and this a little naive dream of a peacefully united Galaxy.... I think that blend is just great.

Here is one for all you experience player. I make it a point to player all botf races and ive motices that the rom scout (especially scout II) is almost indestructable in battle if you know what your doing. Try this get a group of 9 scout II together green or whatever. Now go take on a whole wack of cruisers or comand ships. After your first turn, which will be a charge manuever of course.... use the evade command. You should be victorious with relatively few losses.

Please try this and tell me how you do. Im thinking there must be a huge glitch or something, because it really only works well with romulan scouts...

Ehm... No, Zahadoom. That works only with Klingon Scout II's. Romulan Scouts are crap. If you want to do such a strategy, use the Shrike class II. They work wonders indeed. Especially when trained a bit.

Training is a must - Training centers are one of the first mods I make to my game, to make life a bit easier - it takes far too long to train ships normally!

Trained crews have better accuracy, repair their shields and hull a lot faster (Especially at higher levels) and can avoid enemy fire more effectively.

One tactic I sometimes employ, is to ram the enemy, even if I know there is practically no chance of the enemy winning.

The ships wait just that little bit longer before firing their weapons, so they are more likely to hit, and they also physically cause more damage. (Less weapon energy wasted due to distance)

Of course, there is always the risk that your ship develop suicidal tendencies...my ships have rammed the enemy without actually bothering to fire their weapons on more than one occaision...

Of course, you should never attempt this tactic when your enemy is evading or is extremely fast (Ie. Defiant) - boldly going forward isn't always the best strategy in these situations!

Klingons scout MKII's kick ass. If it was not for planetary assault I bet you could win a game with just them.

I was playing with the other races last night, I noticed that on T5 the ships to research are Ferengi Raider, Federation Heavy Cruiser and Romulan Heavy Cruiser.

I like the way that the 'ship to build' is never the ship you'd associate the race with (Klingons excepted). It throws inexperienced players off a little.

Something I have used to attack star bases and outposts is this, I will group my heavies together and put a couple of fast attacks in there too. When I engage the base I assault with my heavies and evade with my fast group. The AI will always attack faster ships first for some reason, so if they duck and weave you should be okay.

im telling you guys ive dispatched entire fleets like this

I'm going to try it out tonight.

Well, what i like to do is get upgraded scout II's for Klingons and get them in very large amounts, cloak them, then totally abliterate my enemies fleets. I've destroyed a borg cube with 35 Klingon scout II's before on the first attack turn!

I thought to myself.... that should be possiable....

good, remember to charge and then evade

No use. If you haven't killed the borg in the first free turn, your B'rels are toast. Evading won't make a damn difference! The fireworks of 35 ships exploding simultaneously should be wonderfull, though!

i didint say it worked on the borg.... just on major race ships, you might also be able to kill stuff like the crystaline entity.... or maybe the calamerain

If they are trained to legendary level, with a bit of luck you can take out a Borg Cube with only 8 Defiants.

If you have nine or more though, you can take out the Cube before it even manages to fire its weapons!

lol and yet 1 defiant will take out 50 major race ships

Somehow i doubt that very much! But if that does happen! i hope you can save the replay!!! cause that would be amazing! 8O

tell you what ill see if i can. the last time i had a battle like that it was my defiant against 40 cruiser II 5 battleships and 5 strike. I thought, ok im toast. But see the thing about the defiant is that its too damn fast. On evade its darn impossible for green crews to hit. Even if they do hit it, the sheild recharge rate is fast too. Defiant takes out 1 or 2 ships per turn and damages a few others. (but you must always evade!!!) Anyway i continued this until they had only like 15 ships left and they retreated.

That must be the first time that the AI has ever made a sensible decision!

no kidding i was shocked to see them run, i was like what the????? wow

Was also sad i didint get to slaughter the rest of them

Heh, my favourite thing about the Defiants... I once had a game where I destroyed the Ferengi and the Cardassians. This happened somewhat late in the game, so I exclusively used Defiants in the engagements. Anyhow, by the end of the war, I've got about 15 legenday Defaints. So, I turn to Qo'Nos
Let's just say, the Klingons no longer thought it was a good day to die

lol

Does anyone have any good tips for playing as the feds. I hate how wars and subjigation effect your moral.

You could always mod their morale.

If you don't wanna do that though, make sure that any wars are initiated by your enemies, not by you - whenever war is declared, your people won't take such a morale hit, because you aren't the aggressor.

Just refuse all demands etc, move your ships through their territory as much as possible, sabotage them, and so on, that'll make them angry enough to declare ar on you, so you don't have to do all the hard work.

Of course, your people will still take a morale hit, but it is considerably lower than if you were the aggressor.

yes, whattever you plan to take... take it quickley also have a couple easy fights lined up to raise moral right away, or worlds to colonise, new members, treaties. for extra cash build cheep ship then scrap them

Almost always playing the feds, i find if i can make it to starbases and build one (using bout 3-4 troops) at each major system with few command cruisers or couplw wonderful defiants u can hold off almost any fleet. Bit tricky until u get starbases tho. Oh, i usualy get trade centres pretty early to boost my economy too. Unless i meet roms too early, almost always win on immpossible level.